Curse of the Fountain -9- by Melanie Brown

The Fountain of Youth

By

Melanie Brown

Copyright © 2024

Part 9

“Your name is Nell?” asked Joey as we walked away from the office area.

I grunted a laugh. “Wasn’t my idea.”

Joey chuckled. “Yeah. None of us get much of a choice. I think you’re the first Nell I’ve ever met. My name’s actually Joseph, but everyone calls me Joey.”

I grinned at him. “Well, Joseph, take me to my locker.”

Joey laughed. “You can call me Joey.”

He led me through the empty halls. He tapped the paper with the map on it. “Don’t lose that and keep it secure. Your locker combination is printed next to the lyrics of the alma mater.”

I nodded. “Looks like an easy combination to remember.”

The walk was longer than I anticipated. Joey asked, “So… where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking.”

I thought for a moment before saying, “My adoptive mother won me in a high-stakes Go Fish game in Porta Alegre down in Brazil.”

“For reals?”

I laughed. “Actually I was found abandoned in the streets of Manacapuru in Brazil.” I need to come up with a better story.

“Oh wow,” exclaimed Joey. Your mother was down there?”

I nodded. “Yes. She was down there with her uncle exploring a section of the Amazon rain forest.”

Joey stopped walking. “Her uncle didn’t want to take you?”

I shook my head. “He died down there. The jungle is a dangerous place.”

“I can imagine! I’m sorry for your uncle.”

I sighed. “Me too.”

Joey rapped his knuckles on one of the lockers. “Anyway, this is your locker. Go ahead and open it. Make sure there are no dead bodies in it.”

I knelt down to open the locker. “Does that happen?”

Joey shrugged. “Not often. They found one two years ago.”

As I fumbled with the combination, I said, “What a lovely school.”

Joey leaned against the row of lockers. “Nobody could figure out what the smell was for the longest time. They poor guy had been dismembered to fit inside and…”

The locker door popped open. Thankfully it was empty except for some chewing gum stuck to the inside wall. “I really don’t want the details. Hopefully this wasn’t the locker.”

“They took it out of service. A lot of people wanted it, though. Nobody can get the ‘death locker’ now,”

I closed the locker door and stood up. “So. What are some other fun things to do at this school? Hit squads?”

He laughed. “That would be telling. Anyway, let me show you where your classes are. Let me see your schedule.”

After a moment’s examination, Joey asked, “When did you have time to try out for cheerleader?”

I looked at him curiously. “What are you talking about? I didn’t.”

Joey popped the schedule paper. He said, “Right there. Seventh period is girl’s P.E. It says right there, cheerleading.”

“Give me that.” I snatched the schedule from Joey. “That’s got to be a mistake.”

Joey shrugged. “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get it changed.”

The school is quite large. It took until almost the start of third period to see it all. One of the things I liked was that right in the middle of the school is a good-sized atrium. There was a surprising number of trees and other plants. The air was filled with the chirping of birds. There were even some tortoises living there. It was a beautiful, quiet spot until Joey had to say it was a great place to hide bodies. Is this school in a high-crime area?

The tour ended in front of my third-period class. “This is your history class with Mr. Morgan. I hope you have a good memory. He makes you regurgitate the most mundane facts on tests. I’m not joking. I had him last year. I’ll warn you now. At some point he’ll talk about his summer after graduating from the university he spent in Argentina searching for the fountain of youth.” Joey chuckled. “He didn’t find it.”

I snorted. “Idiot was looking in the wrong place.”

Joey laughed. “And how would you know?”

I shrugged. “Just a guess.”

Joey said, “Well. Almost time for class to start. I need to get back to the office. It was nice to meet you. I have a different lunch than you, so you’re on your own. See ya around.” And suddenly, I was alone, standing in front of the door to the history class.

And just as suddenly, the bell rang, and the halls were flooded with students. I got jostled about until I managed to enter the classroom. There was a scruffy old codger sitting at the desk. I chuckled to myself. Until a few weeks ago, I was a scruffy old codger too.

I walked up to the old codger and said, “Sir? I’m a new student.”

He looked up at me with a frown. “Another one? You’re the fifth one since school started. Can’t you get here on time?” He took my card and entered me on his roll sheet.

“Sorry, sir. Until recently, I was in Brazil.”

He raised his bushy eyebrows at me. “And what in heaven’s name were you doing down there?”

I grinned at him. “Looking for the fountain of youth. What else?”

He laughed as if I’d told him a joke. “In Brazil? That’s silly. Did somebody set you up?” Students started entering the room.

I continued to grin at him. “I found it. I used to be sixty-eight.”

He did a double-take on me. He pointed a stubby finger at me. “I’ll find out who set you up with this nonsense. Sit here on the front row so I can keep an eye on you.”

As I started to sit at the designated desk, I said, “And I used to be a man. I think that fountain is cursed.”

“Just hush, miss.”

I chuckled. I guess he can’t handle the truth.

The class wasn’t very exciting. I presumed it would take a while to catch up to the history I had already learned to start the new history that I’ve lived through.

I think I somehow managed to irritate Mr. Morgan.

My next class was Algebra. I hated math before and I bet I won’t like it now. That’s why I hired accountants. And who schedules a math class right before lunch? The teacher’s name was Mr. Cartwright which made me think of someone from the wild west. But no. He was just a dweebish, middle-aged man with short greasy hair and a thin mustache. Math is a pretty dry subject, but Mr. Cartwright managed to make it even worse.

And then arrived lunch period. How am I supposed to order a meal and eat it during a twenty-minute session? I followed the mob to the cafeteria. As I entered, my senses were assaulted by a cacophony of smells that were impossible to identify. Did I mention that I’ve dined at some of the finest restaurants in Paris? And I don’t mean Paris, Texas.

I just stood getting jostled by the throngs of kids rushing to get in line. There was one line for pre-made burgers, hot dogs and corndogs. There was a salad bar and a line for the main dish. It looked vaguely like meatloaf. I chose the meatloaf line. Couldn’t be any worse than what I ate in the military.

When I exited the serving line, I looked around for a good place to sit. I wanted to sit by myself. Then some movement caught my eye. I looked over and there was Jeff, the boy I had met at the food court sitting with two other boys. Why did the word gorgeous pop into my head? It was just the three boys and two girls sitting together.

Jeff called out, “Nell! Come sit with us!” He gave me a frantic wave. Odd he remembered my name. I mentally shrugged. Well, I remembered his.

I sighed. Sure. Why not? He’s the only semi-friendly face at the school. And Joey, but he’s not here.

As I walked towards their table, Jeff patted the area of the table next to him. There was nobody else sitting at that spot.

I set my tray down, and Jeff grinned at me. “Hey, Nell. Great to see you again.”

I tried to smile. “Thanks, Jeff. I’m not going to be attacked by your girlfriend, am I?”

He shook his head. “Nah. We broke up. Hey, I want you to meet everybody. I’ve been the new kid before so I know what it’s like to not know anybody.” Pointing at me, Jeff said, “Everybody, this is Nell. This is her first day at HMM.”

I felt embarrassed. He then pointed at each person in turn. “This is JD”

JD laughed and interrupted. “And no, that’s not for juvenile delinquent!”

Jeff chuckled. “So he says. Next to him is Sam. She’s JD’s girlfriend. Next to her is Connor, and lastly, there’s Gertrude.”

“Jeff! Stop it,” exclaimed Gertrude. Looking at me, she said, “Everybody calls me Trudy.” Smirking at me, she added, “And Connor isn’t available.” She gave him a quick hug.

I raised my hands defensively. “You don’t have to worry about me.” I looked at the five faces looking back at me. They were all beautiful. What am I doing here? I was reminded of a joke I heard on the old Johnny Carson show…Do you ever feel like the world is a tuxedo and you’re an old pair of brown shoes? That’s how I felt at the moment.

I said, “It’s nice to meet you all.”

Grinning, Jeff said, “I met Nell at the mall’s food court. And I thought to myself, that’s a girl I should know.”

I felt my cheeks flush. “I don’t know why.”

Connor laughed. “It’s because you’re hot.”

“Connor!” hissed Trudy in a whisper. “You’ll embarrass her.”

“Ain’t that right, Jeff?” Connor exclaimed.

Jeff nodded. “I totally agree. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but Nell’s easily the prettiest girl in school.”

My cheeks got redder. “Hey, cut it out.”

Sam folded her arms. “Well, gee, thanks.”

Jeff said, “Present company excluded.”

Trudy leaned towards me. “Better watch it, girl. Jeff will probably ask you out for Friday.”

Shocked at all this sudden attention aimed at me, I said, “Hey. I… I…”

Jeff frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous, Gertrude. We have a game Friday.” He turned to me and grinned. “I was going to ask her out for Saturday.”

I shook my head. “Jeff, I… thank you for asking, but…”

The girl who verbally assaulted me at the food court was walking by carrying her tray. She looked at me and sneered, “Well bitch. It certainly didn’t take you long to swoop in, did it?”

“I didn’t swoop, honest. I’m just sitting here. I’m here to eat meatloaf.”

Jeff laughed. “Of all the tables in all the cafeterias, she had to sit at mine.”

“Hey, you invited me!”

Connor said, “Because you’re hot.”

The girl who was formally Jeff’s girlfriend said, “See? You tried to lie to me, bitch.”

Sam shook her head. “You really should give her a break. She hasn’t been at school a full day yet.”

“And giving clowns like Connor a chance at first dibs? No way!” exclaimed Jeff.

Connor narrowed his eyes at Jeff. “Who’re calling a clown?

Trudy said, “Jeff, Connor already has a girl. Remember me?”

JD, who’d been silent, said, “Who could forget Gertrude?”

Looking at me, Trudy said, “See what I have to put up with?”

Jeff looked around his former girlfriend at me and asked, “Have you seen Fantastic Mars yet?”

Trudy exclaimed, “Oh! That stars Nathan Adams! I love Nathan.”

Sam touched my arm and said, “Hold out for The Covered Bridges of Westchester County. It’ll have you crying, and Tommy Kincaid has a surprise cameo in it.”

Still trying to look around his former girlfriend, Jeff said, “So babe. How about I pick you up at six thirty? Gives us time to get something to eat before the movie.”

Pulling on my hair, I exclaimed, “I haven’t said yes!”

The former girlfriend said, “You’re turning down a date with the hottest guy in school? Are you stupid? At least I’m not stupid, Jeffy.”

“I just don’t want to date anyone right now. I mean it!”

                    *

At least Mom didn’t make me wait before picking me up at school. I climbed into the front seat, folded my arms and glared at the windshield.

“How was your first day of school, honey?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I continued to glare at the windshield.

Mom looked over at me as she drove away from the curb. “What’s the matter, honey? I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

Still glaring, I said, “Well, if you must know. I have a date Saturday night.”

Mom grinned. “That’s great, honey!”

Still glaring, I said, “And I’m a cheerleader.”

                    *

End of Part 9