It was my first day in high school.
"Have a great day, honey," mom said waving as she drove away.
With my backpack slung on my shoulder, I walked towards the entrance it was adorned with the school's emblem.
I was wearing some new cloths mom had got for me since I have no fashion sense....that is what Lucy and mom tell me.
I was also wearing glasses which I had been asked to wear by a doctor due to migraines I had been having recently.To be honest the new cloths and the glasses made me look like a different person.
Upon entering, I saw students of various cliques and backgrounds engaged in animated conversations, while others hurriedly moved towards different wings of the school.
The sounds of the occasional slamming of locker doors reminded me that I needed to find mine. Taking a deep breath, I walked forward.
I navigated through the crowd as i tried to remember where the locker was. Lost in thought I collided with another student. The impact sent the books he had in his hands sprawling across the floor.
Adjusting my glasses, which had almost fallen off I looked at the person I bumped into. He was picking up the books on the floor, he was wearing a hoodie and had a chubby frame.
"Sorry about that," I said, bending down to help gather the scattered books.
He turned his head towards me, a mop of untamed brown hair peeked out from beneath the hood, and a pair of curious eyes looked at me.
"No problem," he mumbled with a small smile.
As I helped him gather his books, my attention was drawn to one particular book that lay open on the floor. Intricate sketches adorned its pages. The art seemed familiar as I peered closer; it was clear he had a talent for art. He saw me looking at the book and hastily took it and closed it.
"Thanks for the help," he said, taking the books from my hands.
"No worries. You've got some impressive artwork there," I remarked, unable to hide my curiosity.
"Oh, uh, yeah. It's just something I do in my free time. Not a big deal," he replied quickly before blending into the stream of students making their way through the hallway.
I watched him disappear into the crowd. I could have sworn I had seen the art style before.
Finding my locker, I began organizing my books and school materials. As I closed the door, I was startled to see a girl standing next to me.
"Hi," she greeted me in a friendly tone, looking at me with a curious expression.
"Hi," I replied cautiously.
"I'm Lacey," she introduced herself.
"Hello, Lacey. Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, still unsure of the reason for her approach.
"I wanted to know if you were Daniel Adler," she inquired.
"The writer?" I replied, feigning innocence.
"Yes, are you him?" she persisted.
"No, but I understand the confusion. People have been making that mistake lately," I lied.
"Really?" she said, a hint of confusion on her face.
"Yes, I have been told I look like him. I mean, look at me. I'm wearing glasses. Daniel Adler doesn't wear glasses, right?" I offered as a feeble attempt to convince her.
"Oh, I think you're right. Bye," she said, walking away and joining two other girls.
"Wow," I muttered to myself. "That worked,"I said with a shake of my head before heading off to find my homeroom.
.
.
.
During the course of the day, I attended the classes on my schedule. I could see some people looking at me with recognition in their eyes, but it looked like they weren't sure. Maybe it was the glasses; maybe they have some kind of Clark Kent effect on me. Who knows? I made my way to the last class before lunch.
I entered the class and scanned the room for an empty seat. To my surprise, I spotted the same boy from earlier sitting alone. Seizing the opportunity, I chose the empty seat next to him.
"Hey," he said, greeting me.
"Hello again, sorry about earlier," I replied.
"It's alright, no one was hurt," he said.
"Hey, I heard your name when we were in the homeroom. Are you Daniel Adler, the same guy that wrote Percy Jackson?" he asked.
This time, I decided to be honest and replied, "Yes, I am the same Daniel Adler."
"Oh cool, man! I loved your book. I can't believe we are the same age," he said with a big smile.
"I'm Matt, by the way. Matthew Gates."
"Nice to meet you, Matt," I responded, returning his smile. We talked during class, and the conversation flowed naturally as Matt and I discovered that we shared the same interests.
"Your art is great, by the way," I complimented him.
"Thanks, not many people know about it," he replied.
"Can I see your work if that is okay with you?" I asked.
"Of course, you can," he replied, taking out his notebook and giving it to me. As I looked through it, I noticed mainly superhero sketches. On one of the pages, it seemed like he was designing a logo with a very familiar name, 'Wonderboy69.'
"You are Wonderboy69," I said, turning to him.
"How do you know that name?" he asked, a bit startled by the revelation.
"Wonder Woman's Wild Ride," I replied with a small smile.
"Oh, so you..." he started to say.
"Yeah, I saw it. Impressive work, by the way," I said.
Matthew's expression changed to one of shame. It seemed like he didn't expect someone to recognize his online persona.
"I am not going to tell anyone if that's what you are thinking," I said to his relief.
"I am a huge fan of your work, especially the part where she was doing the guy in the Amazon position…" I started, but the teacher's stern voice interrupted.
"Mr. Adler, Mr. Gates, please pay attention. We're in the middle of a lesson here."
As the class came to an end, Matt extended an invitation to join him for lunch, "Hey, if you're not busy, wanna eat lunch with me and my friends?."
"Sure, lead the way," I gladly accepted, appreciating the chance to meet more people on my first day.
We made our way to the cafeteria. Matt led me to a table where three people were seated. One of them spotted Matt and walked over; he was thin, wore a 'World of Warcraft Burning Crusade' t-shirt, guess he is really in to games.
"Dude, where were you last night? We were supposed to play WoW," the boy asked.
Hah, I was right.
"Sorry, bro, was too busy last night," Matt replied to the now-named John.
"Oh, who's this?" he said, seeing me standing behind Matt.
"This is my new friend, Daniel," Matt said, laying his hands on my shoulders.
"Daniel, this is John Sterling, my oldest friend," he said, introducing me.
"Nice to meet you, John," I said, shaking his hands.
"You too….wait, are you the—" John started to say.
"Yes, he is," Matt answered before John could complete his question.
"Oh, this is great. You have to meet my sister," he said with a huge smile and ran towards the table where two girls were sitting. One of them was looking at me; when our eyes met, she quickly looked down, she appeared mortified for some reason.
"Joanna, John's twin sister, is a huge fan of yours," Matt explained.
"Really?" I replied.
"Oh, yeah. She wouldn't shut up about your new book during the summer. It was Percy Jackson this, Percy Jackson that…."
We approached the table, and John put his arms around me, pulling me forward.
"Look, sis, it's Daniel Adler," he said.
The girl, whom I presumed was Joanna, looked like she didn't want to be there at all.
"Hello, nice to meet you," she said in a small voice and quickly stood up and left.
"You asshole, why did you do that?" the Latino girl who was sitting next to her said.
"What? I didn't do anything," John said, feigning innocence.
"Did I do something?" I asked, not knowing what was happening.
"Hola, my name is Lucia," she said, turning her head towards me with a big smile.
"You didn't do anything; it was this idiot," she said as she hit John with her bag.
"Hey, hey, stop it," John said, getting away from her.
"Joanna is a bit shy around people," Matt informed me.
"A bit," John said, to which he had a bag thrown at him by Lucia.
"I'm not a book person but Jo made me read your book, and it was amazing."
"Thank you," I replied.
Matt and I sat down at the table as John and Lucia went in search of Joanna.
"So, are you all neighbors or something?" I asked.
"Yeah, I have lived next to the Sterling's since I was eight, and Lucia, she is Jo's friend."
"Is she going to be alright?" I asked.
"Oh, Jo, she will be fine. She just needs some time to be comfortable around you. Trust me, she is a very fun person to be around." Matt replied.
"But now for an important question do you like Dungeons and Dragons" Matt added.
.
.
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"So, ladies, what are you talking about?" Haley said as she sat next to her friends.
"Apparently, there's a celebrity at the school."
"Oh, is it the Daniel Adler guy?" Haley asked.
"Yeah, it's him. How do you know him? Are you a fan or something?"
"No, it's my sister. She's the fan," Haley replied.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Stephanie, but that guy is not Daniel Adler," Lacey said, walking up.
"Yeah, he is. Look, he is right there," Stephanie said, pointing at the table at the end of the room where Daniel and Matt were sitting.
"I met him this morning; he told me that he was not," Lacey said with a mocking smile.
"So, he must have lied," Stephanie fired back.
Lacey and Stephanie kept arguing as Haley looked at notDaniel sitting with Matt.
[Haley Commentary]
"Too bad it wasn't the real Daniel Adler. Alex would have been so jealous if I could have become friends with the real one."
"How do I know he's not the real one? He is wearing glasses. Yes, I used my brain for that," Haley said smugly, pointing at her head.
"Oh... this guy looks way hotter than that writer guy."
[Commentary End]