(Principal Stone/Isi) Tuesday, September 4, 2012 7:00 a.m. Mornings are a most delicate time - Enter the Isi.<br/><br/><br/>First days at new schools had in the past universally sucked.<br/><br/>Isi had been to English schools, Canadian schools, Welsh schools and Scottish schools while her dad was around and still in the RAF. Most of them forces schools on the bases themselves.<br/><br/>Now they had a chance of putting down roots. After the accident they had stayed in the states and moved in with a family friend for a while in Stockbridge, Michigan.<br/><br/>She had finished middle school in Stockbridge, and had been attending high schools there till the incident. One of the boys had taken too much of a liking to Isi and despite her brothers intervention and warnings had continued to bother her. One thing lead to another, Isi was forced into a situation where she felt she had to defend herself from him and it had all gone too far. Isi had been expelled.<br/><br/>The family had moved to a nice house in nearby Neptune. The RAF had paid out well on the accident and they were able to buy the house outright. The town was far from perfect, yet it had several things going for it. Chief among them being it wasn't an air force base of any description. Property was cheap and though work wasn't plentiful Isi's father's pension ensured the family didn't need to seek work unless they wanted it as long as they lived reasonably and not outside of their means.<br/><br/>Thus she found herself at a new school shortly before midterms, hoping that news of her beating up a boy a year older than her, even if he had kind of started it and was certainly asking for it, hadn't traveled to Neptune.<br/><br/>It was a slightly longer bus journey and it would have meant rising earlier if Isi wasn't one of those disturbing teens who tended to haul themselves out of bed well before it was strictly necessary. Partly because she liked to have the drop on the morning, yet mostly because she did her homework in the morning before she left.<br/><br/>She clambered out of her bed, made it, brushed her teeth, showered, dressed in dark purple jeans a loggers shirt and sat down at her computer for a while. New school. No homework. More time to her that particular morning.<br/><br/>Shortly before the bus was due past the house she had her lunch prepared, something she did herself, hoisted her shoulder bag and headed out to the curb to wait.<br/><br/>Sitting on her own near the back of the bus, her music on, Isi discretely tried to study those around her on the bus, and those who boarded along the way.<br/><br/>She was a tall girl, a hair over six feet, and rail thin, with angular features and light red hair, and so really stood not chance whatsoever of not standing out, especially as she was coming into the school partway through the year. Looking at her, with her short hair, lack of make-up, big work boots and almost total lack of a chest it was kind of hard to tell if she was a girl or a really feminine looking guy. She wore gold rimmed round thin framed spectacles which shaded dark blue eyes. Her skin was about as pale as it was possible to be naturally, which went well with her light red hair, which itself had blonde streaks in it.<br/><br/>The headphones she was wearing were not the tiny in ear things that most people would use, they were a set of the lightweight full sized headphones that cover and completely conceal the ears. On such a tall thin frame the large headphones looked maybe a little ridiculous, yet they gave much better sound than little tinny in ear things and Isi was not one to be bothered by small concerns like looking good when the alternative was music that sounded amazing.<br/><br/>Waiting till the bus had cleared out Isi headed into her new educational establishment, her face an impassive mask to try to hide her nerves. She had been instructed that she was to report to the principal on arrival. Report, the word brought her out in goose bumps. She didn't like the undertones there, not one little bit. If the letter she had been sent on her approval had read, 'chat' instead of 'report' it would have been a vast improvement in her opinion.<br/><br/>She arrived at the office, met the secretary, showed her the letter, was told she was expected and was asked to wait.  Isi nodded, took a seat and took out a book to read while she waited to be given the bad news, whatever it was going to be.<br/><br/>Mrs. Evans a large black woman eyed the girl critically wondering it was a boy or a girl? They sure do look strange nowadays. Why can't kids just dress normal...jeez.  She went back to her computer work as the door behind her opened.<br/><br/>A man in a gray suit, white shirt and blue tie came out. His hair was dark with a little gray. "Hello you're...Isi is it?" The man walked over. "I'm Principal Glen Stone. Please come in."<br/><br/>The girl in question stood up and nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral. She now knew two things, that her mother had told the principle during her interview with him that she liked to be called Isi and that he remembered things like that. This could be a good thing.<br/><br/>Glen let her into his office and shut the door looking at the tall and rather masculine looking girl. "Have a seat." He moved around to his desk and looked at his computer then a file on his desk. "So, I guess I don't have to tell you that fighting here is a no no. It happens, but we don’t allow it, so it's best not to put yourself in such situations so you can avoid it."<br/><br/>"I was trying not to be in that situation before." Isi protested, "Really. I wasn't left with much choice." She sounded a little bitter about it. "I don't like fighting. I didn't want things to happen the way they did." There was genuine contrition in her voice. She knew this was going to have to come up and she had thought about what to say, then when the moment arrived that had all gone out the window, she hated sounding whiny and was trying to avoid that, yet it was hard to steer around that completely. It hadn't so much been a fight anyway, she reflected, the guy had tried to slap her and she had reacted, using an aggressive parry, which lead to a wrist lock. It had been intended to simply and easily diffuse the situation, only she hadn't executed it quite right and had caught two of his fingers instead of his wrist. By the time she had noticed it was too late. The damage had already been done, in more ways than one.<br/><br/>Isi found herself reflecting on things again, "I will do my best to avoid trouble." she didn't add that she felt that trouble had a habit of finding her, seeking her out and jumping on her back. Trouble was an old, old, well, not friend exactly, more one of those acquaintances that hangs around whether you want it to or not. "Thank you for having me." Isi caught on too late to how that could possibly be interpreted and added a little too hurriedly, "Here at the school."<br/><br/>"You're welcome." Stone looked at her for a moment then back at the computer. "Your class schedule you can get from Mrs. Evans out there. I'm sure the guidance counselor will want to meet with you as well. Are you interested in any sports or academic teams?"<br/><br/>"Sports are not really so much my thing. I do like running." She almost chimed in how she enjoyed boxing and other martial arts, yet that really didn't seem appropriate right then. "Academic teams could be good." The mention of a guidance counselor she wasn't fond of. Isi guarded her feelings well and didn't trust the idea of opening up to people trained in psychology. This was likely in large part due to the Irish half of her father’s ancestry.<br/><br/>"We have a list of them; you can pick that up and see what interests you." Ray handed her two papers that were stapled, "Rules of the school. We have metal detectors at the entrance, as you saw when you came in. Neptune unfortunately isn't the best town, so we do get some bad elements. We're trying to weed them out, but it takes time. So, don't bring anything to school that looks like or is a weapon. That constitutes an automatic suspension for something simple and an expulsion if you're caught with something really dangerous."<br/><br/>Isi found herself thinking that anything could be used as a weapon with just the minimum of ingenuity, yet once again kept her own council on this. "Right. No weapons. Shouldn't be an issue."<br/><br/>"Excellent."  Glen glanced at her for a second then spoke softly. "Do you have any personal questions or issues you need to discuss or get out of the way now? I find students that do like to get it done and over with before they bottle it up inside." he gave Isi his full attention now. "I know that some feel more comfortable doing it here rather than visiting a counselor and being seen by any friends they have."<br/><br/>"I don't have to worry there, no friends here yet." Isi smiled a little at that, though it came out slightly lopsided, "I think I'm good," which was all he was going to get whether she was or she wasn't. She didn't know this man and no matter how nice he seemed she had learned young to be careful who you trust thanks to having to move schools so often and living on base most of the time. "I will do my best to stay out of trouble, really. I am not a fan of trouble." She mentally added that trouble nevertheless always seemed to find her somehow, that it appeared to be a fan of her, however she personally felt about things which reminded her of Stockbridge and broken fingers, which caused a twang of regret to pass across her face in a micro-expression before she found her way back to her neutral mask again. "Thank you for taking a chance on me."<br/><br/>"You're very welcome young lady. I guess that's it then for now. Hopefully I'll just see you now and then in the halls or when needed and not for any disciplinary matters. You can get your schedule and anything else you need with the secretary. Some students like it when we provide them with a mentor the first couple of days to help them get situated. Let Mrs. Evans know if you want that." He stood and smiled before moving to the door to his office and opening it. "Welcome to Neptune High."<br/><br/>"Thank you." Isi said again, the word seeming more than a little redundant for the repetition. "Ah, have a good day?" She added, which would have sounded better if it hadn't come out so speculative.<br/><br/>"And you as well." Stone nodded and shut the door leaving Isi to Mrs. Evans.<br/><br/>The secretary looked at the girl a moment then sighed as if she was an irritation. "Come over here and get your class schedule and information. Do you plan to pay for school lunches or bring your own?<br/><br/>"Bring my own. Thank-you." Isi was going to be making a habit of that word today it seemed.