Comfort Zone

I sat in a chair in the bottom left of the classroom. It would be the very first time going to an actual school. I had been homeschooled my entire life. I was absolutely terrified out my mind. I looked to my right to find another person. The person was a gangly kid with shorth blonde hair and a homemade sweater. My chest constricted. Was I going to be hurt? Is it a man or woman? Should I say something? With a million questions buzzing through my head I hardly heard the teacher say my name.

"Virginia White"

I was unsure what I supposed to do. My spine straighten to see what everyone else was doing. They were either trying to look nonchalant or they were chatting with friends about what they had and hadn't done over the summer. My mother should have really prepared me for this. I took a deep breath and decided to let my presence be known.

"HELLO." I mentally punched myself. It was not supposed to be that loud. As a result most of the classes heads turned towards me. My jaw clenched and I just sat there. I felt their eyes on me long after they continued what they were doing. I didn't feel comfortable here whatsoever. The teacher had walked to the of the room was speaking.

"Welcome to a new year. My name is Mr. Maurin and I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year." It was around this time that I realised nobody was listening to him. They were all just continuing with their chatter. Their absolutely endless chatter. I groaned loudly and put my head on my desk. Their noise was giving me a massive headache and I just wanted to go home. I opened my eyes to find the person to my right looking curiously at me.

"You okay?" My head shot right up at the seemingly simple question. Was I really okay? Did he/she honestly want to know or were they just being polite, mother said people did that sometimes. Pressed for time I settled on a noise that sounded like a mix between German and alien. 

The person looked like they were going to say something else until the teacher walked over. 

"Hello there, what was your name again?"  

"Arthur, sir." So it was a boy. 

I gaped at the fact that Arthur had answered the question with such ease. I watched as the teacher scooted through the rows of desks, asking the names of all his students.  

Arthur seemed like he wanted to continue the conversation so I quickly pivoted my head to the side, forgetting that I was sitting directly next to a wall. My nose squished against the brick. I was afraid that Arthur would throw words at me if I turned to I ended up staying in that position for a while. 

But this kid was much braver than I as he tapped me on the shoulder. I slowly turned my head in defeat. 

"Is everything alright?" 

I paused and tried to carefully plan out my answer. 

"You are a boy." was all that came out 

There was a long pause between us after that. 

I was thinking of going back to my wall until he continued to speak. 

"So this teacher is the corniest I've had for a while. How about you?" 

I didn't reply but that didn't really seem to bother him. 

"He certainly can't control his class, that's for sure. What's your name?" 

"Virginia." I replied after a bit. 

"You really aren't giving me a lot to go on for a conversation." He joked 

"I'm sorry!" I said in a hurry 

"No! No! No! You don't have to apologise! It was just a joke." He replied even faster. 

I didn't know what to do so I shot up and made my way over to the teacher. 

"Mr Maurin I am going to go urinate now." I tried to say in the most serious tone possible, though it sounded a bit shaky.  

He looked at me with a bit of an astonished expression but I didn't take notice as I was already on my way to the bathroom.