The New Kid

A Chapter by Tori

So yeah. School's back and there's a new kid.

Heartbroken cries echoed from the girl’s bathroom. This was the third person I had heard crying all day. What the hell is wrong with them? I kept thinking to myself. No one important had died. Last timed I checked, their precious Zac Efron was still alive. Unfortunately. Stupid preps! I though crossly. At least their miserable cries will brighten my day. I gave a slight smile and continued to the cafeteria, looking forward to see Esmerelda and the others.

The lunchroom was crowded. Voices buzzed and hummed as teenage gossip flowed from ear to ear like an electric current. It was busier than usual. The voices were ecstatic and hysterical. I heard more sobs. But the sound that caught my attention was his laughter. That beautiful laugh. I searched frantically, trying to locate the source. He was sitting with Esmerelda, Crane, and Raven. I sighed. He was so freaking hot!

“We have a serious problem,” I said smiling as I approached the table. They all looked up at me, unsure of what dreary news I would enforce upon them. Despite what people saw, we were actually a pretty happy group. Sure, each of us had our own problems, but who doesn’t? However our only source of joy was each other, alcohol, and the occasional weed we were able to obtain. Get rid of that, and you have your stereotypical Goth kid. Depressed and suicidal.

“What is it?” Raven asked. Concern spiked her voice. Poor Raven. She was gullible. Not long ago, she was the new kid. Whenever a new student arrives, it’s a battle among the “cliques” to obtain a new member. The preps went out of their way to talk to her when she arrived, and turn her into one of them. She was undecided. A neutral pawn in the raging war between the Goths, preps, nerds, and band geeks. She was Switzerland. However, she eventually turned to seek out our comfort after continuous attacks from the others. She didn’t like the attention or the efforts. So, she joined the only group who hadn’t bugged the s**t out of her. The Goths. She was the only one in the chain of Goths who went by their real name.

Sure the clique thing was pretty extreme, but unfortunately, it was the truth. Even the teachers had us classified. No one was unique for long. Quickly, they’d become sucked into someone’s ways and that clique would expand. It was a vicious, never ending cycle.

“The Goth kids are smiling,” I said with a laugh. They all joined in. I sat down next to Draco. He had saved a seat for me.

“Hey, babe.” He planted a kiss on my cheek. I giggled and returned his affection. I thought back to that first night. “Think about it.” I had thought about. All day and all night. Finally, the day before we returned to school (So if you wanna be technical, yesterday) I said yes. He was thrilled. So was I.

“Missed you,” he purred. I smiled and curled up next to him. He placed his arm around my shoulder. Draco was very tall and lanky, almost all bone. He did have crazy strength though. That was what made him so irresistible.

“Hey Jade, have you seen the new kid?” Esmerelda growled. I noticed she had been throwing glares at Draco ever since she found we were together. Was she jealous or something? Nah. couldn’t be. She was beyond in love with Crane. She had their funeral already planned out. That was devotion in Essie’s world.

“No,” I said uncaringly.

“Maybe they’ll join us,” Raven said with a sly smile. “I wonder what they look like…”

“Let’s hope. We need more. I’m getting tired of you guys,” Crane said playfully. Essie nudged him with her elbow. Well, “nudged” was an understatement. She hit him hard enough to knock the air out of him. But, for Essie, that was a nudge. A playful one, too. But crane was used to it. It wasn’t anything new.

“I think Jade should recruit her!” Essie smiled. I was shocked.

“Really? Have you gone damn crazy?” I cried.

“What? I think you can do it. You’ve grown over the years, young grasshopper. You are now trained in the ways of…um…what’s the word I’m looking for…”

“Um, recruiting?” Draco finished.

“Yes! Recruiting. Perfect. You should do it!” Essie seemed so confident. How could I refuse?

“Um. Ok, I guess I’ll give it a shot,” I said unsurely.

Draco kissed my cheek. “I know you can do it babe.” His support made me feel so much better. I smiled.

“Alright, let’s go catch us a new kid!”

Biology was a drag. As usual. The teacher talked. The student’s talked. Everyone talked. Preps cried. We laughed. Nerds minded their on business and listened to the teacher.

“What the hell is wrong with all them?” I Raven asked.

“Yeah, seriously! They’ve been crying all morning,” I piped in.

Essie, Raven, and I shared biology together. Draco and Crane were in Health class. We didn’t have any classes together, unless you count lunch, but I always saw Draco in the halls and he would walk me to class, even before we got together.

“I think something happened to their ‘prince’,” Essie stated. Raven and stared at her, confused.

“What? Who?”

She pointed to an empty chair in the front of the room. “That blonde dude who all the preps wanna f**k isn’t here. I bet he’s dead.”

“Whoa are you serious?” Raven chirped.

Essie nodded. “Yeah, probably. I mean, he goes missing and now everyone cries. He’s been absent before, but they never freaked out like this. Thus, he’s dead.”

“That’s terrible!” Raven screeched.

“Yeah, probably,” Essie repeated.

That guy? The one from…no. Well, I suppose so. He had asked me out three days before school started. I told him no. Now he’s dead. Is this my fault? No, I shouldn’t flatter myself that much. I wasn’t worth dying for. But why wasn’t he here? And why had we wanted to go out? Betraying your clique here was unspoken treason. It just didn’t happen. Everything related to the groups was unspoken, but everyone just sort of knew. I bet it was just a dare. ‘Ask out the Goth kid, and I’ll give you 20 bucks!’ The thought infuriated me even more. Ah, f**k him!

“Yeah too bad. Oh well. So what’s he been yapping about?” I asked, pointing to the teacher. Essie and Raven shrugged.

As waiting for his cue, the teacher, I forget his name, though I think it was Mr. Greenling, stopped and looked towards the door. His eyes got wider as the door opened.

“Whoa! Jade, check this s**t out! It’s the new kid!”

I looked up and, sure enough, there he was. He flipped his long, shaggy black hair to the side, allowing his bangs to carelessly fall over his left eye, then parted his lips, which were pierced with snake bites, as if he was about to say something. Deciding against it, he closed his mouth. His Korn t-shirt draped over his black skinny jeans, the chains hanging from his belt loops clinking as he began to walk. I barely noticed the spiked collars wrapped tightly around his neck and wrists, along with a silver dog tag that swung back and fourth with each step. His black converses made no sound as he handed the teacher a piece of paper and sat in the empty chair in the front of the classroom. The chair the dead prep sat in.

He said nothing. He never moved. He just sat there, quiet. The teacher stared at him, confused and frightened. The preps, the ones who weren’t dumfounded anyway, cried even harder.”

Mr. Greenling cleared his throat. “So-um. Yes. This is quiet a new look for you, Devon. Very…um…dark?”

He was quiet for a moment. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

“My name isn’t Devon, Mr. Greenling.”

The teacher eyed him, completely baffled. So was everyone else. They all leaned in, eager to hear his explanation. He gave a small, wicked smile.

“You can just call me Romeo.”

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