The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 3: The Boys

AN: Ref GIF for Cody being a sweetheart.

I refused to make eye contact with anyone as I walked. Just because the uniform could be customized didn't mean that everyone did so. My ensemble stuck out like a sore thumb, but I'd rather be comfortable in my clothes than liked.

I walked into the building and sat on the left bleachers, close to the wall in the top corner-- I didn't want to sit close to anyone. Luckily for me, my appearance repelled students, who sat a couple spaces away.  I put my earbuds in and listened to music, zoning out to the view of teachers putting equipment here and there.

Every so often a student would block my view while they walked up the steps. They always had a look of criticism on their faces. I had green eyes and brown hair, which was not too unusual, but the ends of my hair were dyed deep purple. On top of this, I was wearing a skeleton hoodie, the hood put up, and many colorful bracelets - and I was sitting in a corner. I wasn't surprised by the stares, just exhausted.

After the gym had filled up, I took my earbuds out and listened to the principal give an introductory speech about the school. Principal Safflower seemed to have no end to her energy; all her mannerisms seemed to be punctuated by exclamation marks. She went over the regular stuff: no bullying... No cheating ...Be respectful... I'd heard it all a thousand times before, so I let my eyes wander over the bleachers on the other side of the gym.

I looked from face to face, bored. Everyone looked the same, in blazers and blouses, ties and dress shoes. Person after person after person-- wait, what?

Someone was waving at me?

My eyes snapped back to the waving hand. Were they really waving at me? I looked at the person the hand belonged to.

It was a cute boy, smiling wide, with - what?! - electric blue hair. How did I not notice that before?! His hair fell over his eyes, but I could still see them looking directly at me. He was wearing a huge Pikachu hoodie over his uniform. I guess dress code was looser than I thought.

The guy next to him was waving, too. I looked to his left, and saw a boy with fringed hair like his, but in messy chocolate brown. He wore a pair of large glasses and had several necklaces hanging around his neck. His tie was loose and his sleeves were rolled up; he wore wristbands like mine.

He turned to his friend and seemed to be asking him something; the blue-haired boy shrugged and then waved again.

I pointed to my chest... Me?

They were awfully cute.

Reading my body language, he nodded - he was waving at me! I waved back. The boy with brown hair stuck out his tongue, which made me grin. He then looked away and started digging in his bag, while the blue-haired boy made silly faces at me. I stuck my tongue out; he laughed.

The boy with the messy brown hair pulled out a notebook and a king-size Sharpie. I could see he was writing something on it. When he was done, he looked around (the other boy put up his hands around it in a silly manner to protect the notebook from others' view) and held it up for me to see.

New face, huh? :P

I blushed and dug my own notebook out of my backpack. Luckily for me, I had a thick Sharpie too - just a pen wouldn't be very visible from this distance. I wrote my own message on the notebook and held it up at an angle slightly towards the wall, but still face-forward enough for them to see.

Just got here.

The boy with the electric blue hair nodded hard with a fake look of thoughtfulness. It was clear he was a jokester. He grabbed the notebook from his friend and scribbled something down at lightning speed. Both boys passed the notebook back and forth between each other, before the one on the left finally held it up:

<--Cody, the one and only :D Sir William The Fourth (crossed out, and below it:) Will. JUST WILL. -->

I nodded and Cody gave a thumbs up, slinging his arm around Will's shoulder. Will smiled shyly and pushed his glasses up on his nose. I wrote a sign back to them:

Alex!

Both boys quietly faked clapping and cheering, which made me laugh into my hands. Cody scribbled a sign in his kidlike handwriting and held it up:

Meet us at the fountain after the meeting!
Bring:
-Snacks
-A lightsaber
-Fuzzy mittens
-Garbage bags for hiding the body--oops, did I say that?

I read the sign and laughed-- the appropriate response, as they seemed all too eager to please. We continued to exchange messages like this; Will asked where I transferred from (very far away), Cody asked me for my favorite color (purple), and I asked both of them whether there was much drama at this school. Will wrote back to me:

Yes, but you get used to it.

I was less than pleased. I was hoping to escape rumors, lies, and secrets by switching schools.

Who to watch out for?

Will wrote for a long time before finally holding up the paper:

Football/cheerleading kids. Maisy D and Roland Gallagher specifically.

I sighed and threw my head back in exasperation. You've got to be kidding me, I thought. Apparently my roommate was mean enough to gain a reputation from the only two people I'd had any other interaction with. I wrote back:

Maisy Davids, my roommate?

The boys stared at my notebook in disbelief. Cody clapped his hands over his mouth, and Will sucked in air through his teeth with an expression that did not bode well for me. Cody grabbed the notebook from Will and quickly scribbled a response before showing me:

Abort! Abort! You would definitely rather live under a bridge than live with Maisy Davids. Beneath this was a drawing of two stick figures standing on top of a bridge, with another stick figure beneath the bridge. It held up a sign that said "Alex's House". I giggled at the reply; these two could not keep me serious.

Suddenly, the whole room applauded loudly and started to get up. The meeting was over; everyone was flooding the stairs down. The boys disappeared from my view; Cody put his hood up and was indistinguishable from the masses of students. I fell in line behind a huge group of people. I hoped I wouldn't be late to meet the guys by the fountain...