Deer in headlights

Section 1: New Student

Mateo Jandro's unbothered gaze seemed to make it impossible to make friends. His dark irises had a fixed position in his eyes that appeared to be always looking up, into what no one knew. Mateo had messy black hair that fell in front of his taunting eyes and settled nicely on his head. He was a tall, slim young man, yet he had a very small presence. He had never gone out of his way to make friends, and no one reached out to him either. His skin was tanned a golden color that stood out against the rest of the pale Canadian students. Mateo had moved from The States a few years ago, but the people he had at home were nothing like the people here, the people here kept to themselves, and did not bother with outsiders. Mateo did well in most of his classes, not the best but far from the worst, he was an average student.

The school seemed to have a brighter glow than usual today, maybe because a new student was coming, also from The States. Mateo wondered if they'd treat them like they saw him, an outcast. The bell hummed on the wall as class began. A disheveled girl he'd never seen before entered the room. She had long blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her skin was pale as snow and she seemed like Mateo's opposite. She smiled to the room and introduced herself nervously.

"My name is Amilee Azriel. I moved here a week ago and I have already met some of you, but I can't wait to make friends with you all!" She gushed to the class. Many people were silent, introductions seemed very juvenile and hers even more so. One girl waved her hand for her to come sit next to her. The girl's name was Hope Mallenger, she was someone who knew everything about everyone, well except Mateo, who no one really knew anything about. Hope pointed out every student in the class one by one to Amilee, giving her the spiel on each person. Hope turned around and stared at him and pointed him out to Amilee. People may have thought Mateo's eyes were intimidating, but Hope's eyes were terrifying. Hope had been born with albinism, but she didn't tell anyone. She had dyed her hair black, colored her brows in, and used mascara religiously. The only part of her left untouched were her eyes. They were a deep depigmented red, and the red eyes against her black box dyed hair was incredibly nerve wracking. Mateo noticed Amilee smile at him and he sent a small wave back where she oozed with joy.

Mateo was the first one out of the room when the bell rang, his favorite subject was history, and he found refuge in that class. His one and only friend was in that class. His name was Alex Hernandez, he was semi popular and well known as a star athlete. Mateo took his seat next to his best friend and noticed he had shiny new headphones on that Mateo had bought him for his birthday. Alex had an incredibly wealthy family and could really afford whatever headphones he pleased, but he always wore or used whatever Mateo gave him until it was to the point of no repair. The headphones were a deep red color and they matched their red uniform jackets to a T. Alex had not noticed Mateo taking a seat and continued scribbling in his notebook. "He took a peek over Alex's shoulder to snoop. I have to tell someone before it's too late to, but I don't think I'm ready to tell anyone, so I'll just write it down so I know what to say later. I love-" His head popped up to stare right into Mateo's face and he slammed the book shut.

"Damn it Mateo! You gotta stop snooping around like that, you scared me half to death" Alex sighed as he took out his notes for class and plopped the headphones back into his bag.

"So you're really not gonna tell me what's in there? Come on man I thought we were cool like that," Mateo said in a joking manner as Alex's face flushed. Their moment was interrupted by none other than Amilee. She had practically skipped over to Mateo's desk and smiled warmly.

"Hey there! I'm Amilee and I just wanted to ask if you wanted to be friends?" She said nervously, a few of the kids around them stared confusingly at the new girl, usually girls walk up to Alex to ask that question, he got asked out at least three times that week. Mateo stared at her in silence for a moment before shrugging.

"Sure I guess." He said still wanting to finish his conversation with Alex. She turned to sit in her seat as the kid behind them tapped on Mateo's shoulder.

"Why were you so mean to her?" He asked quietly

"What do you mean," Mateo raised a brow

"What if she likes you and you just ruined your chances with her, shrugging like you've never met her,"

"I never met her at all, I don't know why she wants to be my friend," Mateo turned back to talk to Alex but was abruptly cut off by the start of class. Another time maybe.

When school let out that day Mateo walked with Alex to the basketball courts. Alex played for the school's team and Mateo usually practiced on an empty court. While Alex had begged and begged for Mateo to join their team, he has always declined. It's not that he wasn't good, He just didn't know the rest of the team well, and none of them knew him. Mateo switched out his school uniform behind a bleacher for some shorts and a T-shirt. He had some horrible tan lines from the sleeves of the shirt, but he felt uncomfortable taking off his shirt anywhere in public. The hot pavement of the court had worn down his gym shoes to wear the traction practically did nothing to support him. A pair of eyes was fixed upon him from the other side of the court. It was Amilee. She smiled towards him holding her own pair of gym shoes in her hands.

"Can I play?"