A good soldier never gives up

In unexplored territory

  I followed Teresa into the classroom and sat down beside her, not knowing who else to sit by. When the teacher walked in, she checked my schedule before handing me a spare book for her class.

"Students, it may appear to be that we have a new student joining us today. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Mrs Truman asked.

I stood up from my seat and spoke loudly. "My name is William Ashton. I have recently transferred here from a small town in the desert." I knew I wasn't supposed to say what I actually did in the desert, but no one will care what I say. I was told that it's going to be difficult being the new kid in town.

The boy from earlier, Tomas, raised his hand, "why were you living in the desert? Are the people there ugly like you?" The other students laughed as the teacher punished the boy.

I shook my head no. "Appearance doesn't matter where I am from. It's depends on whose side your on that could be the difference between life and death. You have to contain survival skills if you want to make it out alive." That caused the class to fall silent.

Juliet raised her hand next. "What do you mean whose side your on? Was there a gang problem or something?"

"It can qualify as a gang problem, but it really isn't one. We had more of a... Warfare problem." Everyone was staring at me so I quickly sat back down in my chair. "That is all," was the last thing I said out loud for the rest of the class period.

After class was another story. Suddenly, every one of my peers wanted to know more about where I was from. I swear, it was like being surrounded by an enemies team and having no chance of escaping. All my weapons were confiscated earlier today by Alicia because she thought I would fire it in school. Honestly, she may be older than me, but she doesn't know how well I'm experianced with weapons.

"So, Will, who do you have next?" Jessica asked me as I walked out of class.

I took a look at my schedule before saying, "Mr. Valdez for Biology."

Just then Juliet came up to us with Tomas behind her. "Hey, William. Wanna walk with me to class?" she asked me. I looked at Teresa shaking her head no before agreeing to go with Juliet.

"William, don't go with them. It's bad news," she warned. I shook off her warning and followed them anyway. "Listen to me! You don't know what your getting yourself into Will!"

I disregarded her warning, knowing that I'm capable of handling any dangerous situation. As we walked around the corner, I immediately knew what she was warning me about. Tomas pushed Juliet through one of the classroom doors and tried to grab my shirt. I quickly grabbed his arm and threw him easily over my shoulder. He hit the ground hard, with the air leaving his lungs with a satisfactory oof! "Any attempts to battle me will lead you to failure," was all I said before walking into class, leaving the steaming boy behind me. Juliet was watching through the window with a surprised face, until I walked into the class room.

"Look, I didn't know he was going to do something like that. He only asked me to invite you to walk with us, I swear to God." She was making a worried face as if I wouldn't believe her. She doesn't look like a young woman who would plan something so meaningless to someone she doesn't know.

"Relax, Juliet. I don't hold you accountable to that incident outside of the classroom," I told her. She seemed to relax a bit, but didn't believe me. "I had been in more dangerous situations than this. This was simply child's play."

She smiled a bit, "uh okay? How were you able to do that? You must be really strong for a... How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen years old, and I was required to stay in shape in order to continue... Well, surviving in the way I did." I got to be more careful with my conversations. She cannot know anything about my home. Although I already discussed a bit about it to the class, it means nothing if I don't give the class details on where my home is located.

She poked my stomach lightly before saying, "wow. Your like a male super model.You'll look good with any dark colors. I especially love your eyes. You don't really see a lot of grey eyes around here."

Unsure of how to react, I replied, "Thank you?" She made a gesture as if she just came up with an idea and pulled a notebook out of her bag. "What are you locating?" I asked her.

"My pencil. I want to draw you," she said as she rummaged through her bag. Eventually, she located her pencil and sat down on a chair. "Well, sit down." She grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the chair next to her. "Hold still and whatever you do, don't move."

"Affirmative. I shall not move," I told her. I sat there very still as she began drawing. After a few minutes of sitting very still, she looked up at me.

"Why don't you smile? I haven't seen you smile all day," she told me. I simply shook my head no. "Why not?"

I looked away from her before saying, "I don't have a reason to. I never had a reason to smile for anything, that is, until recently anyways." When I looked back at her, she seemed to be observing me closely. "Is there something wrong?"

Shaking her head no, she said, "your very hard to figure out. What can make you smile?" As she stared, I could see a bit of her picture. It actually didn't look so bad.

Returning my attention to her, I slightly shake my head. "Nothing you can reach. I am not exactly... Normal. It will always make me different from the other kids my age."

"I have a new goal now. I'm going to try to find one thing that will make you smile," she said before returning her attention to the picture. "You have a perfect face structure, but if I may ask, how did you get that scar on your face?"

My hand went up to cover it as the memory of my last night home came back. "It's a knife wound. I was too close to a friend who had one on them." Janet. A true friend who is gladly living the remainder of her life as a normal school girl. Sometimes, I'm glad for the wound she gave me. After so many battles, our scars will be the reminder of our teamwork.

She moved my hand out of the way. "I'm sorry if it's personal. I was just curious. Your a mysterious guy, William." I sat there quietly, unsure of what to say until she finished her picture and showed it to me. She had gotten almost every detail perfectly about me. It was as if she were an experienced artist. "Well, what do you think?"

"It's amazing. I wasn't told about th-" I caught on what I was about to say and added, "this school having artists."

She seemed to have caught on what I was about to say. "You weren't told about this by who? Not a lot of people know that I like to draw, so who could've told you?"

I opened my mouth to say something when all of a sudden, the teacher walked inside the classroom with a cup of hot coffee. "Students, turn to page four hundred and thirty seven in your textbook. Read the sections before answering all the questions." Mr. Valdez then looked up at his class and met my eyes. "Your name is William Ashton, correct?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Sir, I don't have a book yet. What should I do without the materials necessary?" I asked him. He gave me a weird look as if I was talking in a foreign language.

"Do you always speak that way?" he asked me.

"Is there a problem with my speaking, sir?" I asked him. He just stared at me. "Sir?"

"Nothing is wrong with you. I was just lost in thought. If you don't mind telling me, where are you from?" he asked me. That raised suspicion inside me a bit.

"Why would you like to know?" I asked him. He just shrugged. "If you do not tell me the reason why you would want that type of information, then I will not give you mine."

He held up his hands a bit as if he surrendered. "I was only asking you a question. There's no need to say something like that." He grabbed some worksheets and started to pass them out. "Juliet, why don't you help him if he has any questions. Coming in so late in the year, he's going to need a lot of help to catch up with everyone."

She nodded and turned to me. "Your answering my question first," she whispered to me.

I ignored her response and started my work. As I read the questions, it began to feel as if I was in a situation I couldn't get out of. The words were confusing as if I was reading some other language other than English. I turn to Juliet and was about to ask for help when she gave me a expecting look. She was waiting for her answer. "Fine. I was told by my friends that I would meet someone special, but they didn't say talented."

"You think I'm the person they were talking about? I'm nothing special, just a normal girl from a normal town," she asked me. She started shaking her head no. "You just met me. I can't be the special person for you."

Realizing what she meant, I shake my head no. "Not in that way. I mean as friends. I have no reason for those types of emotions to come up inside me. I never needed them before nor will I need them."

She began to stare at me as if I was some sort of psychopath so I turned back to my work. I struggled through it until it was eventually time to turn in the work. I gathered my items, leaving a book on my desk. Juliet snatched it and ran off to our next class. I followed her until she ran into the principal.

"Miss Peterson. You shouldn't run in the hall ways or you will receive detention. How many times do I have to tell you," Principal Ramirez told her. He turned to me when I came running after her and stopped me, " Oh isn't this the new student? Welcome to our school. I hope your enjoying your first day here. Don't you cause any trouble now."