My new school, as I would come to know it, was a few things. There were seemingly more female than male students. The teachers were extremely overqualified and I’m sure they knew it. The acedemic structure was “go with the flow” than it was scheduled, more less. 

All in all, it was my new school. Associates for Renewal in Education Public Charter High School was the name; A.R.E. for short. It stood out dead in the center of P Street in NW, and was above a childcare center, adjacent to an old, white, very odd looking trailer. Great location. Just great.

It’s like everybody could sense I was from somewhere else. “You’re so nice” or “you talk so proper”, they’d say. I didn’t sound proper at all, I was actually just very quiet. And I was proud to be quiet. I just sat back and observed everyone, hoping to get by in 11th and 12th grade, unnoticed.

Outside of meeting and keeping like one friend, Sophia, who was older and had a son who looked like she created him all alone, I simply adored some of the staff. Ms. Irving, Ms. Henderson, Mrs. Dyson, and Ms. Winbush were the absolute angels of that school. They were very educated, kind, black, patient, no nonsense ladies.

Throughout my 11th grade year, those ladies became more like mother figures than anything else. I remember one day going into the lunch room area and seeing a human like figure in the shape of a black bubble, laying its head on the table. When I sat down across from the black bubble figure, a head slowly appeared. Little black plaits, dark skin, beautiful eyes, and a smile. That smile. I just stared and so did he.

This school year might not be a complete waste after all. I finally found a good distraction, at school no less. Welp. Here goes nothing…