The Misfortune You Behold Is My Satisfaction

Chapter 2: New Friend

   You're not very enthusiastic about today. Especially after your interaction with Peter yesterday that resulted in you sleeping as soon as you got to your apartment up until almost 9:00 PM. Your roommate Lucy had commented on you, "taking shit good enough to sleep through her orgasm." Her unhelpful 'observations' of you taking substances and not taking her sex life somewhere else besides your shared apartment, where you won't have to hear the constant bed squeaks and groans through the walls, almost makes you wish you hadn't left your parents. Almost.

   In reality, it's just your social battery; not drugs. You're too emotionally weak to handle emo giraffes who think it's fun to rile you up. Sleeping it off was the temporary solution to blocking your feelings out so you wouldn't have to deal further with the stresses of everyday life. But now you're back in school the next day, and the cycle has once again repeated itself.

   Luckily, you remembered the route to your homeroom after getting lost for 20 minutes yesterday. Unfortunately, however, Peter's unhelpful 'tour' had left you alone to figure out the rest of your classes. How fun.

   You enter Mr. Todd's Gov't/Econ Class on time today, and he seems more than happy to see you again. Greeting you with the same friendly smile as yesterday, he waves you over to his desk.

   "Ah, the new kid! Did you get all the information you needed yesterday?" He asks as he folds his hands over his desk. You recall yesterday's events that were… less than unhelpful. But you'd rather just let it go instead of snitching on Peter for being a grade-A asshole, so you just nod quietly.

   Mr. Todd nods back and taps his desk. "Well, I'm glad you can make it on time today. Go ahead and take a seat over by TK. They're the one with green hair and a beanie."

   You gaze around the classroom before your eyes land on the person the teacher described. They seem relatively normal compared to everyone else here. They're sitting at the very back row with their textbook already out, as well as their notebook. You promptly plop yourself in the seat by the window and immediately look outside it, distracting yourself with the birds making 'v' shapes in the sky.

  After a long moment, you feel a tap on your shoulder, pulling you out of your daydreams and making you jump in your seat. You turn to face the culprit only to see the green haired individual giving you a small smile and a wave.

  "Hello, I'm TK." They hold their hand out to shake, which you reluctantly comply with before abruptly pulling your hand away once the shake is over. TK notices, but doesn't comment on it. "I saw you with Peter yesterday, and I just wanna tell you that guy is bad news."

   You almost snort at TK's words since you had front row seats to Peter's unpleasant behavior.

   "Yeah, I can tell you that much." You roll your eyes as you recall the things Peter said and did to you yesterday. It still makes your blood boil. "The guy was supposed to be my guide, but he just sped through with half-assed vigor, so now I don't know where my classes are."

   You let out a small sigh, feeling like you're doomed to failure. You had a failure as a family, you're at a failure of a school, you live in a failure of a neighborhood in a failure of an apartment with a failure of a roommate. Geez, it seems you've got misfortune everywhere you go.

   "Well, I could help you out if you need." TK says with a smile. You almost want to get down on your knees and worship the very ground they walk on. You're saved! You won't look like an even bigger idiot than you already are for being late to all your classes!

   "Really?! Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver!" You beam back at TK. You almost want to hug them, but that would be too weird, considering they're still a stranger to you, and all you know is their name.