Chris P.O.V.
"Finally!" Xavier said as we exited our last class of the day "I thought this day would never end."
"That's for sure," Jane added.
"Best part. No homework today!" Paul screamed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Not until tomorrow," Emma told him.
Paul put his arms back down. "Dang it, Emma. Why do you always have to ruin everything?"
"Sorry." Then she turned to me. "So, Christopher. First day at your new school. What do you think?"
"Well, everything was fine until I met Danielle's asshole brother and that bitch Gabriella," I said.
"Hey, don't call my sister a bitch," Layla said.
"Layla, no offense, but your sister can be a bitch sometimes," Rachel said.
"So Gabriella is your sister, huh?" I asked Layla.
"Yeah, she is," Layla said.
"And who were those two other people with them earlier when Malcolm called me a suck up?" I asked.
"My brother Jarrod and Rachel's sister Ramona," Austen said.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Yeah, but worry about it, Chris. They're much nicer than Gabriella and Malcolm are," Rachel said.
"What do you think of my brother?" Seth asked.
"Brother?"
"Yeah, the one who saved your butt from Malcolm," he reminded me.
He's freaking hot, is what I really want to say. But instead I just said, "He seems...nice."
"Yeah, he totally is," Jane said, taking her backpack out of her locker.
"Chris!"
I turned to see Mariah and the girl she was talking to earlier in the gym running up to me. When she stopped, she said, "I won't be riding the bus home now because I'm going to audition for a play. Can you tell Grandpa that?"
"Um...okay."
She turned to the girl standing next to her. "Oh, by the way, this is Vivienne Pitchford."
"Nice to meet you," Vivienne said.
"Nice to meet you, too." I turned back to Mariah. "So how are you going to get home then?"
"There's a bus that drives us back later."
Jane took my hand. "Let's get going, Chris, if we have to go back home."
"Bye guys." I waved at everybody else before leaving with Jane. I noticed that Xavier is following us. "You're coming with us?"
"Yeah. I live in Plummer too," he said.
"Then how come you weren't on the bus this morning?" I asked him.
"My brother drove me here this morning, but he has practice here, so he won't be driving me home."
"Oh, okay then." We went outside and boarded the bus. When we entered, I saw there's a bunch of kids on the bus. What the hell?
"There's a seat." Jane pointed to one.
"That's the only seat left though," Xavier groaned.
"That's okay. I can sit on one of your guy's lap," Jane said. I sat down first, then Jane sat down on my lap, which felt a little weird, and Xavier sat down beside us. The bus driver closed the doors then drove off.
Jane and I mostly talked on the way back while Xavier mostly spent listening to music on his phone. We tried to include him in our conversations, but he would just either grunt or ignore us.
The bus slowed down when we got to the elementary school and cranked the doors open. We all boarded off the bus, and I found Mia, Jacob, and Nate in front of the building.
"Bye, Chris," Jane said. "See you tomorrow." She walked into the building.
"New friend of yours?" Mia asked.
"Yeah, she is." We then walked to our house.
When we got there, Grandpa's outside checking the mailbox. He looked up when he saw us. "Hey, kids. Christopher, where's Mariah?"
"She stayed at the school to audition for a play."
"Okay then." Grandpa checked his watch. "I'm going to start making supper soon. Why don't you kids go in the house and do whatever you want to do?"
We all went inside the house. Mia, Jacob, and Nate went straight to the living room to watch TV while I went downstairs to my room in the basement. I put my backpack on the floor and went straight for my laptop I decided to watch some YouTube videos while I wait for Grandpa to be done with making supper. I was in a middle of a Try Guys video when I heard a noise.
"Shit! Fuck! Goddamn it!" I hear Grandpa swearing. I ran upstairs and ran into the kitchen to see blood on one of Grandpa's hands.
"What happen?"
"I was cutting tomatoes and I accidentally cut my hand." He went to the sink to wash the blood off his hands. "Can you get the bandages from the bathroom upstairs?"
"Sure." I went to get the band aids and went back downstairs to give them to Grandpa.
"Thanks." He started to put one on his hand. "Do you think you can cut the tomatoes for me while I cook the meat?"
"Sure." I cut the tomatoes and lettuce while Grandpa cooked the meat. Mariah got home afterwards and helped set the table.We all eat when we got done with making tacos. I'll admit, it's very good for someone who made tacos for the first time. After we got done, Mariah and I did the dishes while Mia, Jacob, and Nate cleaned the table. We then watched a movie called The Quiet Man with John Wayne. It was around 7:30 when Mom came home.
"How was work?" Grandpa asked.
My mom pulled her hair from the messy bun on the top of her head and shook it free. "Well, a boy came in with a broken leg from riding his bike, and a woman was just diagnosed with breast cancer." My mom is a doctor at the hospital in Thief River Falls. She took off her medical coat and looks to see what we're watching. "Okay, Nate, when this movie is done, you're going straight to bed. Got that, mister?"
"Yes, Mom," Nate groaned.
"Good." She sat down on the couch next to me. "So, kids, how was your first day?"
We all told Mom and Grandpa all about school. Nate made a new couple of friends, Jacob made a new friend named Keegan after he defended Keegan from someone who tried to steal Keegan's lunch, Mia barely interacted with anyone in her class like she always does, and all Mariah could talk about is Vivienne and the upcoming play in our school. Everybody was shocked when I told told how many new friends I made. I left out the part about Malcolm almost punching me and Brian saving me.
Finally, the movie got done and Mom took Nate to bed. I went back downstairs to my room and flopped on my bed. I looked at the alarm clock on my dresser and see it's quarter after eight. I opened my laptop and watched Aladdin. It was almost ten when the movie ended, so I decided to go to bed.
As I was getting ready, Mom poked her head into my room. "Hey, you're getting ready for bed?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Good." She smiled at me. "Your father just came home and is really tired, so everybody is going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning. Okay?"
I nodded my head.
"Okay then. Good night."
"Night, Mom."
Mom closed the door and I shut the lights off and went to bed. I drift off to sleep, somehow dreaming about Brian.