Finding a Twin

Chapter 9 : First day of school

Chapter 9

Morning...

Jeff POV

I don't think I got any sleep. Riker's alarm went off, and I knew I was basically screwed. Getting no sleep makes me way more anxious. And I'm already super anxious about school, so this isn't good...

"Hey. We have to get up," Riker said, turning on the light.

I sighed.

"How'd you sleep?" Riker asked.

"Um... I didn't... I was too anxious to sleep."

"Oh... Sorry you couldn't get to sleep..."

Riker got out of bed, and went to his closet.

"Since your new clothes haven't been washed yet, did you want to borrow something from me?" Riker asked.

"Yeah, if that's ok and you don't mind..." I said, sitting up.

"Yeah, it's totally fine. Rocky and I borrow stuff from each other all the time. What do you want to wear?"

"I don't care..."

"Alright... Well... Here. You can try my smallest pair of jeans since you're pretty skinny."

Riker handed the jeans to me.

"And this is one of my smaller shirts. You can try that. And do you want a sweatshirt? It can get sort of cold at school sometimes."

"Ok."

He handed me the clothes.

"Thanks, Riker."

"No problem!"

Riker grabbed his own clothes, and left the room. I changed in our room, and put on my converse. Riker was lending me one of his backpacks, and he'd given me one of his old binders and folders to use.

Riker came back, and put his shoes on. And then we went downstairs together.

I was too nervous to eat, but Riker wasn't. He had cereal.

And then he led me outside to wait for the bus. I was already starting to panic inside. The bus was one of the places I'd get beat up.

I stood very close to Riker. Our other siblings joined us a few seconds later.

I saw the bus, and my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest.

Riker grabbed my wrist, and pulled me behind him. I followed him onto the bus. He went all the way to the back, and he pulled me into the seat next to him.

"How are you doing? Still nervous?" Riker asked.

"I forgot to go to the bathroom before we left."

"It's ok. We'll be at school in like 15 minutes. And you'll have plenty of time to go before your first class. And I'll show you where it is."

"R-Riker, I w-want to go h-home!"

"Jeff, you're going to be fine. Please just trust me on this."

My stomach was tying in even more knots. I hate this...

Riker put his arm around me sort of tight, and I slid closer to him. I was honestly becoming more and more terrified each minute. And by the time we finally got to school, I was trembling inside.

Riker POV

I led Jeff off the bus, keeping my grip on his wrist. The last thing I need to do is lose my terrified brother.

I brought him to the nearest bathrooms, and told him I'd wait outside for him. He came out about a minute later, and he was a lot paler than he was before.

"Hey. Everything ok?"

He just stared back at me, and his eyes filled with tears.

"Jeff, please don't cry. Everything's going to be ok."

I could see him starting to shake really hard.

"Ok, I have to go to my locker. You can come and just relax for a minute, ok? We don't even have to go to class yet."

I led him to my locker, and I told him to sit down on the floor while I got out my books. And when I was finished, I sat down beside him.

"Hey. Listen to me, ok? Everything is going to be fine today. The only classes we don't have together are second and seventh. That's english and economics. Everything else we have together. Nobody's going to hurt you. But even if they did, you could tell me, and I'd take care of it. Nothing bad is going to happen today, Jeff. I promise you."

I put my arm around him, and he leaned his head on my shoulder.

"You're going to be just fine," I said, quietly.

He sighed.

"R-Riker?"

"What?"

"W-what if I h-have a p-panic attack?"

"Just raise your hand, and ask to go to the bathroom. There are bathrooms in all the main hallways. Just go there, and take a few minutes to calm down again. Ok?"

He nodded.

The warning bell rang.

"Jeff, we've got 5 minutes to get to class. Ready to go?"

"N-no!"

"Jeff, come on. We have to. Just wipe your tears. I'll be with you this period. You'll be fine."

He wiped his tears, and I led him to our first class together, which was chemistry. I introduced him to the teacher, and since I didn't have a lab partner, he got to be mine!

He followed me, and sat down in his seat. But he was still shaking.

"Hey. Come here."

He scooched his chair closer. I put my arm around him, and started rubbing his back.

"You're going to be fine. Nothing bad is happening. It's just science class, ok?" I whispered.

He nodded slightly.

The bell rang, and class began. I was supposed to just help Jeff catch up with the unit we were on. And it turned out, he was actually really smart. He knew a ton of stuff already, and it seemed really easy for him.

The bell rang, and Jeff pretty much went into panic mode again.

"Hey. It's ok. Here's your schedule. Just follow the room numbers. The teacher won't get mad if you're late. It's your first day. Of course you don't know where the classes are yet. Just say you're new, ok?"

He nodded, but he looked like he was going to cry.

"Jeff, you can do this."

We walked out of chemistry.

"Ok. I have to go. But I'll see you third period, ok? We've got study hall together, so we can just go hang out in the cafeteria, alright?"

He seemed like he was going to burst into tears at any moment.

"Jeff, come on. You need to be strong. I'll walk to your class when it's over, and walk you to the cafeteria, ok? I really have to go, or I'm going to be late. Good luck."

I started quickly walking towards my next class. I had english, but it was a different english than Jeff's.

I sat down nervously, starting to stress about Jeff. But he'll be fine, right?