Smoke And Smiles (A 2020 Jeff The Killer Story)

2

Jeff and Liu walked through the tile hallways of their new school, staying fairly close to each other.
"This is definitely bigger than Camden High.."
Jeff pointed, seeing the sea of unfamiliar people crowding the lockers chatting made his head hurt.
"Yeah but, we'll get used to it eventually. I'm gonna head to class okay?"
Liu assured before walking to find his senior class.
"See you later!"
Jeff called out, watching his hurried brother leave.
He pulled a small piece of paper out of his jean pocket and looked down at his locker number and combination.

He eventually stuffed his bookbag into his locker and only took out the textbook he needed for his first class. He noticed a girl standing next to him in the corner of his eye.
She was smiling softly and rubbing her own arm as though she was nervous. She began to speak with a soft tone.
"Uh.. hey, I'm Melanie. Sorry to bother you.. but I know you're new."
He turned to her and forced a smile, unsure of how this interaction would go.
"Hey Melanie... I'm Jeff."
He introduced himself, looking downward.
"Nice to meet you Jeff, do you need help finding your class?"
She offered kindly through a nervous yet gentle demeanor.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise that someone that just met him was so willing to help. He smiled softly, feeling comforted by her generosity.
"I think I can find it myself, thanks though."
He politely declined before walking away from his locker, already unsure of where to go.
"Are you sure? I know this place can be pretty confusing at first."
Melanie offered once again as Jeff looked around at the daunting hallways and many doors.
He turned back at her with an embarrassed smirk.
"I... actually might need some help."
He admitted, feeling ridiculous.
"Okay, follow me."
She giggled before leading him to his History class.

A few hours later, Jeff was sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria. He observed both his surroundings and whatever kind of food they plopped onto his tray.
He pulled his hood over his spikey hair and ate.
He looked up, feeling relieved to see Liu walking towards him and sitting down on the opposite side.
"Hey man, how's your first day going?"
Liu greeted him, putting his bookbag and leather jacket under his seat.
"As good as school can be I guess. Not really exciting, yours?"
Jeff replied eating his burnt chicken leg.
"Yeah I agree, my English teacher is kind of strict. I have to read 3 chapters and write a summary about each one TONIGHT."
Liu emphasized in frustration about his overworking teacher.
"Damn, looks like you'll be up at 3am, you can have my Redbull."
Jeff offered with a slight chuckle, feeling kinda bad for his brother.
"Nah that's okay. Plus, there's no way I'm drinking that!'
Liu declined with a playful tone before a familiar face appeared near the table.
"Oh.. hi! Can I sit here?"
Melanie asked, her cheeks flushed with caution.
"Yeah, sure. Liu, this is Melanie. Melanie, this is my brother Liu."
Jeff introduced them as she sat beside Liu.

After saying "hello" to each other,
"So, did you move here to be near NYC?"
Melanie asked curiously.
"No actually, we moved here because our dad got a promotion for his roofing company."
Liu replied hesitantly, knowing it wasn't the most exciting response.
"Oh cool, I hope that didn't sound rude! I just assumed because everyone comes here to see ONE thing, ya know?"
She explained, Jeff shrugged.
"Yeah, we know.. we are planning on seeing Manhattan one day at least."
He admitted.
"Through my 17 years of living here, I never once went to Brooklyn or Manhattan. My parents HATE traffic so I'll have to figure out a way to get there if I wanted to."
She explained with subtle annoyance, Liu looked surprised since Brookelyn was only about 30 minutes away.
"Do you want to go?"
Liu asked.
"Not really, I've actually always wanted to go to Jersey! It's only an hour away and plus, the traffic may not be as bad."
She smiled softly.
"It depends on where you're going and trust me.. you're not missing anything."
Jeff tittered a bit as Liu looked at him with agreement.
"You're just saying that because you've lived there."
She claimed as Jeff nodded his head, knowing she was right.

"Hey Melanie! Is that your new pet?!"
Melanie, Jeff and Liu turned to see where the obnoxious comment came from.
In front of them was a stocky boy in a denim jacket and greasy red hair, an athletic one with curly brown hair and a blonde boy whose green hair dye was clearly fading.
"What do you want Randy?"
Melanie asked, already aggravated from hearing the red head speak.
"I'm just wondering why the new kid is wearing a dog collar."
He responded with a sneer as he looked Jeff dead in the face. The curly brunette snickered, as though he was praising Randy for his behavior.
Jeff rolled his eyes as he touched the spiked leather around his neck.
"You mean my choker?"
He responded feeling his heart rate begin to rise.
"Oh the dog speaks? Isn't that fucking gold! Does your owner do your eyeliner too?"
The taller, athletic kid spoke up sarcastically as Randy laughed. Jeff's eyes narrowed, feeling his anger flow through him like a current.
"Leave him alone, don't you have lunch to finish?"
Liu defended, feeling confrontational which was rare for him.
"Hey we're just having a little fun!"
The brunette chuckled to hopefully cover up their actions.
"Yeah, take a joke pussy."
Randy scoffed before walking away with the other two.

"Who are those assholes?"
Jeff asked, trying to keep his cool.
"The ring leader is Randy, the fuck boy is Troy and the scene kid is Keith."
Melanie introduced them in a degrading manner.
"Do they always act like that?"
Liu asked, hoping these were just some kids giving new students a hard time.
"Well Randy and Troy do most of the trouble, I guess Keith just cleans their mess."
She explained.
"Keith looks like he'd be one of the kids they would bully."
Liu replied, noticing Keith's bright attire as Randy and Troy were picking on another student.
"Yeah, but I guess he just happened to find the worst people after Myspace died."
She giggled jokingly which made them both snicker.
"Really though, don't pay them any attention. Randy likes to act like him, Troy and Keith are a "gang". When really, they're cowards."
Melanie reassured them, even though Jeff knew him and Liu both could defend themselves perfectly fine.
"Pathetic."
Jeff scoffed at the facade they put on, he stared at where they sat back down.
He fixed his eyes on them feeling that sensation of both anger and annoyance at the way they taunted innocent students.
He wondered if anyone had enough courage to stand up to them.