The whispering started the very moment Jet walked out of the class and stepped in the hallway. It was nothing out of ordinary for him, however, as he had endured this sort of behavior back in his old school already. He was more than aware of how the scars over his left eye were visible for everyone to see, the dark, rough and deep furrows travelling across his face. Added by the fact it was not all that common for someone to have a hair as dark as his, he had known he would be the topic of whispers and gossips at school the moment he had shown his face there.

Not many years ago, a smitten girl with an obsession over his deep blue eyes had attacked him. Her long nails had tried to dig his eye out with animalistic, rough motions that had permanently damaged his skin; the movements he could still sometimes feel burning against his face’s skin in his nightmares. Although she had not succeeded in her mission and Jet miraculously retained his eyesight, the scars on his face were deep and ugly, and they would never heal. Every time he looked in the mirror he would remember the girl who did this to him; the bitter, fear stained memories he would have preferred to forget altogether.

That’s when the whispers had started and entered Jet’s life to stay. People would steal morbidly curious glances at him, whisper when they thought Jet wouldn’t see or hear them, and some would do that without even bothering to pretend they weren’t talking about Jet. The moment other people had seen his scars the first time Jet had felt like he was no longer quite human: to the way he was treated with a mixture of pity, curiosity and, worst of all, fear, was how people usually felt about animals rather than human beings. He had become something else, someone who wasn’t quite part of the group no matter where he went. An outsider, a monster donning a human’s skin.

As he walked across the hallway with a book pressed against his chest, Jet could clearly hear the sounds of the other boys whispering and talking about him:

“That’s the new junior? What happened to his face?”

“Isn’t he a son of some sort of mafioso? Look at his hair too, he isn’t from around here!”

“I heard he fought a gang leader and received his scars from that fight!”

“And I heard he got them from his father as a punishment for misbehaving!”

So many stories, all of them false.

None of those things were the actual truth, but these rumors seemed to entertain the bored boys. In all-boys school the boredom was often very visible, and the boys talked about anything that could even remotely keep their attention - whether those things were real or not were only secondary things, unneeded small details ruining an otherwise good story.

Jet had only within a day learned that everyone either feared him, or alternatively respected him too much to even talk to him - often, among these boys, it was both. Everyone thought he was some sort of delinquent who had received his scars from dangerous and aggressive behavior, and a very popular rumor also was that his father was a leader of a criminal gang. Nobody wanted to mess with Jet and cause him trouble, but in their fear they also felt too intimidated to as much as talk to him outside of classroom group activities urged by the teachers.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Jet only had books to read to pass time today - or so he thought.

“Hey, are you one of the first years? Russo?”

Out of nowhere a boy slightly older than him appeared, his face covered in plasters and small wounds. He was slightly taller than Jet was, and his hair was messy, short and light brown in colour. He had an athletic build for a boy his age and seemed so old Jet had hard time estimating his age, although he guessed he could be a third year.

“U-uh, yes, that’s me. Just call me Jet,” he found himself replying, instinctively clutching the book against his chest. Although the boy didn’t seem hostile, Jet was always on his toes around people, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

“I’m Leonhard, but call me Leon! I hate my full name, it’s so weird!” the boy smiled, his dark blue eyes curiously observing Jet and his reactions. He didn’t seem to pay attention to his scar or even take glances at it, which admittedly caught Jet off guard. “We’ll be roommates this year! Want to hang out with me?”

This all came so sudden to Jet that he was at a loss of words. Hang out? With this cheerful boy? Surely this had to be some sort of joke. His friends were probably waiting behind the corner to tackle Jet or make fun of him or something.

But as Jet kept looking at Leon with a dumbfounded expression, he saw nothing even vaguely similar to hostility or bad intentions in Leon’s demeanour: he was relaxed, his hands lazily in his pockets as he kept smiling at Jet and waiting for his answer.

“Sure… I wouldn’t mind,” Jet finally answered after assessing the situation, and he found himself nodding awkwardly.

“Alright, let’s go! I’m going to show you the whole school!” Leon grabbed Jet’s hand gently, but firmly enough to take the boy with him. Jet almost dropped the book he was holding, and just barely managed to keep it from falling as Leon tugged him forward.

»»-------------------------¤------------------------««

Just as he had promised, Leon showed Jet everything. From the classrooms to basement all the way to areas that had “no entry” attached to their entrances (Leon ignored all of them, and Jet couldn’t help but follow his lead).

“Actually there is so much more in here, but I want to show them a little later. This school has so many things going on it’s impossible to show them all at once,” Leon explained after they had sat down on the nearby stairs. “Also, I think it’s better if I show some places when there are less people walking around. Everyone is always so excited on the first day they keep wandering around. In a few weeks though everyone is going to be sitting in the lounge and lazing around, or just be in their rooms.”

“Thank you for showing me around, Leon,” Jet thanked him politely.

“No need to thank me! When I heard I’d get a first year as my roommate I was super excited! I decided I want to make friends with him, no matter what!” His voice then got quieter as he added: “And also... I saw the way the other boys looked at you, and I didn’t like it, so I decided to pull you with me instead. It’s no fun if your first impression of this place is going to be worthless rumors and nasty whispers.”

Jet’s first impression of Leon had been that he was rather simple: he expressed his feelings very openly and dragged people with him without asking any questions. He was the leader type, definitely, the kind who didn’t need to make an effort to make people like them. But Jet had not really expected this side of Leon, the more considerate side he got to witness now.

Nevertheless, he was grateful of it.

“Thank you, Leon,” Jet found himself replying, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I’m glad I got a roommate you like.”

Leon visibly perked up by Jet’s reaction, like an excited dog, and Jet found it very charming.

“Just wait until you meet your other roommate, Chris! He is the nicest guy around here! And he knows how to access the kitchen at night without getting caught…”

Surprising even himself, Jet laughed. It was a small and soft laughter, a sound he had not heard coming from him for a long time now. Then, still smiling, he answered:

“I’m looking forward to it... This year is going to be great, I’m sure of it.”