"Hey fairy! Watch where you're going, ya queer!" yelled the boy who Dexter had accidentally bumped into. He quickly ducked into his Spanish classroom where his best friend Anna was waiting before anything could get physical. He slid into a seat and groaned, wanting the day to be over already.
"What's up with you?"
Dexter looked up at Anna Chase, one of his best friends since childhood, whose face happened to be six inches away from his. He jerked up and almost out of his seat. "Whoa! Personal space please?" he exclaimed, putting his head into his arms and shrugging more into his jacket.
"Well, I'm sorry, Mister Sunshine," muttered Anna sarcastically, sitting back into her own seat next to him. "How's Nathan?" she asked. "His usual energetic self," Dexter answered back, sitting up and taking out his Spanish binder. "He had a tantrum last night and didn't get to bed until about eleven forty-five, so forgive me if I snap at you," he said.
"Eh, I'm used to it, now take out your homework, the teacher's coming in."
"Buenas tardes, clase, tomaís tus tarea y ponen es en mi escritorio," the teacher said, taking out a piece of chalk and writing down verbs for the class to conjugate. Dexter walked up and set his homework down; nearly tripping on a jock's outstretched foot. He scowled at the person, who was now snickering with his girlfriend. He trudged back to his seat and thought to himself, this is going to be a long fifty minutes.
Dexter sighed as he got off the bus and walked down the street to pick up Nathan. He could just barely see the small yellow bus coming around the corner. He hurried over to the usual bus stop and waited for the doors to open.
The doors opened and Nathan walked down the steps with Ms. Chase behind him, holding his backpack. "Hey, Nathan!" Dexter called, hugging him quickly and turning to get his backpack and lunchbox from Ms. Chase, who was smiling at the pair. "Thanks, Ms. Chase," he called, taking Nathan's hand and walking him back to their apartment.
"Did you get a sticker today?" Dexter asked, turning from the street into the apartment complex. Nathan nodded and lifted up his hand, revealing a light blue smiley-face on the back. "Good job," Dexter congratulated as he pressed the up button.
"Do you want to play the word game?" he asked as they both stepped in. Dexter stopped and seemed to think about it before letting out a small "yes." "Alright, tell me what this is," Dexter said, pointing to a small chair on an announcement for a lawn fête. "Is a… is a… lawwn chair," Nathan said, dragging out the 'W' so that his lips turned into a pout. "Good words, Nathan, now tell me what this is…" The game continued all the way to the apartment, where Dexter pulled a key from out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
"Alright, what do you want for snack?" Dexter asked as he went to the living room and unpacked his homework along with Nathan's. He came to the kitchen and immediately went to Nathan's side. He was wringing his hands, rocking back and forth, and whimpering. This was not good. Nathan was having a tantrum.