High School Sweethearts - Serj Tankian x Daron Malakian

First Day

August 21st, 2000

Daron was in bed, eyes closed as he tried to get some sleep after hitting snooze on his alarm clock. Sun was beaming in from his window as some air was let in as it had started to become hot in the city of Los Angeles.
Daron's walls had band posters, and magazine clippings of women taped on. Daron had no siblings and a room all to himself.
It was Monday and Daron had school to go to. He was laying in bed his eyes squinting from the light coming outside, he sat up on his bed and looked around. He looked at the time on his alarm clock which read 7:12am. School starts at 8:00 and he had less than an hour to get ready.

Daron had big eyes, shoulder length hair, ears that poked out a bit, and a nose that had a little bump. Daron learned to get used to himself and his features. He was 5'7 and slender, he felt he wasn't too short or too tall, which he brushed off. Apart from being shy, he had crooked teeth, he didn't talk or smile much to avoid anyone paying attention to his teeth.

Going to his closet he was greeted with folded clothes and clothes hanging on a pole that was inside. He went through all his band shirts wanting to pick his special shirt. He finally found his favorite slayer shirt and grabbed it. He took a pair of black pants and changed into them. He grabbed deodorant from his nightstand and applied a generous amount on his armpits.  It was August and the California sun was hot as hell. He had debated the night before if he should buy new clothes as his mom told him that the sun would attract to his black clothes. He wasn't in the mood for "back to school shopping" so he didn't buy anything new, he was content with his black clothing even if it meant getting burned by the sun.

As he made his way outside to the hall and into the kitchen, his mom was eating breakfast, he usually didn't eat breakfast but he grabbed an apple anyways. He said goodbye to his mom and left for school.

School was 15 minutes away from a walking distance, it wasn't too far but it was a good enough distance for Daron as he doesn't get much exercise. Daron was really nervous for his first day of school as he fiddled with his backpack straps. His mom wasn't kidding, it was pretty early and with the sun out he was starting to feel the burning sun on his skin mainly from his clothes.

Making his way to school there were a lot of people already there. Groups of people hanging out and others rushing to get to class.

Walking to first period wasn't too bad, sure it was crowded but at-least no one paid attention to him. As he walked into his first period he saw an empty desk at the back of the class and sat down. Today was gonna be a long day he thought.

As time went on he was actually enjoying school, no one made fun of him so far, he could get used to this.

As lunchtime rolled by Daron figured he'd have to get off campus lunch as he didn't pack one last night. He walked around the busy street and spotted a sandwich shop, this looks promising he thought as he walked in. A couple of other high school kids were there, no one seemed to acknowledge his presence. He looked at the menu and pulled out his wallet. As he was next in line he ordered a sandwich with turkey, pesto, grilled tomatoes, and provolone.

Daron was at the bleachers, done with his sandwich and doodling in his notebook when he heard the bell ring.
Daron had walked into 4th period and sat next to the window, at the back of the classroom of course.
He looked out the window, he was on the fourth floor and could see the football field from there. Beyond the football field seemed to be a forest like area, he wondered if it really was a forest and how big it was. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard two guys talking about something so obscene in class. He didn't even realize when they got there but he couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Yeah I was in the dvd rentals and I guess they knew I was in high school so they stopped me from going into the adult section!" yelled a guy with curly hair, who seemed to be talking to a group of people. "That's messed up! I would've just walked in there! What're they gonna do? Arrest me for looking at porn?" said a taller guy with straight hair pouring under his beanie. Some girls giggled and some guys were laughing at his story.

Class had finally started, the teacher grabbed some paper from her desk and handed one out for everyone. Once she got to me and handed me a copy I looked at the paper and sighed, this was the fourth time we're doing this get to know me paper.
"As this is a new school year I want everyone to get to know each other, there could be new students or people who have been in this school you've never noticed before. You have this entire class to interact with your classmates, I will be walking around to make sure everyone is on task and doing their work."

As everyone got up to talk to their friends and meet new people, Daron stayed put. He looked to his right to see the same group of people with the two guys that sat next to him.
Looking down at the paper he knew he couldn't leave it empty, he looked around and saw everyone talking, nobody was alone and he didn't want to bother anyone. He turned his head to face the window again. "Nice t-shirt! I've heard of slayer. I really like the art on it." It was the guy with the curly hair talking to him. "Oh thanks," Daron replied looking down at his shirt with a small smile. "Yo what's your name? Can we trade papers?" He said handing Daron his paper with some other names on it.
"Yeah sure," Daron said quietly as they exchanged papers. "What is ____'s favorite thing to do?" read the paper. Daron wrote down how much he liked to listen to music and play guitar. Daron waited for the bigger guy to finish to hand him back his paper.
As they exchanged papers once more he took a second to read his name, "Serj" was written on the paper. Daron smiled at his paper, he never heard of a name like Serj's.
As he skimmed through his writing he noticed the word keyboard and read how he liked to use synths and keyboards and how he liked to experiment with music.
Before Daron could say anything Serj excitedly said, "No way! You like playing the guitar?! Shavo also plays guitar, as well as some bass," he said pointing over to the guy with long straight hair. "I play the keyboard and do some vocals, we have another friend named John who plays the drums! He's really good at it," said Serj.

After having conversations on music with Serj and Shavo, class was finally over. Daron waved his new friends goodbye and went on to his next two classes. Class after class he was reunited with them 6th period and along was another guy. We were all in the gym for 6th period, which was of course P.E class.
"Hey Daron! This is John! He's our drummer I was talking about in 4th period!," exclaimed Serj excitedly.  John only waved as Daron waved back. He wasn't sure if John liked Daron he seemed really serious and scary.
The gym teacher was giving a tour around the locker rooms and showers as Serj yawned, causing Daron to yawn as well. School is so boring he thought.

As school was over, Daron walked out the gym. Serj was behind him as well as the rest of the gang. "What're you doing after school?," Serj asked. "I dunno," Daron replied.
After a while of awkward silence between the boys Daron noticed how they were still walking on the same street.
"Wanna lift? I usually drive John and Shavo home," Serj asked as he pointed to a small car.
"Is that too much to ask? You don't have to," Daron replied looking down at his feet.
"C'mon Serj's car is cool as hell, what do you have to lose?," Shavo chimed in.
"Ok, I'll go."
As soon as they knew it they were at his car. Serj took out his car keys and pushed a button causing the car to make a beep sound. John and Shavo got in the back as Daron got in the front.

"I didn't know you lived here, you live a few blocks away from us," Serj said looking at Daron as he had his hand on the wheel. There was a bit of traffic with everyone trying to get out of school.
"Oh, where do you live?" Daron said quietly.
"Vista street," Serj replied.
That was close to his house, Daron thought. The car windows were down as his shoulder length hair moved in the breeze. Commercials were playing on the radio.

John was dropped off first, then Shavo and as soon as they knew it they were outside Daron's house.

Daron unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Thanks for the ride," Daron looked over to Serj with a small smile.
"Anytime," he said pointing a finger gun at him which made Daron laugh.

"See you tomorrow," Serj said to himself, watching Daron walk to his house then driving off.