By My Side - Sam/Aomaris Fanfiction

21) New Friend

I found it very funny that the new student was, in fact, like me, as it seemed to be something the other kids weren't impressed by. God forbid I have a friend that isn't my sister or, unbeknownst to them, a demon. Ronnie introduced themselves to me as a trans male, who'd been out since he was thirteen. Despite being my age, he was short as hell and when I actually paid attention to his outfit, I noticed him wearing what appeared to be a knock-off version of an MCR Black Parade jacket.
"I'm gonna warn you here and now: you're not gonna be very popular here," I told him. He only shrugged and annotated a sentence on the story I'd written.
"I wasn't in my old school either, I'm not bothered. I got a lot of transphobia and a bit of racism as well, actually."
"Wait, really?"
"This is America. Are you really surprised?"
"No, not really. What kind of stuff did people say to you?"
"It was all kinda funny, to be honest. Someone asked me once if I was Mexico."
"Do... Do you mean Mexican?"
"Nope. The country of Mexico."
"Good god, this is the future of the planet..." I joked. Ronnie snorted.
"Wouldn't surprise me if most of our generation unalive themselves before they turn twenty." He responded. I could only smirk in response.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mr Sawyer watching me and Ronnie talk. He looked almost proud, as if he was a father watching their young child make a friend on a playground. I avoided his gaze as the class neared its end, and instead looked at Ronnie.
"You wouldn't wanna sit with me for lunch, would you?" I asked. Although he looked slightly taken aback, he sent me another huge and rather dorky grin.
"Yeah, sure. Why the fuck not?" I couldn't help but smile back.
"Mx Anderson? Would you mind coming up here for a second?" Mr Sawyer called from the front of the room. Instantly, the entire class bar Ronnie sent me idiotic smirks and judgemental whispers flowed through the classroom. I flushed but nodded.
"I'll wait here for you." I nodded at Ronnie's words and headed to my teacher.

"I see you've made a friend." He smiled at me as the rest of the class milled about, packing their things. He spoke quietly, knowing the sound of the other students would make sure his words went unheard by all but me. "Now. I know you like to work by yourself, and if you hadn't made friends with this new student, I wouldn't ask you this. But since you seem to get along with him, I'd like to ask you to spend a bit of time tutoring him, to make sure he's caught up and ready for the final."
"Yeah, I don't see why not. He's decent, unlike most students..." I trailed off towards the end, but Mr Sawyer caught it and chuckled.
"Yes, the rest of the student body is fairly... Well, immature, I'll say. But I can't see you having any issues with Ronnie."
"Me either. Is... Is that everything? I'm kinda hungry..."
"Ah, thank you for reminding me, I wanted to give you this." He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a little pink slip of laminated paper. "This is a pass that will give you permission to leave every before-lunch class five minutes early to make sure you can actually get something to eat. I've noticed many of the students pushing in front of you in the lines, despite the staff monitoring them. I've also noticed that because of this, you don't seem to eat a lot. You'll also be allowed to take one student with you."
"Oh! Uh... Thank you!" I took the pass gingerly and examined it before slipping it into the front pocket of my bag. He gave me a pointed look.
"You can go now, you know."
"Right. Thank you again!" My teacher gave me a last warm smile before I practically bounded back to Ronnie, who frowned, perplexed, at the expression on my face.

"Wanna get out of class early for lunch?" He nodded without a word, still evidently confused. I couldn't help but send sly glances at the other kids in the class as we breezed past them, who all had faces ranging from insult to pure hatred. I couldn't care less, though. Ronnie, despite seemingly incredibly confused, kept pace behind me and as soon as we were out of earshot of the students, rounded on me.
"Explain?" He requested. I laughed a bit.
"Apparently Mr Sawyer knows I don't eat that much, so he gave me a pass to go to lunches early."
"Oh. That's cool!"
"Yeah, that's Mr Sawyer for you. He's fucking awesome."
"I can tell."