Who: Tia and Sam What: Helping out the new girl Where: School When The other day Warning: None
Tia had only been going to high school for a week so she was still learning her way around the school. It had not been easy leaving as an eleven year old and coming back as a fourteen year old but if anyone could handle it, it was Tia. She had always adjusted to change well and took this on the challenge of a new school head on.
No one would ever know that she hasn’t gone to proper school since she was a child. She and Tony had been taught all they needed to know by their Uncle while on Witch Mountain in a homeschool kind of way. A lover of learning with a photographic memory, she had absorbed everything she could, which was something she continued to do now that she was back on Earth. One would think she would be behind because of nontraditional learning but she had been able to catch up to her peers easily.
It was just getting around the school that she was having trouble with the high school was a lot bigger than the elementary school. While on her way to the next class, Tia was paying attention to the room numbers so much that she didn’t notice someone in front of her until she ran right into them.
“Oh I’m sorry!” She said right away as she turned to see who she ran into.
***
Sam backstepped and grinned, hands coming up to help support them. “I’m okay, are you okay?” Sam was living for graduation, now, hoping the days would fly by fast and maybe had his head in the clouds a little. So when he collided with someone, he assumed it was his fault. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”
He smiled gently at the younger woman.
***
“I’m fine, thank you” She replied as she stepped back herself so they weren’t so close. When he apologized, she shook her head and hugged her books to her chest. “It was my fault. I ran into you” She insisted, happy to take all of the blame for this. “I was looking for my next classroom and not paying attention. Am I in the right hall way for Mrs Harris?” She asked, figuring he might know.
***
Sam grinned at her and bounced with his steps. He was having a good day. Mostly.
“Nah. It’s all good. How is school going?”
He smiled, and thought, then shook his head. “No,but I can show you where she is. Come on.”
He beckoned her onward.
***
“It’s a lot different than the last time I was here but I like it” She replied with a smile. Unlike others around her, she actually enjoyed school and didn’t mind going. It was one reason why she and Lena got along pretty well. She had gotten pretty lucky that the woman wanted to take her. “Thank you. I’ll still finding my way around here” She explained as she began walking with him, letting him lead the way to where she needed to go.
***
“Yeah? How so?” He was curious how that worked, really. He liked learning about different people’s experiences here in Madison. It was part of his artist thing.
He led the way down the hall and down another. “ Are you enjoying school now?”
***
“I was in elementary school” She replied, letting that explain everything as they walked together. She had just turned eleven before she got sent back home to be with her brother and Uncle and she was sailing through fifth grade. “I love it. It’s nice to be one of the big kids now” She told him with a small laugh. “I like English and Science the best. They put in some advanced classes for those because I did so well on my placement test”
***
“Ohhh. Okay. That makes sense.“ Sam grinned, listening. Her enthusiasm seemed incredible and adorable.
Sam chuckled. “You are one of us now, for sure.” he nodded, glad to see her happy.
“Science is fun. My favorite was physics class.”
***
“I like it here a lot better because my friends are here” She told him, speaking of the friends she had made as a child that she got to see every day. That was her favorite part of school beside the learning part. She really liked the learning part. She grinned when he said she was one of them now. She was and it was great! “I was almost put in that class but they decided to put me in Chemistry instead” She told him as they walked.
***
Sam nodded, smiling. “Makes sense. I have made a bunch of friends here too. I like this place a lot more than back home.” he smiled at her more, glad he could talk to her.
He always learned something from new people, even young ones.
“Chemistry is good. I like it too.” He waved a hand at her. “What do you do outside school?”
***
“I like it here a lot too. The only thing that would make it better is if my brother was here” She told him, a little bit of sadness on her face as she talked about Tony. She missed her brother so much and hated being away from him again. Why couldn’t he come here with her? That would have been so great.
“I like to read, play with my cat, hang out with my friends … you know, norming teenager stuff. I’m learning to roller skate!” She seemed to perk up some more as she looked over at him. “What about you?”
***
“I’m sorry he’s not here. Days like today I miss my father. He was a great mathematician, and he taught me everything I know. And he also… he was just always there.” Until he hadn’t been and Sam had been alone.
“Maybe your brother will be brought here.”
He listened, smiling. “Mostly, I take photographs and work on electrical things. I’m headed to college for electrical engineering.”
***
“You must be very good at math” She commented, meaning it was a compliment to what he learned from his father. She nodded her head when he said maybe her brother would be brought here. “ I hope he. He would really like this place” She told him with a little bit of smile as she thought about her older brother. “That’s pretty neat! Good for you. I’m sure you’ll do great in college”
***
Sam shrugged. “A little, yes. I started using it on computers when i was younger. Then to take better pictures. Now engineering using it too. Its like everything I ever did has led to now.”
He nodded. It felt that way, anyway.
“Thanks, I hope so. I just want to learn more engineering, and to be able to help people.”
***
“Computers are so neat. I never saw one before I came here. They didn’t really have them back in the 1970s, not like the ones here” She told him as they walked, her letting him lead.. “I don’t know what I want to do when I get older. It’s nice that you have it figured out”
***
Sam nodded, listening. “It must be weird, coming from a different time and place.” He shrugged again. “I wouldn’t save for this place. I hope I never go home. And I am sure you will figure out what you want to do, in time.”
He smiled as he stopped, finding the door she needed. “This is your room.”
***
“It was but I got used to it” She told him, nodding to what he said next in understanding. She didn’t get a chance to reply before they got to the room she needed to be in for her next class. “Thank you! Maybe I’ll see you around. It was nice chatting with you” She said with a smile before she walked into the classroom and moved to sit down.