You Can't Hurt Me

Can we burn down the school?

Race's shirt was extremely itchy, especially around the neck. Him and Jack had spent 3 hours yesterday looking for a shirt to wear to the first day of school and of course it had to be itchy. Race wanted to go with the button down collar up he wore to the fancy poker games but after his generalized presence wafted smoke fumes filling the nostrils of everyone in the house, Jack marched him back into the room and they went through the whole closet.

They ended up choosing just some jeans and a simple black shirt, Race hated it. However it left him a blank slate of a person at the moment. Right now, Race could be whoever he wanted to be. Well, Race wasn't sure if he'd ever fit in with the gothic group he passed, all of them wearing a separate rabbit limb on their backpacks and Race rather liked Rabbits.

Getting his schedule and finding his place was easy enough, his supposed "guide" ditching him sooner than later in favor of hanging out with his friends so Race was mostly alone. That was fine, he was used to being alone.

Race wasn't unborn, he had read books and watched tv in his life, but he had never felt so young and new to the world walking in, because nothing in tv could have prepared him for the experience itself. No one was judging his every move, snickering behind a locker at him, there weren't horrible clicks going around and insulting everyone, there wasn't some girl that everyone split way for. It was like he was a single jelly fish floating across a reef. No predators, no prey, just him and the world outside.

He didn't sit in the back, nor the front, he sat exactly 3 rows from the back and 2 columns down. A spot as invisible as he was. People sat around him, but they didn't converse, no one introduced himself like he half expected, he just was sorta... there.

Well he was, until the teacher made him stand up.

"Antonio Higgins?" His name rang around the room, and like a bomb, he wasn't invisible anymore. In seconds the whole class was staring at him, he was the new comer, the one who didn't belong.

The class was silent, as was he. The teacher looking around confused.

"Is Antonio Higgins here?"

No, he was invisible. Well he was supposed to be at least.

"Hello?" He whispered.

"Yes hello, next time when I call your name you respond." The class snickered quietly.

Race swallowed, sinking lower, this wasn't his territory. He was just an empty jelly floating north with the water around him.

Class was quick enough, focusing mostly on introductions. He was fortunate to be sitting next to someone who had been in the area for a while, with the high school and middle school being connected. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him.

"Being a freshman will give you a good start! Everyone is new, nobody knows each other. Maybe you can find your group!" Jack was a liar and clearly knew nothing about school.

Albert took sympathy upon him, inviting him to lunch after. At least Race knew where to sit, and knowing his next move was crucial. Race planned his next move in poker before he made the current one, preparation was the foundation of endurance.

He very unfortunately discovered he didn't share any classes with Albert, his new friend? Buddy? Acquaintance? Did people use the word buddy?

This is why he didn't want to go to school, Jack was a fool to think he could understand the intricate roots of the school system, kids his own age often rendered him confused. Once someone asked him if the Publix was left or right and Race ended up punching them across the face and running the other direction.

When classes ended Race walked up to a pair of boys and tapped them on the shoulder. He was staring down down at his schedule, trying to read the little under print.