Right Here (Klance)

Chapter 2

The thought of going to a public school in place of online classes seemed like a nightmare, a complete trainwreck. Keith was more terrified of both having to meet and interact with others, as well as the need to learn at a specific speed instead of at his own pace like normal. Online classes, he would learn, were actually easier, yet taught more for him than public schools. Aside from that, Keith was actually glad to be able to get away from his computer while he studied. It bothered his eyes to sit and stare at the monitor for a long time. But high school was different than elemtary. It was different from middle school. High school was hell, and even Shiro admitted to that. For the one semester than Keith had gone to a public elementary school, he knew well enough that that was hell. High school, Shiro described, was 10 times worst. He thought he was just exaggerating when he said that. He thought people in teenage rom-coms were exaggerating. He wanted them to be exaggerating. It couldn't have been any worse than the orphanage. Nothing could be any worst than the orphanage...

The morning of his first day in a public school was rather hectic. It was completely different from when he took online classes, or even that semester in elementary. Never before did he ever have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning and rush his shower, put on his clothes, eat a small breakfast, and be at the school at 7:00. It honestly all felt pointless and a waste of energy. By the time he ended up ready to leave, he was far too tired to drive on his own (he didn't even have a car.) Shiro had to drive him there. By the time he'd gotten there, the parking lot was almost completely empty. He'd assumed that everyone had gone inside already and quickly hopped out of the car and rushed up to the front doors, hearing Shiro's voice in the distance (he assumed trying to tell him to have a good day.) He quickly turned back and waved to him before he could get the chance to leave the parking lot before going into the small room outside of the main office. On the other side of the glass windows and doors was the school foyer, the barely lit sky shining through the skylights, a few banners hanging from the ceiling to celebrate what they called "school spirit." He wasn't feeling that "school spirit" today.

Keith looked around for a moment. He had no idea where to go or where his first class was held. He had picked up his schedule a week prior, so he knew which class he had each period. However, he didn't handle speaking with others well and especially not if it has to do with asking for directions, so asking someone in the main office was eliminated immediately from his mind. He thought for a second before checking the time and setting his bag on a nearby chair, searching through it for his schedule, which was a light blue piece of paper that he had folded and wrote a star on one side in red sharpie as if to remind his future self that it was important.

Once he unfolded the paper, his eyes followed the name of the first class over to the teacher and room number. 207. He looked up again and grabbed his bag, making his way into the empty hallway. He scanned the walls for a sign, which was near the ceiling and written in white, showing which numbers were in which direction. The 100s and 200s were on the left, so he followed down that hallway until he reached a staircase, a sign above it with 200-300 written on it. He followed up the flight of stairs and opened the door which led to his hallway. The tiles were shiny, almost as if they had just been polished--they probably had been. He found his way to his classroom, which was surprisingly easy, despite the school being the largest one he'd seen. That just showed how organized it was, he guessed.

The teacher paid little to no attention to his arrival as he walked in, but the students sure did. It wasn't until some guy in the back alerted the teacher that she stood from her desk to greet Keith at the front of the room. She was a middle-aged overweight lady with light skin and short brunette cropped hair. Her eyes made her look mean, however, as she looked directly into Keith's eyes, almost as if trying to see his personality. She then pointed to the back of the room next to a shorter..student..with round glasses obviously too big for their face, ginger hair that seemed to stick up in every direction, freckles looking more like cupcake sprinkles, and a green hoodie. The student paid him no attention as he sat down, as they were busy texting on their phone from under the desk. At least, that's what it looked like. Upon slight examination, Keith came to the conclusion that the student was a girl, evident by the facial structure. He had admitted that if she said otherwise, she could've fooled him.