//The Strays\\ .short story.

:)

Want to hear a story?

Well, maybe I should introduce myself first. My name is Alfie.

When I was fifteen, I had to move cities because of my dad's job.
This meant I had to move to a different high school too, which made me more nervous then I probably should have been. Here's why.

Back in my old high school, I tried too hard to be a part of the 'cool' and 'popular' crowd. I acted rude, rebellious and obnoxious just to fit in- even if it wasn't like me at all. At the time, I was convinced that they liked me. However, I was wrong. Instead of accepting me, they treated me like I was a joke which resulted in me getting bullied (quite badly too, might I add). After that, I didn't really have a place where I belonged. Wherever I went, it felt like I didn't quite fit.

I was worried that this same thing would happen at my new school.

Then came the first day. On the outside, I looked chilled and relaxed. On the inside however, I was nervous as hell.

I was trying my hardest to make new friends, but no matter what I did, I still got the feeling that I didn't quite fit. Whenever I tried to start a conversation, I was greeted by awkward whispering, staring and heaps of awkward silences that were nearly impossible to ignore. Today was not looking good.

During lunch break, I made the decision not to hang around the 'cool' and 'popular' crowd. I walked right past them until I came to a grassy area with a tree near the middle. It was lonely, but somewhat peaceful too. Then, I noticed someone. It was a girl, sitting by herself underneath the tree. I must add, she had the coolest blue hair that I've ever seen. She didn't look like she was doing much- she was sort of just sitting there. To be honest, it looked like she didn't quite fit. Just like me.

I decided to go and say hello. It was worth a shot.

I walked over and sat down next to her. At first she seemed quite shy, but as we talked and talked, she came out of her shell. She was actually really loud and funny once I got to know her.

Her name was Charlotte- Charlie for short.

Every day from then on, I went and sat by the tree during lunch break. And soon enough, Charlie and I became best friends.

It was just the two of us for quite a while.

Then, we met someone else.

His name was Jayden- We saw him wandering around all by himself one day, like a lost sheep. We decided to become his friend, and soon enough, he started hanging out with us.

Jayden was quite short and not very muscular. We noticed he was always the last picked for sports games. However, we came to realise he was super smart, probably smarter than most people in our grade. As well as helping us with homework, he was a great friend. One that I will never forget.

After Jayden started hanging out with us, a couple of others came and joined our little group. After a few months, it had increased to about ten of us. Ten kids who didn't quite fit. But now, we thought it was time to identify ourselves as something more.

We called ourselves 'The Strays'.

I was about to enter some of the happiest years of my life, that were filled with walking the world and singing and having fun without anyone judging- all with some of my favourite people in the world.

We became almost like a family, with new people joining along quite often. Whenever we saw a Stray, someone who didn't quite fit, we asked them to hang out with us.

For once in my life, I felt like I belonged. For once in my life, I was more than 'the kid who never fits in.'

But then, as we entered our senior years, everything started to change.

The people in our group started dropping like flies- they just seemed to disappear and they never contacted us again. A few times, I've seen them hanging out with the 'cool' and 'popular' crowd.

As we walked the streets, we also noticed less and less Strays around. Maybe we just stopped noticing them.

Or maybe there just aren't any Strays anymore. Too busy trying to fit in, I guess.