Searching for the Silver Lining by Manya Ulanski (rooftoppers .TXT) 📕

At the far side of the room I saw a tall man who had to be six foot and had wavy hazel hair. He saw me as well and pointed to me. I pointed to him as well and raised my eyebrows to which he nodded. We mad our way over to each other and sat down at a desk that wasn't taken.

"Joshua" He said with a warm smile. I nodded at him.

"Livia." I told him not looking up from my paper.

"Do you go by Liv?" He asked me after a moment of silence among a room of chatter.

"Do you go by Josh?" I asked him with raised eyebrows.""I introduced my self as Joshua, didn't I ?" He said sharply. I then looked up at him for the first time with a wide smirk and pointed my pen at him.

"Ohh" He said when he finely understood.

"Alright first question: What is your favorite sport?"  He asked me.

"Archery." I said quickly. I saw him jot it down.

"You?" I asked him

"tV show?" 

"Doctor Who." 

"Same. " I looked up at him truly shocked. 

"Favorite movie?" He asked me 

"Harry potter." I said under my breath not fully wanting to admit it.

"I prefer Lord of the rings." 

"book?"

"Harry potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"What about you?"

"Write down Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I also loved Tarzan."  the way he said Tarzan was as if he was speaking to a belated friend, or remembering a nostalgic moment from his childhood. Just the mention of the novel caused his heart to pound, his eyes to glaze over, and it became difficult to hold the pen in his shaking hand. I watched his blue pen wobble back and forth until he set it down and rung his hands as if he was squeezing the memories out of his large tiered hands- in the same manor you you do to to a rag to remove the water from it. 

I looked up at him with my eyebrows raised wondering if he was alright, and with out a second thought I wrote down Tarzan.  When he saw what I had written down he looked at me in a state of shock yet his expression seamed to soften and turned into a small smile that only I could see. 

We started chatting and forgot the assignment. I learned more about him then I would filling out that Little sheet of paper. When Mrs. Gunther asked us to pass in our papers she looked down and glared at me when she saw I had only answered 3 out of the 25 questions. 

"Livia may I please speak to you after class?" she asked me with a warm smile. I nodded by head at her and went back to my seat. I pulled out  my copy of  "Looking for Alaska" by John green and began reading. 

Mrs. Gunther began rallying on about good conversation and how to strike up a conversation. Which Ironic I had done flawlessly with out her help. Subconsciously I looked over at Joshua who was sitting two desks over. When I looked up at him I saw that he was staring at me. Yet I did not look down. I simply held his gaze. 

At the end of the class I slung the strap of my messenger bag over my shoulder and tried to hurry out of the classroom. 

"Miss Olivia." I heard Mrs. Gunther call at me. I turned to look at her and she smiled sweetly at me  in such a way as if she was expecting me to know what she wanted. As if I was below her. I was not one to submit or take orders so I just stared at her with pursed lips waiting for her say it her self. 

"Could I please talk to you?" I hesitated for a moment and started walking to her. I pulled out the chair and sat down across form her. 

"Olivia, I-" She started as she reached for something in her desk. 

"It's Livia by the way. L-i-v-i-a as in no 'O'. "  I told her bluntly. I do not remember ever liking Mrs. Gunther. This might have something to do with the fact she looked similar to what imagined Deloris Umbridge as. Except she wore yellow- not pink, and she was gangling  instead of stump like. 

Mrs Gunther did not look up at me she only mumbled something along the lines of "Oh that's nice." And continued rummaging throw the papers. There was something about Mrs. Gunther that I did not like. Perhaps it was the way she talked down to me, as if I was nothing, or how she acts as if I am not even there- as if she can't hear me. Actually there was quite a bit I hated about her. 

She pulled out the paper that I recognized as the work sheet. Which caused me to roll my eyes. 

"This is extremely disrespectful." She said as she held up the paper. I raised my eyebrows at her and said,

"Is that so? And how is it that only I'm the only one that's here? Funny because the other kids threw them away or made paper planes out of them? What about Cynthia hmm? She got up and left- didn't even bother."  

Mrs. Gunther didn't look up at me. 

"Were not talking about them. We're talking about you.""No this isn't talking. this is targeting. You mispronounce my name, don't respond to my question, and then send me out of class for yawning. No your singling me out for at least attempting to complete the work sheet. If your going to call me out for my behavior, you should correct Cynthia Schwartz before you aim for me." That totaled up to 47 incidences. 

"Cynthia Schwartz didn't have to miss a lecture because she needed her nose realigned." she said as she rung her hands. "Yet it's okay for her to snicker and cackle whenever I talk? I lived with the girl for two months, do you think she has anymore respect for you then she does for me?"

"That  is non of your concern. " I scoffed "your unbelievable" under my breath at her comment and pushed myself out of the yellow chair to stand up. 

"Where are you going?" "My shift. We're done here arn't we." "Not until you apologize for your behaviour" "Mrs. Gunther the definition for disrespect is 'lack of courtesy.' The first thing I've noticed about teachers is if your courtesy and fair to your students then they'll give you the respect and attentionsyou want. So I think you are the disrespectful one. So get a new victim."  With that I headed towards the door. 

"Pach I'm calling you Grandmother!" "Why? She barely speaks English. Even if she did, who do you think I copied my attitude from? You'd only be repeating our conversation." With that I turned and walked out of her classroom.  

 to be continued ....

(A/N : thank you for reading! I will be updating soon with chapter 4 and 5! If you would like to read more then please add me as a friend :) I have uploaded this book on Wattpad so if you have an acount then vote for my story and add it. It would also be wonderful if you could follow me. The link to my Wattpad is on my profile under contact. )

Publication Date: 04-08-2014

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
to my Great Grandmother