The morning school bus was a monster with glowing yellow eyes which cut through the fog with an angry smile. Xavier stood alone at 7:30 am, dressed in a button up collared shirt and distressed jeans. He wore a fashionable skinny cut gray tweed jacket with a proud Harvard Elementary lapel pin.

He was old enough to meet the school bus alone, tough enough that he didn’t need to hold his step mom’s hand, and he didn’t need to prove it to anyone but himself.

The school bus appeared around the forest lined corner, those eyes glowing between the green flowing pines and purred to a halt in front of him. The doors opened like a great maw, mud and rocks stuck to the bottom stair spilling out like blood and guts from a large cat's mouth.

An old fat jolly woman with a leather cap and a broad smile pushed the door open with a lever. She spoke with a Celtic brogue. “Hey kiddo, you’re Xavier?” She paused for a second as Xavier stood there and looked up at her. “Well, come on out of the cold.”

He took a few steps up the stairs and looked over the back of the first line of bench seats. He saw seven kids in various states of sleeping, reading, or dazing out the window ignoring everything around them.

He walked past two girls that looked up at him and whispered.

They were older girls, probably eighth graders. They looked so big and mature, if they stood up they would tower over him. They had that certain power that only older girls held, fascination and fear of rejection filling him as his heart pulled up into his throat.

“Hey, you’re a new kid!” They called out as he passed.

“Y-Yea, I’m new. I’m… from Chicago”

The bus driver called out “Don’t stop and stare at the pretty girls now, take a seat so we can get going”

The girls giggled. He walked passed and sat a few benches behind them, cheeks flushed. He thought he could hear the words “Lanky” “Skinny” or “Sissy” as he passed, the words he was always afraid of.

He gulped, too nervous to talk to anyone as he rode in silence. The school bus filled about half full, until it dumped all the children out at Hale Yanson Middle School.

The school was built with modern contemporary sensibilities, cinder block walls covered in stucco and steel support beams supporting overhanging roofs. It was shaped like an oblong oval, reminding him of a school that was designed in the 50’s and published in a pulp magazine as a 'school of the Future'!

It was easy to know where to go. The crowd of children, those older girls and the kids whose gaze he desperately tried to avoid all followed the same path into the large steel and glass quadruple double doors. The main hallway and cafeteria had already filled with the kids who had finished their breakfast, trays half empty on the benches where they sat.

There was an air of commonality at all the tables: Those kids knew each other. There were the art kids, the fashion kids, the sports kids, and the cowboy kids. The goth kids sat across from the scene kids, staring at each other. Someone, Xavier assumed a teacher, strung a a line of yellow police tape reading “Do not cross” separating them to keep them from fighting. They looked exactly the same, of course, but the ‘scene kids’ had more colorful hair.

Finally Xavier found a table with an empty seat.

“Can I sit here?” His book bag hung off the shoulder of his tweed jacket as he looked at the three other kids sitting there.

“Of course! Nooo problem!” The blond girl spoke, who had a broad smile, her hair in pig-tails with red ribbons tied in them, wearing a black and red lumberjack shirt unbuttoned with a black t-shirt under. Xavier gave a little smile as he sat down across from

“Thank you! I’m Xavier. I just moved here from Chicago. Xavier reached inside of his jacket, his hand shaking slightly as he pulled out an off white eggshell business card reading “Xavier Raymond, Attorney At Law” He handed one out to each of the kids.

“Nice to meet you!”

The pigtail haired girl across from him smacked her lips loudly as she chewed gum. She grabbed the business card, and looked at it with a funny smile before she stuffed it into her pocket.. “Yea…. thanks! I’m Whitney.”

Next to her was a tall kid with broad shoulders wearing a loose black t-shirt, with a slightly smaller yellow t-shirt underneath, short buzzed hair, and a darker complexion “This is my little brother Hog. Brother from another mother!” She let out a little giggle as she elbowed him.

Hog took a business card from him and stared at it, speaking with a soft higher pitched cracking voice that didn’t quite fit his large frame. “Yea, Nice to meet you”

Next to Xavier was a red haired girl with light skin and freckles. Her lips covering her teeth except for a small flash of braces as she smiled. She spoke with a Celtic brogue. “Hey, I’m Sophie.” She took the business card and puts it into her shirt pocket. She was wearing a white button up with a small patch over it’s pocket showing a unicorn and a lion fighting on a field of green.

Hog looked at him, leaning forward, his big lanky body looking larger with the oversized t-shirts hanging from his shoulders. “You’re from Chicago? Yeezus land right? You know about O Block? Damn.. you seen a stabbing?” That same cracking voice spoke out, over excited and with abundant gusto at the idea of blood guts violence and fame, making references to people, places and culture that Xavier didn’t recognize.

“Uuuhhh… I mean…” Xavier looked at the other kids and paused for a moment. “I’m from the north east side really, like suburbs to be honest.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“On god, you from the burbs? Damn.. that’s corny, not like Chiraq. I thought you were hard for a sec”

“Don’t listen to him, we’re from Seattle, he just likes drill music acting like he’s all hood” Sophie poked her elbow into him playfully.

“Yo I’m not acting, I’m real! Yeat’s my homie, He’s coming up in that world he’s my role model! He’s got moves, blowing up on tick tock, lying for fun!!” Hog spoke excitedly, making references Xavier didn't understand.

She giggles, eyes flashing at Xavier before she turned and spoke to her brother.

“Oh yea, you’re so hard you cried at the last Spiderman movie”

“Shut up, stop telling people about that”

“Ok Kids, eyes up here, mouths shut, pay attention!” A booming voice interrupted them.

After the room went silent Whitney muttered under her breath “Doesn’t the first day of school just make you want to gouge your eyes out?” which was just loud enough for the entire room to hear, and a little laugh erupted from the kids.

In front the Principal were three folding tables with large laminated numbers taped to their front and other adults sitting behind them.

She was short for an adult, black hair coming down to her shoulders in a bob cut, heavy shadow around her eyes and a little too much lipstick and blush. What Xavier noticed most was her striking purple eyes.

“Thank you for your attention, I’m happy to see all your smiling faces! I’m Principle Williams. For those of you returning here, thank you for following the rules and being a great addition to this school! For those of you that this is your first day, welcome! I hope this is a great first day for the rest of your student career here at Hale Yanson! We’re here to teach you how to learn, how to dream, and how to imagine the future that you want to live in! We have your classroom assignments, please line up in four lines according to the first letter of your last name. A through G at table one, H through L at table two, M through Z at table Three!”

Sophie sighed and looked at the other two kids, her eyes tired. “Well, here we go!"

Xavier exited the line with a small paper in his hand listing his classes, their location and their teachers. He stared at the list, reading and rereading it as he walked down a hallway.

Hog appeared next to him, looking over his shoulder. "Yo you got gym your first class too?" Xavier was startled, but relaxed as they walked together.

"Mr. Mavros destroys me. My first day last year I got put in the maskot costume because I forgot to bring gym clothes! Like, on god I think that man hates me."

Xavier paused. "Wait. We're supposed to bring gym clothes? Our first day?"

"My dude, didn't you read your student handbook? You're a lawyer right? Yo… you signed it without reading it!" Hog slapped him on his back, almost making him trip.

Xavier steadied himself. "Student handbooks are like iTunes, it's all the same thing, if I read every terms and conditions I signed I'd never get anything done."

Hog walked with a confident gait, his shoulders and arms moving with each step. He brought his hand up to his face, rubbing his chin as he hood walked down the hall.

"Listen, you're new here so I'll jump you in dog. This place, not just the school but the whole town is like, crazy, like Britney spears shave your head trippin. These teachers are not what they seem, and the whole town is haunted. You gotta watch your step, eyes locked when you turn a corner"

They turned a corner in the hallway. Mr. Mavros stood in front of the entrance to the locker room. His arms bulged as he clenched them, his calves looked like they could flip a car by themselves, and his shoulders were almost as big as his bald head perched on a thick vein bulging neck.

"Hello Hog. Who's your friend?"

Hog's confidence drained from him, his swagger stopped, his vibes ruined. "He's a new kid."

"I'm Xavier." He felt small next to hog, but this feeling was completely overshadowed by how diminished he felt with Mr. Mavros. He took another business card, his hand quivering as he offered it to his new gym teacher.

Mr. Mavros stared at the business card. His eyes darted between Hog and Xavier, a curlish smile growing on his lips.

"You bring gym clothes this year?"

"Yo I ain't wearin' that suit no cap I wont be caught lackin"

His eyes, dark and demented, turned to Xavier. "And you?"

Kids entered the lockers behind them as the scene unfolded, a few glancing their way and cringing.

"Yea… I forgot." The business card slips from his hand and falls on the floor.

"You didn't read the student handbook that you signed?" Mr. Mavros seemed to loom larger with his accusation.

"I… I didn't think it was important"

"Ha!" Mr. Mavros let out a gleeful laugh and spoke in a mocking tone. "You didn't think it was important. And yo ucall yourself a lawyer. If you had read the handbook, you'd know what comes next. Hog?"

Hog snapped to attention. "Yes Mr. Mavros."

"What do we do when a student forgets their gym clothes on the first day of class."

Hog looked down at Xavier, and then back to Mr. Mavros.

"Yo Mr. Mavros, Xavier's a new kid, like you know he's just having his first day in Entropy and like he's lackin on those gym clothes but can't you just let it slide or…"

Mr. Mavros barked out his name. "Hog!!" Hog seemed to retreat into himself and stand at attention. He spoke his question again. "What do we do to students that forget their gym clothes on the first day of school?"

Hog looks down at Xavier again, his eyes apologetic. He looks at the floor before responding. "They get put in the suit."

"When a student forgets their gym clothes on the first day of school, they get to wear the suit." He spoke derisively, nodding his head, that curlish smile still plastered on his face. "I'm sure you remember where it is. Show your new little friend his suit"

"Yes Mr. Mavros." Hog sighs a sigh of relief, walking into the locker room, unknowingly stepping on Xavier's business card on the floor.

They passed kids in the middle of changing, all of whom seemed to understand the walk of shame they were doing. The school mascot was stuffed in a closet at the back of the school locker room.

He saw the school's Mascot, a large squirrel with a big fluffy tail attached at the hip, a thick goofy cloth tongue slipping from it's mouth, and one eye attached to it's head with a large bouncing wire spring. His body was covered in ratty denim overalls that looked like they could fall apart at any moment.

"Well here he is. 'Roadkill joe'" Hog stood in the doorway, staring at the beast in front of them. "Yo they dry cleaned it after I used it, but it's still rank. Shower after you wear it dog." He reached out and slapped Xavier's shoulder, then left.

Xavier stared at the beast. "Damn… caught lackin, and now this."