School was hard for any student, not because of the homework; but the people you did it by. The people in the school are just as bad as the learning itself, it's a game of knowledge and skill. Surviving and thriving. The goal for everyone was to accomplish both, but no one ever actually did.
Alan always struggled with going to new schools, but not because of the kids. He was a bad tester, a bad writer, and a bad student. Anything remotely that was required at school he was bad at. Bit now as he sat in Charlie's car, waiting to be dropped off in a new environment; he felt he needed to at least try. He wanted to be better in this foster home, not cause too much attention to himself and try to be as low menace as possible. This meant good grades and no fights, something Alan struggled to get and get away from.
"Are you excited?" Charlie asked as he glanced at Alan in the back.
"Yeah, a bit." Alan grabbed the wings of his blue jacket as he re-adjusted it once more, hoping to feel more comfortable then the first time he re-adjusted. "Nervous, but excited."
"It will get better once you make your first friend." Commented Charlies. "Then they will introduce their friends and so on. Some you will not click but others may be your new best friend." Charlie's smile arose once more, like a shirt he wore everyday.
"Yeah," Alan thought of Pipe as Charlie said best friend, wishing his real best friend was there with him. "Maybe."
"Since Eric decided to stay in the dorms till tonight," Charlie quickly changed the subject as Alan rested his head on the side window in almost defeat. "I was thinking we could get pizza. Do you prefer a specific kind or just pizza?"
"Just Pizza," Alan lies. "I'm not picky." The lie came off genuine and smooth, just as Alan intended. He had learned not to be such a needy kid from other foster homes, they didn't need to know what pizza he liked or what he wanted to do. Only Alan needed to know what they wanted instead, so he could play along for as long as possible until he was sent to a new home.
"Well I like pepperoni and Eric likes cheese. We usually go back and forth but since you're here, you can be a tie breaker." Hope laced his voice as he thought of Alan being the final voice of reason to get his pizza. But he wasn't wrong, Alan definitely wanted peperoni rather than just cheese.
"I'd have to say pepperoni all the way." Alan slightly smiled, hoping to feed into the good mood.
"My kind of man once again!" Charlie laughed, making Alan slightly chuckle from the contagiousness.
The car slowly followed a row of cars in front of them as they all slowly dropped off teenagers in front of the main building. Loads of kids stood in front of the brick building as groups of friends gathered to face the lion's den together.
Alan's heart began to pound like a hammer hitting a brick wall. His throat felt dry and scratchy as if he was unable to talk without water. His hands clammed up while he clenched the backpack between his legs, full of books that Charlie got him for the next few months.
"You ready?" Charlie pulled up in front of the building where Alan was supposed to get out. "You can wait a minute if you need one."
"I'm good." Alan said as he tried to convince both Charlies and himself before leaving. Alan took one last breath before placing his backpack full of books over his shoulders and opening the car door as he stepped out. "I will be right here at 4:00 P.M. Okay?"
"Okay. Bye." Alan closed the door before turning around to his new high school. He heard Charlie's car rev before driving away from the stop he was dropped off at. He was officially stuck, nowhere to run and no one to help him. Alan dug through his back pocket of his jeans as he looked for the paper Charlie had made of his classes, hoping that instead of talking to people he could just find his classes and leave.
It wasn't long for people to begin to stare at him, Now realizing most of these people had been going to the same school since 1st grade, making him the black sheep of the flock. Alan followed a group of girls into the building as they began to walk through halls, a maze of stale halls and lockers greeted him from both sides. Different signs were placed everywhere as a big speaker that was connected to different walls voiced out the daily news for the school.
"You look lost, are you new?" A boy appeared next to Alan's side as he glanced around in his desperate act for help. A couple inches shorter stood a Mexican boy with large brown eyes that studded every inch of Alan's frame. He was a lengthy kid, probably did a sport for fun but what was really a red sign to Alan was the large yellowing bruise on his left eye. "I can help ya' if you want."
"Sure," Alan hoped he was making the right decision but feared he may have mixed with the wrong boy. "I'm just trying to find my locker, mate." Calling him mate was not Alan's intention, but after hearing Pipe call everyone mate, it rubbed off on Alan. The boy didn't comment on what Alan had said, only grabbed his paper and began to swerve through the filled isles of kids.
"My name is Maximum, but everyone calls me Max. I'm in grade 11 or you might understand as year 12." The slight comment of year 12 made Alan realize he had said it thinking Alan was from another country then America.
"I'm from America, I just have a friend who isn't." Alan sighed. "He rubbed off on me a bit."
"Yeah, I guessed." Max swerved through a group of laughing boys as he began to head towards another set of lockers. "I can hear it in your voice, you must have hung out with that friend quite a lot." He wasn't wrong, but Alan didn't think he had any sort of accent, rather just the issue of saying cheers and mate randomly.
"Yeah, he was a good friend." Alan smiled as he spoke with Max, knowing he wasn't the worst in the school but so far he was the best. "How'd you get that shiner?"
"Oh, I was playing basketball with some of my friends last night. It got a bit violent." Max laughed it off almost too fast for it to make sense. Alan studied Max, wondering why he was lying to a total stranger if he should call him out. But he didn't, fearing he might lose his only friend in the school.
"Must have hurt. Was a good hook though." Alan tried to play it off but failed miserably as Max raised his brow.
"This is your locker, your first room is down the hall to the left." Max gave the paper back as they reached the locker with the number 27 on it.
"Thanks man, it means a lot." Alan nodded to Max as Max began to walk away with a slight 'see you later' before disappearing into a swarm of moving kids. Max had been weird, but Alan dealt with worse. Alan looked back at the paper to be surprised by the sloppy writing with a pen on it. Small words like 'same class as me' covered at least three of his six classes. Alan didn't know if he should feel overjoyed or concerned for his future friendship with Max.
Alan sighed as he opened his backpack and began to stuff random books into the locker, hoping to get the rest he needed for the last two classes after lunch. Alan zipped up his lighter backpack before closing the locker with no lock. He looked around once more, the halls being clearer but still swarming with loud kids at 7 A.M.
Alan began to follow the direction to his first class, wishing that Math class could have been last of all six classes. As he followed the crowd in the right direction, he saw Max standing near a tall black man that stood like a beacon of light in the ocean. They seemed to be conversing by the side of a locker, almost arguing but nicely. Alan fought the urge to snoop but as he walked by he saw a girl join the conversation as an equal man for both sides.
Alan was about to look away until the girl caught his eye, a flash of Saturday night when he was being dropped off at Charlie's house rushed to his memory. It was the same girl and now he realized that Max was one of the boy's playing basketball on the road. Alan assumed that the black boy was also from the road as they all conversed like they had a strong relationship and maybe a stronger one with Max and the other boy as they hugged.
When they pulled apart, Max's eyes followed the girls that reached mine. His eyes lit up before I heard my name being called from him. "Come meet my friends." A smile covered his face but it didn't reach his tired eyes. "This is Anthony, my brotha from anotha motha. And MayMay, the sister you would never wish for." He patted his friends back as Anthony gave Alan a fist bump and a quiet 'sup' but the girl MayMay. Just gave him a slight nod as she was introduced. "And this is Alan, the new student."
Alan smiled as he stuffed his hands in the pocket, hoping he would get along with these teens but feared he wouldn't. They all looked like they had potential for different sports, they were just that kind of teenager. But Alan wasn't, he looked like an unhealthy lanky fried vegetable that rolled under the fridge out of reach of the pet dog for 10 years. But nonetheless, he would try to get along with them, especially MayMay.