Maybe this year will be different. Maybe I’ll finally find something to motivate me in my studies and finally be the good student my parents are always asking me to be. This year could be excellent! I could find lots of new friends, or try out for a sports team, and get a fresh start on high school. I think my dad is right, that this new school is going to make all the difference.
Or, I could just be living in his deluded fantasy. What difference is it going to make that the scenery is new? I’ll still be surrounded by the same kind of people who don’t give a crap about anyone other than themselves. It’s not like the school is new to the other juniors. They’ve already been going here for the last two years. Not only do I have to make new friends, but I have to do it from the position of the shy new kid? Not going to happen, Dad.
As I walked through the doors to my new beginning, I was grumpy. I didn’t like the prospect of starting fresh any more than I liked the idea of getting up at the ungodly hour of six. The sun wasn’t even out when I woke up. In retrospect that had probably been a good thing since the dim lighting in my bathroom was enough to force me to close my eyes. I was, and am, definitely not a morning person. Adding a new house, a new city, and the first day at a new school to the mix wasn’t something that was going to brighten my mornings either. Grumpy? No, I was pissed.
The school looked like it was in decent shape, which I supposed was an improvement on my last building. Hamilton High where I grew up was in the worst part of town, and the building had shown it, but here at West Hills the neighborhood was much better off. The affluence of the area showed not only in the condition of the building, but also in the student body. That fact did little to excite me, considering most of my problems had been with rich kids who thought that they knew everything. Well, rich kids and jocks, but at a school like this even the jocks were rich.
I had come to the school a week before to get my class schedule and a short tour from the principal. As I headed to where I remember my locker being I reflected on that meeting. She had been a nice enough woman, but I didn’t trust her yet. Adults always act differently when there are other adults around, and my father had been there the whole time. I would have to see how she would act once it was just the faculty and the students. It wouldn’t be long before they showed their true colors.
My locker was as easy to find as I had recalled, and in short order I had personalized it with the one thing I knew would give me some support over the next year. On the inside of the door I placed the best picture of my mother that I had. I knew that wherever she was now she was lending me her strength. I hoped it would be enough to survive the rest of high school. I knew that I wasn’t going to be strong enough on my own. Smiling sadly, I hoped that my dad was wrong, and that there was somewhere we went at the end of life. Then I could see her again to thank her for all that support she had given me.
The bell rang and brought me out of my day dream, and I knew I should probably head to class. As I turned to leave, someone down the hallway caught my eye right before they turned around the corner. I felt as if I recognized that black-haired boy from my old school, but it didn’t make any sense. We had moved two states away! There was no way it was the same person, and I chastised myself for letting my day dream get the better of me. I mentally slapped myself as I closed my locker and gave the lock a few spins just to be sure. I needed to pull myself together if I was going to try and make any difference at all this year. Going crazy was not the best way to make a first impression.
I went through my first few classes without anything out of the ordinary happening. I received looks from a few of the kids, probably wondering who the new kid was, but no one spoke to me except the teachers. From English to Math to Chemistry, all my teachers did was go through syllabus after syllabus, reminding us that we were all part of the standard education system. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes every time we were handed a new piece of paper talking about cheating policies. At least this part of school hadn’t changed.
When the lunch bell rang I again made my way to my locker, though this time I had books to put away. I was almost there when I again caught sight of the boy I had seen earlier, only this time he was walking toward me. He had on a black t-shirt with a band name I didn’t recognize strewn in big red letters across the front, and wore tight faded black jeans. His backpack bounced lightly on his shoulders as he casually strolled down the hall, with a grin on his face that made him seem right at home in the crowd of students. I did recognize him, and it had been from my old school. I was pondering how that could possibly be when he walked up to me.
“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” He asked with his grin touching his eyes, making the flecks of gold in his brown orbs sparkle. I had to take a moment to gather myself before I could respond. Something in his eyes took my breath away, and left me completely disarmed.
“Didn’t you go to Hamilton? I never expected to see anyone from there... here!” I replied, the shock still evident in my voice.
“Yes! That’s crazy! My mom got a new job here with a law firm, and dad’s a writer. He didn’t have anything tying him down so we relocated here a few weeks ago. How long have you been living here?” He answered with the same enthusiasm he had shown at the beginning of the conversation. I didn’t know what to make of it, as this all seemed too good to be true. I had met someone from my old school, and they were excited to see me.
“We moved in about a month ago. My dad is a restaurant consultant, and with all the new restaurants in the area he thought it would be a good business move. I’m embarrassed to admit this but I don’t even know your name. I mean, I recognize you but I don’t think we’ve ever met,” I replied smoothly, hoping that I wouldn’t put him off, because I didn’t know much about him. I wanted this new friendship to work out.
“That is so neat! Not a problem on the name, I know we’ve never been introduced. I’m Marc, that’s with a ‘C’ not a ‘K’. And before you ask, no, it is not short for Marcus. I get that all the time unfortunately.”
“No problem, with a ‘C’, got it. I will make sure to put it that way in my phone.” I couldn’t believe I had said that, but it had flowed naturally in my speech. I covered my mouth in embarrassment, but his grin just got wider. And before I knew it he was spouting off numbers. I quickly got my phone out and he rattled off the numbers again, laughing as he did so.
As I was putting my phone away he looked a little annoyed, though the twinkle didn’t leave his eye. I was confused as to what I had done so I asked him, “What’s wrong? Did I do something to offend you?”
He laughed as he said, “Not yet, but if you don’t give me your name and number you will. We aren’t going to be able to pull off the ‘new guys sticking together’ gig very well if you can only contact me. What if I need to contact you?”
Blushing, I quickly introduced myself, “Sorry. My name is Damien, and let me just send you a text so you can have my number. Then maybe we can put my little idiot moment behind us and go grab lunch. I’m starving.”
He laughed and agreed, moving to put his own stuff in his locker, which was just a few down from mine. We continued talking and sharing details about each other’s lives and families as we found our way to the cafeteria. I found out he was an only child just like I was. He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder when I told him that my mother had died a year before, and I could tell that he was genuinely sympathetic for what I had been through. Everything was going well until we actually got our food and sat down.
We got more attention than I would have thought, and for me it was from a very unlikely source. Women tended to ignore me for what I assumed were a variety of reasons, but this one was on a direct path to our table. She was quite attractive in a punk sort of way, her blonde hair was cut fairly short, with streak of bright red cutting through it. She had multiple piercings in both ears, and a stud on the right side of her nose. She wore almost all black, except where silver studs stood out from the leather jacket, or where they featured prominently on her belt. Her black jeans were tightly fit to her legs, and I could tell from how she walked up to our table that she did it that way to show off her figure. She sat down right next to me and I instinctively pulled away, not knowing what this girl wanted from me.
“Hey, who’s the new cutie? I’m Veronica, what’s your name?” She practically purred as she touched my arm. Though it made me uncomfortable, I admit I was slightly turned on. She was attractive after all, in close physical proximity, and I was a teenager with functioning hormones.
“Um, Hi. I’m Damien, nice to meet you, I guess.” I responded, sliding a little further away from her and looking over to Marc to see what he thought of the whole thing. I was surprised to see him looking daggers at the new girl. He was far from pleased, and the twinkle in his eyes had been replaced by an emotion I couldn’t quite place, though I thought it might be hatred. It seemed almost as if he knew her already, but that couldn’t have been possible as I knew it was his first day of school here as well.
I was even more surprised by his reaction when he spoke. “Your kind isn’t welcome here. We were having a pleasant conversation until you showed up. Leave us alone.”
It floored me that he could be so rude, and though I liked him I knew I had to speak up in defense of Veronica. I shook my head at him and said with a definite tone of seriousness, “Hey Marc, there’s no need to be rude. How can it hurt to meet new friends?”
“Yeah, no need to be rude,” she purred, and then in a mocking tone she added, “Marc.”
Marc stared hard at her and I could see him clenching and unclenching his fists as he stifled some rage I couldn’t understand. He apparently made his decision though as he turned back to me, the twinkle back in his eye and said, “I’ll text you after school, maybe we can hang out later today? I have some things I need to take care of before class starts. See ya soon Damien.”
He got up and left, and I was so shocked I barely managed to say goodbye before he completely disappeared into the crowd of students. Veronica hardly seemed to notice, and she simply slid closer to me and wrapped her arm around mine, then said sweetly, “On the subject of numbers, why don’t you give me yours and I’ll give you mine and we can hang out this Friday? I’ll show you around town.”
With excitement I did as she asked, and only after she left with promise to text me soon did I stop to ponder what was happening. In less than five hours I had gone from being nobody in new city with zero friends, to having one new friend who wanted to hang out and a date scheduled for the end of the week. None of this was even close to how things had been at Hamilton.
Things were starting to look up for me, but I had a sinking impression that things were definitely not as they seemed.
Updated 1 January 2025