That Escalated Quickly (Part Five)

My first day wasn't particularly action-packed, what with the comparison of the insanity that was my recruitment process. Though, I did get one significant takeaway that stayed with me for the remainder of my time there.

The school was gigantic.

When I came back from seeing my family and moved in, I got to experience what it was like to get lost in a place. That had never happened before at any school I'd ever gone to.

I got a map on my dorm's bed. I lost it like five minutes after I got everything into my room. I couldn't find where to go to get another one, and I didn't have anyone responsible for showing me around.

Because it was already weeks into the semester, there was no orientation for me. No older student to show me around and give me a crash course in where things were. I was on my own to figure everything out for myself.

It also was too much trouble to stick me with a roommate so late in the game. The company would have been nice, but the fact that I had that much privacy was all the better for me. Still, a roommate could have showed me around too, if we didn't hate each other right after meeting. But eh, rhetorical situations.

The point was, it was a Tuesday morning. I was lost. I was late. The halls were empty, and I didn't understand the building codes on my class schedule.

"All of these goddamn buildings look the goddamn same, inside and out," I said louder than I needed to as I passed through a hall that I knew had classes going. I hoped that a teacher would hear me curse and come out to tell me off so I could ask for some help without looking too stupid.

Even if it was a mutant school where I was going to learn how to use superpowers, it was still a school. You wanted to make as good an impression as possible on the people you were going to spending the bulk of your time with for the next few years.

Especially when they were teenagers. There was no age group in existence inherently crueler than teenagers.

The bell rang, letting students out of class and I just fumed inside my head as I fell in-step with the crowd. There was certainly a unique mix of people going here.

Tall kids, small kids, kids with paws. Kids made of metal, and with alligator jaws.

…

Goddamn you, Dr. Seuss. You evil, catchy rhyme-having son of a bitch.

I was close enough to my dorm room to make an executive decision to head back and spend a few more minutes digging around for my map. It was in there somewhere, mocking me. I knew this to be true. I wanted to find it, if only for the pleasure of setting it on fire later.

When I reached the door however, I found someone standing there waiting patiently. A girl with black hair wearing a blue dress covered with a purple shawl. The most striking thing about her though was the blindfold she had wrapped around her eyes.

Huh. Weird, but still, whatever.

What happened next was not so easy to brush off.

"Hi," I said, figuring that since she was in front of my room she was there for me.

She turned in my direction with a little smile on her face, "Pardon. It's nice to see you again, Bellamy," It was the kind of smile that someone would have when they knew something that you didn't.

The first thing I thought was wondering if everyone was going to know my name before I even introduced myself, "Uh… do I know you?" Were they actually giving me a guide? It was the only way I could figure she knew anything about me.

"No. But we were introduced. Yes, a few times, before I met you later," There went that theory. And what the hell did she just say? "Sorry."

How were you supposed to respond to that? "I have no idea what you just said, but yeah, totally. Nice to meet you?" I put my hand out for her to shake when I figured that she must have been wearing the blindfold for a reason, and that I was an idiot. But before I could take my hand back, she reached out and shook it, "Cool. And you are?"

"Yes. She is Ruth. Sorry."

"It's not a big deal," She was nice enough from the little bit I'd gotten from her. Pretty odd, but everything around there was. Dr. McCoy basically told me to keep an open mind, "What's your next class? Let me take you. I need to figure out where I'm going around here anyway."

So I walked her to her class. No problem, but how the hell did she know where she was going? Was that blindfold see-through? Could she see without seeing, Jedi-style? How much of a dick would I have been to start asking those questions?

"This place is like a prep school or something," I said, in an effort to make some kind of conversation, "I can't believe I don't have to pay to go here. It's crazy."

For some reason, she wasn't very conversational. It just seemed like she was happy to be around me. For her, it wasn't awkward to walk with me at all, even without talking, like she knew me already.

Honestly, it was pretty calming, after I got over the initial weirdness factor.

Eventually we wound up reaching her class, and being the upstanding, chivalrous gentleman that I am (also because she was blind), I escorted her the rest of the way to wherever she was supposed to sit.

"She is looking forward to being teammates, Bellamy. Yes, thank you."

Once again, I didn't understand some of what she was talking about, but she was so polite. I wasn't used to a polite teenager, "…You are the nicest person I've met in forever."

We were going to be friends if I had anything to say about it. Absolutely. Ruth was weird and confusing, but I could handle weird and confusing so long as the person was cool. This girl was good people.

A freezing cold hand set itself on my shoulder, getting my attention and turning me around. Holy shit, walking snowman. Actually, the man in question seemed to be solid ice instead of snow, "Uh, hi."

I was starting to get uncomfortable. My shoulder was going numb.

"You're definitely not in this class," The living ice sculpture said to me, "Sorry, but you've gotta go before the next bell rings. Professionalism and all that."

A teacher! Finally, an excuse to talk to one so I could ask how to get around!

"Hey, really quick. This is my first day. I don't know where I'm going," I rattled off before I could be gently nudged out of the classroom, "What do all of these mean, and where am I supposed to be next?"

He took a moment to look my schedule over and hummed in thought, "Intro to Hardware Engineering with Miss Pryde. You're in luck. First floor of the north wing. You can't miss it, trust me," A big grin then affixed itself to his face, "You'll have to book it if you want to make it since you've got about… 90 seconds."

I turned and ran as fast as I could in the direction that the teacher pointed. He must have been one of the cooler ones in the school (ha), because his response was to laugh at how fast I tore ass out of the room instead of telling me no running in the halls. Was it that hard to believe that I didn't want to miss any of my classes? The variety the school had was much better than my last one.

True to his instructions, I found where I needed to be, and quickly. Finally! I made it to a class!

*BRRRRRRRRRRRING!*

The bell rang just as the door to the classroom was in sight, and just like that, the dream died. That was the fourth class that I'd either missed or been late for today. It sank in that until that point, I'd missed every single one altogether, "Fuck!" I snapped at the top of my lungs, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity-fuck!"

"Hey!"

I stopped and turned to look at a brunette woman's head and torso sticking out of the wall of the classroom. She looked upset at my stream of vulgarity, my disturbing the peace, or both.

"First of all, watch your mouth," She started out, stepping the rest of the way through the wall to confront me. A little young to be a teacher, wasn't she? "Second of all, there's class going on."

"I'm supposed to be in this class," I said lamely, "This is the only class I even made it to today, and I was still fu-… friggin' late."

This was a school. I was a student. Students didn't get to drop f-bombs in front of teachers and get away with it. Even if I was miffed at the way my first day had turned out, it wasn't enough to risk getting my butt chewed out any more than I was going to already.

The lady stared at me for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow at me curiously, "Bellamy Marcher, I presume?"

"Why does everyone know my name?" I asked rhetorically under my breath. It was an integral part of introducing yourself, telling the other person your name, and I was starting to realize how annoying it was to meet new people without doing that part.

It wasn't said quietly enough to keep from being heard, "I had a new name on my roster this morning that I didn't recognize. After you said you were supposed to be here, I presumed you were it. Come on in," With that, she pulled herself back through the wall.

Meeting so many new people in such a short period of time, I was starting to notice a pattern. I was downright awful at making good first impressions. In a place where everyone had superpowers and the ability to hurt me badly, it would have been in my best interests to try and find a way to fix that, as everyone wouldn't be a teacher.

Someone who didn't have that kind of responsibility might try to bloody my nose or set me on fire sooner or later.

Eh, whatever. I had superpowers. Everything would be fine.

Just fine.