There's something odd about him

New school

The weekend passed way to quickly. James bonded a lot with Sarah and Dexter. He realized that he was going to enjoy living with them. Because the house was pretty far from the orphanage and James's old school, he had to go to a new one. He was actually happy about that, because now he was save from Billy and his gang. When Monday came, he was very nervous though. Dexter dropped him of with his car before going to work. The school building was massive and James looked at his schedule nervously. He didn't really know where to go. He ran around the building, but when the bell rang, he hadn't found the right classroom yet. James was looking at his schedule instead of where he was going, so it was no surprise when he bumped into somebody and fell to the floor.
'I'm sorry! My bad!' James said from the floor as he looked at the boy he'd run into. The boy had dark hair and was wearing a red hoodie with the words "common sense" on it.
'It's okay, don't worry about it.' The dark haired boy said as he held out a hand for James to help him get up.
'Thanks.' James said as he grabbed the boy's hand and got up.
'I'm a little lost. Can you maybe help me to try and find my classroom?' James asked nervously.
'Sure.' The boy said as he took James's schedule and looked at it. There was something weird about the way the dark haired boy spoke. He was helpful and the things he said were nice, but the way he spoke was cold and distant.
'Follow this hallway and go to the left right before the staircase. Then it's the last door on the right.' The boy said as he gave James his schedule back.
'Thank you.' James said relieved.
'No problem.' The dark haired boy replied before turning around and walking away. James didn't like the cold and distant tone in the boy's voice. He had been nice and had helped him but the blonde didn't know what to think of him. What if he'd given James the wrong instructions because he thought it'd be funny if James walked into the wrong classroom. But the blonde didn't have a better plan, so he followed the instructions of the dark haired boy and knocked on the door.
'Come in.' A nice voice said.
'Hey, my name is James. I'm sorry for being late. I was a little lost. Is this Chemistry?'
The teacher walked over and took a quick look at James's schedule.
'You're in the right class. Come in, James, nice to meet you. There's a free spot in the back.'
James looked at the last row of students. There was a girl sitting next to the window and a boy sitting next to her. The two spots next to that were empty. James nervously sat down next to the boy, who leaned a little closer to the blonde.
'Hey, so your name is James? I'm Maaz. Nice to meet you.' The boy said.
'Nice to meet you too, Maaz.' James replied.
'If you're scared to get lost again, you can always ask me to help you find the way.' Maaz said.
'Thanks, Maaz. I've got English class after this and I have no idea where that is.' James showed the other boy his schedule. Maaz looked at it and thought for a second.
'I can't show you the way because my next class at the opposite side of the building, but Rebecca has the same class, she can show you.' Before James could ask anything Maaz had already turned around towards the girl next to him.
'Hey, Becca? Do you mind showing James where his next class is? He's got English class together with you and Jaiden.' Maaz asked.
'Sure no problem.' She said with a smile.

After class
James made sure to keep a close eye on Rebecca as he left the classroom. He was scared he'd lose sight of her and get lost again. Maaz and Rebecca walked out of the classroom behind him. 'There you are!' A voice next to James said. The voice was from another girl who quickly ran up to Maaz and Rebecca.
'Hey, Jaiden. This is James. He's new. Can he walk with Becca and you to English class. He might get lost otherwise.' Maaz said.
'Sure no problem. Nice to meet you!' Jaiden replied.
'Nice to meet you too.' James muttered.
'Now I've gotta go. My class is on the other side and I don't want to be late.' Maaz said before turning around and running of.
'Come on, James. We don't want to be late either.' Rebecca said before turning around and walking of while talking to Jaiden.

Lunch
James sat down with Maaz, Jaiden and Rebecca. He didn't know anybody else and they seemed nice and willing to let him become their friend. While they were talking, James noticed the dark haired boy with the red "common sense" hoodie. He was sitting all alone, far away from the other kids.
'Who's that?' James asked curiously. He'd seen the boy in a couple of classes, but didn't know his name.
'Who? The kid with the red hoodie? Oh, that's just Adam.' Maaz said.
'Why's he sitting alone?' James asked.
'The poor guy doesn't have any friends.' Rebecca said.
'Why doesn't anybody go talk to him?' James asked.
'We did. He doesn't want friends.' Jaiden replied.
'A lot of kids have tried talking to him and befriending him, but he pushes everybody away. He apparently really wants to be alone.' Maaz added.
'Why? Did anybody ask why he pushes people away?' James asked.
'He won't tell. But it's none of our business. If he doesn't want it we can't force it.' Jaiden said.

After school
James looked at the parking lots, trying to recognize Dexter's car. He got distracted though, when he saw Adam walking a little further away. The blonde quickly ran up to him.
'Hey, Adam! Wait up!' James called out.
'How do you know my name?' Adam asked suspiciously.
'My friends told me. I wanted to thank you again for helping me find the right classroom this morning. And apologize again for bumping into you.' James said.
'It's fine. You would've done the same, probably.' Adam still had the cold and distant tone in his voice. It didn't suit him.
'Maybe we can hang out sometime?' James asked.
'No thank you.' Adam replied, not looking at the blonde.
'Why not?'
'I just don't want to, James!'
'How do you know my name?'
'I saw it on your schedule this morning. Now if you don't mind, my dad is waiting for me at home.' Adam turned around and tried to leave, but James ran around him and went to stand in front of the dark haired boy.
'You don't even know me yet! Maybe we could be really, really good friends and you'd let that pass by just because you're to stubborn? Come on. It doesn't have to be something big. Sitting together for lunch and just talking is good enough already. You look like a cool and nice guy and I want to get to know you.' Adam looked at the blonde with frustration but then he sighed.
'If I let you sit with me at lunch tomorrow, will you leave me alone now?' He asked. The blonde nodded.
'Fine! Sit with me during lunch, talk about whatever you want and then leave me alone.' Adam said before carefully pushing the blonde to the side and walking away. James smiled proudly. Annoying someone into doing things might not be the best way, but this time it worked. He heard his name being called out behind him and turned around. Dexter was waving at him through the car window. James quickly ran up to him and got in the car.
'How was your first day?' Dexter asked.
'Pretty good. I've made a couple of friends and classes weren't to hard.'
'That's nice to hear. Mrs. Smith said you were having trouble finding friends back in the orphanage. It's nice to see you're getting better at it.'
'Why did you choose me?' James blurted out. He'd been wondering about it, but hadn't dared to ask yet.
'What do you mean. I told you it's because I know what it's like to be a teenager in an orphanage.' Dexter said.
'I know, but I mean, from al the teenagers in the orphanage, why me? The weird kid, the quiet kid, the art kid.'
Dexter sighed and looked at James with a sad look in his eyes.
'You remind me of an old friend of mine. My own roommate in the orphanage. He was just like you. The art kid. But when he made it in the world of art, he got a little to busy for me and we drifted apart. I still miss him though. But yeah, you reminded me of him.'
James stayed silent, taking a moment to let it sink in.
'You should contact him again!' The blonde said eventually.
'What?' Dexter asked.
'You should try to contact him again. If you miss him, he probably misses you too. I know I'm gonna miss Michael. But we'll still chat online. I'm sure he'll be able to find the time to chat every now and then.' Dexter laughed.
'You're a smart kid, James, and you're right. I should try and contact him.' James smiled proudly.

During dinner
'Can I ask you guys something?' James asked.
'You just did, but go ahead.' Dexter replied.
'So, I was thinking... maybe I should try and get a job somewhere. Saving up some money for later.' James said.
'That sounds like a smart idea. But what are trying to ask?' Sarah responded.
'If it's okay if I go try to find a job.' James said.
'Why would that not be okay?' Sarah asked.
'I don't know. I thought I'd ask.' James muttered.
'It's nice that you're so responsible, kid. Let us know if you find something.' Dexter said with a smile.
'Oh, there's something I wanted to ask you as well, James. Do you already have your driver's license? Otherwise we still need to learn you how to drive a car.' Sarah said.
'Yeah, don't worry. I managed to get my license back in the orphanage.' James replied.
'That's great! But ask first if you want to use the car.' Dexter said.

After dinner James went to his bedroom and started up his computer. He looked online for jobs he could do.
'Working for Subway? That can't be that bad. I can give it a try and I'll see if they want to hire me.' The blonde muttered to himself before sending them an email.