Chapter 11: New Kid

Date: September 20th, 2023

Location: Ellington Central High School, City of Ellington

Time: 8:30 AM (Local)

Sophomore Year, 1st Semester

“Okay, WHAT was THAT about?” Ms. Barker says as she barges into Ms. Willow’s office. She had waited for Allen and the rest to leave before rushing into the principal’s office.

Ms. Willow sighs and motions to Ms. Barker to close the door and sit.

“I don’t know, Victoria. I served in the Army for a few years back in the day. This reeks of secret squirrel stuff. Heck, the Department of Male Protection services that Ms. Abner claims she works for barely exists! I looked it up. They say they were recently founded under a congressional act, but their site barely has any information.”

“Well, I don’t know about all of that, I’m just going to treat him like a regular student and keep my nose out of it.” Ms. Barker replies.

“Yeah, that is the smart play. I’m going to ignore that bulge on Ms. Abner’s right hip under her jacket too.”

They talk for a few more moments before Ms. Barker walks back to her office after closing the door behind her. Ms. Willow is staring at a picture of Allen on her computer screen, lost in thought until her phone rings.

“Hello? Ellington Central Highschool. Principle Willow speaking.”

“Hello, Ms. Willow. This is Ms. Stryker.”

Ms. Willow sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as she leans back into her chair in preparation for a long conversation.

“Alright Eve, nothing to it. Let’s go.” Allen says as he walks out of the office and into the empty hall. Students have already made their way to 3rd period and Allen finds himself alone in the hall. He stuffs his laptop into his bag and then inspects the papers in his hands. He turns the schedule over and looks at the map of the school.

“Scanning….Complete. I’ve updated my maps with the school layout. Next, let me scan your schedule and then I can guide you from here on out.” Eve states. Allen is beyond grateful that he was lucky enough to keep her when he went through the temporal tear in space. Allen flips the paper over and then lets Eve scan his schedule. A green path overlays the floor in his vision and Eve speaks.

“3rd period class is Math 102 in room 127, Allen. They teach Algebra II. Should be a cake walk. Follow the green path and you’ll get there.”

“Thanks Eve!”

Allen proceeds to follow the path down the hallway as instructed by Eve. He comes to room 127 and stops outside of the door. Allen takes a deep breath and walks in.

Allen walks into the classroom as a teacher is talking from a podium to a class while a large screen the size of a chalkboard displays algebraic equations. She stops reviewing the equations with the class as they all turn and look at Allen.

“May I help you young man?” She asks with a laser pointer in her hands.

Yes, ma’am. My name is Allen Summerton and according to my schedule, I have you for my 3rd period.”

She motions for his schedule, and he hands it to her, and she looks it over before giving it back.

“Welcome to Math 102. A pleasure to meet you Allen, you can call me Ms. Lancaster. Pay attention and study hard and you and I will get along.” Allen nods his head and smiles as the noise builds from whispering students.

“Ma’am, mind if I address the class for a moment?”

Ms. Lancaster nods her assent and thinks Allen is just being friendly and outgoing. Unfortunately, it’s just because Allen doesn’t want to be peppered with questions that he has to answer over and over again.

“Okay, elephant in the room. I’m Allen as you heard. I was in enrolled today by my foster father. I was placed with the Summertons after being released from the hospital for a brain injury. I have amnesia. So, no I don’t remember where I am from and other such questions. Any questions that I can hopefully answer?”

A girl in the back raises her hand. “Yes?” Allen nods at her.

“How did you get a brain injury?”

Allen stands in the cafeteria with a tray in his hands and stares at the selections lined up before him. He asked Eve to highlight any potentially hazardous foods with a red outline in his vision to cut down on questions. He didn’t think that over half of the selections would be highlighted.

“H-how? How these people eat this food all the time. Eve, they must be monsters to be able to consume poison all the time! We’re surrounded by monsters! AWW SHIT, JELL-O!”

“I’m just as impressed as you, Allen. I mean, look at the “sloppy joe’s.” It contains….” Allen cuts her off.

“Nope! Don’t tell me. Not eating it. Let’s see. Yup, the salad is pretty safe. I’ll eat that.”

“Good call, Allen. Don’t add any of that ham though.” Allen nods in agreement as he grabs a salad and ranch packet before making his way to the cooler to grab milk. He then walks to the register to pay.

“How much do I owe ma’am?” He asks the lady at the register.

“Name?” She asks without looking.

“Allen Summerton.” She clacks on the keyboard at his reply and after looking it up, informs him that he had funds in his school account and meals would be deducted from the balance in the future after he inputs his school ID number on the number pad. As she informs him, she points to the student number on his class schedule. He thanks her and then turns around and scans the tables. A shout catches his attention.

“ALLEN! ALLEN! Over here!” An excited Kayla is standing up at a table and madly waving her arms.

He smiles in reply and walks to her table where he finds Aiko and two other girls sitting around the table. Kayla pushes one of the girls to the side and pulls a chair to the now free spot. The girl glares at Kayla briefly before returning her attention to Allen. Allen moves to the chair and places his tray down.

“Hey Allen, how’s school so far? Any girls messing with my new bro that I need to swat?”

“Heh, no. I’m good. Everyone’s been pretty nice with me so far. I’m settling in pretty well.” Allen eyes Kayla as she started munching on a sloppy joe as he’s talking. A piece of the red sauce and meat plops onto her tray and his eyes follow it down before it splats with an unappetizing sound.

“Monsters, all of them….” Eve agrees with Allen’s earlier statement.

“Kayla! Don’t be rude! Introduce your new brother that you won’t shut up about.” A girl with braids says. Kayla finishes the food in her mouth and clears her throat.

“Allen, meet Sasha and Misty. Sasha and Misty, meet Allen. Aiko and Allen already met yesterday.”

Allen nods and smiles at the girls as Kayla listed off their names. He looks at Aiko and smiles at her, causing her to blush furiously.

“Nice to meet you girls. Aiko, nice to see you again.”

“N-n-nice to see you too again, Allen!” Aiko manages to get out. Kayla eyes her friend over her unusual shyness. Sasha looks between Aiko and Allen before speaking.

“You’re just eating a salad? Why? Trying to watch your figure? I see no problems over here!” She says boldly. Aiko’s blush instantly disappears, and she glares at Sasha. A low growl comes up from within her chest.

*Grrrrrr

“Monsters.” Eve whispers.

Lunch wraps up and everyone heads off to their next class. Aiko is escorting Allen as she found out that he was in her English class. She was beyond ecstatic and had a dopey grin as she skipped in front of him, occasionally glancing back to ensure he was still following. They arrive at their English class and Aiko introduces Allen to the teacher before class started. The teacher, Mr. Fretter was happy that Allen was joining his class and directed him to take a free seat. Aiko guided him to a seat that happened to be empty next to her. Allen smiles and gives his thanks before sitting down. Aiko sits down and they have a light conversation about the class before students start filling in. Most of them stop at the door when they spot Allen sitting in the back next to Aiko.

“Yeah, Mr. Fretter is really nice. He’s a good teacher and pretty easy going. He’s probably happy that you’re here because he always felt outnumbered. He’s actually single and ALOT of the girls crush hard on him. There’s also only like, six other boys in this class.” She says.

“Oh, I haven’t really been able to talk to other boys yet. I’ve been too busy just finding my footing to make friends.” He says thoughtfully.

“They’ll approach you before you know it. The boys in this school tend to gather in what we girls call “flocks.” There’s only about a couple of hundred out the whole student body. They stick together and it makes it hard for us girls to approach them one on one. I’m glad you joined us at lunch, if you had sat down by yourself, you would have been swarmed by girls.”

Allen nods along with her conversation and makes a note with Eve to make friends with them. Allies count and Allen needed them. He also wanted to see what boys were like in this universe. The conversation continues and a girl rushes in right before the bell rings.

“Aiko’s really nice. I’ll mark her as an Ally. Maybe I should mark her as a potential mate too?” Allen starts coughing when Eve added this last bit. Aiko slaps him on the back while he collects himself.

“Priorities, Eve. Priorities.”

“Alright class. As you see, we have a new student. His name is Allen Summerton and he’ll be joining us for now on. Please treat him kindly.” The teacher says from behind his podium. Allen simply nods back at the teacher and gets his laptop out of his bag.

“Alright, we will pick back up where we left off on Friday. Open your laptops and pull up….” The rest of the class passes as Aiko helps Allen catch up with the lesson. The bell rings and Aiko gets up as the class files out of the room.

“What do you have next?” She asks. Allen looks at his schedule.

“Study hall in the library.”

“Oh, that’s on the way to my next class! Let me show you!” Aiko leads Allen to the library. After they arrive, she waves goodbye as she walks away with a light step. After introducing himself to the teacher Allen browses the books with Eve and they scan a few history and geography books. The librarian had to shush him when Allen burst out laughing when they looked at a science book. Eve laughed along in his head. Study period ends and Allen has Eve map out the path to gym. Allen follows the green path to the gymnasium while whistling a tune.

Allen walks into the gym and heads over to a tall woman built like an amazon

. She has a whistle around her neck and her blonde hair is in a severe bun. Her green eyes convey a no-nonsense attitude.

“Hello, ma’am. My name’s Allen Summerton. I have you for my 6th period.” He hands his schedule over to her waiting hand. She looks it over before handing it back and directs him to follow her without a word. Allen shrugs and follows her. The P.E. coach walks to a supply room and hands him 3 gym shirts and 3 gym shorts. The shirts are white with a stylized comet on the front right chest area and the shorts are red with silver trimming.

“I’m Coach Selene. You are responsible for those. If you lose them, you will have to pay to replace them. If they are ripped or torn during class, we will provide you with a replacement. One for one. Now young man, go get changed and then join the class.” As he leaves the room, she gives him a pat of encouragement. Allen finds the boy’s locker room after a few minutes of wandering around and heads in. The conversation stops when Allen walks in. The boys look at Allen and a short boy with blond hair shout’s out. “Hey guys! Our numbers grow!” The boys all rush over to where Allen is standing. He inspects them and notes that they all seem to be on the short and slim side. None are taller than Allen.

“He’s a big one! What’s your name?” One of the boys in the front asks.

“Hey guys, my name is Allen Summerton. Nice to meet you. Mind letting me through so I can find a locker and get changed? I’ll talk with you all while I’m changing.” The boys part and go back to finish changing into their own gym clothes. Allen finds an empty locker and pulls up his shirt. The chatter stops and it gets quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Allen slowly lowers his shirt and sees that all the boys are staring at his muscles.

“Umm, was I not supposed to pull my shirt off in front of you guys?” He asks. Allen desperately wants to get the etiquette down for this world.

“Nah, it’s not that. You’re amongst us boys so that’s cool. No, we just aren’t used to seeing shredded dudes.” The blond boy offers up. He walks up to Allen while everyone goes back to changing and chatting.

“Name’s Phillip, nice to meet you.” Suddenly a whistle can be heard through the walls and all of the boys scramble to finish changing and then rush out the door. Phillip shouts out over his shoulder as he runs out. “Catch up to us once you change!”

Allen stands in front of his gym class while Coach Selene introduces him. He’s not uncomfortable about the stares, no. He’s uncomfortable because the shorts are a little too short and his shirt is a little too snug across his chest and more than one girls eyes roam up and down his body. He notices Aiko and Kayla standing together and he offers a wave. Kayla waves back with enthusiasm and Aiko’s eyes also roam his body until Kayla notices and elbows her. She notices Allen’s raised eyebrows and she offers a wave back with a red face.

“You gotta be chill with Allen, he doesn’t like aggressive girls.” She whispers behind her hand to Aiko. Aiko nods and goes back to listening to the coach. The class does a quick warm up and stretch before gathering around Coach Selene and waiting for further instruction.

“Alright class, today we’ll be tackling the rope climb! Girls, line up in front of the long rope. Boys, line up in front of the shorter rope.” She ends her statement with a whistle blow. Allen joins Kayla and Aiko at the longer rope and the coach raises her eyebrows at him. The boys also see this and look at Allen with confusion. He ignores the stares and whispers and joins in Kayla’s and Aiko’s idle chat.

“Gonna show them what we Summertons can do, Allen?” Kayla asks with a cheeky grin. Aiko watches from the side.

“Heh, yup. That short rope is too easy.” Aiko looks at Kayla with surprise at Allen’s statement and Kayla’s only response is to grin wider.

“You’re up, Son. You have nothing to prove. If you can’t make it, just try the shorter rope.” Coach Selene gives Allen a pep talk as he rubs his hands together.

“Okay, now I’m pissed!”

“Show em’ what an Alliance pilot can do, Allen!”

The coach blows the whistle and just using his arms, Allen pulls himself up the rope and rings the bell faster than anyone in the gym had done so far. He slowly comes down the rope and gives the coach a thumbs up and his own cheeky grin before walking back to Kayla. The coach is standing by the rope with her mouth open while the whistle hangs off her bottom lip. Kayla doubles over while laughing like a hyena on laughing gas and Aiko and the rest of the class is mirroring the coach's reaction. Kayla wipes tears from her eyes as she starts to calm down, but she looks around and sees everyone’s reaction, she doubles down on the laughter and falls to the ground, holding her stomach.

The class eventually calms back down, and they move on to different stations. The coach’s incredulity grows as Allen knocks out pull ups and other various exercises with ease. By the end of the class, she left shaking her head and almost swallowed her whistle more than once. She dismisses the class to go change before heading to her office and plopping into her chair with her head in her hands. Kayla’s stomach hurts from laughing too much. She calls out to Allen before he heads into the boy's locker room. He runs back to her and notices Aiko stare at him like he’s some impossible puzzle.

“You should come watch me practice. I want to see what you think of Football.”

Aiko imposes herself. “I’ll watch with him. Keep him company.” Kayla smirks at Aiko.

“Sure, let me go shower up and change, where do you practice?” He says. Allen and Eve won’t turn down any chance to learn more about this earth.

“In the stadium behind the school, Aiko knows the way. Walk over with her.”

Aiko nods and she and Allen promise to meet outside of the gymnasium doors to walk over together. They separate and Allen heads into the boy’s locker room to shower and change. It was a bit awkward at first until Phillip congratulated Allen on showing everyone that boys are just as capable as anyone else. He’s treated as an idol afterwards. Allen tosses the idea to Eve that maybe they should toughen these boys up.