Mr Delightful

Chapter two

The next day I woke up when my alarm went off. I got dressed in a black pair of jeans and a galaxy sweater. Most would call it nerdy, but I say I kind of rock the whole geek thing.

I marched down the stairs, refusing to do anything with the brown, curly mess on the top of my head.

I looked out the window, seeing my mom is already left for work. I strolled over into the kitchen, grabbing at banana and eating it way too fast.

"Jamie!" I called through the house. "You awake?"

Jamie walked out, his blond hair matching our mothers. Jamie was thirteen. He didn't like the same video games as me, or the same bands. He liked Nirvana and AC/DC and I liked Panic! At the disco and Blink182. Of course he liked the ones that sold their shirts in any mall around town. I had to look through fan sites to find shirts from my bands.

Jamie smiled, reaching past me to get a banana.

"You're up on time today. Congrats."

I rolled my eyes at him, but laughed nonetheless. I checked the time, seeing we should leave soon.

Me and Jamie went to a high school with both senior and junior students, so we got to go to the same school. He acted as if I throw off his groove, but I'm sure he liked having me around.

I left the house, letting Jamie go in front of me so I could lock the door. We  were walking to the bus stop when I tripped over something on the street. Jamie turned to help me as the bus was coming up.

"Go get on the bus, Jamie. I'll make it to school on time," I insisted, a grin on my face as I pick myself up off the ground.

"But--"

"Run or you won't make it!"

Jamie sighed and turned around, running to the bus. I turned to see what I tripped over, and there on the pavement lay a small black cat.

It didn't look injured, nor did it have a collar to indicate it was owned. I stooped down to look at it.

"Hello, kitty," I said gently, "I'm sorry I tripped on you, I should watch my step."

The cat looked at me with curious, orange eyes, but didn't get up from the ground. I scrunched up my nose.

I picked up the cat gently, careful not to hurt it. I looked at it carefully, seeing the back leg is scrunched against the cat's body.

I saw cars of teenagers driving to the school and knew I didn't have a lot of time to stand here. I grabbed my backpack and emptied out the books, leaving an old hoodie I had in the bottom of it. I laid the cat in and zipped up the back just enough so the cats hidden, but there's still room for it to breath.

I slipped the backpack onto my headed toward the school, until I saw a van pull up on the street. The door opened and there was Honor, a smile on her face.

"Hey, Vaughn!" Honor chirped. "What are you doing? You'll be late for school."

"I missed the bus," I explained. Honor nodded, then gestured for me to get in the car.

"Come on, we have an extra seat."

I was about to protest when Honor pulled me into the van anyway.

"The van seats six, so you can go sit back there with Chase." Honor pointed back to where Chase was sitting, listening to music in his ear buds. I nodded and thanked her, sitting beside chase mildly uncomfortably.

The ride feels like it goes forever. I'm grateful to Honor for letting me ride with her, but sitting beside Chase who's being awkwardly silent is a complete nightmare of antisocial interaction.

As I got out of the van, making sure to say an extra thank you to Honor, she catches my arm.

"You're sitting with us at lunch again today, aren't you?" Honor asked. I thought for a moment. These were nice people, I wouldn't pass up sitting with them, even if I wouldn't feel incredibly guilty for saying no.

"Yeah, okay."