An unexpected first meeting

Damon

This first day in school has really been a mess. I'm walking currently in a circle before my house and I have two major problems. The first one is how to get safely in my house without being discovered by my mom. The second problem is pretty similar to the first because it's related to my mom as well. What should I tell my mom if she asks how my day was? I really loathe lying especially since I have more than one first-hand experience with people telling lies.

I'm still deep in thoughts when I hear a car approaching and recognise that it's our family's car. Thank god for that. I've solved half of my problems now. I grab the opportunity and run into the house before my mother discovers me. I skip the stairs up to the bathroom for the second time today and take a face cloth out of the bathroom shelf. I rub my face till it turns red and all the makeup is gone.

The sun already disappeared behind the mountains the moment mum calls me for dinner. The food smells really good. I guess she has cooked some kind of pasta. And indeed, there is a huge plate of lasagne on the table. Italian food is incomparable.

"Let's dig in" I say as soon as I sit down.

After dinner I walk up to my room, which is located the furthest away from the stairs. Because of that, I technically have to walk longer than anyone else in my family. It's technically a fact but nobody cares about such little things. Not even myself. There are bigger problems in this world aside from having to take five steps more than the rest of the family. One of them is called school.

I really can't believe that I have to do homework on my first day after going to class. To be honest, since I attend a renowned school now, I haven't expected anything less. I think my previous school in the city was much easier to manage which leads to me having plenty things to do now.I have to study really hard now to keep up my grades in all subjects. A few long, sleepless nights are awaiting me. On the other hand I don't need any homework on top of that. So Ms Hunter, this is a message for you. Please refrain from giving homework every single day. I know it's easy for you to leave your work to us students and do nothing yourself. That's because in history one needs to read many texts and I think she wants us to read all of them at home.

Let me just hope I don't jump out of the frying pan into the fire in this school.

My phone suddenly starts ringing and I can see it's Max who's calling me. My 'friend' of my old neighbourhood.

"Yoah buddy what's going on?" he asks as soon as I pick up the phone.

"I'm surprised you called me out of nowhere. I sometimes wondered if you're still alive" I say

"Haha I'm sorry Damon, I know we have been growing apart, but I still wanted to ask you how you're doing. Tell me something about your life. About your new school and please send me some pictures of your house. I bet it looks completely different there". To be honest I am having a smile on my face since the moment Max said this. I know for sure he never hated me but because of my rising fame, he kept his distance from he. He disliked the fact that I chilled with bullies, which I completely understand. I'm really shocked he called me. Luckily, that just means we still have a good relationship with each other, but I wouldn't go as far as to call us friends.

Also, I assume we won't be calling each other daily the next year but once or twice a month would be nice.

We talk for about an hour before we say our goodbyes. I'm more or less fine and Max sounds happier than ever, so I have no complains.

After doing my homework, taking a long and hot shower and brushing me teeth I have time to think about the remaining days of the week. I really hope all the students get annoyed from playing with me and continue on with their own lives. Maybe they lose interest in me when they see my 'ugly' face every day. The word 'ugly' reminds me of how much I want the grab each of their heads and smash them into the ground.

How much better do the bullies think they look. In my opinion they are the ugliest creatures on earth. It's their character which makes them ugly.

Who even defines beauty? People have almost no control over how they look, so why should you judge people by their looks? I feel really bad for the ones who get laughed at because their face doesn't fit in with the beauty standards. I have never understood this trend.

Unfortunately, I feel the difference in my treatment when people used to think I have a handsome face vs with the way I look now. is like the difference from day and night or Tom and Jerry. This proves me once again why my faith in humanity is long lost.

There's no use worrying about this topic because there's no solution. So I'm going to bed now. I want to at least try to fall asleep which seems impossible after everything that happened today.

This week passed by quicker than I thought. The days follow a certain pattern. Waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, putting make up on, going to school. Being laughed at in school, eating lunch alone, going back home. And finally eating dinner, pretending to be fine, finishing my homework and going to bed. And today it happens to be Friday.

It feels like I have been living in Flatville since a century. I've already gotten used to the teasing of my classmates. In any case it bothers me less with every day. I might be a psycho because I think I prefer the teasing here over the flattering of the city.

Oh shit! it's already 8 a.m. I need to make a run if I plan to get to school in time. I reach the bus stop just in time and directly walk through the doors. I'm panting really hard as I take my seat in the second last row of the bus. After some time, I realise that today, people don't look at me in a strange way. My hope is that they finally get bored of me.

I think I must be dreaming. I'm being left alone since I entered school today. No bullies are after me and my classmates are ignoring me. My mood starts to lift as It's lunchtime and I go on my way to buy lunch. Today I want to try to buy something in the canteen again. The food here looks like it came out of a cow stomach but it actually doesn't taste as bad as it looks. Nevertheless, the food is certainly not cooked by a five-star Michelin.

I carry my tray out of the canteen and eat my food in the garden because the weather is phenomenal. The September sun is hitting me in the face and there is a warm breeze going around. I wonder if today is the day that I'm going to take a look around in the town and go hiking for some hours. I may have changed the way I look but I still want to keep fit and healthy. I haven't done any sports yet since I arrived in Flatville and I start to feel uncomfortable about it. My mood was rising continually and is now skyrocketing as I think about a jog in the forest with the trees providing me the shadow I need.

Today may become the first time I'm looking forward to my afternoon classes with the lovely Ms Hunter. And I'm right. I manage to listen to the first two quarters of the lesson, which is more than usual, before my eyes start to gaze outside. I can see some football players passing the football back and forth and some others are running laps to improve their endurance. There are also some students playing basketball and volleyball on the court but these sports were never my passion and I plan to continue ignoring them.

Half an hour passed and with each passing minute I feel more uncomfortable. I really need to go on toilet now. I obviously have no idea if I need to ask the teacher for permission first because I never paid attention to it before. I hate myself. Usually, I don't care if I just embarrass myself by asking for permission when it's not required but not today. it would just unnecessarily draw all the attention to me. Again.

I decide to take the risk in just walking out of the room. I am just about to sigh in relief when I hear a very familiar voice behind me

"Mr. Wilson, where do you think you are going in the middle of class?" Ms. Hunter asks.

"I really need to go on toilet Ms. Hunter" I speak in a soft voice.

"Does today's youth not have any decency anymore ore why aren't you asking if you're allowed to pay a visit to the toilet before you move your butt out of this room" she angrily replies.

Did this old woman just swear? My jaw drops and I hear some chuckles here and there. Can this drama please stop. I sometimes forget that this school is very old-fashioned and maintains traditions nobody else cares about. As for example asking for permission to go on toilet.

"I deeply apologize for my impudence. It will not happen again. May I have the permission to leave the class for the toilet please?" I spit our sarcastically and I guess Ms Hunter notices the irony in my voice because she stares holes into my body with her cat-like eyes. If looks could kill I guess I would have died today. I turn around and start my walk towards the bathroom.

I want to ram a hole into the wall now. Today was a perfect day but it's to good to pass by without any incident. I'm pretty sure my classmates are going to spread the news that I screwed up throughout the whole building, as they are all fans of gossip. Even I like gossips but not when I am the talk of it.

I feel like a teenager with critical mood swings these past new weeks. It's like you suffer from mood swings, even when it's the best day of your life, it just needs some tiny inconvenience and the leaves turn around. An example; A day, where I feel like I just went to Disneyland, enjoyed the rollercoasters and also happened to bump into Eminem on the train ride home. But unfortunately, my bag got stuck between two train seats when I tried to get off the train and I had to pull it out with brute force. Then I started crying and everything good got forgotten the only thing that remains in my mind is the bad memory.

I know I'm exaggerating but I don't care. I stomp along the hallway and I tear open the bathroom door. Luckily nobody is inside, because that would worsen the situation quite a bit. That would be extremely embarrassing.

I finish my business quickly and wash my hands. I stare at myself in the mirror and realise that I would really love to wash my face clean now. First and foremost, to cool down my nerves but also in general for feeling colder. It's midsummer and it's like 35°C outside. In order to not ruin my makeup, I refrain from doing it. Instead, I put my hands under the cold, refreshing water and rub it gently around my neck and the start of my hairline.

I'm considering if I should go back to class or not but in the end, I decide to walk back to my seat. I literally would have no excuse as to why I didn't come back to class if the teacher asks me and I don't want another drama happening. However, I really take my time on the way back and stroll from left to right, look through the windows and read the uninteresting news on the 'information board'. Simply as a small sign of rebellion.

I'm walking and humming when suddenly, out of nowhere I notice quick, small steps and before I even have time to think about what's happening, an elbow hits me right in my face. More precisely the elbow crushes right on my nose. I promise, if anyone of these insects in a human body tries to harm me once again, I won't hold back to beat the crap out of them. Screw my disguise, screw everyone I'm going to get back to my old self.

I start swearing "You insolent, insignificant piece of shi–"when a small hand with slender fingers appears in my sight of vision.

I don't know why that is, but my words got stuck in the middle of my throat and I'm unable to utter another word. I'm literally speechless right now. Only after a few seconds that felt like an eternity I realise that I'm still staring at the hand in front of my face. I quickly avert my gaze and glare at the floor.

"Ahem, a- are you okay? Can you stand up alone?" a tiny voice mutters.

Believe me, I have no idea why I'm doing what I'm doing right now. Without answering his question, I grab his hand and just pull at it. I realize to late what I just did when I feel a heavy weight crashing my body. Schoolbooks are getting scattered everywhere and my forehand crashes with the chin of this mysterious person.

"Ouch!" we both exclaim at the same time.

I have no idea what just came over me… I have absolutely no excuse for my behaviour.

I look at the face that's just a few inches away from mine and search for this person's eyes. As soon as I find them, all I can see in them is confusion. Again, for the second time in this short period of time my body freezes and my freeze is followed by a few seconds of absolute silence.

In front of me, or rather on top of me is a boy around my age. There's nothing worth mentioning about his face. He has big, round and brown eyes which are currently studying my face. I can't see much because half of his face is covered by his bangs. Also, his glasses are really distracting me for some unknown reason.

As if he was struck by lightning, he jolts and struggles up from the ground. Without any hesitation he collects his books and paper. He looks stressed.

I too pull myself up off the floor and shake the dirt off my clothes.

A thought starts crawling into my brain. Maybe it wasn't this boy's intention to hit me in the face. Firstly, he looks really confused right now and also, he spoke in a gentle voice earlier. His behaviour is anything but that of a bully. Rather the opposite. I don't know if it was intentional but I should at least apologize for pulling him on the ground.

"Hey listen up, I'm rea-" But the mysterious person already continued on his way and I see him running away.

"At least tell me your name" I shout, yet it is hopeless as the boy already reached the other end of the corridor. I look after him and I feel a little tug in my heart.

This incident makes me change my mind. I don't feel like going back to class anymore. That's why I make a 180° turn and walk to a wooden bench in the garden in front of the school building. Listlessly, I watch a few bees making their rounds and pollinate a few flowers. Okay I might be wrong because to be honest, I have no idea about bees and I can't do much with plants either. Maybe the time of pollution is long been over and the bees are just enjoying the sweet nectar of the flowers.

For some odd reason, the brown eyes of this seemingly ordinary boy seem to hunt me right now. Even if they were hidden behind the thick glasses and behind some of his hair, I can't seem to forget about them. And I don't think I'm able to forget them anytime soon.

It makes me furious. I mean, come on Damon. What's wrong with you?