"Good morning, Branchville High School students!"
I rose from my seat to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of my homeroom, right hands over our hearts.
As we sat down, my friend Ellie turned around in her seat directly in front of me. "So who's the new guy?" she asked, clearly referring to Michael.
I let out a breath. At least ten different people had asked me about him since I walked into school for first period that morning. After our little discussion, Michael had jumped out of my car and bolted through the parking lot, leaving me sitting in my car trying to piece together what had just happened. I turned my car off and got out to find almost everyone in the lot glancing from a then distant Michael back to me. I searched for him as I walked down the first floor hallway to my locker by the nurse's office but he had disappeared. The bell rang and I peeked through the windows of the main office to see if Michael was in there but once again, he was nowhere to be found.
The bell rang again and as we headed off to our statistics class, I told Ellie about how I met Michael, from first spotting him the previous morning to the drive to school that day. She said she would keep an eye out for him. Maybe he was just nervous about his first day at an American high school. She had a point there. I'd lived in Branchville my entire life so I never had the experience of being the new kid. I couldn't imagine how it must feel to leave all your friends behind and have to start all over, especially during your senior year. That must suck. Michael was probably just having a difficult time adjusting to living in America and wanted to keep to himself for a while until he got used to things.
I decided to brush off the ordeal and focus on my work for the day. I mean, why should I worry about somebody I had just met? It wasn't like we were friends or anything.
At least, not yet.
-----
I tossed my backpack and maroon leather jacket into the trunk of my car and slammed it shut. "See you tomorrow, Jake!" I called to a friend whose spot was diagonally across from mine. He waved as I got into my car and started the engine.
"Is he your boyfriend or something?"
"Holy sweet Jesus what the fuck are you doing?!" I nearly bumped my head on the roof of my car I jumped so high off of my seat. Michael was sitting in the passenger seat.
"You gave me a ride here, didn't you?" he asked. I looked back at him with a blank expression on my face. "Shouldn't you drive me home then?"
I paused. "Right. Yeah. Sure." I quickly buckled my seatbelt and pulled out of my spot. "You should really at least ask me ahead of time for a ride home since I think I could've gotten a concussion if I had actually hit my head a few seconds ago."
Michael smiled. "Right. Sorry about that."
"How did you even get in here?"
"The door was unlocked. I got in."
I glared at him. "No shit, Sherlock. I mean how did I not see you?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. I was walking behind you the whole time and just got in when you were putting your things away. I tried getting your attention but you just had to talk to that preppy bloke, Jackson."
"Jake," I firmly corrected him.
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes to look out the window, clearly annoyed.
"What's your problem, anyway?"
"Nothing."
"Are you sure-"
"I said nothing." Michael glared at me.
Well, then.
I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if you're mad about... whatever. I don't even know. I'm just trying to be nice to you. I know it must be hard being here and not knowing anyone or anything about this place."
No response.
"I mean," I tried again, "if you need anything, I'm always here. You know where to find me."
Silence once again.
"Alrighty then," I mumbled. I put on some more Fall Out Boy and we went the rest of the ride home not speaking a word to each other.
When we made it to his house, I pulled into his driveway, stopping at the top because it sloped down at a rather steep angle before it flattened out in front of the garage. Michael jumped out of the car, mumbled a quick "thanks" and slammed the door. I started to back out of the driveway when I heard him calling my name. I stuck my head out of the window to try to hear what he was saying.
"Are you into those preppy lads?" he called.
Did he mean Jake? "Oh! Uhh I guess it depends on the person. What's it to you, anyway?"
He shrugged. "Just wondering." And with that, he turned on his heel and bounded up the front steps to the door.
