Enter High School

Enter High School
Chapter	21 of 127 (list of chapters)
Published	September 10, 2006 (2006-09-10)
Page count	6
Major characters	Mike, Lucy, Paulo, Daisy, David, Tess
Minor characters	Sue, Yashy, Blur, Katie, Stacy, Sir Poodles of Noodles, Lani Amalu
Locations	Mike's house, Lucy's house, Roseville High School
Collected in	Volume One, Omnibus 1
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Freshman year opens with Mike and Lucy screaming in perfect unison. Between a surprise essay, a poodle in a suit, and a certain junior named Tess, Roseville High makes quite a first impression on the gang.

Synopsis

The chapter opens without a single line of dialogue. Alternating panels follow Mike and Lucy through identical morning routines, from alarm clock to scarf and bow, until the two come face to face outside the school. One long stare later, a murmured "School." has swelled into a wailed "SCHOOOOOL!!" Daisy, Paulo and David have been watching the whole performance, and David happily joins in. Paulo declares Lucy his first crush of freshman year and takes a kick to the face for it. Once the schedules come out, the gang discovers they all share one homeroom, which Mike finds great, and a little predictable.

Homeroom is room 103, and the whole gang is already there when Sue wanders in. She gets about two sentences into the story of her summer internship before Paulo cuts her off. They're still bickering when Tess arrives. The junior explains that homerooms here aren't split by grade, which delights Paulo, and he starts hitting on her right away. Lucy punches him for it, then punts him clean into the ceiling, to Tess's open admiration. "I usually aim for something harder," Lucy says.

Two best friends greet freshman year the only sensible way.

The homeroom teacher turns out to be a poodle in a suit, and David cannot get over it. While the teacher lectures the freshmen on consequences, hard work and the SATs, David asks whether he can call him "Sir Poodles of Noodles" (he may not). After the bell, the class tracks start pulling the group apart. Lucy is in CP English while Mike is in Honors, so Paulo happily claims her as his new classmate, and Daisy tugs a scowling Mike off toward advanced learning. Tess points Lucy and Paulo to room 208 before Paulo can act on his plan to skip class and make out in a bathroom instead.

First period goes about as well as you'd expect. Mike's Honors teacher assigns an essay due tomorrow morning, which freezes him solid. Paulo, meanwhile, weeps tears of joy over his young and lenient CP teacher. David gets a booming welcome to "ENGLISH FOR DUMBASSES", where valley-girl Katie decides he's pretty smart. Math separates Mike from Lucy as well, and he admits it feels really weird without her. David suggests the two of them become math assassins, and a gun appears in Mike's hand from nowhere in particular. A few rooms over, Daisy can't find a single familiar face in her math class, until Tess explains she's been skipped up to a junior one.

Lunch brings everyone back together at one big table, and Tess asks to join them. Mike mentions the group has been sitting together since around fifth grade, which earns a blush and a downward glance from Lucy. Then he realizes nobody has actually asked the new girl her name. "Thought you'd never ask! Name's Tess! ♥" The introductions get as far as Daisy's "Hi, I'm Daisy!" before David dissolves into laughter, and soon the rest of the table follows. Tess figures this will be an interesting year, and Paulo tells her she can call him "Master".

Character dynamics

• Tess and the gang: Total strangers in the morning, lunch-table company by noon. This is Tess's first appearance in the series, and she spends most of it quietly looking after the freshmen, pointing Lucy and Paulo to the right classroom and warning Paulo that the cute seniors will only milk him for worksheets. By the last page she's given the group her name and decided the year will be interesting.
• Mike and Lucy: The two have been in the same classes for years. High school's academic tracks split them up for the first time, with Lucy landing in CP English and a more advanced math class. Mike takes it poorly. He growls when Paulo pairs off with her, and admits outright that math feels really weird without her.
• Paulo and Lucy: The old flirt-and-get-hit routine, escalated for a new school. Paulo opens the year by declaring Lucy his crush and later proposes they skip class together, and Lucy's retaliation scales up to match, peaking with the ceiling punt.

Trivia & observations

• Veronica's commentary notes this chapter began a brand-new sketchbook after her old notebook ran out of pages — she calls the fresh start "a fitting beginning" for the high-school era.
• Tess wasn't Veronica's own creation. Her friend Lily made the character and gave her to Veronica as a gift. Veronica admits she initially had no idea what to do with her, but says Tess became "a vital character" whose hair is a challenge to draw next to the "bald and simple" cats.
• Both English teachers are drawn from life, per Veronica. The surprise-essay Honors teacher parodies her senior-year Honors English teacher, and the CP teacher is based on her young, bubbly junior-year one, who once nominated her for Student of the Month.
• The laughter at "Hi, I'm Daisy!" is a Mario Kart: Double Dash reference, one Veronica says was made "a lot more in the older comics before they were edited". Lucy was already teasing Daisy with the line back in Merry Snow Day.
• Mike's flinch at the bell being "even LOUDER" than before continues the noise sensitivity he showed in Pep Rally, where the marching band left him screaming.
• Oliver has confirmed on Tumblr that the comic begins with the cast in eighth grade, which makes this chapter their entrance into ninth.

Related chapters

• Farewell, Middle School: The class placements that scatter everyone here were handed out on the last day of middle school, where Mike learns he's made Honors English, much to Lucy's horror.
• A Difficult Choice: Picks up the same week. Mike's essay is still looming, and Lucy accuses him of hiding a girlfriend, which kicks the Sandy drama into gear.
• Midterm Time: Daisy's surprise placement in junior math pays off there. Sharing a class with Tess is how she ends up becoming her tutor.
• Humble Approach: Abbey, the last of the freshman-year regulars, is nowhere to be seen on day one. He joins the group in that chapter, where David recycles his nickname-request bit with "Can I call you 'Mr. Lincoln'?"
• A Distance Apart: The sophomore-year answer to this chapter. Mr. Noodles greets his first-day homeroom all over again, David interruption included, and Mike and Lucy are back to discussing Honors English on the walk in.