New Kid

“Crap, I smell crap. Why does it smell like crap in here!?” I open my eyes to see a picture of a naked woman. “Hmm, I guess that means I’m in my room.” I reluctantly and stiffly sit up. I look around. “Clothes everywhere. Unfinished food everywhere. Open porno on the ground. Yea, this is definitely my room.” I slump back on the ground. “Wait . . . Why was I on the ground? Hmmm, what day is it today? Wednesday? Yea, Wednesday. When was the last time I’ve been to school? A few days? A week or two? Hell, not like it really matters. But I might as well show up just to show everybody that I’m still alive.”

I get up and get dressed in the plain grey school uniform in my empty and lifeless room. I leave my room and walk down an empty and lifeless hallway just to enter the empty and lifeless kitchen just to eat a breakfast lacking nutrients essential to life. Then I quietly leave the empty and lifeless house, open and completely unlocked ready for the taking knowing that something such as this is not worth anybodies time.

The moment I walk out of the lifelessness, I feel the warmth of the sun quickly envelope me. “Tch, how annoying. Why is the sun up so high so early in the morning?” I look at my watch. “Oh, it’s already noon. Guess when I get to school it will almost be time for lunch. Lucky me.” Once I was done talking to myself, I set out towards school. I walked through the bustling town filled with life. People walking left and right, talking amongst each other, going about their daily lives with energy, the energy that made this town what is it is. I, a lifeless and meaningless existence, felt so out of place. Like I was watching the world around me but had no part in it. I spook to no one, no one spoke to me, I looked at no one, no one looked at me, I notice no one, and no one notices me. But this was normal to me, it made no difference to me what I part I played in anything.

I finally reach the school where I, a simple teenager, supposedly belong, but still feel out of place in. I look at my watch. “Crap, it’s only half way through the period. Looks like I need to make an entrance. I make my way through the empty halls, an empty person in empty halls, yet still a stick in the sand. I make it to the door of the class where I am supposed to belong. I reach for the doorknob, I hesitate. Why I hesitated was beyond me, all I knew is that I was now standing in the classroom as the lesson was still going on. I didn’t take the time to look at anybody, nor did nobody take the time to look at me. I made my way silently to my desk in the far corner, excluded from the rest of the class as if it was normal to arrived minutes before lunch, because it was, for me at the very least. After I stuck my feet up on the desk and the class continued as usual, I felt that something about this place where I am supposed to belong has changed. Despite the fact that I am rarely here, I still felt a change, making the change all the more noticeable. It felt darker than usual. I look across the room. I see a desk also excluded from the rest of the class, just like mine. I see a kid sitting in the desk staring out the window. He looked like a really short and scrawny little kid; he was wearing the uniform pretty tightly so it was easy to tell. The only thing that really sticks out about him is his longish shiny black hair that reached his neck. Other than that, he was just a normal looking kid. A really, really short normal looking kid.

In time, the bell rang for lunch. I stood up and grabbed the student in front of me. “Hey you!”

He quickly jumped away from me in a combination of fear and anger. “What the hell do you want? Why are you talking to me?”

I ignored the hateful remarks since it was normal. “Who is that new ki-” I stopped mid-sentence because when I was trying to point him out, he was already gone. I looked back at the student. “Anyways, who is the new kid that sits in the corner over there?”

“Why do you care?” He wanted to get away as soon as possible.

“Just tell me his dam name and you can leave.” I was getting impatient since I was the one who was supposed to be asking the questions.

“I don’t know his name. I think he wrote his name on the board when he transferred in, but I can’t remember what it was. Besides, the kid is weird; he hasn’t said a word to anybody since he got here a week ago. Not even the teachers who have tried to talk to him.” He was talking frantically and started backing further away. “There! I told you everything I know so just leave me the hell alone!” He ran away.

I just started blankly forward as the room was already empty. “Dam, I was just asking for his name, I wasn’t gonna mug you or anything. Well anyways, what kind of guy doesn’t talk to people for a whole dam week? Eh.” I begin to walk out of the classroom. “Like hell if it’s my problem.”

I leave the classroom. I walk down the hall, this time there are students running amok. But whenever I walk down a hallway, they all step out of my way for no real reason, so, it still feels empty as ever. I look at no one and I talk to no one. That’s the hidden law of my life and that’s how it’s been for as long as I could remember. I was about to leave school and go back home since I got bored, but then I saw the new kid out the window. His tiny back was towards me and he was standing in front of a soda machine. “Hmm, the new kid who hasn’t spoken to anybody for a week. I wonder what his name is. But dam, he looks like he should be in elementary school.” Out of pure curiosity, I open and jump out of the window. I walk up behind him with silent foot steps. I stand behind him for a moment. I notice first that he is barely tall enough to reach my chest, second, was that he seemed to be in deep thought while staring at the soda machine. My guess was that he was trying to choose which one he wants. I put my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to start a conversation one moment. The next moment, I feel him jump from being startled, and the very next moment, my feet are in mid air.

My brain slowed down to asses the situation. “Okay, so right now, I’m in the air. The kid grabbed my hand, and now I’m in mid-air. The kid is flipping me, by grabbing my hand, and now I’m in mid-air . . . S**t, this kid is strong as hell.”

I hit the soda machine with a massive thud, most likely denting it, but that was not very important. “Haaa, haaa.” My blood began to rush. My shoulders were on the ground, with my back still on the soda machine, and my feet dangling in front of me. “Haaaa, haaaaaa.” The pain. “Haaaa, ah.” The kid was panicking. He was looking left and right as if he was trying to figure out what to do. I couldn’t much see his face, but I knew he wasn’t trying to start a fight. “Ahahaha,” Still on the ground, I crack an uncontrollable smile. “Ahahaha, that hurt like a b***h. Ahahaha, it felt really good!”  The kid then stared at me. I still couldn’t see his face, but I knew that he was shocked. I got up off the ground and dusted myself off. “That really hurt. You sure you aren’t trying to pick a figh-” It seemed that the second I was about to say “fight”, he ran off without a word.

I instinctively began to run after him. “Hey! That was just a joke man! No need to run away!” I didn’t exactly know why I was chasing him in the first place; maybe I really wanted to know his name. Or maybe I just thought it would be a fun change of pace. But all I knew was that he was extremely fast. I still able to tail him, but he was unnaturally fast for his size. I don’t now how long or how far we played cat and mouse, but we ran through hallways where all the people would quickly get out of the way and some of the women even screamed. We ran through the courtyard, through the cafeteria, and now we are running along side a large building.

I am only feet behind him and he suddenly turns the corner. Only two seconds behind him I do the same, within a second I realize that he has completely disappeared from my sight, all that I see is the side of the building and a tree. For that split-second I stand in awe. The next second, I hear the scream of what I assume to be two girls coming from above. I instantly look up to see leaves falling and an open window on the second floor. I instantly moved forward again. The thought of quitting has yet to cross my mind, for I knew that if I quit, that would be the same as losing, and I hate losing. The tree was leaning slightly forward, making it easier to run on. When I reached the limit in which I can continue to climb the tree, I make a jump for the building. One foot lands and I quickly look up to see a tree branch leading directly to the window. I make one final and desperate leap upwards and make it to the branch. I am able to make it, and with the adrenaline pumping, I quickly swing to the top of the branch. Now on my haunches, one story above the ground in a tree, I see the open window only feet away from me. I stay low and make another leap towards the window. Hands forward I see a desk in front of the window, sitting by that desk were two already frightened girls. My hands land on the desk, I quickly tuck my head in and do a forward roll on top of the desk and kept my legs close to make sure not to hit the girls. As I successfully pass by, I hear two more shrieks on both sides of my ears. Unfortunately, I was going to fast to properly stop myself, and before I could realize this, I had already hit the desk I rolled into. I had created a path of destruction and overturned desk. “Haaa, haaa” The pain was invigorating. I lay on the floor for a moment. “Hahahahah.” Laughing. I quickly stand up still energized and ready to go as I dusted myself off. “S**t I’m awesome.” I look in front of me. I see the two girls still petrified and scared. I make extended and awkward eye contact with the both of them. “. . . Ladies.”

Before they can respond, I hear the undeniable sound of a doorknob being turned. That moment I remember that I was chasing the new kid and I quickly look behind me. There stood the new kid stand as the door trying to sneak away. After failing to leave quietly, he stood there frozen. Then he and I also had extended awkward eye contact. I hold my out to reach for him. “. . . Wait.” That moment he quickly bolted out the door. I also bolt out the door after him. “Why the hell don’t they ever wait when you tell them to?” We left the room in disaster.

We repeated the process of running down the hallway with people quickly getting out of the way with a surprised scream thrown in here and there. The adrenaline began to take its toll on me and my steps were beginning to grow heavier. While the new kid was slowly getting further away from me, I see him make a turn in the distance. I get to the place where he turned seconds afterwards, but I was at a staircase leading both up and down. “S**t. Where did he go? Up? Or down? Ummm. Uhh, Screw it! Down!” I begin to make my way down stairs. I stop before I get half-way. “Wait! People have a tendency to go up when they are trying to run away. And if he did go up, I will have him cornered on the third floor!” I make my way up the stairs to the third and final floor of the building. I quickly run down the hallway that led to the nearest stairs. “If I’m right, he’ll try and go the next stair case that only goes up to the roof, the roof that is off limits and locked. Meaning I will have him cornered! I’m a freaking genius.”

When I reach the stairs panting, I see the new kid trying to come back down. He panics and runs back up the stairs. Knowing that there is no where else for him to run, I slowly make my way up the stairs taking heavy breaths. I make my way to the top and see him desperately trying to open the locked door. I turn on the lights for the short and slim hallway leading to the door. It was still dim. “Haaa, haaa. I, I finally caught you. Haaa, haaa.” I was completely out of breath as I began to make my way towards him. He seemed to be absolutely terrified for some reason. I couldn’t see his face at all thanks to how dim the light was and all the hair covering it. But I found it strange that even though he was panicking like crazy, he didn’t seem to make a single sound.

“He-” Before I could get a single word out, he quickly bit his finger badly enough to make it bleed. He then began writing on the walls with his blood. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry” The writing barely legible thanks to the fact that he was shaking like crazy. Despite all that, he continued to write “I’m sorry” at amazing speeds.

“Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell are you doing man!?” He continued to write on the wall with his blood. “Relax man! I don’t know why you’re so afraid but I just want to know your name!”

When he heard me say that he instantly stopped. He glanced at me with a confused look on his face. He was still shaking a bit but he wrote on the wall again with more legible writing. “What?”

I didn’t really want to question the fact that he was writing with his blood instead of talking since I already had a plausible answer. “Let’s just calm down. I just wanted to know your name.”

We then spent another extended period of time sending awkward stares in each others direction. It was only during that time that I had first realized that today has been filled with vigorous exorcise, amazing pain, and lots of awkward stares. Also it’s only been about an hour since I woke up.

The kid kept staring at me. Then he stared at the wall that he was still touching with his still bleeding finger, then back at me. He seemed much calmer and he was no longer shaking. The new writing on the wall was what some would call perfection, despite it being written in blood and only two letters, a fool could still recognize that it is near perfection. “Oh” Were those two perfect letters.