To say Jocelyn was going to have a difficult time focusing in class would have been an understatement. Between the fact that her seat was stationed near the three windows that lined the walls off the classroom, and the fact that the topic for the day was a continued discussion about Romeo and Juliet, there was little hope that the teacher would be able to gain Jocelyn’s attention for more than a few seconds. Her face was already turned to stare out the window, an upturned hand holding her head up, preventing it from dropping onto the desk in complete boredom. Inside her head she was calculating the hours she needed to remain inside, each minute torture for her restless mind. She wanted to be outside, or at least have the windows open for some fresh air, but neither would be happening until she was ready to head out for lunch, so she was doomed to sit and day dream until she was able to get her freedom. 

The shrill sound of the bell startled her out of her thoughts for a moment, sleepy eyes turned to glance at the doorway, watching as the last of her classmates shoved each other out of the hall and into the classroom in their rush not to be late. The teacher finally rose from her seat, a surly, stocky, middle aged woman with puffy black hair and a permanent scowl on her face. Mrs. Sinclair was the type of woman who looked like she belonged in a classroom, her dark grey skirt and white blouse, along with her demeanor screamed ‘English Teacher’; at least to Jocelyn it did. Surprisingly, the voice that came out of the woman’s mouth was not as curt as her appearance would lead one to believe, the soft tone sounding more like that of a mother reading a bedtime story than a high school teacher stuck dealing with arrogant teenagers all day. When she spoke, the room fell silent, only the sounds of books dropping onto desks and the soft ruffle of pages turning heard beneath the soft drone of the teacher. “Alright class, we’ll be continuing on from yesterday, and I can see from the unfamiliar face that we have a new student. Would anyone like to share what our discussion was about?” The woman inquired, casting an accessing glance around the room for a raised hand. “No one?” Again she cast a glance around the room, but still there were no volunteers. Huffing a breathy sigh, she finally abandoned all hope of having someone volunteer and selected the one person she had the most problems with in class. “Jocelyn, would you care to enlighten our new addition to what we discussed yesterday?”

Jocelyn’s eyes had been steadily creeping toward the window, but instantly snapped back to the front of the room when her name was called. One heavy sigh, and a flick of her hair over her shoulders later, she finally began to give her version of the class’s discussion. “We were talking about how Romeo and Juliet were two moronic teenagers who confused lust for love and ended up doing the world a favor by offing themselves before they could reproduce.” Mrs. Sinclair’s face paled as she listened to Jocelyn’s summary, while a few other kids in the class snickered loudly. “Jocelyn, that’s not quite the explanation I was looking for, but at least you got it right for the most part.” The woman stated with an exasperated tone, her head shaking slowly from side to side and her expression showing her disappointment. “Perhaps you would like to reread the story and give a better explanation tomorrow.”

Snorting out a laugh, Jocelyn’s eyes finally turned to their original destination, her gaze lingering over the woods behind the school. “I can read it a million times and that’s still going to be my summary for it. It’s not my fault Shakespeare wrote a stupid story about teen love.” 

Jocelyn was overlooked as the teacher moved on to another topic, asking the class to share their views on the significance of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, and why they thought the two killed themselves. Jocelyn took the shift in discussion as her cue to tune out the teacher and class, and focus on what was going on outside the window, her mind blissfully blank. If it weren’t for the fact she was already on thin ice with her aunt, she would have skipped school to spend the day hanging out at the park, but she could not afford to get caught ditching again. ‘You only have a few months to go till you graduate Jocelyn, stop acting like every day you have to go to school is the end of the world.’ Her aunt would lecture, giving the same speech every time she got caught missing class. It might not have been the end of the world, but it sure felt like it.

She could hear the class talking in the background, but she wasn’t paying them any mind. Time eventually dwindled down leaving only five minutes remaining until the bell would ring and it would be off to Chemistry, which next to Algebra was Jocelyn least favorite class and the one she struggled with the most. The teacher signaled that it was time to start packing everything up, and Jocelyn quickly shoved her belonging back into her bag and waited for the bell to free her from the room. Jocelyn cast one final look out the window, her eyes straining against the glare of the lights inside the room. Out of the corner of her eyes she caught a flash of light, just a flicker lasting only a second before it faded. By the time her head turned to figure out where it had come from and what had caused it, it was gone and Jocelyn brushed it off as a figment of her imagination. She didn’t have any more time to dwell on it, the bell rang and she was distracted by the sounds of chairs scrapping against the floor and her classmates chattering away. With a sigh, she rose from her seat and dashed to the doorway, eager to get the next class over and done with so that she’d be closer to lunchtime. Her pace slowed once she was out in the hallway, her body weaving through the crowd to avoid the rest of the other students that were crowding the hall. She paid no attention to anyone, wanting nothing more than to get to her classroom and get it done and over with.