"Hi, my name is Brian Littrell. I'm new to this town, nice to meet you!"
He put on a smile, just like he had trained to do at home in front of the mirror. A smile that didn't reflect what he actually was feeling. Didn't speak of that anxiety that had been shaking his body the whole morning. Standing here in front of the class with everyone staring at him he hid his hands behind his back, so that nobody would notice the disaster that were his fingernails. Anxiety had made him chew them again and that was something he was quite ashamed about. First days at new schools never were easy and he didn't need to have his bad habits make it even more difficult.
"What brings you to this crappy town?"
A question was thrown at him. At first he didn't know where it was coming from, but as he looked around one of the boys in the class waved at him. The guy was tall, taller than him at least with dark-brown hair, that he wore styled-up with hair-gel. He was eyeing him curiously, even though there was something challenging in that expression of his. The kid wanted him to speak.
"Well, my father got a job here and the family had to move. I'm originally from Lexington, Kentucky."
As he explained he gave the guy a soft smile, trying to be friendly. The boy only eyed him skeptically, then huffed. "No kidding with that dialect."
That interjection caused the whole class to chuckle for a moment. Great, they were making fun of him. He hated it, what did it matter what dialect he had? 'Shut up', he thought, but he didn't let those words out of his mouth. Instead of getting aggressive, he just smiled and chuckled along. A move that he had learned years before. If he laughed along with the others, when they were laughing about him, he could catch them off guard. And that he did, because a moment later they fell silent again.
"I know who you are. You are that reverend's kid. Saw you move here last week."
Another voice came from the room. This time it was female. It came from a rather tall girl, who wore her blonde hair in pigtails. She was smiling at him and seemed to be friendly. And yet her words provoked laughter from a kid sitting two rows in front of her. "Oh, so we got ourselves a church-boy."
After saying those words the class burst out into laughter again. This time Brian didn't feel like laughing along though. He took religion very serious. It was no laughing matter. So he frowned for a moment. A mistake that only made the class laugh more. "Look how bothered he is."
Someone pointed out breaking his laughing fit only for a second. It was not until the teacher interfered that the laughing stopped. "Silence everybody, be nice!"
She demanded and it indeed seemed as if the kids were listening. At least the laughter died down and left the room once again in silence.
"Brian here will join the basketball team he told me."
Mrs. Hubbard, the teacher speaking was a woman in her mid forties. Years away from the days of her youth and yet one could still see the lingering beauty on her frame. In her youth she certainly must have been a looker. The way she dressed now demanded a certain degree of respect though. A tailored dress-suit that made her seem rather stern. From what Brian had seen, she did not seem nearly as strict as she looked, but he only had met her today.
"Yes, I used to play basketball in my old school, too. Hope we'll have some fun."
He agreed to her words finally. Something that obviously caught the attention of a few of the more athletic students in class. Just like that of the dark-haired kid, that had asked a question before. That boy once again raised his voice.
"Basketball hm? Welcome to the team then. I'm Derek your team captain. You're a bit short, aren't ya? Well we will see, training is at two."
Now he sounded way more friendly than earlier. As Brian examined him, he even gave him a thumbs up. Perhaps this day was going to go better, than he expected. It sure seemed that way, since the class after their initial taunting seemed to act rather friendly towards him. As he looked across the heads of his class-mates, he found most of them smiling.
"Okay Brian, you can take a seat next to Nick there."
The teacher gestured towards an empty seat at the far end of the class. This school didn't have the classical one-seater tables he knew from Lexington. Here the students were sitting behind tables with seats for two people. Most of those seats were already taken. The only empty seat left was the one his teacher pointed him to. There was an empty chair right next to the tall blonde kid supposedly called Nick.
"Nick is the artist in our class."
The teacher spoke as Brian approached his new seat. An artist she said? No kidding, the kid was actually drawing something right now. While everybody else was staring at Brian, the new kid in class, that Nick guy didn't seem to bother. He was only looking down onto the piece of paper, where he was drawing a girl. For a moment he examined the piece of art. Stuff like that always made him curious. Since he himself had no talent in that area, he always wondered how some people were just able to capture exactly what they saw. That Nick kid was talented, too.
"Oh dude, you have to sit next to the weird kid. Feel bad for ya."
He heard hushed words directed at him when he passed Derek. Weirdo? Kid didn't seem that bad from looking at him. Then again, he was no fan of putting people into categories anyhow. So despite his class-mates warning he hold out a hand for introduction as he reached his new table.
"Hey Nick, I'm Brian, nice to meet you."
He was trying to be as friendly as he could, even put on another smile. It was not for show either, he genuinely wanted to be nice to his class-mate. But even though he tried his very best, the kid only gave him a look for a second, before he huffed and went back to drawing. What was that reaction? "Told you he's a weirdo...", he heard Derek whisper behind him as that happened and Brian couldn't deny that he was mildly disappointed. So with a deep sigh he took his seat next to Nick, a kid that seemingly ignored him.
Weirdo.
It was not a nice thing to say, but it would have been a lie if he said, he didn't feel a little bit off-put by the blondes response to his greeting. What had he done to deserve such a condescending reaction? Really, what did the boy think to react like that? It was bugging him so much, he couldn't think about anything else for a few moments. Brian could not stand for it. There had to be a way to get through to him. If they were going to share a table for the rest of the year, he didn't want them to hate each other. Seemingly getting along with that person would prove like a challenge, but he was determined to take it.
So despite the first reaction he got, he raised his voice again, this time more quiet, so only Nick could hear it. "Nice drawing. You're really good at that. Who is it?" Being nice was still his best bet at getting through to the other, but the reaction he got was once again a negative one. When he had finished speaking, Nick eyed him again furrowing his eyebrows. "Mind your own business.", at least he did speak this time. Not much and nothing nice, but he heard the boys voice. At least that was something.
-
Great. They had a new kid in class. Was called Brian or something and of course they had to put him on the seat right next to him. Of course it was not like there was any other free seat in the room, but Nick still hated that idea. Why did they need to put anyone next to him at all? Couldn't they just get a new table out of the storage room? He wanted to be left alone, have his peace. All other people ever did was to hurt him and he had no doubt that Brian kid would do the same sooner or later.
Now he was acting all nice and friendly, like he cared, smiling at him and everything, but in the end he would just betray him. Just like the last time somebody sat down next to him. That kid, Francis, he had been nice at first, too. But that all changed, when he had found out, that Nick was not only unpopular, no he was the prime subject for bullying in their school-year. When his seat-neighbor had realized that, he had just joined them in their taunts and the vile pranks. It had been him, that had stolen all of his clothes from the locker room, causing the need for him to ran naked through the school grounds. And his class-mates had celebrated Francis for it as if he was some kind of superhero.
It was not like he could blame him either. If he had stayed his friend, they would have targeted him, too. Association with him meant becoming the victim of bullying. So if people didn't want that, they better stayed away from him.
That Brian guy would do no different. Derek was already trying to push him, even though he was still subtle. Sooner or later he would join the other laughing faces of his tormentors. Why should he be friendly to someone, who would soon hurt him anyway? It was a logic, that he couldn't quite grasp. It was better to push him away right from the beginning, than to get attached to him only to have your friendship kicked aside later. What was it to him who he was drawing, anyway?
It was not like he would understand if he explained it to him. The woman he was sketching was no other than Galadriel, Lady of Lothlórien, the most beautiful elven woman to ever walk on middle-earth. That Brian guy probably did not even know about Tolkien's books, so why should he tell him who she was? He wondered if he even was allowed to read those kinds of books. After all Nick had paid attention, when he had been introduced to the class. Even if he did not look at him, he had heard that the kid was a church-boy. That meant he probably had to follow all kinds of weird and strict rules.
For a moment he wondered about that. How was it growing up the son of a reverend? Did you pray several times every day? Were all problems solved, by looking into the bible for answers? Was he allowed to get drunk? Why did he even care about it?
With a side-glance he examined the guy who was now sharing his table. What kind of person was he? Those chiseled feature of that face, they had something elven about it. Especially the high cheek-bones and those shiny-blue eyes. That Brian guy was kind of attractive, that much he could see. Even more of a reason to avoid him. The attractive people usually ended up being the most vile when it came to bullying. It had always been that way. Nick had to protect himself. But still, he wondered about that kid for some reason. Why did he make him so curious?
When Brian suddenly turned his head and met Nicks gaze it made the artist gasp. He felt as if he was caught in something and in a way he was. Staring at another boy like he was some kind of artwork. What was wrong with him? What would the boy think, he was doing? He needed to act in defense, before they started bullying him for being gay. So before the other could say anything, which he was obviously about to do, Nick lifted his right hand quickly to flip Brian off. That was enough to fight off any wrong thoughts, that kid could have had and it caused him to frown.
Mission accomplished, that became even more clear, when Brian finally did raise his voice: "Man, you are really kind of an asshole, aren't ya?"