CHAPTER 3

"Well, looks like another day in paradise," Travis muttered dryly as the school appeared through the bus window. The same old square, concrete block he was forced to spend half his day in learning about stuff that fizzled through one ear and popped out the other. He sighed deeply, wondering if today was going to be a good or bad day. Travis liked to consider himself an optimist but he had a few pessimistic attitudes that sort of tipped the balance. For example, he'd like to think this was going to be a good day, but it was almost always a bad day so it stood to reason that today would be a bad one too.

       He picked up his backpack as people started filing out. "What do you think, bud-," Travis said to empty air, his sitting buddy already halfway down the bus. "Ah, boring conversation anyway."

       "Most one-sided ones are."

       Travis turned to see one of his least favorite people in the world smirking at him. Andrew, star quarterback, all-around ladies' man, and top jerkwad. Oh, and Travis's brother. He was a main contributor to Travis's pessimistic attitude. And yet sadly, not the main contributor.

       "What a loser," Andrew laughed and left with his posse of equally as bad jerkwads.

       "Ah brothers," Travis said. "What would we do without them? Feel better about ourselves?"

As he hopped off the bus, he popped in his headphones, humming along to Miracle by The Score as he walked through the school entrance. He found music to be a good way to distract himself from the negative factors in his life, allowing himself some moments of calm in a sea of chaos. So, naturally, he listened to music as often as he could.

He made his way to his locker, tapping his fingers to the beat of the music. As he did, he passed the bathroom and felt the familiar urges appear in his mind.

Did you wash your hands this morning? the voice asked.

Yes, he replied.

Are you sure? Maybe wash them again, just in case.

No, I don't need to. Leave me alone. He tried picturing in his mind how exactly he had washed his hands about an hour ago to try and quiet the voice but of course that memory had faded, leaving him unsure and making the voice stronger. He could practically feel the uncleanliness in his hands. He turned up the volume on the song, hoping that would drown it out.

Ten minutes later, he left the bathroom, trying to remember how he washed his hands clearly, before heading to class. Unfortunately, due to his washing time he was one of the last to arrive in his class and his heart plummeted as he saw the only open seat was right next to Maximilian Dredden.

"Agh, could this day get any worse?" he said to himself. "And don't answer that!"

He plopped down right next to Dredden who barely looked over at him. Good, that was good. Maybe they could go the whole class without even acknowledging each othe-

"That Fuentes girl is a mockery to the ideals of this school."

Well, there went that plan. Travis sighed, preparing for Dredden's tirade. The whole school was aware of them. They were exhausting.

"I know this school like the back of my hand," Dredden said and "Every nook and cranny is known to me. Every detail logged in my memory. Its history, its legacy, its financial records…"

"How'd you find those out? Actually, never mind, I don't think I want to know."

"And yet, they continue to hand off the student liaison position to that…that…ingrate Fuentes. I know more about this school than her. Than anyone else, for that matter, even that idiotic membrane we have for a principal. And yet he still refuses me the position."

"Well, here's a thought. Could it be your tone? Or your word choice? Or even just your personality, cause honestly they each have a tendency to set people off."

"But nooooo," Dredden drawled, ignoring Travis completely now. "They continue to parade around Miss Diversity, Gabriela Fuentes, pandering to their audiences at how inclusive they are."

"Actually, I think it's the mixture of all three that's the problem here."

"I just passed her and that new student chatting about how to make friends here." He snorted, as if making friends were beneath his notice. "How is that important in the school curriculum?"

"Dude, seriously, who cares? It doesn't matter anyway."

"Doesn't matter?" Dredden faced him now, finally acknowledging him. Travis inwardly cursed for speaking up. "Does your brain work at all, Stroneman? Next year, when colleges start knocking on our doors, they're going to be looking at everything. And when they come to this school, some students get handpicked to give them a tour." He gave Travis a sneer as he looked him up and down, clearly thinking Travis wouldn't make the cut. "Those are our opportunities to show ourselves off, make ourselves look good. And my chances will not be ruined by some second-place, two-bit, Mexican girl. I mean, look at her extracurriculars? LGBTQIA society? What's the point of that? Do they just sit around talking about how they all came out?"

"As always, it is such a pleasure talking with you Dredden," Travis said glumly. He wondered if he could pay someone to switch places with him, but he didn't think two quarters or a half-eaten Milky Way would get him very far.

"I mean, it's practically as useless as that comic book society you tried to get started. As if anyone reads comic books these days anyway. No extracurriculars should focus on the important stuff, activities colleges actually pay attention to. Like debate team. Now that is an important…"

"Alright, everyone settle down," Mr. Warners announced, standing up. Travis sighed in relief as Dredden's tirade came to an end. He spent the rest of the class looking at the clock or dodging Dredden's hand which shot up like a missile every time a question was asked.

"Well that was dreadful," he muttered to himself an hour later as he walked out the class. He had a free period now so made his way to the atrium where there was already several small gatherings of friends spaced across the steps. Naturally, he sat at the bottom by himself.

"Yep, just another day in paradise." He sighed as he reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the comics he'd brought. Vader Down, the mega Star Wars crossover event after the Disney acquisition and his favorite Star Wars comic of all. If anything could lift his mood, it was this.

The second he opened the first page, he was lost in it, flung back into the galaxy far, far away. The world around him tuned out, just background noise now. This is what he lived for, just getting lost in good story. Which was a pretty sad thing to live for but it was his life so, whatever.

Ever since he'd read the Adventures of Tintin as a child, Travis had had a soft spot for comic books. Then, when he'd read the comic sequels to The Last Airbender series, he'd fallen in love with them, now a massive collector of all sorts of comic books. And he was utterly alone in that love, most people seeing it as childish or too nerdy. He could talk for hours about how great they were but no one wanted to listen. Madison and Sumin could only tolerate so much and his mom only a little more. And talking about it on his blog wasn't really the same (plus he only had 4 readers).

He was a few pages into it when he noticed out of the corner of his eye someone walking up to him. He looked up and saw it was a large kid with short-cropped hair and muscles that looked as big as Travis's head. What could he want? Was this one of Andrew's initiation into his posse ceremonies again? He tensed, preparing to run.

"Uh…can I help you?" he asked as the kid came to a stop in front of him, his large frame towering over him and forcing Travis to crane his neck.

"Is that what I think it is?" the kid asked.

Travis looked at the comic. "It's a comic book, man," he said. "They're pretty popular."

"No, I know that. I mean, is that the comic I think it is? The Vader Down collection?"

Travis blinked, not expecting that question. "Uh, yeah it is."

"No way," the kid muttered, taking a seat next to him. He reached for the comic and Travis paused for a second before handing it over. He was worried this was some strange prank but no, this guy was genuinely interested in the comic, looking it over reverently. "How did you get this?" he asked. "I've been looking all over for this for over a year but I can't find any for a cheap price."

"Oh, that's not really a problem for me," Travis replied. "My dad makes some good money and he doesn't really notice if some of it goes missing. Or that I know his credit card information."

"Can I borrow this?" the kid asked.

Travis stared at him, assessing. He seemed legit, but Travis had never met another comic book fan his age and he didn't want to get his hopes up yet. "What's your favorite comic book series?"

The kid frowned, thinking about this. "Superhero, indie, or other?" he asked.

Travis couldn't help but smile a little. "That's a good answer. Uh…what's other?"

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," the kid replied. "IDW Publishing's series. Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman's run was fantastic, especially the Invasion of the Triceratons arc. Just epic action that brings everything I love about the weirdness of the TMNT world together."

"Absolutely. I mean, my favorite is City at War just cause they end it in such in a great way."

"True. So, Vader Down?" the kid asked, pointing at the comic.

"Oh yeah. Take it. Read it." Travis handed it over. "I'm Travis by the way."

"Franklin," the kid replied, taking his hand. "Nice to meet a fellow comic book lover."

"You have no idea," Travis said, sighing. "There aren't many of us."

"No there are not," Franklin agreed. He moved to open the comic when he stopped and then turned back to Travis. "Who's your favorite superhero?"

Travis couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Marvel, DC, or other?"

And that was how they spent the free period, sitting in the atrium and sharing in their mutual love of comics. The Vader Down collection lay between them, unnoticed as they talked. Travis, having only gotten into comics in the last few years, learned that Franklin had always been a fan, taking after his father who apparently had a massive collection. They talked their favorite stories, favorite characters, writers and artists, crossovers and events, until the bell for lunch rang out, startling both of them. Neither had realized how much time had passed.

"You want to continue this over some good food," Travis said. "I think it's burger day."

"Yeah," Franklin smiled. "I think that'd be good."

They both made there way towards the doors, joining the throng of students heading to lunch.

"You know Franklin, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Casablanca? Really?"

"You got it? Damn, this really is the start of a great friendship."