𝐼𝓉 𝒪𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒢𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝐹𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝐻𝑒𝓇𝑒 - 𝒮𝒸ö𝓂ì𝒸𝒽𝑒

001

Some people said life was horrible. There was one person who didn't really understand what was so bad about it.

Mitch Grassi had never particularly hated life. Sure, it got hard sometimes, but he had great friends and a supportive family. What was there for him to hate?

Others always told him, "It won't last long. Depression hits you like a freight train sometimes." But Mitch paid no attention. He thought nothing could ever bring him depression.

On the morning our story begins, the autumn breeze was chilly, piles of leaves all around. Young children, on their way to school, challenged each other to "jumping contests" - they jump one at a time, and whoever jumps the hardest gets one piece of the other's Halloween candy. The streets were busy as always, but less so than usual, as many students took the day after Halloween off to get over their sugar high.

In the midst of it all, a teenage boy sat on the steps leading to his house, knees up to his chest, smiling at the world he lived in. He had dark brown hair, with a patch of it over his eye. Some may say he looked "emo" - well, maybe he did. But he knew he wasn't, and that was enough for him. He was tall and skinny, and today, he wore a black turtleneck and skinny blue jeans. His style was somewhat feminine, but he didn't really care about the comments he received. He didn't receive mean comments often anyway, as he was fairly likeable.

He had five minutes before he had to start making his way to school. His parents had gone to work already, and his sister was at college, leaving him alone. But he was rarely alone, because his three friends often came over.

There was Kirstie, the only girl. She had light blonde hair, and she was the shortest of the group. She was bright and optimistic, and she brought her puppy over sometimes.

There was Avi, the one with the very deep voice. His hair was brown. He was the tired parent of the group, but he was often funny without intending to be.

And then there was Kevin, the oldest. He had very short black hair, and he was Avi's best friend.

In terms of personality, Mitch himself was the sassy diva. But he was also a hopeless romantic, and his friends knew it. Kirstie had her boyfriend Jeremy, Kevin had his girlfriend Leigh, and Avi just didn't care for romance. But Mitch... Mitch had nobody. It was hard finding another gay person in his little town of Arlington.

He'd always hoped for someone, someday to come along and show him what love was really like. Was it just as good as Kirstie and Kevin had always described it?

As if on cue, his female best friend ran up to his house excitedly. Today, she wore a hot pink hoodie with tight grey leggings. "Mitchy! I heard there's a new student today, we should go early to check it out!"

Mitch shrugged as he stood up. "I'm in. Are Kev and Avi coming?"

"I doubt it. Didn't Avi say he and Kev were going to a party? I'm kinda scared to know how that went." chuckled Kirstie. "But you're here, so I figured we might as well go early."

"Sure." said Mitch. "New kids usually get bullied, so let's see if we need to stop a fight."

***

The walk to school never took long - only about ten minutes, depending on traffic. By the time Mitch and Kirstie got there, a large handful of other students were there already.

"How on earth will we find this new kid?" asked Mitch.

"New kid, you say?"

The voice came from behind them. The two of them turned around.

Standing behind them was a tall, blonde boy, not much older than them, certainly way taller. Mitch had thought he was tall, but he must have looked like a child next to this boy.

The boy leaned against the brick wall of the school, a small smirk on his face. "I'm not a kid." he muttered.

"Y-you certainly don't look it." said Kirstie, slightly intimidated. "Welcome to the school!"

The new student chuckled bitterly. "You don't have to act like I want to be here."

Well, this certainly wasn't your stereotypical new kid.

"I don't think many of us want to be here either." said Kirstie, before Mitch had a chance to speak. "Where do you come from, anyway?"

"Earth." said the boy simply, walking away.

"Well, that was rude." said Kirstie, crossing her arms.

"Kirst, you didn't even ask his name." said Mitch.

Kirstie rolled her eyes. "He doesn't seem to want to talk right now, anyway. Was that the bell?"