Never Too Late

Chapter Six

"Okay, all three of you stand together!" Johan followed as his mother directed him and stood closer to his siblings as she snapped photos of them. They were all dressed in blue shirts with grey sweater vests with Luke and him wearing grey pants and his sister in a grey skirt.

Johan tried to smile, but he hated the clothes he was wearing and the fact that he would have to wear them almost every day.

"Okay, now you and Luke stand together!" His brother inched closer to him, but he didn't make eye contact and looked as stiff as a board, but their mother didn't seem to notice. "My babies are all off to school; the three of you look so adorable together!"

Sighing a little, Johan knew his mother would make a fuss that morning, similar to when he decided to stay for school, but what he didn't expect was that he would be going to a private institution that wore uniforms.

He imagined how confusing it would be at school since he and his brother were twins, but they were wearing the same outfit, which was bound to cause more problems. Thankfully, at least his hair was longer, which could hopefully get him out of awkward situations.

"One more picture!" Rachel smiled and grabbed both of her brothers' arms after sensing the tense atmosphere. Their mother took another picture then she began hurrying them along."Okay now let's go, we're going to be late!"

As they grabbed their backpacks and made their way downstairs Johan was stopped by his father right as he was about to leave.

"Johan, remember to go to the principal's office first when you get to school. The information about your classes is there, but if you run into any problems, call me."

"Okay, sure." He said trying to sound optimistic but he wasn't feeling excited since he found out he was going to be put in a special class so he could be assessed to see if he was at the 12th grade level.

"Let's go!" Rachel nudged him again and Johan reluctantly followed his siblings out of the house. After waving goodbye to his parents he got into Luke's car because he was driving them to school.

He silently hoped and prayed that he would get through the day without any problems and without drawing too much attention to himself since he would be in a completely different environment and outside his element.

"You're going to love our school! There are so many nice people and I can't wait for you to meet my friends!" Rachel said ecstatically but Luke huffed quietly. Looking over at his brother, Johan could tell he was pissed but he wasn't sure why.

After driving for a few miles and passing through different affluent communities, they finally arrived at their destination, which immediately took Johan aback. It was the most impressive school he had ever seen, with its huge manicured fields for different sports and multiple large detached buildings for departments and classes with a beautiful backdrop of the mountains. Quickly, it dawned on him that this wasn't a small, tucked-away private institution as he'd thought, and as they drove into the parking lot where numerous rows of expensive cars were lined up, he realized he would be surrounded by a lot more people than he was used to.

Almost immediately after parking, his brother got out of the car and went off on his own, leaving him and his sister by themselves. "Do you want me to take you to the principal's office?" Rachel offered while checking the time on her phone.

Watching his brother retreat into a nearby building Johan sighed. "No, I'll find it on my own. I don't want you to be late for class."

"Oh alright, I'll see you later." She said before leaving, and once he was alone, he decided to take a walk around the compound.

The morning was chilly and bleak, with the sky like a grey blanket that held a dim sun that hadn't yet released any warmth on the school. Johan tried keeping a straight face but everything felt very unusual and out of place to him. Remembering what his father had said he headed to the main hall of the school in search of the school directory after deciding not to bother any of the other students making their way to class.

"Willow Valley Academy," He said reading the name of the school after seeing it on the notice board of the huge building in front of him. The building was interconnected with two other adjoining buildings that extended onto the compound and stood at least four stories high. Peering through the glass doors at the entrance he spotted the directory and went inside to study it in detail so he could find where he needed to go.

After locating the principal's office he exited the building and was about to make his way there when he was jolted by someone hitting him in the side and throwing their arm around his shoulder. Instinctively, he shoved the person away and raised his arms to defend himself, but the person who'd attacked him stood back and looked at him, confused and non-aggressive. He was a blonde boy who seemed to be around the same age as him but he was a few inches taller and built like an ox.

"What's wrong bro?" He asked innocently while tilting his head and Johan couldn't help but think how comical he seemed compared to how tough he looked.

Finding his would-be attacker's behavior strange, Johan kept his distance, but the teen approached him in a friendly, carefree manner.

"Where have you been these past two weeks? You just disappeared without saying anything? Did something happen?" The strange teen continued and it dawned on him that he must've been a friend of his brother's. "Damn, your hair grew out while you were gone." He said coming closer but just then the school bell rang, sounding the start of classes.

Composing himself, Johan started off in the direction of the principal's office, but the blonde boy stopped him again.

"Luke, where are you going?" The boy asked concerned.

"You've got me confused with someone else." That was all Johan said before he quickly left so he wouldn't be delayed any longer.

When he arrived at the principal's office, he was made to sit outside and wait until the secretary called him in and sent him to the principal.

He was a man around his father's age but he was already greying and had frown lines on his forehead. After handing him some papers the principal scanned him with critical eyes that were too dark to read before frowning.

"Normally, I only accept new students in early January, and it's February now." He said lowering his glasses as he sternly assessed Johan's documents. "However, your father and I are good friends, so I made an exception. I hope you don't plan on making me regret my decision, young man."

"No sir," Johan answered before getting up and leaving. As he looked over the papers he received he took note of his classes before the secretary stopped him at the door.

"Will you need help finding where you need to be?" She asked but Johan politely declined.

"No, I'll be fine." He said before exiting the office and making his way down the corridor.

***
Author's Note

Johan is pronounced (Yo) like Yo-Han