Peace in a Storm

28 - Max

I don't belong here, I thought as I glanced over the sea of faces in the gym of the community center. Most of the other potential mentors were familiar faces from school. The valedictorian of our graduating class. The quarterback of the football team. The president of the student council. Members of the National Honor Society. Hell, even some of the kids from the marching band were here. And they were all dressed in nice, sleek suits. The most I could find in Cristian's closet was a black button down and slacks. I'd gotten a trim earlier in the week to truly clean up my appearance. But I still stuck out among the rest of the high achievers in the room.

Some of the boys I passed gave me quizzical looks or subtly raised brows. If I made eye contact, they'd quickly dismiss the expression, fully aware of my reputation. Even some of the teachers volunteering for the event, most of them from the middle school building, seemed surprised to see me. I wasn't phased by their looks, though. I acted like a bat out of hell in middle school. I feigned a smile at some of my old teachers. A few of them returned the smile, relief filling their eyes.

I grimaced at my nametag after I'd checked in. They'd spelled my entire name and hung a little red flag beneath it. I grabbed one of the Sharpies off of the registration table and scribbled out the unnecessary letters.

"You came," I heard Mr. Connors yell.

I glanced up from my task to see him approaching me with a wide smile on his face. "Yeah."

He looked down at my revised name tag and frowned. "Now, why did you do that?"

"Because they over spelled it."

"Why do you despise your full name so much?"

"We're not here for a counseling session," I reminded him.

Sighing, he grabbed my name tag and clipped it to my shirt. "I know. I was just curious." He paused. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks."

"Do you have any birthday events going on after this?"

"My girlfriend and I are going out with some friends later."

He raised an eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend now? And when did this happen?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't act surprised. I know you're always listening to the rumor mill."

A chuckle rumbled in his throat. "You know the ones about who's dating who can be messy. I wanted to hear it from you before I brought it up. Audrey, right?"

"Yup."

He tilted his head. "Do you like her?"

"I love her," I said.

He smiled. "Well, isn't that sweet?" He patted my arm. "I'm happy for you, Max."

We turned our heads as one of the leading teachers of the event called for all of the mentors to sit on the bleachers. Mr. Connors assured me he'd see me later before shooing me off.

I sat a bit farther away from the clusters of the other mentors. I leaned back against the set of rows behind me, stretching my long legs out in front of me and resting them on the hard benches in front of me. Quietly, I watched the middle schoolers gradually file into the gym.

Very few of them seemed excited to be here. The majority of them stormed in with their arms crossed against their chests or their hands shoved in their pockets with defiant frowns painted on their faces.

During the coordinator's opening remarks, almost all of the kids paid her little mind. Most took out their phones and texted or played games. Others closed their eyes to take a short nap. The few who were paying attention rolled their eyes at every word or mumbled smart remarks under their breath.