As if today couldn't have got any worse- he now had a flat bike tyre.
Fantastic.
Philip had been riding down the lane to his foster parent's house- it still felt weird to think of it of his house- when he heard a little hiss and all of a sudden his bike had jerked before grinding to a halt. Apparently the wheel had been torn by a stone or something; it had completely sagged and it definitely didn't look like he would be able to ride it anytime soon. Which was great, seeing as Helen and Gabe's house was still a ten minute ride away and he'd have to wheel it the whole way there.
"Really?" he muttered under his breath, giving it a half-hearted kick. "Anything else going to go wrong today?"
He didn't really notice the low drone until the motorbike had rounded the corner, appearing through the trees at a high speed until it swerved to a careless stop beside him. The guy riding it removed his helmet.
Philip's day took a sudden, definite upswing. He was extremely cute.
"Are you okay?" asked the guy. He seemed almost nervous, not looking directly at Philip, instead peering at his bike.
"My bike has a flat tyre." Philip was definitely checking him out- too-long blonde hair, slanted cheekbones and almond-shaped blue eyes, not to mention definite wiry muscles under his white shirt.
"Ah, shit. If you want I can, er, fix it up for you." The boy pointed down the driveway Philip had stopped in front of, a long dusty road leading to what looked like a farm at the bottom. "I live just down there. It's really no problem."
His shyness was endearing- the moment their eyes finally met, the other guy looked away instantly, clearing his throat. And was he honestly blushing?
"Really?" he asked, grateful. "Dude, thank you so much."
The other boy asked where he lived- there was some sudden understanding in his eyes when Philip replied; in a town this tiny of course it would be common knowledge that Helen and Gabe had a new foster kid- but thankfully he didn't say anything other than he would drop the bike off later.
"I'm Philip, by the way" Philip added, meeting the other boy's eyes and hoping he wouldn't look away as he smiled a little.
The other boy hesitated, but he didn't look away. "Lukas" he said finally, returning the grin, albeit a bit nervously.
Okay, maybe this town wasn't as bad as Philip had first thought.
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Pulling to a stop in the school parking lot, Helen killed the engine before she and Gabe looked back at Philip simultaneously. "How are you feeling for your fist day, son?" Gabe grinned. Philip appreciated his endless cheerfulness- it wasn't like Philip was exactly giving a lot back. In the week since he'd arrived in the town, though, Helen still didn't seem comfortable with him- she gave him an unconvincing smile, seeming like she didn't know what to say. He'd heard the foster parent advice tapes she played in the car before she hurriedly snapped it off as he'd buckled his seatbelt, but it was enough to tell him that she felt as confused and lost about all this as he did.
It was kind of nice to know he wasn't the only one, to be honest.
"Fine" he replied to Gabe, grabbing his backpack off the backseat beside him.
"That's the spirit. Just smile and be friendly, I'm sure you'll come back with tons of friends!"
Somehow Philip wasn't so sure. He hadn't had 'tons of friends' even when he'd lived in the city with his mom- for some reason kids tended to stay away from him, and to be honest Philip preferred it that way.
"Yeah" he replied, smiling back for Gabe's benefit before opening the car door. "See you guys later."
"We'll come and pick you up again, if you want."
"No, it's fine. I can get the bus" Philip said quickly. Already, he was aware of other kids looking over at them, taking a long look at the new city kid and whispering hushed rumours to one another. He hated being in the centre of attention. "But thanks though."
They both looked a little disappointed. "Sure" Helen replied, "have a good day."
He nodded and shut the door before walking up to the main building, head down.
The school was absolutely tiny, and the number of people in the halls and his registration seemed ridiculous- the whole school was only a quarter as big as the one he'd gone to back home. Which sucked, because it seemed like everyone knew who he was- as he walked down the halls whispers and lingering looks trailed after him, breaking out into sniggers. Philip tried to act like he didn't care. Hopefully it looked more convincing than it felt.
A part of him was desperately hoping he'd see Lukas- the guy who had fixed his tyre. Unfortunately Philip had been listening to music in his room when Lukas returned the bike the night before, and Gabe had been the one to open the door to him. Both he and Helen had seemed pleased he'd already made a friend. But they were hardly friends, after only one meeting, though it would be nice to see someone who wouldn't stare at him like he was absolute freak.
Just as he was thinking this, he rounded the corner on the way to his next class and- bang. He collided into someone tall and solid before he bumped backwards into the lockers, his books thumping to the floor.
"Watch where you're going, asshole."
Philip blinked. The guy he'd knocked into was Lukas, his face twisted into a sneer, surrounded by guys wearing identical letterman jackets. From the way people were watching and laughing along, it was clear that this was the most popular jock clique in the school.
"Hey, aren't you the new kid who has a junkie for a mom?" one of the guys sneered, provoking more sniggers from the others. Even Lukas was smirking.
A hot red rush of anger rose in Philip's chest, constricting his throat. His books back in his arms, he felt his hands tighten into fists...but then he forced himself to breathe. What would his Mom think if she heard that he got into a fight on the first day of school? What would Helen and Gabe think?
Besides, he didn't want to give these assholes the pleasure of seeing that the taunt had got to him.
"Fuck you" he muttered instead, pushing past them to catcalls and more cruel sniggering.
After he slammed his stuff onto the desk in his next lesson, Philip covered his face with one hand and felt his blood simmer. He'd been dealing with stupid guys like that his whole life, it was honestly nothing new, but...Lukas. Obviously Lukas wasn't the nice guy that Philip had misunderstood him to be. He couldn't get the image of Lukas and his stupid, crooked smirk out of his head.
At lunchtime Philip sat with a kid named Tommy who'd been in his photography class. Tommy kept talking to his girlfriend Tracey, who was very loud and very giggly, but Philip was happy to mostly eat his lunch in silence, plus it was better than sitting alone like a complete loser.
A sudden swell of noise made him look up from fiddling around on his camera- the table near to them was spilling over with jocks and cheerleaders, and Lukas had just approached with what Philip had now come to recognise as his signature swagger. Jokes were traded back and forth, Lukas was laughing as a pretty black girl stood up and smiled at him before they kissed, wrapping her arms around his waist. Cue more catcalls and stupid comments, to which Lukas replied to with a middle finger as he continued to kiss his girlfriend.
"That's Lukas Waldenbeck" Tracey said. Alarmed, Philip looked round to discover that Tommy and his girlfriend had stopped flirting long enough to notice him watching Lukas and his friends. "And his girlfriend is Rose Law." Tracey raised her eyebrows at him, smiling. "She's so pretty, isn't she- I bet you fancy her."
Philip shrugged. "Yeah, I guess she's pretty."
"Well they've been dating for months, so forget it" Tommy said. "Plus Lukas is like the most popular guy in the school, no one else has a chance."
"What, you don't fancy her, do you?" Tracey asked, wide-eyed.
Tommy rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. "Don't be stupid." He leaned in and kissed her.
Feeling awkward, Philip looked back down at his camera. It was honestly his most prized possession- he had a thing for taking photos, his whole bedroom was covered in glossy prints- along with his brown RAF jacket which his Mom had given him for his sixteenth birthday. He practically never took it off.
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His last lesson of the day was History, and honestly Philip was just wishing for the arduous day to be over. When he got home he could go out and take some more pictures, hopefully call his mom.
Instead of listening to the teacher, he looked out the window and let his mind wander until the door opened five minutes into the lesson and Lukas and some of his friends casually walked in.
"Do you want to tell me why you're five minutes late to my lesson once again?" asked the teacher irritably, pausing mid-sentence. "Actually, I don't even want to hear it this time- just go and sit down."
Lukas and his friends swaggered to the back of the classroom, muttering and laughing with one another as they took their seats. Lukas bumped Philip's desk with his bag as he passed, and Philip was mad enough to suspect he'd done it on purpose. What a complete dick.
"So, as I was saying" the teacher went on pointedly, "this semester you're going to be working on a paired project on a medical advancement of your choice which you'll be presenting to the class. You'll be doing the work on this out of class- I suggest meeting up at the library during study hours or after school, if you both work cooperatively it shouldn't take too long. Yes, I'm picking the pairs" he said to moans and protests, "and no, they're not debateable, people."
He started reeling off names from a list, whilst Philip doodled on the back of his notepad and half-listened. Hopefully he'd get some brainiac kid- he really didn't give a crap about school- who would do all the work for him, minus all the awkward interaction.
"...Lukas and, er, Philip..."
Philip's head jerked up. He almost wanted to laugh, this was so ridiculous. No way was he working with that asshole, just the sight of him made Philip's blood boil.
He waited until the end of class when everyone else had left, taking longer than was necessary to pack up his things, before walking over to the teacher's desk.
"Yes, Philip? How was your first day?"
"It was fine" he lied. "I just wanted to ask- can I change my partner? We...don't really get along."
The teacher raised his eyebrows. "How did you manage to make an enemy on your first day?"
Philip just waited.
Threading his hands together, the teacher sighed. "I'm sorry Philip, but the answer is no. If I let you change your partner, everyone would want to. And I understand that Lukas can be...challenging, but this counts for 20% of your final grade, so I'm sure he'll buckle down."
Somehow Philip wasn't sure. Frustrated, he thanked him and left.
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That night, Helen tried making a special meal which resulted in one burnt chicken and a lot of smoke billowing around the kitchen.
Smartly, Philip suggested a take away, so in the end they ended up sat on the back porch eating out of cardboard boxes and looking over the lake. "This is so good" Gabe said happily, taking a huge bite, before catching his wife's eye, "no offense, honey."
"I'm sure your meal would have been just as nice" Philip added, catching Gabe's eye and smiling.
"I'm ignoring that." It couldn't be denied that Helen looked like she was enjoying her pizza too. "So, Philip, you didn't really say- how was school? Did you talk to Lukas?"
He shrugged, looking down at his food. "School was fine. And no, I didn't really see him."
"Ah, that's a shame. He's such a nice kid" Gabe said. "So polite when he dropped your bike back off, Philip."
It honestly didn't sound like the same guy. For a moment Philip had to bite back his wry smile, wondering how polite Gabe would think Lukas was if he'd seen him today. "Hmm" he said finally.
"You know you can tell us if anything happens at school, right?" Helen said after a moment, watching him closely. Ordinarily, Philip prised himself on his ability to avoid ever talking about how he really felt, but it was kind of difficult when you had a foster mom who was also a cop.
"Absolutely" Gabe chimed in earnestly. "Never be afraid to share things with us. We'll always take it open-mindedly, I promise you that."
"Guys, I'm honestly fine." Philip put down his empty pizza box. "I'm just tired, that's all."
When he went to bed, he lay awake in bed for a long time missing his Mom, missing New York, missing his old school. There had been shitty times with his Mom too, worse than shitty actually- coming home to find her passed out cold on the sofa with needles littered around her, waiting up all night for her to come home when he was younger and when she did she was always crying, the various boyfriends over the years that had yelled and broke things- but at least she'd always been there, when he really needed her to be. At least he hadn't been completely alone.