Nate, seventeen years old
Iam late, and I have no idea where I am going.
I have been trying to find my way through this labyrinth of a high school for an hour now.
I am pretty sure I have the wrong map or something.
Nothing is where it should be. Who even uses maps anymore, especially in schools?
And who actually needs a school this big?
It's supposed to be a public one, too, yet this ancient building might be more expensive than all the private schools combined. At least it’s about to be, since my parents made sure to give a very heavy donation in exchange for accepting their son into this hellhole.
I guess when you have been expelled from a long list of private schools, even public ones will turn their heads away from you and try to avoid accepting you.
But everything can be solved with money. Everyone has a price.
I spot a classroom where the door is still open. It is the right number. I am not sure if it is the right building, but at this point, I will risk it. I enter and see an empty seat at the back. I quickly walk over and sit down.
The guy next to me is looking at me with concern; he almost seems mad.
I am about to say something, but then I hear another guy from the front picking on the guy sitting ahead of the angry one.
I recognize them—I noticed them earlier today when they fought in the schoolyard.
The jerk mocking the boy in front of me has a broken nose, and the angry guy still has traces of blood staining his knuckles.
He looks angry, but in a way, he is just as broken as the boy I assume is his brother.
He is really thin, and I wonder if he is even being fed.
He looks almost identical to the other guy; both of them are far too skinny for their height.
He has blond hair and eyes with a gloom of sorrow in them, yet they are still so full of anger.
The guy with the brown hair who looks like he could be his twin gets up and yells at the dude with the broken nose. “Do you want to repeat that, Alex?”
He challenges Alex, who is now walking fast, approaching us. Alex's fist is curled, and he is about to punch him when I stand up and punch Alex first.
“What the hell!” Alex screams as his fingers touch the fresh blood coming from his nose, and I smirk.
I finally realize I am in the wrong class; everyone looks younger. I grab my bag and turn to the guy with the brown hair.
“Sorry about that, though I am pretty sure you would have loved to throw a punch at this guy. See you around,” I tell him, winking at the blond one before turning my back on both of them.
I walk out, but as I do, the skinny blond boy follows me into the hallway. He pulls me to the side, hiding me from the view of the class.
“I am Mike. Thank you for that. The one who looks like me is Liam.”
I smile and brush a strand of hair out of his face. “Nice to meet you, Mike.”
He smiles back at me. His smile is the best thing that has happened today.
I turn to leave, and he calls out after me, “You didn’t tell me your name!”
I smile, but I don't turn around, shielding this part of myself. He doesn’t need to see this smile yet.
“Nathan,” I say, continuing down the hallway. “See you around, pretty boy,” I add, turning back to look at him. He smiles right back at me, and my day just got a lot better.
I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I will be seeing a lot of those two.
They look like trouble, and I am supposed to stay out of that.
My parents moved me schools because of all the fights I was getting into, and here I am, starting my first day in the wrong class by punching a random dude for the honor of a skinny guy who I am pretty sure is straight.
Great job, Nate.