Heartstopper oneshots/ requests

The New Kid

Hi everyone, new story alert! This one follows my own character, Joe as he starts his new school, Truham. Let me know what you think and if you want a part twoooo :)

"Make sure you've got everything" Mum called out to me as I headed to the front door. I knew what she really meant was, 'I'm sorry I can't go with you, I hope you'll be okay'

I could sense the gravity of what this meant for all of us. Me going to school on my own.

We had just moved from up North to be closer to my mum's parents after my dad passed away. His passing meant that I was now the man of the house, looking after my mum and my two younger sisters.

Fiz and Alissa didn't really understand what had happened at all, they were too young. All they knew was that dad wasn't going to be coming home anymore. It wasn't like we weren't used to him not being here. With all of his tours in Afghanistan, for them it was easy enough to imagine he was still there now.

Except he wasn't, he was six feet under but I guess they didn't have to know that. Chucking my backpack on my shoulder I looked back to smile at mum in the kitchen down the hall.

"I'll be fine" I said, the words rolling off my tongue having said them a good few times over these last few weeks.

I knew my role, I had to be strong and okay for everyone else. Yes, I'd lost my dad, but mum had lost her husband - how could I compete with that?

So I began my walk to school - I'd only done it once before, when we first moved. I managed to slip away while Fiz and Alissa were preoccupied. Mum was there of course, I would never leave them alone. But I just had enough time to walk to the school and back.

It was a bit daunting I can't lie, but at least I'd done it once and how bad could a new school be? Even if it was GCSE year.

Once I'd got to the front gates, I got out the paper mum had given me - it had my tutor group on it and my timetable with all my lessons and the classrooms they would be in. Looking at the sheet of paper made me feel suddenly alone.
I was suddenly expected to know where everything was and get to where I needed to be on time.

Walking through the doors of the new school strangely made me realise that we now were somewhere completely new. I didn't recognise anyone and the building was unfamiliar. I could feel my heart rate speed up but I made a conscious effort to calm myself down.

There was no way that something so stupid was going to get to me - everything was fine.

"You alright there?" A southern boy asked, he had auburn hair styled in a neat quiff and a friendly smile. He looked about my age and must have seen my uneasiness which immediately made me stand straighter
"Yeah, I'm new - just trying to work out were all my lessons are" I laughed nervously which also annoyed me
"Can I have a look?" He asked, putting his hand out for my sheet so I handed it to him and watched as his eyes surveyed the sheet.
"You're in my tutor" He immediately said, "I'm Nick by the way"
"Sorry, I'm Joe" I smiled, "Do you know where any of the lessons are?" I asked eagerly
"Wait, let me-" Nick muttered as he looked over my timetable, "Yeah, you're in most of my lessons - so you've started as a year 11?"
"Yeah" I looked at him, not wanting to give him anything else
"Well you can sit with my lot - starting another school can be tough"

Having sympathy from a stranger felt weird but I accepted his offer all the same. It couldn't be a bad thing to have a group to associate with.

"So, how come you've moved down here?" Nick asked as we walked to our tutor group. The fact he said 'moved down here' told me he noticed my accent. Something I hadn't really thought about, but how else would he have known that I had moved 'down'?

We walked down seemingly endless corridors. Some blank with doors either side and others with hardly any doors and colourful displays of students' work all themed around different topics. They looked similar to the ones we had at my old school which put me at ease a little.

Maybe this school would be the same as my last one, it was just housed in a different building.

"My dad died so we came here to nearer my mums parents" I said, deciding that there was no point in lying if this guy was going to be in most of my classes and be my new friend
"Oh shit" Is all Nick said, "Are you okay?" He asked a little too sincerely for someone I'd never met. Or maybe it was because I wasn't used getting sympathy from anyone
"Yeah, I mean - it is what it is" I laughed which got a nervous laugh from Nick most likely because he didn't know what else to say.

Luckily, we got to a door almost on queue and Nick told me that this was the tutor group. He insisted that I sat on his table with another guy called Charlie.

"He's going to sit with my lot - maybe he plays rugby, do you play rugby?" Nick was talking to Charlie but asked me that question as an afterthought, like he had forgotten that I was there. Which suited me. I would much rather blend into the background, get my GCSEs and leave.

"I don't - sorry" I replied, "Do you then?" I asked, making conversation
"He's our school's Captain" Charlie butted in, as if with pride.

The way they spoke to each other made me a little jealous at how good friends they were. I didn't have any real friends, even when dad was alive and everything was fine I kept myself to myself, but here I had a feeling that there wasn't really much to lose. Things could only get better from here and that thought drove me to be a little friendlier and at least accept people's kindness.

"And you're looking for new recruits?" I asked Nick
"Yeah - well" Nick back tracked, drawing into himself a little, "We're a player down so-"
"Yes he is" Charlie beamed at me, jumping in before Nick could say anything else, "So if you know anyone?"
"Well, both my sisters are younger than me and they're the only people I know round here"
"Other than your parents" Charlie joked, probably trying to make light of my situation while unknowingly letting the cat out of the bag.

I found myself glancing at Nick who looked more uneasy than I did.

"Well, only my mum" I said, "My dad just passed away - that's why I've just moved here" I told him and I watched as his face dropped, "It's fine - you didn't know" I reassured him and that was the first time I realised that I would have to reassure everyone else about my situation when, really, it should be me getting the reassurance.