In the beginning of the block stood a house not of brick, but of wood. It stood out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood, akin to the black sheep of the area. Everyone on the block was familiar with the family inside. They were infamous for the ruckus at night and famous for their underlying kindness.
At 7:30 in the morning, a white car parked outside the house. The young man in the passenger seat leaned out, noting the house number. "21," he confirmed with a nod. The driver honked impatiently as Borus emerged from the front door. Dressed in navy blue pants and a maroon shirt, with a bag slung over his shoulder, Borus descended the steps. The driver unlocked the car door, inviting Borus inside.
"Just to be sure, you're Borus?" asked the chubby man behind the wheel. "Yes, I'm Borus. Thank you for picking me up, Mr. Robert," Borus replied gratefully.
"Don't mention it. From now on, we're family, so relax," Robert said, while flailing his arm. The car, an SUV, had Borus seated in the rear with another youth who appeared younger. In the second row sat Robert's children—the chubby boy devouring chips and his delicate-looking sister gazing out the window. They seemed quite young, with the sister likely in 5th grade and her brother in 2nd grade.
In the front seat sat an older boy, possibly in 12th grade, next to Mr. Robert, who wore a joyful smile. "Let's all introduce ourselves, now that we have someone new," Robert announced cheerfully, shifting the car into gear with an assertive turn of the wheel.
"My name's Brandon, and I'm in 12th grade," the young man in the passenger seat introduced himself confidently, his voice deep and resonant. Brandon and Borus wore matching school uniforms, suggesting they attended the same school.
"I'm Randal, in 6th grade at Star Sky School," the youth beside Borus stated softly. Borus noticed Randal's wrinkled shirt and pants, and his worn shoes with mysterious red stains. After Randal spoke, an awkward silence followed, broken only by the siblings whispering and pointing at each other, hesitant to introduce themselves.
Feeling the need to ease the tension, Borus spoke up to introduce himself. "I am Borus, and I go to 9th grade in Star sky School". After Borus finished his introduction, the thick fog of awkwardness still lingered. It was now the siblings' turn, and they kept pointing at each other. "Fiona and Michal, introduce yourselves," Mr. Robert said while taking another sharp turn on the winding street.
The siblings decided to play rock-paper-scissors to determine who would go first. Fiona won all three rounds with two scissors and one rock. Michal sighed and introduced himself reluctantly. "Hi, my name is Michal, and I am currently attending 2nd grade at Star Sky School." Michal's voice grated on Borus; it had the high-pitched squeak common to kids his age, but also carried the entitled tone of a child spoiled by his father's money. Then, Fiona introduced herself. "My name is Fiona, and I am currently attending 5th grade at Star Sky School." Fiona was as delicate as she looked. She introduced herself pleasantly, with no arrogance in her voice, unlike her brother. Her voice had a pleasant, soothing quality.
By the time Fiona finished her introduction, they had arrived at their destination. Star Sky School was larger than Borus had expected. Though it lacked the grandeur of public schools, for an institution that ran on tuition and donations, it appeared decent, at least on the outside.
Star Sky School had two sections: one for girls and one for boys. Borus was not surprised, having previously attended Star Sky and experienced this setup firsthand in 7th grade.
The SUV parked in front of the boys' entrance, where the principal stood, greeting all the students with a warm smile. Borus was never a fan of Principal Jacob; his words rarely matched his actions. He would say one thing and do something completely different.
The door of the SUV opened, and Brandon, sitting in the passenger seat, got out first, followed by Borus and Randal. Strangely, when Randal got up, Borus detected a rancid smell coming from him, reminiscent of meat and blood. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Borus got out. The fresh summer wind blew past him as he yawned and stretched.
Slowly, the group ascended the stairs leading to the boys' entrance. Principal Jacob nodded at them as they entered. The hall sprawled before them, with a man standing in the middle, helping new students find their classes. "Both of you remember to come out the moment the school staff calls '23' on the mic—that’s our car number, got it?" Brandon instructed. Borus disliked Brandon's condescending tone but decided not to create a fuss over a minor issue, so he nodded and approached the teacher helping the students.
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Randal did the same, but Borus couldn't shake off the rancid smell lingering around him. The teacher directing the students had an annoyed expression on his face as he guided them to their classes.
Borus, recognizing the teacher from eighth grade, called out to him.
"Mr. Filbard, how are you?"
Mr. Filbard turned around, his face still annoyed. He replied, "Horrible, I’m doing horrible. The administration put so much work on my shoulders that I’m not even supposed to be doing. Like guiding these students to their classes. This was supposed to be the job of another new teacher who didn’t show up today," Mr. Filbard said, fuming.
Borus laughed. At Star Sky High School, it was common for teachers to do work they weren’t supposed to, like teaching double subjects. Sometimes, teachers wouldn’t even do their assigned tasks and still get their salary because they had connections with the principal or the administration.
"So, where is the class for 9th grade located?" Borus asked.
"Oh, I’m your homeroom teacher. You see the bathroom at the end of the hallway? Yeah, right next to it is my classroom," Mr. Filbard said, pointing with his pen. Borus looked to his right and noticed the bathroom had two classrooms next to it, one on the right and the other on the left. Mr. Filbard's pen pointed to the classroom on the left.
"Thank you for the instructions. I’ll get going," Borus said, walking to the classroom. He looked back and saw that Mr. Filbard was now helping Randal find his classroom. Borus focused on Mr. Filbard’s reaction to see if he would notice the rancid smell of meat coming from Randal. Surprisingly, Mr. Filbard had no reaction. Disappointed, Borus entered the classroom.
Upon opening the door, a gust of cold air hit him in the face, calming his body. Inside, there were three rows of desks facing the whiteboard. Behind the desks was the teacher's desk, and to the right were four large windows evenly spaced apart. Borus noticed a figure sitting in the front corner of the classroom, facing the board.
Borus walked toward the boy. Hearing Borus's footsteps, the boy lifted his head and looked at him. Borus's face brightened as he recognized his friend from seventh grade.
"How’s it been, Balor?" said Borus.
"Good, man. How was summer?" said Balor, his face also brightening as he walked up to Borus and shook his hand. Borus put his bag down on a nearby desk and sat down. Balor did the same, sitting opposite him.
"Summer was pretty well, except for the fact that I had to go to a tutor."
"Tutor? Where?"
"It’s on the road next to my old house."
"Oh, is it that white building with the half-broken signboard?"
"Haha, yeah, that one."
"So, what did you learn there? English, math?"
"No, none of those. I was preparing for the test I’m going to take for the gifted school."
"Gifted school? Which one?"
"The one with the black owl as the avatar."
"Nice, man. I hope you get in."
*Ringggggggg*
Before Borus could continue the conversation, the bell rang. He noticed that it was only him and Balor in the class. Balor got up and looked outside.
"He is still helping the students" Said Balor while staring at the Hallway.
Borus got up and stood behinf Balor to look at outside. He saw that Mr.Filbard still stood in the same spot he saw him before, but now he looked more annoyed. Balor and Borus looked at each other and burst out laughing. His face was just too funny to not laugh at.
"As alaways he looks like a monky who got his food stolen but cant do nothing about it hahaha" Balor said while holding his stomach. Borus didnt respond and kept on laughing.
"What are you laughing about"
Abrubtly a boy wearing a mask appeared, he wore black hoodie and black jeens. He had his black slung behind him as he questioned the duo why they were laughing. Starteled Borus falls on his bottom and says
"Oh its you emo I though It was Mr.Fillbard"
"It's going to be him next if you call me emo again" Said the boy wearing black mask. He then put his hand forward helping Borus get up. Borus took his hand and got up wiping his behind of any dust. Balor then shook the boys hand.
"It's been a while Noir how's life been treting you" Said Balor while putting his hand on the neck of Noir.
"Boring as always, nothing to do exept sit on my bottom and play games" Noir responded while removing Balor's hand from his neck. Noir was the shy type, he never liked people touching him with just few exeptions. He alaways sat in the middle row of any classroom and quitly listened to the teacher. He almost alawys used to never question the teacher during his teachings and would ask his friend about the parts he was confused about.
"You are probebly the only person on earth who would think that playing games all day is boring" Said Borus. His eyes averting to the ground to look at the spot he fell to check if there was liquid.
"Well you are probabaly the only person on earth who eats three plates of school food in one sitting"
"What do you mean, its good's" Borus said in protest.
"Good? you call those devious looking patties good, they look like stright from Hadese's bottom" Borus burst out laughing at that stament. Balor also snikering. Under the black mask a soft smile bloomed in Noir's face.
Abrubtly the door to the room swung open as a man entered in. Borus screamd in starteled, Balor's and Noirs face grimicing as they looked at the figure.