That One Kid

Have you ever had that one kid in your class...
No one really knows them, they've always just kinda been there. They are not athletic or really smart. But you've never once seen them get in trouble. They were always a sort of footnote to your daily life. That kid's name is Cristian.

I just don't understand how I never noticed.

Sigh*
It's my first day of high school today. Time to go socialize or more likely, social-suicide. I walked into the classroom and choose a seat. I was one of the last people to arrive. Gaze drifting across the sea of people I took in my new classmates. It was obvious who belonged to which group. My eyes travelled around the classroom searching for a worthy companion for the year. Everyone looked like they had been friends since last year. This was going to be a challenge, scratch that, IMPOSSIBLE. My eyes flicked to the wall seats and briefly registered who sat there. There was some random kid with brown hair right in front of the back right corner. I looked behind and then to the left of him and saw Grace. THANK GOD. Finally someone I knew. I stood up and waved to Grace. She looked just as relieved as me. Meeting new people is so hard. We were comparing schedules when the bell rang. I grabbed my stuff and sat in the corner to the right of Grace. Maybe this year won't be terrible.

The teacher, Ms. Steins. Told us that we were free to choose our seats for today and after that they would be fixed. Sweet. I glanced over to Grace and she looked at me. We both grinned. Ms. Steins told us that she would be our math teacher and went over the curriculum for the year. It all sounded difficult. I miss when we were just doing addition. How the frick would I use imaginary numbers when I grow up. I know for sure what I'm not doing with my career.

We survived the rest of the periods. It was kinda fun. I had found my friends from last year and made plans to hang out. And even got so swept up that I stayed behind to check out all the clubs. I was thinking of joining the art club. But as I headed outside and turned to walk home, I saw some kid with brown shaggy hair and green eyes whip past me. He was on a skate board and quickly picking up speed. Sick board. I turned back and walked home.

It was around 4 months into the school year when the incident occurred. We were all turning in our math homework. Our teacher was going on about these complex problems like differential equations and how someday we would be able to solve them after learning everything in the curriculum. I think she thought that somehow motivated us to work harder. I honestly don't know what teachers are thinking.

I hadn't even noticed he wasn't there. That kid with brown hair that sat in front of me. Until he slipped into class. As he passed the teachers desk he grabbed a worksheet. The teacher didn't seem to notice him at all. He quietly flopped onto his desk. His eye bags were so dark I wondered if he had slept at all last night. He took out a pencil and started scribbling away. I was bored so I stared at the back of his head. I started doodling him in my notebook. Brown, sort of shaggy hair that he had tied the top layer back so he could see past his bangs, since they were kinda long. He had green eyes I recalled. The more I drew it finally dawned on me. I don't think I know his name. As I was pondering I started to think I recognized him, but I couldn't quite place from where. I racked my brain. Strange. I returned my attention to the board. Something's are better left unsolved.

After about one minute after he had started on the work sheet he set the pencil down. He had probably written enough to catch up because he set his head down and dozed off.

The bell rang and everyone bolted from their seats. Everyone knew the drill. Run before the teacher tells you that the bell doesn't dismiss you. I slowed to a walk and was looking for my locker when I spotted Grace. I pestered her about the name of the boy who sat in front of me. She asked why so I went with the least suspicious reason possible, I thought he was hot. I mean honestly he was kinda cute but he fell short compared to our other classmates so he wasn't really anyone's official crush, let alone mine. That I knew of at least. She said she had no idea. Wonderful. I had just embarrassed myself for no good reason. Cool, cool, cool.

It occurred to me that I would be able to find out during attendance tomorrow, when I saw him walking suspiciously outside. The day was over and since I had nothing better to do I started trailing him. He walked for a while until he stopped at the entrance to the Glass Forest. It had earned that nickname since during the winter, the trees became so brittle they shattered like glass. Curious, I stepped quietly picking my way through the forest. I kept my eye on him as I weaved through the trees. Almost falling flat on my face, more times then I care to mention.

Then he just vanished. WTF. Where did he go. How the frick do you lose a person in like 3 seconds. Welp there goes my entertainment for the day. I started to wander around the area I last saw him when something happened. I honestly don't know what I did but I did something clearly because I wasn't in the same clearing as before. I stumbled back in surprise. The air wavered until it resembled the previous clearing. Interesting I guess...
I don't know what the typical reaction to something like this is but mine is "let's ignore the red flags", as Grace likes to say. I stepped into the distorted space with newfound interest. Time to find that dude from class.

I walked around the forest until I saw him. He was talking to what I think was a wolf. Interesting. I mean for all I know maybe he's a Disney princess. I was gonna head back when his bones started to shift. That caught my attention real fast. Nope nope nope. Not today. I whipped around just as he changed into a wolf. Frick no. I already have enough on my plate this isn't happening. Not again. I practically sprinted home.

Oh I forgot to mention, it's a pleasure to meet you my name is Cristian and for some unknown reason I seem to be at the center of a BL universe.