New Days [Completed]

New Days: Four

It was the end of the day. The sun was shining as brightly as it had been at noon, and the sky was a magnificent orange. It was hot, but a slight breeze blew about leaves from trees. 

In the parking lot of Letterman High, a lone boy walked towards his red Ferrari convertible. His shadow walked ahead of him – it seemed fitting to him; everything had left him behind, why would his shadow be an exception? All day he had been ignored, like he were invisible, so it came as a surprise to him, hearing his name called out from behind.

“Max!”

He turned around slowly, and was greeted by another boy. Tall, just his height and build.

“What is it?” Max had no energy anymore. No energy to be aggressive; no energy to fight. The day had drained him completely.  

“I heard you’re leaving.”

“And…?”

“Nothing, it’s good to know.”

Max did not reply. Mark was here to taunt him, and although he had quit, he wasn’t about to give Mark the pleasure of getting to him. He turned back around and walked to his car, ignoring Mark.

“That’s right! Walk away. Walk away from me, just like you’re walking away from your life.” the taunt in Mark’s voice became more pronounced.

Max stopped. Mark’s words had hit home.  Mark realized this, so he continued. “How does it feel, to be unwanted? How do you feel, knowing that nobody is going to miss you? Poor Max, all alone in this world.”

That was it. Max had been tired, but Mark had changed that. He turned around again, and started walking determinedly towards his tormentor. Mark’s face changed from a sneer to one of mild concern, but he kept on, “What was it like waking up today? Liked the renovation?”

That was it. Without second thought, Max lashed out, first punching, then kicking Mark. That felt good. It felt like a huge load had been lifted off and then, much to the surprise of Mark, and Max himself, Max smiled. He didn’t feel the need for any more violence; he’d wanted to get a point across.

Which he had.

The let out felt good. Real good.

Most of Friday and Saturday went by fixing the house - washing the car, collecting trash and having it delivered to the local dumpster, spraying a ton of perfume in the garage, washing the windows... and then it was Sunday. I was to start off at Maxim the next day (I have the vaguest feeling that Mum had the principal write in some letter that allowed me to join Maxim immediately).

I felt at peace – nobody at Maxim knew who I was, where I lived, what I was like, or that I was gay. I planned on keeping it that way. I felt peace knowing the next day would be the first of new days to come. Days of change.

Aw, look at me. Getting all sentimental.

*

And then came Monday, too soon if you asked me. The new-kid nerves finally caught up with me, and I found myself sitting in my car in the parking lot breathing deeply, trying to calm down. It was so strange – I hadn’t been this nervous about facing the looks and all at Letterman - so there really was nothing to be anxious about, coming to a new school...yet.

It was a good thing I had come early (I’d misjudged the traffic), because there weren't too many people around as I freaked out silently in the car to see me, they’d have thought of me to be weird. And while I didn’t mind the ‘weird’ label really, I didn’t want people to be aware of my existence.

After deciding to ‘man up’ and face it (whatever ‘it’ refers to), I walked to the main office. It wasn’t hard to find, considering it was painted a deep blue, in contrast to the lighter blue of the rest of the buildings. Blah blah. I got my new schedule (no, there was no young secretary trying to flirt with me, as seems to happen so often) and was on my way towards the lockers, trying to find the one I’d been assigned to. The lockers were in a corridor hallway sort of thing, and there were many, so I had a lot of work to do….and why is this relevant?

Oh yeah, it’s because of what I saw next…