New life in Raynerbrook - 6. Friends - Part One

It was the Monday after that when Theo started at the school in Raynerbrook.

He and Megan had tried to cover up what had happened as well as they could when Karen had come home half an hour after Theo had rushed back into the house, They hadn't talked about what happened.

Theo had cleaned up the wounds on his arm and his shoulder which had stopped bleeding quite quickly, despite being pretty deep, they still hurt however and Theo had put on a long sleeve shirt to hide the cut on his arm.

Karen had noticed the way Theo was grimacing when she got back. She had asked about it, but he seemed distant and simply stated he had tripped and hurt his shoulder, she didn't believe him.. but she was going to trouble him about it either.

The rest of the weekend had gone by quickly. They got used to their new home and Theo went shopping to get the uniform for the school, it was a dark grey blazer, a white shirt and black pants as well as a grey tie.

The schools crest was a raven, Theo had noticed it all around the town, it must be their mascot or something.

On Monday, Theo dressed in the uniform, he thought he looked pretty good in it, he hoped other people would too. He walked to the school, it was only about 5 streets away. The building was quite large for a small school in a small town, it certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

Lots of people turned to look at Theo as he walked to the school, he wasn't sure why, maybe they thought he was cute? or maybe he had messed up his uniform? he looked over himself carefully, no, it was all okay.

His first week at the school had been pretty uneventful, he had missed a little bit of work, but it wouldn't take him long to catch up on it all.
For some reason, nobody would speak to him, and nobody would go anywhere near him, he would work alone in lessons and eat alone at lunch.

Sometimes he would notice the same few people staring at him, a pretty girl with red hair, a guy with clear blue eyes and brown hair and a small boy with blonde hair and glasses. The way they were staring at him was different from the way other people were, everyone else would glance his way, then turn their heads as if avoiding him, even the teachers, they would never ask him questions in class either, which Theo found... actually quite enjoyable.

On Tuesday, a week and a day after he had started at the school, Theo was sitting alone in the dining hall, usually thinking to himself about all the strange things which had happened, people were talking all around and having fun, sometimes some would look up and glance at him, then look away and continue with his conversations.

Theo felt a tap on his shoulder, it hurt like hell, the bite had gotten more and more sore over the week, but it was healing, slowly, the cut on his arm had healed up nicely however. Theo wondered if it had anything to do with the bite... he grimaced and began to turn around at the sound of a voice.

''H-hi'' said a girl

Theo turned, behind him, 2 students were standing there, one of them a girl and one of them a boy.

The girl was beautiful, Theo could find no other words to describe her at that moment, she had clear blue eyes and long brown hair which curled at the ends, it hung to one side over her shoulder, her hair covering up the school crest on her blazer. Theo noticed she was wearing her skirt rather short, surely she must get in trouble with that.

The thought perished from his mind when he moved his gaze from her to the boy standing next to her. He was slightly taller than her, and Theo thought he was the most attractive guy he had seen in his life. His hair was short and blonde, and his eyes were a deep chocolate brown, his cheeks looked rather pale, Theo thought he must have been laughing recently, or embarrassed, as his cheeks were a light shade of red, Theo had always found pale guys with red cheeks to be very cute, especially when they laughed.

The boy glanced at Theo, their eyes met and then he looked down at his shoes, Theo smiled slightly and turned his attention back to the girl.

''Urm, hi'' replied Theo

''We've noticed you around'' said the girl ''I'm Kimberly and this is Ryan'' she said, pointing to the boy standing next to her, who was still looking at his shoes.

''Nice to meet you, I'm Theo, what do you mean you have noticed me around?''
''We both noticed the way that people are treating you, we don't have any classes with you, but we can tell just from the other kids reactions that you are being ignored. Am i right?'' said Kimberly, ending on a small smile

''Yeah.. you are right, i don't understand why people are ignoring me like they are''
''We couldn't figure it out either, so we decided we were going to come and talk to you, you look like a decent enough guy'' she added a wink at the end

Theo blushed and looked over at Ryan, he had glanced over at Kimberly as she said that, she glanced over at him and stuck out her tounge, Ryan looked shocked for a second and then stuck out his tounge at her too, Theo found the look on their faces hilarious and burst out laughing, he found their interaction refreshing in this place where he had gotten no interaction at all.

Kimberly and Ryan turned to look at him and smiled, Theo thought Ryan's smile was unbearably cute and had to look away.

''D-do you mind if we sit with you?'' asked Ryan. it was the first thing he had said and Theo thought his voice was perfect.

Theo was really starting to like this guy already.

''Urh, sure, of course you can.''

Kimberly and Ryan sat down on the opposite side of Theo.

''So how long have you been here for?'' asked Kimberly.

''A little more than a week now'' replied Theo.

''And you haven't made any friends yet?'' asked Ryan, glancing at Theo and then looking down at his hands.

''No... nobody seems to want to go anywhere near me, my sister already has about a million friends in the school she went to.''

''Oh you have a sister? how old is she?'' asked Kimberly.

''She's 12, her names Megan.''

''Cool'' said Kimberly ''I wish i had an older brother, it sucks being an only child.''

''I agree'' said Ryan, his eyes never leaving either Kimberly, the table or people passing them.

''It's not always great having a sibling'' said Theo laughing.

Kimberly smiled at this.

''I usually think of Ryan as my older brother, he's taller than me, so it's not too hard to imagine, though he does make me feel short'' she laughed, and Theo and Ryan joined in.

He hadn't laughed this much since he started in this school. he was already starting to like Kimberly and Ryan. Ryan wasn't talking much, but Theo found it pretty cute. He was just glad neither of them could read minds.

''So... Kimberly-''

''Call me Kim'' she said, cutting Theo off.

''Oh, ok, KIM, why exactly did you decide to come talk to me?''

''Honestly? I don't know. You just looked lonely, we had noticed the way people were treating you, and i don't know... we just felt compelled to talk to you for some reason.''

''Well.. i'm glad you did'' he smiled

Ryan looked up at him and smiled, then turned back to look at Kim, and they continued their conversation.

Just a small conversation, about small pointless topics... but to Theo it was the best thing that had happened to him since he had reached Raynerbrook.