Before The Ink {Prequel} [Boy x Boy]

Before The Ink [Boy x Boy] (Chapter 1)

The boy had done nothing but walked through the front door, made his way to the office, and took a seat in one of the very uncomfortable office chairs. Already from what he could tell, just from seeing the few students hanging around, and the way the secretary acted, this school was going to be just like the rest.

Everyone would be super friendly at first, but when it was evident he didn’t give a fuck about anything they had to teach him, they would label him as ‘the problem child’. Once that happened, he would only be around for another few months, not bothering to make any friends as he stayed, before he was once again forced to move. And again, it would be in some run down apartment, duplex, or just some shitty box they tried to call a house.

His life followed the same pattern as it always did, and he didn’t understand why his old man bothered to continue enrolling him in school to begin with. It’s not like he ever learned anything, since it all went over his head anyways.

This was just going to be the same thing it always was, and Hayden just wished they could skip to the end already. Because at least at the end, everyone would give up trying to get to him. They would just let him do what he wanted, and be thankful for when he left again.

Besides, everything was always better before he showed up.

“Hayden!” The new principal greeted with a smile as he finally entered into the office. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person!”

The sulking boy slowly rose from his chair, seeing no way to avoid the out stretched hand the man offered to him. Cautiously he gave his own hand over, both of them shaking before their hands fell back to their sides.

“Where’s your father?” The man asked curiously, since it was rather evident the boy’s father was no where in sight.

“He had to go to work. First day and all.” Hayden mumbled softly, lowering his eyes to the ground.

“Ah, of course. Well, we’ll be sure to make you feel comfortable here. It must be hard to be starting a new school so far from where your old one was.” The principal said while guiding the boy to his personal office.

Although the principal was probably trying to sound sympathetic, all Hayden could hear was the pity. He wanted to roll his eyes, but with the man still staring at him, he supposed that wasn’t quite the option.

They entered into the smaller office, and Hayden immediately took a seat in front of the desk. He was all to used to this by now, and he just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. The older man however hesitated now, as if he were taken aback by how natural this all was for the younger one. He didn’t ask though, and soon he was behind the desk, glancing at something on his computer screen.

“Have you seen your schedule yet?” The principal asked curiously.

“No sir.” Hayden answered. “But the guidance counsellor said he would put in any credits I needed, and give it to me when I came in.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Whoever it was didn’t even bother to wait to be given permission to come in, simply strolling in then as he flashed the other’s a smile.

“Hi, Hayden. I’m Mr. Ricardo. We spoke on the phone?” The man said, although Hayden had immediately recognized his voice.

“Hi.” Hayden said softly, offering his hand out to the guidance counsellor. They briefly shook hands, and then Mr. Ricardo glanced at the man behind the desk.

“I was just bringing over Hayden’s schedule. But if you’re busy, I could show him to his first class?” Mr. Ricardo offered.

Almost immediately the principal was nodding his head, as if he was glad to be done with the awkward boy. Hayden supposed that wasn’t quite it, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was either.

“Yes, that sounds great. Just let me know if you need anything.” The man verbally answered, before going all smiles back to Hayden. “You too, all right? If you need anything, my door is always open. I hope you have a great time here at North East.”

“Thanks.” Hayden mumbled, although he too was glad to be getting out of the office so soon. He quickly stood and left the room, not bothering to glance back over his shoulder as he made his way to the bigger office.

Mr. Ricardo was literally a step behind the boy, still being the ever so pleasant man as he guided the boy out of the offices and into the hallway.

“Well, it seems, from what I could tell, that you still have a lot of credits you need to make up from your old schools. Most of your classes are core classes, but I was able to give you one elective. I wasn’t sure what you would be into though, so I decided to just put you in an art class. I hope that’s okay?” Mr. Ricardo asked, having started leading Hayden down the hallway. He had handed the boy’s schedule over to him, letting Hayden take a glance at what classes he would have.

The boy only nodded though, too busy staring at the paper in his hands to bother with giving a vocal response.

“Okay, great.” The guidance counsellor said awkwardly. “Well, if you decide you don’t like it, or that one of your classes are too hard, you can always come down and change your schedule.”

Hayden nodded again, finally looking up when it was clear they had stopped in front of a classroom.

“This is where your English class will be, and you’ll attend it for first period.” Mr. Ricardo explained, while reaching over and opening the door.

Immediately, everyone in the classroom had looked up when the two had entered. Mr. Ricardo, of course, had smiled pleasantly at everyone and received some awkward smiles back. They all had their textbooks open, some with notebooks open, while their teacher was writing things on the board.

“Hello.” She greeted pleasantly.

“Hi, Mrs. Shaw. This is Hayden Bolton, our new student. He’ll be attending your class for first period.” He explained, while gesturing to the boy at his side.

“Oh! Hi, Hayden!” She greeted excitedly. “Welcome to North East! I hope you like to read?”

She said it as a question, and Hayden hesitated to answer. He did like to read, but doing the homework was another story…

“I do.” He answered softly, glancing to the classroom now.

Everyone was staring at him, as if it wasn’t every day they had a new student. The school seemed big enough, so he wasn’t quite sure why this was so shocking to them. Once he made eye contact with a few of them, most turned back to their friends only to had whispered conversations about the new kid.

Turning back to the teacher, he saw she was still smiling, perhaps even brighter now.

“Well that’s great to hear. I’m sure you’ll fit in just nicely with this class.”

Hayden gave a small nod, and Mr. Ricardo slowly started to move to do the door then.

“Well, I’m going to head back to my office now. Hayden, if you need anything, you know where to find me.” Mr. Ricardo said with a smile, although Hayden actually had no idea where he was supposed to go to find him in the first place. Not that it mattered though, since Hayden would probably wouldn’t be going to him for help anyways.

But the boy nodded anyways, and away the guidance counsellor went.

“Well, we have a seat right in the front open for you.” Mrs. Shaw said, while directing towards the empty desk. “Why don’t I get you a text book and… Do you have a backpack with you?”

“Uh, no ma’am.” Hayden answered awkwardly.

The teacher looked skeptical, but continued smiling as she went to the back and got a text book. She then went over to her desk, while Hayden awkwardly slipped into a chair. Again, everyone seemed to whisper at once, but once she came back to the front of the room, they fell quiet again.

“We’re on page 159, Hayden.” She said with a smile, before returning to the front of the room and continuing to teach.

Hayden decided to play the good student for now, opening up to the page she had directed. He barely skimmed over the page, but after a few moments realized there was no point in reading it. Most of the kids had returned back to the lesson as well, no longer interested in the new kid either.

And so the new school began the old cycle for Hayden.