The Fools

Chapter One: Changes

Galen

I've always been terrified of pretty much everything and everyone, excluding my mom because she's my mom. For a while, I even had trouble accepting the bookclub's table as my own but seeing how they were the quieter, less dramatic option that didn't constantly ask me questions, I felt the choice was obvious. And yes that meant making friends was just as hard as finding a table to sit at during lunch. There were too many people to choose, too many variables to think of. How do you choose the perfect friend? How do you know they won't get you into crazy scenarios or if they do drugs and try to pressure you into doing them later down the line? What if they're only pretending to be friends with you so you would do their homework for them? What if they have a significant other who tries to hit on you and you don't know how to tell your friend? And don't get me started on relationships.. that's just too much to think of right now.

But ever since I met Ryder, none of these issues have come to mind as it would have in the past when meeting someone new. I even forget he's the rowdy type since he's been pretty considerate about how he acts around me, which is new to me since everyone is usually telling me I need to suck it up and deal with it, pushing me to do things I don't want to do. The fear of others pushing me into things make it harder to want to have friends all together. But Ryder is most certainly different. Everything is different now that he and I are friends.

He likes to wait for me in front of my house in the mornings so we can walk to school together but as much as I appreciate his consistency, this made me feel the need to rush when getting ready. Usually, I'd take my time, making sure everything was in order, hair was brushed, clothes weren't wrinkled, teeth clean. I also made sure my bed was made and I had all my school supplies in my bag. I've begun skipping out on a few of those important things like making my bed and making sure I had my school supplies. And because I didn't make sure, I apparently have left all of my pens and pencils at home which is fantastic. Why did I even take them out of the bag? Oh right, so I could do homework. Another thing I left at home. Why don't I do these things before going to bed instead? Mental note: Switch a few morning routines to being done before going to bed so I don't have to worry about it all day.

"Galen, tell this idiot that Twilight is overrated and that he should be reading something a bit more educational like this one." A book is shoved in my face with the words The Cards Of Persais sprawled across it. "Not only does it tell stories but it also teaches you about tarot cards!"

The person holding the book was Jesse, a dark-skinned girl with curly hair, who had been arguing with Charlie about the book he currently has out. "Uh... I don't know about either books.. I don't read vampire stuff.. blood makes me queasy.."

"Overrated or not, Twilight was still good! As a book anyway because the books are always better than the movie!" Charlie yelled out, making me flinch. Charlie is the spitting image of what you'd think a bookworm would look like. The glasses, the white button-up tucked into his khaki pants, has a shirt pocket that holds bookmarks instead of pens. "The book might have been better without the whole sparkling thing but her goal was a vampire-human love story with the added love triangle and Stephanie nailed that!"

"Oh come on you guys. Stop fighting. You know Galen doesn't do well with yelling." I smiled at Toby. He used to be friends with Ryder but migrated to the book lovers table some time ago. They apparently used to have a... a thing?  I'm still unsure what exactly that means. Something along the lines of a relationship but he says they weren't? I don't know.. "If you ask me, Twilight is a little overrated and overused. Everyone has read the books, seen the movies, it's done and over with now, memes and all. Why don't you just read Jesse's book?" Toby has black hair like me but one side of his head is shaved and the other is dyed a muted green to match his eyes and has a septum piercing. I find myself staring at it sometimes.