Freak

Chapter 1

Monday
First Day of School

My throat felt dry and scratchy as I made my way out of the parking lot towards Hawkins High School. Most of the other kids were walking in groups as they made their way to the front door and it made me even more conscious of the fact that I was alone. I was transferring from a school states away and everyone else had been given a month's worth of time before me to catch up from summer break.
I didn't have a safety net of friends as a new student and even though I've always been able to make friends relatively easily, the anxiety was still twisting my stomach in knots as I walked to my locker.
Over the summer I had been able to come in and see where the classrooms were and get my schedule since I had no idea where anything was. Looking down at my arm at the list of classroom numbers I had scribbled on before leaving the house this morning, I hiked my bag up higher over my shoulder and walked towards the hallway where Room 140 should be: Homeroom.
Most people were still at their lockers chatting so only a few people were in the classroom to look up at me as I passed by.
I sat down in the 4th row (out of 5) and casually took out a notebook and pen so I wouldn't have to make a bunch of noise unzipping my bag when everyone else came in.
One or two of the students in the room glanced at me briefly but didn't seem to care much and I was honestly grateful.
It's better for people to be indifferent to me than staring me down like a zoo animal.
As discreetly as possible I looked around the room and tried to pin down the types of people they were.

There was a guy in the 3rd row to my left in a green polo with khaki shorts and fluffy brown hair. I had seen him earlier when I walked into the building and realized his locker was only a few feet away from mine.
Noted.
Next there were two girls sitting next to each other in the 3rd row closest to the wall on my left. They were giggling to each other and looking over at the polo guy and I realized I probably shouldn't make attempts to befriend him even if we never got closer than being locker buddies. The girls were dressed well and looked cute with their matching dangly earrings.
Sisters? Or best friends?
I chewed my lip as I tried to figure out who these girls were to each other. Obviously they were close so I suppose it doesn't really make a difference if they're related or not. They were both blondes with tightly curled hair and I was taken aback by how shiny they looked somehow. Not in a bad way or anything; they just looked kinda doll-like and perfect.
Probably not my people either, I decided.
There was one other kid in the room sitting two seats away from me in the 4th row and he glanced over at me and smiled briefly before starting to unpack his own bag.
This guy has mousy brown hair and glasses that sat a little too high on his face. He had a white button up with a blue plaid sweater-vest over it and I noticed his belt was pulled up a little too high on his waist, possibly because he was on the shorter side.
Looks pretty harmless. So far he's probably the best shot at a friend I've got out of these kids so I better make sure to remember his name.
The bell rang and a loud stream of kids filed into the room to claim their seats. The teacher was nowhere to be seen and as everyone settled into their seats, a few kids walked over to me and began loudly interrogating me.

"Hi! I'm Becca. This is Ronny, David, and Amanda," she gestured to the posse surrounding her. I nodded to acknowledge them and the lead girl Becca spoke up again.
"You're really quiet. Why don't you tell us what your name is?"
She was speaking insultingly slow and I rolled my eyes internally at the immediate cliche I was experiencing right now; popular girl bullies new kid. I sat up casually and enunciated my words dramatically.
"My name is y/n. Is everything okay? You're talking kinda slow, Becca."
I heard a few kids in front of me laugh quietly and decided I had chosen the better side of the room to sit. Becca's brow twitched as she realized I'd already caught on to her not-so-nice Ms. Nice Girl routine. Pursing her lips, she smiled tightly and shook her head.
"Nope! Everything's just great. We just wanted to say hi since you're new and obviously don't have any friends yet."
I nodded slowly and looked around at her posse. None of them seemed particularly committed to intimidating me so I figured this was mostly just a power play of hers that they were used to by now.
"Well I certainly appreciate it but I'm good on friends at the moment."
Becca sneered at me and shrugged.
"Whatever. Freak," she muttered as her group returned to their seats on the other side of the room. Most people were still chatting with their neighbors about how they missed summer already and I listened in on the conversations closest to me with mild curiosity.
"Dude I'm telling you Kerry was in my bed every night in July. Swear to God!," his voice rose as his friend laughed in disbelief.
Cringe.
I tried to zero in on the conversation next to me. Thankfully I had been assigned a seat against the wall so potential chaos could only erupt from 3/4 directions. The guy next to was leaning over in his seat to lean on the girl's desk next to him loudly recounting stories that sounded very unbelievable about his summer vacation. I shook my head at him and tried to focus on the conversation behind me as I looked down at my notebook.
There was no conversation behind me and I turned around to see two empty seats directly behind me. I turned back to face the front of the room and the classroom door swung open. A pair of tennis shoes crossed the threshold and a tall man with a whistle around his neck poked his head into the room. He pulled back and almost immediately two dark figures were practically tossed into the room, the door slamming behind them. I noticed most of the room either avoiding looking at the two guys entirely or frowning at them and turned my observation skills towards them.
One of the guys had wavy brown hair and a red and black checkered shirt on with dark jeans. He was smirking at the guy with him that was flipping the coach off through the door. The second guy had a curly dark mullet and a very noticeable style.
He had a chain hooked to his belt and was wearing a shirt with a devil on it, a leather jacket, and a denim vest layered over everything with band patches messily stitched to it. He put his finger down and glanced around the room with a cheesy smile.
"Well don't stop your conversations on our account, folks."
The guy in the checkered shirt grinned and waved at the class as they collectively boo-ed the two boys. I glanced around in shock.
Y'all are really boo-ing people out here? Lord what a funky ass town I've landed myself in.
The boys bowed dramatically and strutted to their seats directly behind me. As they approached me, the guy with the mullet stopped and stared at me.
"Well you're new."
I kept my voice neutral and replied, "Yup."
He tipped an imaginary hat at me and walked back to his seat, the guy in the checkered shirt nodding at me as he passed.
They were certainly dressed noticeably different than the rest of the students I'd seen so far but I couldn't imagine that was the only reason people seemed to dislike the dudes.
I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.