The Cloak Guard

12 Hours Earlier

Franklin stared out the car window, watching all the suburban houses pass him by, each one looking even more bland than the last. He let off a deep sigh.

"Oh come on," his mother said next to him. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"It's high school, mom," he replied. "It's always that bad."

"Don't go walking in with that kind of attitude. If you believe you're going to have a bad day, then you will have a bad day."

"Oh, so you want me to just go on believing I'm going to have a good day and that'll just make it true?" he asked. "Ok. Maybe I'll just take a little stroll across the highway with that belief. See what happens."

"Don't get sassy with me boy," she snapped, but he could tell she was trying to hide a smile as well. "You get that from your fathe..." she trailed off, the unspoken word hanging in the air. The good mood that had started rising in the car quickly evaporated as Franklin turned to look out the window again.

"Look, I know it's hard," his mother said to him. "Trust me I do. But...this is the hand we were dealt, baby. And we just got to make the best of it right now."

"I know mom," he replied. "I know." But even as he said it, he didn't really feel it. He watched another duplicate house pass by and felt the anger rise inside of him. He hated this stupid neighborhood that he was forced to drive through on his way to school. He hated that he had to go to a new school. He hated that they had to move in the first place. He hated...

He just hated a lot right now. And he didn't know what to do with it.

His father used to tell him "that anger will eat you up inside. You've got to learn to handle it or else it'll consume you and everything around you."

"Here we are." He blinked and looked up as they pulled into a parking lot alongside several other cars, a bunch of kids around his age heading for the large, square-looking building that he assumed was the school.

"Welcome to Hell," he said dryly.

"Hey now," his mom shot him a look. "What did I say about attitude?"

"I know mom, I know," he muttered as they made their way down the line of cars. He knew she wanted him to be more positive about things in general, but right now, all he could see was the negatives. Ever since...

Nope. He wasn't going there. He grabbed his backpack, getting ready to leave, when his mom stopped him.

"Look," she said softly. "I know that you don't want to, but please try and make friends, ok?"

"Mom, I make plenty of friends," he told her. "It's keeping them that's the problem."

"Yes, well, try and find some actually decent friends this time," she said.

A car playing loud music passed, heading for the parking lot. Instead of looking around for an open spot, it went right for the handicapped parking by the entrance of the school and came to a stop. Three white guys stepped out, laughing with each other as they closed the doors behind them and walked into the school.

Franklin raised an eyebrow. "You want me to be friends with them?"

"Boy, you and your sarcastic mouth," his mother shook her head but still grinned and Franklin couldn't help but grin as well. It wasn't often that they got to smile these days, after the...incident. And just like that, he could feel his mood plummeting so before his mother could sense it, he quickly opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Now remember," his mother said though the window. "Go to the front office and give your name. They'll send some student liaison to help guide you through your classes. And be nice."