Every class in the the morning was the same. The teacher sent him to an open desk in the back. After he set the notebook down he was called back up by the instructor to talk about himself. He had been prepared for this just in case. He had his generic introduction one that had been approved by the household:
"Good morning, my name is Matthew Casper. I was homeschooled until we moved here to the Octagon House with my Papa.
Each time he stood up the guys made fun of him, the girls found his polite demeanor and clean look very attractive. Most people in his classes avoided him. Matt was too nervous to reach out to people and strike up a conversation. In Algebra, the teacher handed out a worksheet, unsure if the boy would be able to complete it. The teacher was thoroughly surprised when the boy not only completed the worksheet, but without a calculator.
In history class they were asked do do research paper, 10 page double spaced due by Christmas. He asked the instructor if it would be okay to write out the paper as he didn't have a computer. The teacher raised his brow and upon seeing the penmanship of the boy, he agreed. The notes he had were taken were so flawless.
Erin was also in the science class with him. Some part of Matthew was thrilled even if he didn't know why. The team of three was broken into two groups of two. He ended up being lab partners with Erin. When he flipped through the science text book he realized how woefully unprepared he was. Science had apparently changed a lot in the last 100 years. This would be a difficult class for him, but he was glad that Erin would be his partner she looked like she knew what she was doing.
When it was finally time for Lunch Erin took him to his locker to grab his tobacco pail. While Matt was exchanging his books for his lunch box; Erin looked up the boy up and down. He was so innocent looking and so out of this world. His clothes, his shoes, his hair, his demeanor, everything was different.
"All right, I am ready shall we go? Asked Matt.
Erin took him down a couple of hallways and they headed towards the front of the building to the dining hall, "wait for me in line? you can sit with me and my girls."
Matt nodded and waited in line with Erin. He enjoyed being near her and while she was ordering her food Mat checked out the food. He was shocked at the quality of food as well as its price. 'thanks Emmy for making my lunch' he told himself making a note to thank Emmeline later. When Erin payed he followed her like an obedient puppy, when she was getting ready to sit down, he pulled out her chair for her. Erin looked at him with raised brows but shrugged her shoulders, it felt kinda good the positive attention. He pushed her chair in and then went to an open seat next to her and took his seat.
"Hello ladies." Matt spoke calmly, making eye contact with the girls at the table. The girls were smiling. Did he do something wrong? When another one of Erin's girlfriends came, he stood up until she had seated. The girls couldn't help but think he was their Mr. Darcy. He belonged in another century they thought to themselves behind their giddy smiles.
He opened his tin and began eating his simple lunch. He stole a look around the table; the rest of them eating and talking. He felt normal. He was eating with living people. When the lunch bell rang, Erin escorted him to his next class. The second half of the day was similar as the first, and his blurb only changed slightly:
"Good afternoon, my name is Matthew Casper. I was homeschooled until we moved here to the Octagon House with my Papa."
The boys snickered and girls looked dreamily.
In English they were reading Frankenstein. Something he had read several times, every year at halloween they read it as a family.
French he had with Erin, but he was unable to sit next to her which was unfortunate. He didn't know why they signed him up for French? When the teacher wanted to assess his proficiency in order to see if he was in the right class he passed with flying colors. The instructor shrugged her shoulders, "This class will be easy for you. Are you French?"
"No madam, I am American. I learned French as part of my homeschooling."
The instructor began the lesson as normal.
Erin took him to his last class of the day, gym. "I'll stop by after the bell and take you to the buses?"
"No need, Papa is coming to pick me up."
"Okay, well see you tomorrow!" Erin waved and disappeared down the hall. Part of him missed her already.
Matthew noticed all of the boys changing their clothes in the locker room and he went to the teacher.
"Excuse me sir, but I don't have appropriate clothes?"
"Ah, don't worry, we got some old uniforms. " The man rummaged through a bin pulling out a t-shirt and shorts. "No shoes either?"
"No sir."
The teacher went to a separate bin (lost and found) and pulled out two pairs of shoes and handed it to the boy.
Matthew held it up, and looked at the uniform. He surveyed the other boys changing and slowly removed his neck tie and unbuttoned his shirt, folding it neatly on the bench. He but on the jersey and noted the odor coming from the shirt. Apparently it had not been washed in a long time. When Matt removed his trousers he could hear snickers in the room around him. he quickly put on the jersey shorts and folded his pants nicely. Matthew tried on both pairs of shoes and picked the smaller pair, they were a little snug, but they would do nicely for the day.
He joined the rest of the boys out on the field. Matthew recognized the soccer ball and was happy that they would be playing soccer. When he was young he used to play on a youth league, in his other life before the Octagon House.
Many of the student thought the weird homeschooled boy would suck at the sport, but he turned out to be actually pretty good. He could handle the soccer ball well and he was incredibly fast. The gym teacher who also happened to be the school's boys soccer coach approached Matthew.
"Matt, we are having practice tomorrow for the boys soccer team, would you be interested in joining the JV team?"
Matthew smiled, "I'll have to ask first, but I would love to."
"Great, now go inside or you'll miss the bus."
Matthew nodded and headed back to the locker room. Where he had left his neatly folded clothes was empty. The locker room was empty and one of the showers was running and when Matt when to take a look, near the gym shower drain was his clothing: drenched.
Matthew frowned at seeing his clothing, but he was lucky it was the end of the day. The coach noticed the boy staring at the shower, thinking that he was shy. When he approached the boy he noticed his clothing in a ball on the shower floor. The coach turned off the shower, the boy was just staring at the clothing when the coach spoke it broke him out of his spell, "Just wear the jersey home, no problem."
"Mmm." Matthew mumbled, dismayed that people could be so mean.
Matthew headed out the gym and to the parking lot where they had parked earlier. He could feel the presence of Ania even before she spoke, "Had I know I could have stopped them."
Matthew smiled, "I'm glad you didn't otherwise we would probably both be in trouble."
"True, but they really shouldn't be picking on my brother." She raised her arm in the attempt to form a muscle "grr..."
Matt laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "No big deal. The clothes are just wet, not like they are ruined."
They could see the car coming towards them. Matt was a little worried how Gregory was going to respond to his appearance and his wet clothes. Matt was expecting to get an earful. However when Gregory saw the we clothes he said nothing.
"Um, papa, may we got to the store? I need school supplies." Matthew mumbled.
Having lived with the three ghosts for some time, he became a thrifty shopper. They went to the thrift store to pick up most of the supplies including sneakers for gym. When Gregory paid Matt felt a tinge of guilt at the cost, was high school worth it? But just as quickly as the guilt assaulted him he pictured Erin's face and he knew it was worth it.