I pull the duvet off of me and stand up, my back aches as I stretch out; my body and mind alike dreading the worst day of the year: The start of school. Which, coincidentally, starts on the worst day of the school week: Monday. The start of a slow, tedious 5 day journey comprised of 7-compulsory-hour days; yuck.

"Hurry up. I don't want to be late for my first fucking day of school !" I bang on Harvey's door, revealing him in his disheveled uniformed, complimenting his bed hair.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, everyone knows that nothing happens on the first day of school. And, who the fuck is so excited for school." He retorts as he barges downstairs to the kitchen. Truth is, I'm not excited for school - I never have been; but there's only so much times you can rewatch Avatar: The Last Airbender before you realise that, you're a loner whose only friend is bald 112 year old man/boy/person with blue tattoos who blows really hard - safe to say I'm ready to traverse the battlefield of High School.

**********

My brother sprints off from me as soon as he parks, going to tackle someone wearing the school bomber jacket - obviously a sportsman. A loud roar erupting as he links back up with his friends that he saw a few days ago - their excitement reminiscent of a little puppy waiting for its owner.

I head to my newly assigned locker, failing for 10 minutes straight to undo my combination lock. With an embarrassed face, the lock finally falls off - ending my struggle. I clammer my books into my locker and make my way to the first class of today: Physics.

I walk into the lab and notice the seating plan on the board, showing our mandatory partners for the whole school year. A tall brown boy walks in, his box cut fading softly; ebony eyes complimenting his deep skin tone. He reads the board before placing his duffel on the floor beside me.

"Sup I'm Andre." He reaches out his hand. In a lapse of communication I end up shaking his closed fist - the fist pump/hand shake scenario will be the end of me, I never know which one to do.

"Hey I'm Danté." I squeeze out between laughs.

"Hey Danté... Dánte... Ohhhhh you're the guy who gave Boon a hiding at the party on Saturday right? That's crack uppppp. Casey was telling us at practice how you took him down easily; and look at you, you're like half his size!" We laugh together, him more amused then me. Not really sure if the critique on my physique is a compliment or not?

"Wait...what did Casey say to you guys?" I ask with a confused tone.

"Oh he didn't need to say much. We all seen Boon's black eye and broken nose. Those stitches looked soreeeee. Glad I've got you as my lab partner, you can double as my security guard." He laughs, patting me on the back. What the fuck happened after I took Harvey home?

The room fades into silence as our new physics teacher slams the front door shut - announcing a surprise test on the first day of class, to measure our knowledge. Me and Andre exchange a mutual glare of boredom as we start our test. Despite my 100% dedication, me and Andre ended up playing tic tac toe half way through the test - me managing to come out on top every round.

"What class you got now? You got gym as well?" Andre asks as we hand in our tests. I don't know if he's optimistic, or blind to my measly frame, to even suggest I could take gym. My head just reaching above his shoulders.

"Nah, um I got my writing class now. Nothing more exciting then physics, other then deconstructing and observing individual aspects of sentence structures." I reply sarcastically, sending him spiralling into a fit of laughter. I'm fairly sure he didn't even got the joke, I doubt he even knows what deconstruct means. He's a nice kid, but, let's just say it's lucky that he's good at sports.

"Well I'll catch you up then, later homie." He pulls me into a bro-hug before waving and departing to his next class.

My next 3 classes fly by before the inevitable lunch time comes: a time of social isolation and humiliation for people who have no one to sit next to. It's not that I don't have friends, I just don't have people I hang out with outside of specific classes. Making my way to the cafeteria doorway I scan the room, observing the large crowds of people funnelling through. I back up and turn before slamming into something; someone; Boon.

Andre wasn't wrong about his face, if anything he underplayed the damage done to it. Swollen eye, a puffy top lip, stitches on the forehead, a crooked nose and even a bandaged wrist to top it all off. Boon is the perfect mix of a walking hospital patient.

I back up slightly into the doorframe, Boon's height towering over me. Despite his injuries, his muscles are still intact and still just as buffed.

"I know I'm a faggot. Go on. Say it. Should we go somewhere else so you can murder me in a more secluded area?" I feign weakness - well slightly feign. I feel as though a sober Boon still has the advantage with 1 arm and a bruised body - all he really needs to match my strength is his pinky finger. Casey walks out from behind Boon and places his arm around his shoulder, leaning on his bandaged hand causing him to wince in pain.

"Uh - I want to apologise for my politically inconcurrent? incoherent? incorrect...politcally incorrect statements from...um...Saturday night. And I thank you for beating me up. I deserved it." Boon announces in a somewhat robotic tone, saying it like he's been practicing it. "I am going now. Thank you for your time Danté." He nods to me, and then turns and nods to Casey for a somewhat approval, greeted with a nod back before entering into the cafeteria.

"What the fuck Casey? We both know that I didn't beat up Boon, even if I wanted to I couldn't. Why are you spreading lies for?" I ask in an annoyed tone, met with his familiar grin.

"Look -" He starts as he places his hand on my shoulder, "let's just say I sorted it out. Boon won't talk to you like that again. I actually made sure of it. You're welc-"

"What the fuck Casey," I cut him off, mid self-congratulation, confusing him and creating a frown. "Firstly, you called me exactly the same word Boon did, you just said it with a smile. Second of all, I only ended up at that party because you weren't supervising my brother, your friend, properly - too busy hooking up with that random redhead slut. And finally, I don't know why you, or whoever, beat up Boon and said it was me but I never asked you. You also called me agro, so I won't thank you." I growl at him, wiping his confident grin off of his face. The whole situation is too bizarre to even comprehend.

"What? I did you a favour? I don't understand?" He asks with puppy dog eyes.

"Just uh - leave me alone. Why do I keep finding myself talking to you? You're my brother's friend so...go find my brother...ugh I can't be bothered with this - I'm going home." I mutter and turn my back to both him and the cafeteria - great start to the first day of school - ending it early.

"Wait." He protests but I brush it off. I pull out my phone and start texting Harvey that my stomach hurts and I'm going home early - to which he replies with a thumbs up emoji. Wow. So caring.

A/N

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :-)

How is everyone anyways? How are you going? How's your day? I wan't to know!

- YOP