Excerpt: The Oracle at Delmarva

Chapter 1: Second Six Weeks

The halls bustled with activity as students hurried off to their first classes. By now, most of them had settled into the regular humdrum of high school life, and if they hadn't, by now it wasn't likely they were going to do so.

The sole exception was Alex. Starting at a new school was always difficult, but what made matters worse was transferring after the year had already started. Had she at least gotten to start the year with everyone else, she surely wouldn't have been the only one feeling completely awkward for it. Yet the universe seemed to delight in finding everything imaginable to throw at her right now.

For instance, Sunni hadn't yet left her side. It was hard enough getting used to having a stepmother in the first place, but to have her chaperone Alex to class was a bit much. It was ninth grade, not first! Yet as she received peculiar stares from the other kids, Alex had to admit she had mixed feelings about that, too—at least Sunni was a familiar face.

Then the gossip started:

"Who's the new girl?" someone asked. Not too problematic, she supposed, but then—

"Why's she wearing sunglasses inside? Is she blind?"

"Did you notice her hair and her face are the same colour? I mean, EXACTLY. That's kinda freaky."

She wished she could crawl into a hole and die.

[Alex!]

She snapped out of it momentarily. It still took some concentration to remember English, though she was fluent enough. [Uh-huh?]

[This is your first class. Are you going to be okay?]

Alex frowned in a grimace that she figured would make her displeasure evident. [Do I have any choice if I'm not?]

Smirking, Sunni crossed her arms. [Well, we went through a lot to get you here—]

[I know, I know!] Sunni had this... WAY about her, how she would drive a point so far into the ground as to come out on the other side of the planet. [The school runs on a lottery system, and it was only chance that they let me in! You've told me a hundred times before!]

[Well, I just want you to know that your father and I are looking out for you, that's all, though I do wish you would take off—]

Alex pouted. [This is awkward enough for me, Sunni! I'll stop wearing sunglasses when I'm comfortable.]

[Okay, but I think you're just making it harder, that's all.]

The bell rang. Alex supposed she was tardy now.

[I'll pick you up promptly at 2:25, okay?]

She gave a weak smile and waved goodbye to Sunni, then steeled herself to enter the classroom. As she entered, Alex felt a nudge from behind as a boy ran into her on his way inside, but he didn't even stop to say he was sorry.

"Herr Rockford!" a shrill voice scolded. "You are tardy again!"

"Nnaww," mumbled a voice from the back of the room, presumably the same boy who bumped into Alex.

The owner of the shrill voice rose from her desk and walked to the front of the room. "Verzeihung!" she exclaimed. "Ich bin Frau Kessler. Du bist Alexandrea?"

It was a bit to take in. "Ja," Alex replied.

"Sehr gut! I was told you had studied German and wouldn't have trouble catching up—"

Alex frowned at Mrs. Kessler. It still took her a minute to think. "Ek is Alex, asseblief," she stammered, before realizing her mistake. "No, I mean, please call me Alex."

Mrs. Kessler looked taken aback. "Oh, did I misunderstand?"

"Ek—I think my... stepmother thinks too well of my German skill." Great, she thought. Another thing to add to the growing list of awkward things about school. Studying a non-native language in another non-native language wasn't her idea of a good first impression. It was hard enough getting fluent in the one without adding more to the mix.

"This won't do." Mrs. Kessler seemed put off by the idea just as much as Alex. "I will have to speak to Rektor Peter on the matter, and—" As the teacher paused, a horrible deluge of ideas filled Alex's head. She's desperate to say something about my wearing sunglasses, was the first thought. Or maybe she'll make the entire lesson a "Get to know the new girl" exercise, or...

"Well," she declared after an uncomfortable silence. "I should introduce you to the rest of the students, at least. Klasse?" Here, she turned to the roomful of assorted eyes and ears, all on the two of them. "Diese ist Alex O'Malley. Sie ist neu. Bitte, grüßen sie."

The eyes and ears, half attentive and half off in their own worlds as though attention was too expensive to afford on just anything, recited a bland greeting in response. Eager to just survive to the end of the day, Alex nodded quickly and hoped to be seated and done with it.

Mrs. Kessler returned to her desk and withdrew a handful of papers from one of the drawers. "These are last term's handouts and tests," she explained. "For today, I would like you to look over these and indicate how familiar you are with the material. Is this okay?"

Alex nodded again. How much longer would she be standing here?

"You may sit next to Eloisa, at the empty desk in the back."

Good, FINALLY. "Dankie—ah, danke." She shuffled off to the lone unoccupied desk in the back, feeling as though her face was on fire.

Though Mrs. Kessler began the day's lesson, it didn't take long for... Eloisa, was it?, to start staring. Alex supposed it was only natural, but that didn't make it any easier to bear.

"Goeiemôre," she greeted, but Eloisa's expression didn't seem any cheerier for it. What did I say? Alex wondered, concentrating. "Ah, good morning. I am sorry, I... struggle with English sometimes."

"Good morning," Eloisa responded, returning her attention to Mrs. Kessler.

Another fail, Alex pouted. She had to remind herself that friends weren't made in the blink of an eye, no matter how much her favourite stories tried to teach her otherwise. Eloisa knew nothing about her, and she knew nothing about Eloisa—if the two were meant to become friends, that would have to take more than saying hello on the first day of class.

It was hard paying attention, and not just due to the language barrier. Alex could handle learning in English, but she couldn't yet make the leap to German without having to go through English, and it just made the process slower. It would help if she had a tutor who could teach her in her native language! It made her feel all the more lost.

For today, at least, she decided she would only worry about the lesson sheets. Writing always felt a little more comfortable than speaking, if only because it gave her time to make corrections where necessary. She wrote a lot, as it happened, because there were so many things going through her mind at any given time that writing it all down was often the only way she could make sense of any of it. The problem was that school seemed to place a greater and greater emphasis on speaking, and that was hard enough to do when she was perfectly fluent...

The bell rang to signal the end of class, somewhat to Alex's surprise. Though the classrooms were all numbered for ease of location, she still felt uneasy about going forth into the unknown again, now that she finally had a place to be. Just survive until the end of the day, she chanted.

"Fraulein O'Malley?"

Mrs. Kessler looked at Alex with expectation. Sighing, she picked up her things and brought the worksheets to the front.

"How are you getting along? Do you think you'll manage?"

Alex opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated. "I am still having... difficulty in translating."

"I was afraid of that." Mrs. Kessler had a look of concern that set Alex's mind racing again. "As I said, I will have to speak with Rektor Peter, but I hope to have a solution tomorrow... gut?"

What was the correct answer? "Yes?"

Mrs. Kessler nodded. "What is your next class?"

Alex looked at her schedule. "Algebra I."

"Herr Griffin's klasse! That's to your right as you leave, then the third door on the left. I hope the rest of your classes go well, ja?"

Alex nodded again, less certain of herself as the day went on. "Danke, Frau Kessler," she muttered, hurring off to her next class.

The rest of the day passed as such a blur—albeit a slow-moving blur—that if Sunni gave her a test on what she had learned that day, all Alex would've been able to answer was that she needed more intensive practice in English, which itself was aggravating because the lesson seemed more centered on literature than the language. Even at lunch, she felt ostracized even from the staff and ended up pointing at what she wanted, only to take it all to the farthest corner of the cafeteria to eat in solitude. It wasn't as though she couldn't have at least tried, but the looks she received just walking up to another group was intimidating to the point where 2:25 was a weight lifted off her shoulders.

[So, how did it go?]

It wasn't as though Sunni tried to be a bad person or anything. Alex forced a smile and reminded herself that her own mother wasn't coming back, but that didn't mean that Sunni couldn't at least TRY to fill the position, to give her the feminine comfort her father couldn't provide.

[I'm not sure.]

That look again. It wasn't that she believed her father was so shallow as to get a trophy wife, but... Sunni was appropriately named, and sometimes her radiance of confidence gave Alex less of it. How was she to live up to this image? Sunni was everything Alex wasn't—beautiful in every sense—and that just made it harder.

[Is it too hard learning in English? Do you think you might need a tutor? I can—]

[Please don't,] she blurted. [We're struggling as it is without having to look for a tutor who speaks—]

[There are lots of tutoring services available, Alex. It doesn't hurt to look into them. I can look for some while you keep at it, and if you need one, they can have one ready immediately, instead of in a week or two.]

As much as she hated the idea of putting even more stress on her father by needing a tutor on top of being in a private school, Alex had to concede that maybe having a tutor would take some of the edge off of being such an outsider. At least it would be one person who would be forced to actually get to know her, rather than judge her entirely on her unusual colour.

[I can't stop you, I guess.]

[Oh, don't look at it like that. I care about your education as much as you and your father do. It's just as hard on us having to move here, you know.]

[Have you found a new job yet?]

Even in exasperation, Sunni seemed unshakeable. [I'm still looking. There isn't as much call for someone like me at the moment.] Still, a warm smile doesn't entirely cover up the fact that they were in for hard times ahead.

[I wish I could do something to help.]

[You shouldn't have to worry about money. You're in school! You have the rest of your life to worry about money. Right now, your main concern should be getting a good education.]

It was futile trying to argue that that was exactly what she was getting back home. Her father was a diplomat; it was important for him to be in the district. Alex's needs—and friends—were secondary, which just made it all the harder to bear.

[Cheer up, Alex.] Sunni put an arm around her in comfort. [This awkwardness stage will pass. Once other people get to know you, then this phase will just be a faint memory. EVERYONE'S outcast in some way in their lives.]

Except you, thought Alex. Everyone loves you.