a hell called home (completed)

first day

david's pov

i quietly snuck into max's room with gwen. we pulled up two chairs beside max's bed and i pulled out my guitar.

max's pov

i rolled over a bit in bed as i heard the door creak open. then i heard gwen clear her throat.

today's the day
your very first day
summer is ending
and there's a new beginning
today will be alright
because we know you are bright
today's the day
your very first day

by this time i was already looking at them, rubbing my eyes. damn that was a good harmony.

"alright, get up shithead. you have school today and we are getting panera." gwen said. i groaned and signaled for them to get out of my room.

school. a real one.

i quickly hopped out of bed and threw on a bright blue t-shirt we had just gotten at macy's and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. honestly, i was really excited. i wouldn't let them know that, though. i nonchalantly walked out of my room and into the living room where gwen and david were sitting and talking.

"hello, parental units numero one and two." i said, hopping in between them.
"wow, that was fast." gwen said.
"is somebody excited for their first day!!" david said. i didn't know if he was mocking me or what, but i yelled "shut up, dad." as i felt my face going red.
"come one slowpokes. let's go get some coffee!" gwen said, a lot more excited then usual. i looked at her, confused. she shrugged and left.

le timeskip brought to you by my son lance mcclain oops wrong fandom

we had just arrived at the school, coffee in hand. i went to my home room which is where we would be given our complete schedules. as i walked in, i heard a familiar laughter.

be cool. just ignore it. maybe they won't see you.

i heard a gasp.

"MAX!"
"oh, hey preston."
"you go here? since when?"
"since now." i said, trying to dismiss him.
preston shrugged and walked over to his group of friends. they were probably all theatre nerds. ugh they're so annoying.

i sat down in a chair by the window and put in my earbuds and drank my coffee. then i heard the bell ring, signaling the beginning of class. i took out my headphones and shoved them in my pocket. no way in hell im getting my phone taken on the first day.

then a lady walked into the classroom. well, i say walked. it was more like a jumbled jog. she was out of breath and just dashed in.

"sorry i'm la-"

she was cut off by her tripping. she slammed into the floor, papers flying everywhere. nobody got up from their seats, they all just sat there.

i sighed. "fuck it." i said under my breath while walking over to help pick up her papers. yeah, it was pretty uncool, but just watching would have been worse.

"t-thank you-"
"max."
"yes, max. thank you, max. go ahead and have a seat. i have the rest of this."

i got up and went back to my chair, all eyes on me. the scrawny young lady took a deep breath and set the papers on the desk and picked up a white board marker.

'ms. cooper' was written in a nice cursive.

"hello, class. sorry i am late. i had some difficulties with my dogs today. crazy little guys. anyway, i hope you guys won't have to worry about it anymore. well, my name is ms. cooper. i hope we can all have a wonderful year together!"

the class just sat there, waiting for something to happen. it's like they were expecting something.

"ahem. so, how about we do some ice breakers! any volunteers?"

silence.

"no volunteers? fine, i'll start. my name's pauline cooper. i live with my two dogs, leandro and akira. they're both corgis. i also have a siamese cat named hachiko. oh and i have been teaching for four years prior to this class. anyway, does anyone else have something to say?"

"OOH OOH PICK ME. PICK ME."

"ah yes, what's your name?"

"my name's PRESTON. i love musical theatre and just theatre in general. i also love art and music and vIDEO games. and i have a cat named fluffalufagous the second! and not to brag, but he's a prince."

some girl raised her hand.
"what happened to fluffalufagous the first?"
"WE DONT SPEAK OF HIM." preston snapped.

i chuckled a little bit. what a dork.

a few other kids went and eventually the whole class did. well, all except me. i had zoned out after probably the fifth kid though.

"max..."
"max..."
"MAX."

i snapped out of it. "yes?" i blurted. ms. cooper looked at me and said "it's your turn."
i looked around the classroom. all eyes were on me. i felt my throat begin to close and my palms get sweaty.

"oh... um... okay."
i took a deep breath and sighed, trying to keep my cool.
"hey, i'm max. i like video games too, i guess. i play some instruments when i'm bored. i don't know, music is pretty great or whatever. and i like running."

"that's great, max!" ms. cooper said. i took that as a sign to stop talking. "i think you'd love to know that we have a cross country and a track team here at midpalm junior high." she said excitedly. i shrugged and looked out the window. i just wanted to go back home.

ms. cooper asked me to hand out schedules, so i did. then after we had some time leftover, so she gave us free time. i just sat at my desk while the other kids talked. ms. cooper came over towards me.

"how's it going, max?"
i was a little shook. my teachers usually all hated me.
"um.. okay, i guess. did i do something wrong?"
she looked at me like she was startled.
"no, no, of course not. in fact, i wanted to thank you for your help today. i have a feeling we are gonna have a great year together."
i wasn't used to adults being this nice or whatever, even now. fuck i didn't know what to say. was she faking it, or did she really like me?
"oh um... thanks?"
ahhhhhh at this point i was facepalming.
ms. cooper chuckled.
"you're welcome, max."
then the bell rang.
i grabbed my stuff, and she said
"have a great day, class!" then she looked at me "i hope you have a nice day today." she said gently.
"yeah, you too. i'll see you around."

i carried on throughout the day in a slight haze. was she really that nice? i mean... it was her job. so... i don't know. ugh.

1141 words