Southern Constellations (Fuenciado)

Chapter One

Being the new kid fucking sucked. There were too many stares, too many questions, too many moments when you were left all alone. I should've been used to it by now, considering that I'd already moved once before at the beginning of this year. Although to be honest, that made it worse. Because it meant that I had even less of a place to think of as my home, a place where I felt that I belonged. I truly didn't know where that was anymore; I didn't even know if I'd had that to begin with.

The last place I'd lived...well, that didn't qualify as a home at all. The trashed rooms, broken bottles, constant smoke; I didn't want to think about it. Because thinking about it meant that I had to remember what had happened that night, the last one before I'd left. It wasn't as if I didn't have nightmares about it already, and having to relive it when I was awake as well was more than I could handle. 

The only good thing that had come out of this past year was meeting Vic-- good didn't even begin to cover it. Most of the time, he'd been he only thing that had kept me going. But now he was so far away, and I was here alone with only faded memories to keep me company.

And to be honest, they were shit to be around. All they did was make me miss him even more than already did, a dull ache that never went away. It was as if I'd left a part of me back in San Diego, and there was only part of me here wandering the halls of my new school. An empty shell, trying and failing to blend in with the clean-cut kids whose biggest problem was when their phone ran out of power. My aunt had a lot of money, something I'd never been used to and probably never would be. I felt completely out of place wearing a pair of brand new khakis and green polo, the school's mandatory uniform. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten new clothes before I'd moved here, and if I had they'd been from a donation bin.

Everyone in the hallway could probably tell that I wasn't from here, considering how I was ridiculously tan and it was the middle of the winter. That, and the fact that I looked absolutely lost and the school-year was already halfway over. I wandered aimlessly through the halls, trying to consult the poorly-drawn maps that were framed on the wall. You'd think that for a private school they'd be able to afford at least a decent map. 

By the time I was able to decipher the small letters that were apparently the names of the classrooms, the bell had already rung. Of course, everybody here was too important to be concerned with anyone but themselves. I sighed as I hurried up the stairs, painfully aware of how alone I was. Things were different now. I'd been delusional to think that it'd end up like it had the last time, that I'd somehow bump into someone that'd change my life forever. Although as I rounded the corner, I couldn't help but wish that I would.

Fuck, where the hell was I going? The bell was going to ring any second, and I didn't want to start off with a bad reputation on only my first day of school. This was supposed to be a new start, that's what Dad had said. I couldn't disappoint him, not again. Not after what had happened with Mom. 

Maybe the room was upstairs? It was worth a shot. I turned to go up them when I felt someone crash into me. I jumped backwards, my instincts honed from years of trying to dodge punches. I could hear my heart thudding in my ears, my brain in a frenzy as it shouted that I was about to get beat up again. I took a deep breath, attempting to remind myself that not everybody was out to get me. 

"Hey, sorry about that."

I glanced up to see a shorter kid standing in front of me, looking somewhat disgruntled. He was wearing a hoodie and jeans, simple yet attractive.

"No problem," I muttered, blushing slightly.

He turned to leave, but shit, I still didn't know where I was going. He seemed nice enough; I didn't really want to bother him, but I couldn't think of another option that would still get me to class at a reasonable time. I cleared my throat, my face reddening even more as he spun around to look at me once again.