Chapter Two

I swear time stood still. Nothing was happening. You could hear the clock ticking because it was so quiet. I stared at them as they stared at me. I can sense them already judging me. There was one girl who had headphones in her ears. She looked back down at her book. There was something… different about her. “Go ahead and introduce yourself.” The teacher told me. “Hello.” I bowed. “My name is Zico. I just moved here a week ago. Please take care of me.” I bowed once more. Still quiet. The teacher was looking around. “There.” She pointed at the desk at the back that was by the window. “That will be your seat from now on.” I held my head down as I went to go sit down. I propped my feet up on the table as the teacher went on to start her morning teachings. Maybe if I act like those thugs I seen in dramas, they won’t try and talk to me. Right when it hit 11:00 the teacher stop teaching so we can have lunch. Most of them left to go eat and meet up with friends. Only two people stayed. The headphone girl and the boy who sat next to me. He was reading while eating his bento. He looked a little shorter then me and he wore black glasses that didn’t have the lens in them. I pulled my hood over further over my face as I leaned back in my chair. Mom forgot to fix me lunch. I think if I go to sleep I won’t think about starving. Right when I was about to doze off, I heard movement. When I looked up, there was a sandwich on my desk. I glanced over and saw the boy was still reading but I could see him looking over at me out of the corner of his eye. Ignoring what just happened,  I got up and went out the door. Why was he giving me that? Did my stomach growl?  While I was walking, I noticed some guys playing football. Not far from them were a couple of girls sitting under a tree laughing. I guess it would be nice to have a friend to talk to. I’m sure everyone here has friends. Should I make a friend? Shaking that thought from my head I decided to head back to class. “I know what you are.” I swirled around at that comment. There was no one there. I’m sure I heard a voice. It was a girl voice. There can’t be someone like me here. Nobody can escape from under my mom nose. Is it possible? No, I thought. Maybe I was just nervous about today. The nerves are getting to me. With that, I headed back to class.

***

Finally. Its time to get out this hell hole. I picked up my bag and went outside. Turning the corner I looked around. Seeing no one around, I pushed off the tip of my toes and zoom home. I guess that is one perks of being different. I can get anywhere within a second unlike most people. “Hi sweety!” My mom kissed me on my cheek.  “How was school?”  I sat down as she handed me a glass. Taking a sip, it calmed me down. The taste was very…bloody. “Boring. I’m never getting those eight hours back.”  Laughing she sat down across from me. I can tell she is very interested and she is just going to end up being disappointed when she hear the rest of my story. “Before you ask no, I didn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t feel like it.” She stood up. “Zi Zi!.” I studied her face. I can’t tell if she’s angry or disappointed. Maybe both? “Make your own dinner tonight.” And with that, she marched upstairs. Yup. Definitely mad. I had my full when I drunk my drink. I went upstairs and plopped on my bed. My mind wondered back to the boy and headphone girl. She looked mysterious and the boy …I don’t know, unique? I closed my eyes and started humming. Suddenly words started to form. My eyes flew open. Paper…paper…Ah! I found the piece and began to scribble like a madman. When I finally finished, it was 3:00am. This was the first time that it happened. This was my first time writing a song. As my eyes began to droop I laid down in bed. I wondered who intrigues me more. Glasses boy or headphone girl. I wish I knew their name, Zico thought as he dozed off.

“Zi Zi! Zico!” I heard my mom knocking at the door. I covered my head and rolled over. His door flew open and his mom stormed in. “Oh no you don’t!” She grabbed his cover and tossed him off the bed. “Get up. You’re going to be late!” Zico got and glared at his mom. “Glare all you want but if you are not down stairs in 15 minutes, I’m going to make you do something else other than glaring.” And then she disappeared. Sighing Zico started to get ready. I hope she don’t think today is going to be any different, he thought. After he finished, he pulled his hood over his head and stared at his reflection. Maybe I should give it a try. The boy with the glasses didn’t talk to me but he did try to give me a sandwich. I still don’t know though. I don’t want a repeat of what happened. Shutting his door, he headed down stairs.

When I got there, the teacher wasn’t there yet. I guess she must be running late. I sat down in my chair and leaned back in it. While waiting for the teacher, three boys walked in. The whole class got quiet. They stopped right there by the boy with the glasses. He didn’t look up at them but kept listening to his music instead. Getting irritated, the tallest guy yanked his headphone out his ear and threw his phone against the wall. “Yah!” He yelled. He yanked the boy up and glared at him. “Do you think you all that just because you’re rich? Don’t think you can treat anyone like they’re crap.” Ahh. So he’s the rich boy mom told me about. The boy didn’t say anything but I could see that he was slightly trembling. “Aww he’s trembling.” The second boy cooed. “How about we give him something to tremble to?” The leader nodded and started to drag him off. Don’t get involved. Don’t do it Zico. Some girls started to whisper. “They are such jerks. He doesn’t bother anybody.” The girl sitting next to her nodded. “They are just bored and chose the rich boy to bully. I hope they don’t hurt him too bad.” Are they really that bad? He is small so he could easily be squashed. I’m not going to get involved. I’m just going to look. I don’t want to make a scene. Getting up, I walked out the door. Looking out the window, I saw them. They were just talking. This is harmless, Zico thought. Right when he was about to turn away the tall guy pushed him down and kicked him. The all was stepping on him and kicking every which way.  No, I will not help him. Then flash backs of when I had the fight came rushing back. I looked around. No one seemed to be coming to help him. I opened the window and jumped out. I rushed over and knocked the tall boy off his feet. The other two came rushing at me but I moved quickly and punched them in the face. The tall one came at me again and tried to punch me. I dodged it easily and grabbed his arm