Homeroom or Hell

Conan watched the scene unfold, as Zyra put a hand on Sassara's shoulder. "Sassara?" She snapped out of it, and realised what had happened. "Sorry, sometimes I zone out." She laughed. "I'm just a little tired, you know?" 

Her and Julie were at opposite ends of the class. It made their exchange very loud, awkward, and public.

"Well could you stop staring then?"

"So you can stare at Zyra, but I can't stare at you?" No. Keep it diplomatic. It was her first day. "Anyway. Girls. I just want to enjoy my time here. I wasn't trying to offend you."

The whole class was in deep silence. Conan included. They had gotten used to Julie and Louise, so it had been a long time since drama had erupted with them.

Conan struggled more with Julie. He needed her to compete with them at the judo tournament, but she was difficult. So he had tried keeping it civil until then. 

But then Marco like a dumbass had exploded his plan. He went out with her, and duh, instantly regretted his decision. He had broken up with her right before summer. Clearly, she was still bitter, and Zyra earned all her anger seeing as she was the only girl who hung out with The Pack.

"Why do you care if we stare at Zyra?"

Zyra, of course, was listening.

Sassara closed her eyes, her mouth a thin line. She risked smearing her lipstick again. Whatever. "Because it's 9am, and you guys already look bitter."

"Excuse me?"

Nice job Sassara.

"This is not about your issues with Zyra. You talk to Zyra about that. It's about my relationship with you. Our future relationship. We're classmates. I don't know anyone here. I want to get along with you girls, yet you keep being on the defensive."

"You've just arrived in this school, and you're making a scene," said Julie.

"Hey," said Conan. "You were the one bad mouthing in the first place. Just keep that anger of yours for when we're on the tatami."

Sassara looked at him, surprised.

"Don't patronise me," Julie said.

"I'm giving advice."

"You can keep it. And why are you defending her? We saw you guys together in the hall. Is there something between you?"

These girls.

"We were both late."

"Good for you then," she said, and addressed herself to Louise in French. They giggled.

"Hey," said Sassara. "I speak French. If you have a problem, say it to my face, girl."

"Are you really trying to act tough when you know I play Judo?"

Sassara inhaled. Fed up. "Yes. I did. Woaw. Good for you. Now stop talking nasty, and leave me alone. Please."

It was clear that Sassara tried her best to stay cordial. But with these two girls, it did not work.

Julie started raising her voice. But Zyra butted in, feisty like always. Talked back, her hand on Sassara's arm. Louise joined in the shouts.

She shifted in her seat. If these girls were going to shout at her, then she'd just leave.  "Zyra? Where's the bathroom?" She got up, and walked towards the door.

"Yeah. Run away," said Louise.

Conan stood up. His chair rattled. Loud. Silence fell. He looked at Julie and Louise.

"Enough. You're acting immature as hell. Sassara did nothing wrong dammit."

Sassara shook her head and hands. Panicked. "Conan, Conan, it's fine, it's fine."

"You know what Conan? I was already fed up last year, but that's it. I couldn't give a crap about the tournament."

"What?"

Sassara was struck again.

"I needed it for CAS, but I can always find something else. I'm. Out."

"Suck on that," Louise said.

Conan closed his eyes. "You know what Julie? Do what you want. At least, you won't be there, and that sure ought to be real nice."

Julie laughed. "I don't care. I still can't believe you threw away the tournament to defend this hoe," Julie said.

"Well, if you were even a quarter of this hoe, Marco wouldn't have dumped you." 

Dead silence.

The guys behind Conan all cried in shock and amazement. Marco clapped and nodded while Lance did a little dance on his chair. 

Ali smacked his ass  "Take that suckaas," he bellowed. 

But Conan was just as stunned as the others. He never insulted girls. It had just escaped without his brain having any control over it.  He must have lost it when Julie called Sassara a hoe.

They threw a couple more insults, but what else could the girls reply? There was still tension in the air, but Julie and Louise fell back into their own bubble. 

Sassara was stunned. She had stepped on a mine without realising, and Conan had taken all the explosion in his face.

Sassara sat back down. "I'm sorry for the trouble."

Zyra took out a a piece of candied ginger. "Don't apologise. You owe them nothing."

That was true. But she had made Conan's life harder. She chewed the ginger. "Thank you."

It made Zyra smile. "Don't mention it. I have tons of it."

"You shouldn't have told me that. You'll be stuck with me all year."

"That would be grand. And thank you for having my back."

"No worries."

Meanwhile, the guys were having their own problems. They tried their best to whisper. 

Ali was outraged. "Why did you say that? We all put up with this witch so we could qualify for the tournament." he insulted him in Arabic. There was the mention of a donkey. "You blew it." 

"Stop whining," said Conan. 

"No," said Lance. "You cut the bullshit. We all have things at stake here. Sassara is a nice girl but still! How could you? You don't know the girl! We're your best friends!"

"It's not that simple."

"Then explain," Marco said.

Conan looked at Sassara. She seemed better. He had worried for a second. Thank God for Zyra, who switched on her mama bird mode. The two girls made a nice team. He knew Sassara was nice. But still. Now, she was also cool. 

"I would've explained it after school." He paused. "Sassara is the girl from the beach."

Lance grabbed his shoulder. "What? You mean the girl with the boogie? That was Sassara?"

The mood changed. The guys were in effervescence. Ali shook his head. "It can't be. Are you sure it was her?"

"Yes. We talked about it"

"When," Marco said. "What else happened between you too?"

"Ok. Stop guys. Later."

Silence fell on them. 

Ali crossed his arms, and stood on the two back legs of his chair. "Still. A random girl can't take priority over us."

"Even if it is the boogie girl," said Marco.

"I said later."

There was no time to argue. The fast footsteps of Mr. Brown resonated in the corridor. "Ok everyone! Sorry for the wait. We'll quickly finish up before the bell rings." He turned to the back of the class. "We have a new student, which is rare in Grade Twelve. Sassara? Why don't you stand up and tell us a few things about yourself?"

She stood up. Gazed at everyone. Julie and Louise were cursing her. Everyone stared at her. She turned to Conan, who smiled. 

"Hello everyone, my name is Sassara, I'm Japanese and Italian, and I want to be an archeologist. I started my diploma in Aix-En-Provence, and... " She shrugged and chuckled. "I like gardening."

Louise raised her hand. "Why did you leave your old school?"

"For personal reasons."

The bell rang.

Personal reasons?

“Thank you Sassara. Those who have Economics, stay here. The others, you have two hours of free time to sort out your stuff before everyone heads off to math.”

The people with free time cheered and left. Conan and his friends stayed. 

Sassara also stood up. Mr. Brown quickly chatted with her outside the classroom doors. Then, still bonding with Zyra, they headed off.

Conan stared at her. He had a solemn face. And they were all staring at Conan. Lance was the first to talk. "Are you crushing on this girl for real?"

"It does not matter, I don't want to be in a relationship."

"Then why did you screw up the tournament for her?" Karim swore again. “And who said anything about a relationship?”

"Yeah, it could be a casual thing," said Marco.

“As long as you don’t end up cancelling on us.” He took on a high-pitched voice. “Baby buy me this ring. Baby, stop seeing your friends. Baby, let’s make a couple dance on Tik Tok.”

Everyone laughed. Conan tried, but it didn't feel right.

Mr. Brown closed the door, and the sound of Sassara's footsteps down the hall disappeared.