3 My Wizard Principal

Nathan began his journey to school looking onwards through the sunshine with an optimistic smile on his face.

I am kidding,

Nathan would never do such a thing.

Allow me to rephrase that.

Nathan began his journey to school, feeling like the backpack on his shoulders might crush what little commited remains of his spirit.

It was actually no journey at all, seeing that the high school was located just a street away from home.

It was basically just a walk down the road to the "Dinky Donut Bakery", and then a left turn to the high school. However, seeing that the donut store was so close to the school, many students loitered around it in the morning. Even if Nathan was now about five minutes late , there was still a good number of school pupils standing around the store.

Obviously,

Nathan wasn't here intending on conversating so he just kept his head down, avoiding the "awe" of the giant pink Dinky Donut sign.

Even Dinky the mascot was having a hard time jiggling their jelly donut costume around to catch his attention.

I say "their", because no one really knows the gender of a human who would voluntarily be lying underneath such a costume of grotesque amounts of pink and purple. Needless to say, their voice was also muffled under the thick layers of the donut costume, thus making it difficult to identify their tone.

In all honesty if I too were trapped inside a giant donut all day next to a high school full of "teens", I would definitely want as few people as possible to know my identity.

For now all you need to know is that our guy/girl inside the donut, is a very happy donut.

They're always cheering and waving their arms, so freely prancing about the streets attracting numerous more customers .

(Either that or they're calling for help from being eaten alive inside a giant donut costume....ehh, I'll take the latter.)

After successfully bypassing the street full of kids and Dinky the mascot, Nathan stopped in front of the Waymaple High school gates, and took a moment...

No, he did not take a moment to admire the metal work or to calm his excitement for the new experiences which might lay ahead.

Nathan took a moment to breathe.

A moment to gather himself for what horrors he might have to face once inside.

He knows that I will never spare him, and that I shall reveal his every embarrassing moment in this story.

So as you can tell, he is probably extra cautious for what might be put into the record books.

Just imagine this headline :

BOY 17, MURDERED BY MAFIA OF BIRD POOPING GANG ON FIRST DAY OF NEW HIGH SCHOOL.

Unfortunately for me, that did not happen.

Instead Nathan Marquette walked with spaghetti legs through the paved pathway, until he came to the main blue metal doors which lead into the school hallway.

The hallway was buzzing with kids from all grades who were either rushing to class, being pushed into a locker, or catching up on stories from the holidays.

Nathan could feel his palms getting sweatier, as everyone around him seemed to simultaneously stare at him.

Their very presence was suffocating.

To add even more horror to his social anxiety, he had just realized that he had no idea where to go, and also lacked the confidence to ask anyone for directions.

The only thing worse than a tongue-less chicken is a lost and tongue-less chicken. Because...You know, they get eaten by all sorts of things.

I am not too sure why I am comparing Nathan to a chicken. I'm not much of a cannibal either, so do not fear. :)

To Nathan's relief the announcement PA came on.

"All new twelfth graders, please report and wait outside of the principal's office to get your permanent classes.", it echoed through the hallway.

As you know Nathan was here from America, so naturally he had very little prior knowledge on Waymaple High.

He did not even know where the principal's office was.

Luckily for him, there were many sign boards to direct him to the principal's office.

All of the sign boards had little smiley faces with rainbows attached to them. To Nathan, it looked ridiculous.

To me, it still looks ridiculous. Who would possibly be fooled into believing that a high school is a place of happiness?

If only I were allowed to post a picture here. I would show you the sign boards...Unfortunately I cannot, and so I must draw the image for you using the art of grawlix.

For those of you who do not know the term "grawlix", it is simply the collective term for all the weird symbols on your keyboard.

Taa- daa! Cover your eyes, here is my sign board below.

________

l ==>>....==>>....==>> l

l END OF YOUR LIFE l

l :) :) :) :) l

l_______ l

Ofcourse, it did not say "END OF YOUR LIFE", even though Nathan thought so, it actually said,

"To the principal's office and beyond".

The hallways were beginning to empty as pupils made it to their respective classes.

Nathan now found it much easier to navigate through this nightmare.

He passed many lockers, some which were rusting and others which were kept as if painted yesterday.

Glass trophy cases showed off medals and trophies of all sizes and races. Some were big and bronze, others were small, but gold.

The biggest difference from his old school thus far, was that the trophy cases had trophies in them.

Nathan thought to himself that this seems like a pretty successful school.

Not that he was planning on earning any trophy. He was fairly mediocre academically, and like socializing, he was disabled in any physical activity.

As he went on his way, a giant message board had caught his eye.

It's body had many minute pins piercing into it. And all these painful pins just to hold some pages in place.

One message read :

___________

l MUSIC FESTIVAL l

l REGISTER YOUR l

l SKILLZ * - * l

l TODAY! 2019 l

l____________l

Another one said:

___________

| TECHNOLOGY |

| + YOU |

| = DRUNK AND LEARNING | ___________

They were obviously messages from the previous year which had yet to be cleaned up.

"Hey you...", a high pitched voice whispered.

While still pretending to read the message board, Nathan turned his head just a little to the left and right scanning for who or what was calling him, assuming that they were calling him.

"Hey boy with the hoodie.", squeaked the voice, now directly referencing Nathan's attire.

Nathan felt a little less tense, now that he knew that it was him who had definitely been called.

Now you might ask me, "but why does Nathan feel less tense, I thought he hated socializing?". Well yes he does but you see, the only thing worse than being called by a person who you do not know in school, is being called by a person who you do not know but also not knowing that you're the one who is definitely being called, therefore you just stand there looking dumbfounded.

Nathan now turned away from the message board to get a clear view of the surroundings.

The only other living being in the area was a rather small and "nerdish" looking boy sitting on a wooden bench, just a meter away from the message board.

He had an empty chips packet as well as pieces of plastic trash sitting in his curly hair.

The debris seemed almost stuck to his hair.

Mud and other unknown sediments bathed the boy's attire in a brown goo - like substance.

The unknown student stared at Nathan through his thick pair of glasses with smudges of mud on either side of the lense.

"It has to be him.", thought Nathan.

Nathan proceeded to step slowly in the direction of the bench.

"So you're new here aren't you?", the boy spoke up.

"Y-Yeah...", said Nathan with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Well aren't you gonna take a seat then?", asked the boy who was now inspecting Nathan from the bottom up.

"No, well I actually have to be at the principal's office right about now.", replied Nathan trying to escape the boy's unwithering gaze.

"Well where do you think we are now?", asked the boy pointing at a large brown wooden door in front of him.

Nathan looked to where he was pointing only to see a golden plaque stuck to the door which read,

"Principal Blanc".

Nathan felt dumb to have missed such a large door with a golden plaque.

The boy just continued to stare at Nathan, waiting for him to come and sit next to him.

Giving in, that is exactly what Nathan did. He took a seat to the left side of the boy.

As soon as he sat down, he got the stench of rotten fruits and decaying waste.

Judging by the condition of the boy next to him, the smell was undoubtedly coming from him.

Three seconds had passed and Nathan began to have

"The feeling".

The feeling when you sit next to a stranger and have to strike up a conversation of small talk, or you risk the awkward silence settling in until it's too late and everything becomes weird.

"Hey so, how.... how exactly did you know I was new here?", asked Nathan trying to breathe as little oxygen as possible while trying not to make it obvious.

(Remember the air smells like toxic waste).

"It was simple, I could see the fear in your eyes.", replied the unphased boy.

"W-What? What are you talking about?", asked Nathan who was caught off guard by the response.

"Haha, just kidding. You thought I was a wizard or something didn't you?", the boy laughed sounding like an arrogant 9 year old.

Though I must mention, he is no where near 9 years of age.

"Oh....Kay.... I guess so.",

Nathan had no known appropriate responses for such a question as "wizard". And when words fail, you can always count on the "okay I guess" response.

For example someone asks, "How do you feel now that you're finally reading The First Story?"

You can say, "Okay, I guess". Well unless you're actually willingly here, then that's a different story.

"Well then how did you actually know that I was new here, since you're not a...Uh...wizard?", Nathan persisted past the weirdness.

The boy turned and stared directly into Nathan's eyes.

"The PA said that all new twelfth graders should come here, and you're the only other person here. So I figured you're new. I guess there's just nobody else new enrolling this year."

"Oh yeah...that...", Nathan sat awkwardly twiddling his thumbs.

"By the way, my name is Martin Pasquier. You can call me Marty for short...Jus-Just incase you're wondering", Martin shyly stuck out his muddy left hand for a hand shake.

"Uh - I'm Nathan...Nathan Marquette...", Nathan reached out to shake Martin's hand, just barely holding onto his slimy mud covered palm.

Atleast that is what he hoped it was... just mud.

"Hey Nathan..."

"Yeah?", asked Nathan, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Why are your eyes so dark underneath?", asked Martin inspecting Nathan's face.

"Uhmm, Just tired I guess.", answered Nathan, trying to shut down this conversation.

"Well you should really sleep more.", said Martin as optimistic as ever.

"Gee thanks...Now why didn't I think of that.", Nathan might have sounded a little more sarcastic than he hoped to be.

"You're different.", smiled Martin.

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one, you haven't called me a 'garbage truck', and you haven't flushed my head in the toilet yet."

Nathan trying to be sympathetic to Martin's good nature asked,

"That madness. Why would anyone ever do that?"

"That's exactly the same thing I ask myself at night.", said Martin with excitement in his voice.

"So what are you doing out here anyway? I mean you certainly don't look like a twelfth grader.", asked Nathan now feeling more comfortable with his company.

"And you're right!", yelled an excited Martin, as if Nathan had just won a prize show.

Martin continued, "Yes, I'm actually in tenth grade. I'm just here, because I got caught rummaging through the school's trash again."

"Again? Why would you do that?", Nathan was sure of himself this time that Martin Pasquier was on some sort of drug.

Martin swiftly looked left and then right. He then proceeded to wake up and sit back down again.

"What are you do..."

"Shh...they might be listening.", Martin whispered, interrupting Nathan.

"Who might be watching?", asked Nathan looking through the empty hallways.

"The people from beyond...",Martin whispered, waving his right hand through the air to showcase the "beyond" which he was talking about.

"The people from beyond? Martin are you....okay?", asked Nathan with a bit of sarcasm and concern in his voice.

"Look nevermind that. For now, all you need to know is that I've been digging through the school's trash more specifically the giant dumpster outside, to save us. And before you ask, to save us from what...Let me explain.

You see, at the end of every week the janitor collects the trash and throws it out into the giant dumpster outside. I always get to school early and every time on garbage disposal day, I see Principal Blanc pouring something into the trash, and only after that is when the garbage truck is allowed to take it. Heck I have even seen Blanc stop the garbage truck just to pour his mystery liquid into it...", Martin paused to get back some oxygen.

"My conclusion is that Principal Blanc is a wizard.", he finished.

"A wizard? I mean it is a strange ritual, but I don't think anyone, let alone the principal of the school is a 'wizard'.", Nathan tried to talk some sense into Martin.

"Perhaps it's just a science thing",suggested Nathan.

"No no no, I'm sure of it..."

"Boys...", a deep calming voice spoke.

Nathan looked up to see an eloquently dressed man standing tall in front of them with an almost perfect posture.

The man wore a full black and white suit, along with an analogue leather strap watch on his left wrist.

"Mr Pasquier, please wait inside of my office. I shall deal with you later.", said the eloquent man with a sense of elegant authority in his voice.

This has to be Principal Blanc, thought Nathan.

Without saying a word, Martin Pasquier got up and walked past the wooden door with his head down.

The man turned his attention to Nathan who was still sitting on the wooden bench,

"Ah, you must be Mr Nathan Marquette. You may refer to me as Mr Blanc. As you can tell I am the principal of Waymaple High."

"Yes sir... Mr blanc... sir.", Nathan was so used to addressing teachers and principals at his old school as sir/mam that he had fumbled his tongue trying to respond to Principal Blanc.

"Welcome to your new school. I hope that you have found everything pleasing to your academic needs thus far.", smiled Principal Blanc

"Yes uhm...Mr Blanc.", replied Nathan, who was still getting used to calling him 'Mr Blanc'.

"Good. Now in our school we strive to bring up ladies and gentlemen of the future and NOT girls and boys. Thus you are expected to follow a few rules.", Principal Blanc inspected Nathan's grotesque mass of hair under his hood.

His eyes continued to glare at Nathan, demanding acknowledgement of his failure to dress neatly.

Nathan instinctively took off his hood and felt his hair.

"Ye-Yes sir...Mr Blanc. I was going to take care of this in a minute."

"It's okay, seeing that it is your first day, I shall let it slide by this time.", Principal Blanc spoke calmly.

"Now there are just two other rules which you should know about. The first one which is of utmost priority, is that you never ever carry a cellular device on your person during school hours. Such an act of misconduct will be dealt with severely.

The second one is that you never come to my office during school hours. Because that only means one of two things.

You are either in trouble or you are sick and dying. The dying can happen in the nurse's office, am I right?",

Principal Blanc laughed light heartedly.

"Haha, yeah...", Nathan faked an awkward laugh.

He wasn't sure if he should be worried that his new principal has a sadistic sense of humor or if he should be happy about it.

"Now Mr Marquette, I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your time. So here is your new subject arrangement and timetable. Your new form class to report to every morning is Mr Dumont. His class number is, 6-6-D. Just follow the door numbers and you'll be okay.", Principal Blanc smiled, handing over a file of papers to Nathan.

"Now if you would excuse me, I have business to attend to.", Principal Blanc turned to his office and left Nathan to find his way.

Nathan wanted to almost stay and listen to what Mr Blanc was going to do to Martin, but he didn't want to disappoint on the first day and be late for a class. Mr Blanc exhumed a certain amount of respect. Nathan was compelled to uphold this respect.

"What a strange way to start the school year.", Nathan thought to himself.