Something else

The lone wolf dies but the pack survives

Cedric was the type of guy that left some sort of unintentional impression. Whether people liked his sinewy, swift, brash demeanor and aloofness or it irked them, he was undisputedly the talk of the school from the very first day he transferred. How could he not be, being a new cupcake and all? But naturally in the advantage of teen rebelliousness, if you asked him, he fucking hated it.

Kristi, Eve and William stood in the yard of school grounds chatting in their everyday loud matter, when Kristi's sharp eye caught a wisp of unfamiliar male blond hair disappearing around the corner of the building. She elbowed Eve, who was applying lip gloss at this particular moment, helping her besmear and ruin perfectly applied upper lip. In return, the girl only managed to throw a dirty look her way when Kristy spoke in excited whisper.

„Did you guys see that?" She looked past their shoulders where she spotted him.

„That you're going crazy? Yeah." Eve rolled her eyes and returned to her makeup.

„Noo. There's a new boy at school. And I think I just saw him pass straight to the west wing."

William looked at her with one perfectly shaped eyebrow arched up, appearing perpetually uninterested, wrapped with somewhat innate but still mostly forced air of patronizing coolness. He was the nerd of the crowd, the chief mocker of anyone who wasn't ambitious, and passive aggressive fighter for gay, black rights as he was both. „Hm. I've heard Jaqueline mention that dummy Fritz was telling this disinformation to everyone. Like we wouldn't know if this was the case." But Kristi wasn't discouraged. Although she'd never admit it to her friends, obviously to spare their feelings, routine school life bored her to death. And new people promised new acquaintances, fresh conversations. Little escape from her almost provincial life. Not that Galway Central High school provided much of these new souls. It counted roughly around 200 students with mostly the same dreams and underlying potential crushed with ingrained shallowness. The same old was to muckrake into lives of others and ignore yours. And yes. The talk of the past two days was that this bloke, who allegedly moved from Dublin, was signed in for most of the classes but hasn't attended one.

„We'd be first to know. Duh." Eve spoke after fixing soft brown hair in a messy bun, her well defined glossy lips shaping a famous smirk. „Besides, if this mystery dude did show up in a middle of semester and acts as a ghost, eventually he will be caught by Shay and Dean.. That'll teach him a lesson on proper introduction, no?" William sneered at her words, while Kristi frowned a little at nothing particular. Eve's right, she thought. School's posh, rich boys who acted as bullies took offence in everyone, for mere raw dominance. The boy stood no chance. But instead of expressing that she smiled good naturedly. „God, you two are just so cheesy, you know that?"

The second period was more promising; spring rain finally ended lifting the uncommon swelter of the day, making students livelier and the cafeteria buzzing with talk. Even with inexhaustible subjects such as fashion, gossip, sex and more gossip every now and then some fresh evidence of a sighting of phantom boy would pop up in conversation within almost every clique.

 That is until Cedric, skipping two or three steps at a time on his strong calves didn't show up, casual yet with such reserve it immediately rooted unexplainable sort of awe for him. Everyone took their fair amount of time to observe him; they felt obligated, of course. Dropping their phones and silverware for a second, they scanned every little detail of his physique. He pushed through the crowd with smoothness, broad shoulders, tall bulky figure but his posture was of a wounded proud solider on duty. Cedric kept his head leveled, looking straight ahead with expressionless face. If it weren't for the stunning steely blue eyes, healthy but slightly overgrown golden hair and plump lips so fixated in a still position they surely promised something less scary when spread in a smile, he'd look intimidating.