Chapter 2
Michael was talking to Ivan. Ivan had finally forgiven the boy for that incident last year, and now his best friend was telling him how he had became the captain of the football team. Ivan was dreaming, and even in his dream, he was well aware that it wasn't reality. "What time is it?" He asked the boy.
"7:30." Michael grinned at him.
"Crap!" Ivan shouted, finding himself in his room, alone. He rushed to the bathroom, took a shower and brushed his teeth. He ran towards his car but he realized that he still hadn't refilled the gas, which he couldn't afford. "Crap!" He swore once again. He then rushed into the garage, took out his bike and pedaled as fast as he could.
Upon arriving at the deserted hallways, he already knew he was late. "Crap." He said to himself as he stood in front of his locker with the word FAG still written on it. As he opened his locker, pictures spilled out into the hallway. "Crap, crap, crap!"
He knelt down to pick the pictures up. His eyes widened after seeing that they were particularly vivid examples of gay porn. He looked around to see if anyone was watching before examining the pictures more carefully. "What the hell?" He whispered as he noticed that in every picture of the guys having sex, one of the faces had been replaced with his.
"There you are!" Someone exclaimed from the far end of the hallway. Ivan quickly gathered the pictures and put them back inside his locker before closing it. "You're tardy, Mr. Brody." He recognized the woman immediately upon seeing her fiery red hair and her pants suit.
"And good morning to you too, Principal Allen." He nodded politely with a smile, silently
wishing it would change the subject.
The woman didn't respond. When Ivan met her eyes, she raised an eyebrow.
Ivan began to explain, "Look, I swear I tried my hardest to get here on time. I just woke up really late."
Silence.
The woman didn't even lower her eyebrow as she held his gaze.
Ivan sighed then said, "Just give me the punishment."
"Excuse me. I'm looking for Mrs. Allen, the principal?" A boy walking up behind them asked, interrupting the conversation. He had platinum blond hair and bright green eyes.
"Ah. Just in time Mr. Hawke." The principal turned to smile at the boy.
"No he's not. He's late." Ivan pointed out matter-of-factly, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"I'm afraid he's not." The woman smiled condescendingly at Ivan's confused face. "He's a transferee. He doesn't have to attend any of his classes until after lunch or until you tour him around the school at least."
"Cool." The boy happily placed himself beside Ivan. Ivan didn't appreciate it though. He kept his eyes on the principal.
"Now, off you go." She gave the boys a light shove and walked away. "Consider this your punishment Mr. Brody," she added from a distance.
"Hey dude, I'm Jesse." The boy smiled and offered his hand.
Ivan looked at the boy's hand and then examined him from head to toe. "Ivan." He said and walked away, not bothering to shake the other boy's hand.
"Not a morning person, are we?" Jesse asked after catching up with Ivan, still smiling. Ivan just kept on walking.
"Uhm, nice school."
He didn't even look at Jesse.
"Dude, are we having the tour now?"
Ivan stopped and glared at him.
Jesse chuckled and said, "I just thought that the tour involved talking about the school facilities."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Ivan said in a chipper tone and stopped by the stairs to the second floor. "These are the stairs to the second floor. Follow me, please."
Ivan took a step and Jesse followed him.
"This is the first step which will lead you to the next step." He stepped up one foot at a time. "Be careful with your step." Ivan flashed him a fake smile, in case the other boy missed the sarcasm in his voice.
However, Ivan didn't hear any complaints from Jesse so he continued, "Then this is the second step-
Jesse grunted and said, "Dude, are you seriously going to do that during the whole tour?" Ivan could hear the boy's exasperation.
Ivan scoffed. "And are you seriously expecting me to give you a tour? Please. I have way better things to do that are worth my time, dude." He said the last word to mock Jesse. Ivan then quickly marched away towards the quad.
"Dude, what is your problem?" Jesse walked faster to catch him. They were halfway across the quad when he caught Ivan's shoulder. He pulled it so Ivan could face him.
"What?!" Now that they were outside, Ivan felt free to shout.
"I said, what's your problem?" The other boy shouted back.
"My problem? You are my problem! I'm late for my Algebra class where I have a quiz by the way-a quiz that I prepared really hard for the other night. And now I'm not even sure if my teacher's going to let me take an extra test. If I don't ace this test, my GPA will be messed up."
Ivan came off a little whiny and it made the boy grin. "And I'm your problem because?"
"Because you show up here for school, late if I may add, with this annoyingly happy personality. 'Hi dude, I'm Mr. Sunshine and we can live together in a perfect little happy world.' People like you piss me off. "
Ivan saw the glimmer disappear from his eyes.
"You don't even know me." Jesse said in a lower voice. He shook his head on walked away.
Ivan had gone too far. Even he knew it. "Well, you don't know me either!" He yelled at the boy.
Jesse stopped to turn around, gave him the finger, and continued walking.
