Chapter 1

The halls of the very 'ordinary' Bridgeton middle school had the usual light huddle and bustle as the students loitered around waiting for the bell. Two shadows glided across the floor as two boys walked through. One shadow was clearly lagging behind the other as it followed.

"Yo Matthew, I asked you to show me my class not the whole school…" said one of the boys. This boy is assumed to be the one following.

"Yeah, sure, but this way you know your way around so you don't waste your time getting lost" the leading boy called Matthew said as he started to slow down and stopped near a door with a little golden tile. "And this is the principal's office, see ya later" Matthew said as he began to walk away.

"See ya later cous', hope we're in the same class" the boy said as he waved by to his cousin Matthew. This boy was called Noah Collins and he just moved to Bridgeton because he has to live with his uncle's family due to his dad's occupation. Noah is an attractive boy with dazzling rainbow coloured eyes and suave, medium length, blonde hair. He had a fit physique due to being trained in MMA and wrestling by his dad. He wore a navy blue button up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbow. He also wore a pair of black chinos. He had on a pair of white socks and a pair black casual trainers. He had a satchel full of all his new school supplies that was slung over his shoulder.

Noah rose his hand and knocked on the door. A voice from inside said with a disheartened sigh "come in". He opened the door and stepped in. The room was a classic principal's office with a dreary old lady. "So you're the kid that transferred when I'm so close to retirement, as long as you keep your head down and cause no trouble I don't care".

An awkward silence fills the room as the principal only spared Noah a single glance and went back to reading a sheet on her desk. She looked back to him and asked in a dry voice "you going to leave or do you need something?"

"Um, actually, I don't know which class I'm in…" Noah said.

The principal looked down to her desk and moved a couple paper around till she found the one she was looking for. She traced her finger along the text and read it aloud for him "your class is currently in classroom 9, after that just follow the students in your class, your class started a couple minutes ago, now can you leave…"

"Ok ma'am" Noah replied with a sincere looking smile as he left the room. When he got into the hallway he began walking to his class.

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In classroom 9 a teacher was reading a chapter from a well known literary work to the class of bored students.

'Knock, knock, knock'

There was a knock at the door. The teacher stopped and went to the door. The students were brought back from their boredom and looked to the door with curiosity. The teacher opened the door and welcomed the new student in as they stood at the front of the class.

"Okay class, today we are welcoming a new student, make sure to take care of him, you can introduce yourself" the teacher said to the class as she stepped aside for the newcomer. Noah stood at the front and looked into class and saw the familiar face of Matthew, his cousin. He sighed a little as he was relieved he knew someone in his class.

"Hello, I'm Noah Collins, I moved to Bridgeton due to family stuff" Noah said as he gave a small wave. Some students swooned at what Noah said, not because of the words but his appearance. "My cousin's actually in this class, hey Matt'" Noah said to the class ending in a little wave to his cousin. Almost all of the students turned to Matthew as he calmly waved back, though he did so with a strained face.

"Well, anyways, I love to get my blood pumping" Noah said as he punched air, "so I plan to join a few clubs, I love challenges, and my trophies can prove it! I'm into rock so of course I learnt to play the guitar! Though O may not be the most academic I compensate with my sheer tenacity and will! That about all I have for my introduction…" Noah laughed nervously. He turned to the teacher. The teacher introduced herself to Noah, "well, welcome to Bridgeton Middle, Noah. I'm Miss Benitez and this is your science class. Could you please take a seat next to Mr Birch. Nick, please raise your hand".

A short boy raised his hand. The boy didn't have a smile but instead had an awestruck expression with glimmering eyes. He really thought Noah was cool and was set on making him his friend. Noah walked over and took his bag off, setting it down as he sat at the desk. "Hey, nice to meet you Nick, hope we can get along" Noah said to Nick. Nick stammered as he responded "y-yeah, co-cool, cool, that would be cool". Noah chuckled as Nick facepalmed at his own awkwardness.

Another boy sitting on the other side of Nick looked over at the two. A voice rang out to him "Wowza! The kid got eyes like crystals! Makes me want to fuck a rock, or the rock? I think I just want to fuck the rock…"

The boy looked to where the voice came from and looked to the familiar figure of his hormone monster, Maury. The boy began to talk to his monster. "Hey Maury, isn't the new kid cool, like, no offence to Devon but he might be the coolest guy in the grade…"

Maury responded in a slightly more husky tone " well he did say he likes to 'get his blood pumping' and you do a lot of pumping, you could probably get real close to him, plus with his looks he could be a good wing man". Andrew's eyes hardened and focused on Noah. Noah noticed his stare and confused it for an 'I'm judging you and don't think you're shit' look. Noah replied with a toothy, blood thirsty grin. Andrew mistook this for a friendly gesture and grinned back.

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Lunch just began. Noah was walking to the cafeteria with Matthew and Nick as Andrew kind of just followed. The group excluding Andrew were having a lively chat about family as well as the day to day life of a kid in Bridgeton. They got to the cafeteria, got their food and went to sit at a table. When they sat a few kids in the grade started clamouring around.

"Hey, new kid, why'd you move to Bridgeton?" A black boy said. The black boy had his arm confidently on a girl's shoulder. The girl was pretty and seemed really confident and arrogant. Noah narrowed his gaze as he looked at the two, analysing the two and seeing how 'entertaining' they could be. To Noah they both seemed fickle and vain.

Noah smile and responded "well, I'm staying with Matthew's family long term 'cause my dad would be away in service for the Military". Many kids saw this as cool as it showed how manly his dad, and by extension Noah, must be.

"But what about your mum?" This time it was Andrew who spoke up. The kids looked to Andrew briefly but quickly looked back to Noah. Noah's expression darkened but softly faded into a melancholic expression "she's in a better place". Many kids looked to Andrew with scorn as a few offered condolences.

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After lunch was gym class. The boys and girls went to their separate changing rooms.

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Author

See ya next time.