Chapter One

 “Matt, you all right?”

Slowly, the sophomore turned to face his father. His face was leaning on his hand, which in turn was slugged up against the car window. It was raining slightly outside, a perfect imagery of the teenager’s current behavior. His father’s hands were on the wheels of his PT Cruiser. Despite the gloomy attitude of his son, he had a smile on his face.

“Yeah”, he said low.

“Don’t worry about it Matt. You’ll get used to it quick enough. Moving is hard, I know, but it’s a part of life. You’ll adjust soon enough, you just wait and see.”

Matt shrugged as much as his seat belts would allow. “I guess.”

His father gripped Matt’s shoulders firm, but affectionately. “I’ll see you after school, okay sport? Four thirty, right here.”

“Sure thing.” He grabbed his bag, and opened the car door, about to enter the monorail station.

“You got your pass?” the older Camien called from his car. Matthew turned and waved the olive green-slice of plastic as answer. He waved his son goodbye, watched him enter the underground station, and drove off.

The monorail ride was a half hour long, but to depressed Matt, it seemed to be three times the length. It wasn’t the fact that he was alone, nor was it that none of the other high schoolers, whether they would be freshman, sophomore, or otherwise, wanted to talk to him that bothered him. It was mostly just that he would probably never see any of his friends back home again. He was expecting to depart from them in four years, after High School. He knew that would happen, and he was prepared for it the separation in that time.

He was not, however, expecting to leave them so early. None of them expected that his dad would get a transfer to Boston. Of course, it was quadruple his pay, so he would have to be an idiot not to accept just for the sake of his son staying with some friends for another four years.

Matthew sighed as the monorail continued along its root, and the students continued their gabbing.

* * * * *

By nine, Matt had dozed to a state of being half awake. It was the second period, and it was a study hall for him. Most of the other teenagers were talking quietly amongst themselves, while others were actually doing some work. Matt fell into the minority of minorities: he was doing nothing besides slouching on his desk and resting on his arms. His face was half covered by them in a semi depressing manner.

Matt yawned loud enough to make a bear impressed. Despite that, it went on silent ears. It did, however, manage to catch one person’s attention.

“Tired much?”

Matt turned his heavy head behind him to see the grinning kid. His hands were folded under his chin, of which a small goatee could be seen. He had a navy blue collared shirt under a leather jacket. On the edge of his desk was a bright red RED SOX baseball cap.

“Huh?”

“The only one who could yawn like that was my dad. You look like the walking dead.”

Matt rubbed his jaw. “I guess.”

“You’re new around here, right?” Matt nodded. “The name’s Kevin.”

“Matt.”

“So, who’d you got?”

Matt raised his eyebrow. “What?”

“Teachers, man. Jeez, you really must have been up through the night. You didn’t do any coke, did ya?”

“Fuck no!”

“I’m kidding. Bad joke, I know. You’re gonna have to get used to that a lot, trust me.”

“Oh, great.”

“I knew I’d win ya over. Now, about that schedule…” Getting the hint, Matt rummaged through his pocket for a thin slip of printed paper that had his class courses and teachers for the year. “Aw man, you’ve got Miss Johnson for Geometry…”

“Is she that bad?”

“Oh, she’s nice enough. A little strict, sure, but its how fast she goes through everything that’s gonna kill you. She takes a day to do that takes others three.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Kevin supportively patted Matt on the shoulders. “No worries man! Ann will take care of you. She’s awesome with those numbers.”

“Ann?”

“Oh, sorry, forgot you were new. She’s one of my friends. Like I said, she’ll treat you. You’ll meet her during lunch.”

“How do you know what lunch I have?”

Kevin showed Matt his schedule, and pointed to a bold B. “Let’s just say that a little bird told me.”