You're My Brother

Foster 1 Day 8- Class Sucks

   "You must be Keith Kogane" a woman he assumed was his teacher asked.
   'Ko-gain. Again?! It's getting old!'
   "It's Kogane..." Keith corrected through clenched teeth.
   "I apologize." She smiled and shook the boy's hand. "I'm Ms. Bernstein, but you're welcome to call me Ms. B. It's pleasure to have you in my class."
   Keith gazed out at the other students. They looked kind of mean. In a 'I have parents and you don't' sort of way. Granted, not all of them were like that, but to a new student, everyone hates you. That's just how it goes.
   "Class, this is Keith. Please be nice to him, he's new and I want you all to practice your compassion and respect skills we talked about on Monday. Alright?"
   "Ms. B!" A brown haired kid shouted as he frantically raised his hand.
   "Yes," she paused looking to her seating chart, "James? What is your question?"
   The kid, James, lowered his hand, "I can give Keith a tour at recess."
   "That's very kind of you," their teacher beamed with joy, proud of James for stepping up to help out the new student. "That will earn you a gold star."
   Keith frowned, the minute he heard of the reward, he knew this James boy was only doing it for the stupid gold star.
   After a few moments, Keith took his assigned seat in the back corner by the wall. Not by the window which he would have preferred. Instead, on the opposite side of the room, right next to this James kid.
'Stupid teacher's pet!' Keith huffed, laying his chin down on his desk. He did his best to follow along but it was all so boring. Who even cares about cursive? No one uses it except for signatures, but you can just make up a scribble anyway!
   Finally, after about two hours, the first lessons of the day were completed. It was time for a thirty minute recess and then a fifty minute lunch.
   "I'm James." The kid next to him stood up, extending his hand with a grin. "Ms. B said your name is Keith right?"
   "Yep..." Keith replied with a slight nod, hesitantly shaking the other's hand.
   "Come on." James waved Keith forward and out the door. "Let me give you a tour of this place!"
   They made it a few doors down when Keith that noticed a short, blond girl was following them. Her hair was about shoulder length, but it was pulled into two separate ponytails, one on either side of her head.
   James noticed Keith's little backward glances and looked back to see what he was looking at. "Oh hey!" He waved to the girl behind them. "That's Ina. We shared classes last year. She's super quiet but really smart."
'Great.... Now I have to deal with two people instead of just one.' Keith huffed in annoyance and followed James back to the other student.
   "This is Keith." James proclaimed, pointing to him. "Keith, meet Ina. Ina, meet Keith. I was giving him a tour. Want to tag along?"
   Though this Ina girl didn't say a word, she nodded and smiled. Her and James seemed to be good friends. So much so that it made Keith gag. How could you want to hang out with other people. You can have just as much fun by yourself. Not to mention, its a girl! That's so gross!
   "Keith is new. He's from the orphanage just outside of town."
   "How do you know that?!" Keith growled, "and you didn't have to say it out loud!"
   "S-sorry!" James stepped back, putting distance between him and the other boy. "Clearly you're not too social. Come on, Ina, we're going to just give him some space."
   Keith watched as James and Ina ran off, leaving him alone in the hallway.
'At least I don't have to deal with them...' he kept telling himself, but the truth was that he was mad at James. Mad that he knew of his origins. Mad that he told his friend. Mad that he ran off. And he was also mad that Ina did nothing.
   Keith knew he would never be friends with this James boy, much less his friend, Ina, but it still hurt him to know that the two of them just left him in the hall by himself.
   He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and walked down the hall to the double doors marking the staircase. From there, he went down and out towards the playground. He hated this recess almost as much as the one at The Hone. Just at first glance it looked terrible. Students of all ages were just running around like wild animals. It made him sick. It made him want to run back upstairs and sit with Ms. B and just tell her how absolutely unbearable this situation was. He was so desperate. He would do almost anything to get out of this situation. Out of this school. Out of this living hell.
   But he stayed put.
   He found a place that was relatively quiet and sat there, in the shade of an oak tree. Just sitting by himself.
   Keith watched the other boys and girls play their silly games of tag, hide and go seek, and everything in between. It was all so weird. Why waste your energy in a place like this when you can just go home and—
   Just go home...
   That was why he hated it.
   They all had that option.
   But each one took advantage of it.
'I just want to be normal!' He yelled in his mind. 'Why am I the one who lost everything?! Why am I so unlucky?! Why couldn't it have happened to—'
   He stopped himself.
'No...'
   It didn't matter how bitter he was, he could never wish this situation upon another person.
   They can have their fun, but he will have no part in it.

***

   Lunch was the same. Obnoxious children shrieking and yelling.

***

   Finally after a long and boring fifty minutes, the bell rang and everyone went back to their classes.
   Keith watched from his desk as Ms. B handed James a shiny golden star sticker. The kid placed it next to his name with such satisfaction that Keith suddenly became enraged.
   "You didn't even do anything...!" He told James through his clenched teeth.
   "Deal with it, Keith." James said, "I did something that was good but you shot me down. Not my fault you have anger issues."
   "Not my fault you have anger issues." Keith mocked the other boy. "Well at least I'm not a liar."
   "I didn't lie. I told her exactly what happened. She's proud of me because at least I tried. You on the other hand, lost it and gave up."
   "So?! I don't even care about some stupid sticker anyway."
   "Then why are you making such a big deal out of it?!" James challenged.
   "I—!" Keith bit his tongue. 'Damn it... He's right in w way...'
   James grinned and faces the front of the class. "Exactly. I'm right. You're wrong. Try to find some other friend, okay?"

***

   When Sarah and Jacob picked him up from school he acted as if everything was fine. That was, after all, his specialty.
   "Yeah, it was good. I met some kids too. One showed me around the school." He pretended it all went smoothly.
   "Really? That's great!" Sarah said with a smile. "What was their name? You should invite them over!"
   "Oh... I don't know about...." he stopped himself, forcing his words to sound less negative, "I mean... I don't remember their name..."