365 New Days

Chapter 1

It was the first day of school and Jacob was not happy. He would have preferred a private school or even better, home school. But private school was expensive and there was no one at home capable of teaching him this year. So there he was, standing in the Oakwood Public School doorway. Somehow, he found enough courage to follow the sea of kids inside. He tried to keep his anxiety at bay by letting his mind race. He went through the alphabet backwards at least twice before he was pushed and shoved into the school auditorium. Jacob took a seat beside a blonde haired kid who looked about his age. He wore a T-shirt that read "Forget lab safety, I want superpowers!" with a silhouette of a man with a full test tube in each hand. He was chatting with just about everyone sitting around him. He seems popular Jacob thought. I wonder wh-um what? The blonde started staring at him then grinned. Panic swelled inside Jacobs chest as he looked away. The last thing he wanted to do was be noticed by anyone. Especially the popular kids. Thankfully, one of the blonde's friends started another conversation and before he knew it, the kid had forgotten all about him.

Jacob's eyes followed a tall, bald man who walked up to the stage and tapped the microphone to test it. He must be the principal. He guessed.

"Welcome freshmen!" The man said. "Please take out your schedules from your backpacks and review them. Once I have gone over the school rules you may go to your classes." Jacob got his paper out and looked it over. First period was Spanish. Then he had math. English came next. Fourth was health. Fifth period was History and sixth was science. The schedule would cycle through during the week and some classes would be replaced with robotics, gym, or art. Soon, everyone was dismissed and they all went to their first classes.

Jacob managed to remain unnoticed by most of the students at the school until lunch. He sat by himself at one of the round tables and ate his sandwich anxiously. He finally gave in and pulled out a small, palm sized, music box from his sweatshirt pocket. He held it tightly in his hand for a while and his anxiety slowly started to fade. It was one of his prized possessions. Sure a music box is a bit girly but it was his mother's and the only thing he had to remember her by. He only brought out the box if he was feeling nervous, and somehow, it helped. He was about to put it away when a voice said, "Hey!" His head snapped up and he froze. It was the kid from before. He was standing next to him with his own brown lunch bag in hand. "My name's Mark. We're in the same math class. Oh what's that?"

Jacob held the music box closer to him. "Don't touch it!" he almost yelled. His eyes never left Mark who held up his hands.

"Hey pal I'm not gonna touch it. I just wanted to talk. Can I sit?" Jacob looked puzzled and relaxed a little.

"Talk about what?" Mark smiled, sat, and got out his lunch. He had packed pasta.

"I dunno," he said as he took a bite. "You seem like you could use a friend. New school?"

Jacob nodded. He told Mark that he moved here three years ago and was homeschooled. To make Jacob a little more comfortable, Mark told him about the middle school and how the food their was better than the stuff in the high school. (So says his sister who is a year older than him.) It was the main reason why he decided to bring his lunch everyday. Before long they had started a conversation about their past teachers. Jacob felt much more comfortable but it didn't last.

At the end of lunch, Mark was pulled over by two guys in the hallway and they cornered him. Jacob decided to wait by the library to give the three some privacy and before long, the two left, leaving Mark...on the ground? That didn't look right. Jacob was at his side in seconds.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ah, so, about that," Mark winced as he got up. "They're just some bullies from middle school, don't worry about it, I'm good."