"Cole? Why are you leaving so early?" Zach yawned as he came down the stairs. I quickly shoved on my shoes,
"I need to talk to some of my teachers about my grades." I sighed,
"They won't even be there yet... It's five in the morning for christ's sake." Zach rubbed his eyes, leaning against the railing,
"Yeah, well, I also need to work on stuff, and you guys are really loud in the morning, so I'm leaving."
"Okay, well atleast take a jacket..."
"I know, I'm not stupid Zach."
"I don't know about that, Cole..." He chuckled, but frowned when I didn't laugh along with him, "Hey, I was just joking."
"Well, it's not funny." I grabbed my jacket, and left quickly, slamming the door behind me.
I leaned against my locker, scrolling through my Twitter feed, only looking up when I catch a short girl, who had dyed her hair lime green, "Hi." She smiled softly,
"Hey..."
"Where is everyone else?"
"At home. Sleeping. Or getting ready." I gave her an annoyed glance, moving my attention back to my phone,
"Wait... When does school start?"
"At nine, so in like... three and a half hours."
"God dammit, of course this was one of her pranks." Her face turned bright red, and she lightly kicked the ground, "Sorry for bugging you... but um, can you like.... help me find my classes and my locker?"
"I guess." I sighed, as I knew I didn't have anything better to do, and it wasn't like I didn't need the socialization either, "Can I have your schedule?"
"Oh, y-yeah." She handed me her schedule, which was wrinkled and wet, and I scanned it over,
"Well, your locker is right here." I crouched down, and fiddled with the lock, successfully opening it.
"How did you...?"
"My friend used to have this locker, and besides, it says your combo underneath your locker number anyways." I smiled up at her,
"Used to?"
"Yeah, they had to go into homeschooling."
"They?" She raised an eyebrow,
"Yep. They. They were genderfluid, which is why they ended up moving. Everyone harassed them, and eventually, someone tried to kill them."
"That's..."
"Sick? Yeah, I know." I answered for her when she didn't finish her sentence, "Anyways, our schedules are almost the exact same, except for Advisory, and Science."
"Oh," She sighed in relief, "Cool."
"Mhm. So your advisory is... all the way down the hall from here, and it's on the left. Science is right across from there. I can just come see you after Science, and take you to your other classes if you want."
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Soooo..." I looked at the top of her schedule, "Teagan, why'd you move here?"
"My dad's in the military." She answered, as I handed her back her schedule,
"Ah, okay." I nodded,
"Do you like it here?"
"Nah, not really, but everyone else does, so I wouldn't take my opinion of this place into consideration."
"Well, why don't you like it?"
"I just don't fit in or get along with anyone here anymore." I shrugged, pulling out my phone again.
"Oh. Okay. Thanks for your help...?" She raised an eyebrow, "What's your name?"
"Cole."
"Okay, Cole... Your name is Cole. I really don't want to forget that." She giggled, before going off somewhere, leaving me alone again.
Honestly, that didn't feel too bad. Usually I would clam up, and freak out a little, but I didn't. I carried on a normal conversation, like a normal human being.
I dialed up Paisleigh, excited by my accomplishment, but she didn't pick up, so I decided to call Salem instead, who ended up answering, "Hello...?"
"Salem, guess what I did?"
"What?"
"You're supposed to guess!"
"You finally passed a math test?" Salem offered up, making me click my tongue,
"Ruuude. No, silly, I had a conversation!"
"Oh, that's great." They said, although they didn't seem to be too impressed,
"It's a big accomplishment! I haven't talked to anyone since you and Paisleigh left!"
"Well, good job then. I'm proud of you, bud... I just gave you a thumbs up as if you could see it. That's embarrassing..."
"I totally saw it." I laughed, "How are things going with your mom?"
"Well, she's finally starting to call me Salem, so that's a start."
"Yeah."
"Have you talked to Paisleigh recently?"
"Uh, yeah, why?"
"Nothing, she just... said some shitty things, about herself, and about me, and hasn't answered any of my calls. It's just worrying me a little bit."
"Oh, well, she's fine from what I know. She was a little snippy yesterday though. Next time we talk I'll try and see what's up."
"Alright, thanks. I appreciate that, Cole."
"Yeah, no problem... Why were you guys fighting?"
"Honestly, I don't remember... Anyways, I've got to get working here in a few, I'll talk to you later?"
"Yep, bye Salem."
"Mhm, bye." They hung up the phone, and I sighed. Two conversations today. Sure, I know Salem really well, but let me be proud, and let me believe that maybe, just maybe, something is gonna go my way today.
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