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7AM. Monday, August 20th 2013. We lay our scene in fair Vermont.
The first notes of ‘Heaven knows I’m miserable now’ by the Smiths blasted from a navy blue alarm clock. The wind, which was barely even cold, blew into the bedroom through the half-opened window. Todd Anderson woke up instantly and turned the song off, not wanting to disturb his parents.
“Why did I pick this song again?” He muttered to himself, even though he clearly knew the answer.
Todd was a die hard Smiths fan, and refused to wake up to anything else other than the sweet vocals of Morrissey. He would never admit he was a fan of them, though, as he was certain everyone he knew would judge him for it. His brother, Jeffrey, told him that people in Vermont mainly listen to whatever crap they decide to play on the radio.
Jeffrey got into a sophisticated college in Vermont so the Anderson family decided to move. It’s not like Todd minded, as it got him away from life at his old school in Maine.
School wasn’t the best, as the jocks would constantly pick on him for being ‘shy’ and ‘weird’. These guys were all carbon copies of each other, with dyed blonde hair and six packs. Todd didn’t get how they were so popular, as they weren’t smart and not even that attractive (which is a lie).
Todd was glad he was getting a fresh start, but he still had to deal with the pressure of being the new kid in 11th grade. This is his interpretation of what being the new kid is like.. even though it’s the start of the year:
“Hey, who’s the new kid?”
“How did he end up here?”
“Is he single? What’s his type?”
“He seems quiet.”
“What is with that notebook?”
“I don’t know why but I suddenly wanna know everything about this guy.”
Todd was planning on sitting at the back of the classroom and hiding in the library or something at lunch. But then again, he knew that would only make people more curious… that’s not gonna stop him.
He got out of his maroon, plaid pyjamas and changed into a black t shirt which said ‘animam meam’, which means ‘save my soul.’ Pretty depressing, right? It’s not like anyone would know what it meant anyway.
He put a black cardigan over it and pulled a greenish-blueish pair of jeans onto his waist. It’s basic, but Todd knew that it wouldn’t draw people’s attention.
Todd heard his mom call his name out from the kitchen so he started walking slowly down the stairs, a ‘bump’ sound being heard every time he took another step. The aroma of pancakes and bacon filled his nose as he approached the kitchen.
Mrs Anderson, who had yellowish-blonde hair which was tied in a bun, turned around at the noise of her son walking in.
“Hey, honey. How are you feeling?” She questioned with a concerned tone.
Todd spoke up, “I’m not great, but I think I’ll survive the first day at least.” He fidgeted with his hands as he sat down at the counter.
His mom smiled softly, “You’ll be fine, it’s just the usual first day jitters.”
But it wasn’t. Todd knew it wasn’t, and apparently his mother didn’t know that. For him things are always a bit.. different. Strange. He didn’t know why, but he always took everything too personal and stuff that he shouldn’t really care about affected him. A lot. This wasn’t first day jitters, this was preparation for the next two years of his life. A life he will be stuck with.
Todd dug into his pancakes after a while. They tasted spectacular. It’s like his mom put some sort of dopamine drug into the bacon to make him cheer up and not worry too much.
After about ten minutes, he finished his breakfast and brushed the crumbs off his shirt. “I should get going, being late on my first day is not really a good impression.”
His mom nodded and turned back to the coffee she was now making. “I completely understand, go when you want.
Todd grabbed his messenger bag and strolled to the door. He wanted to make a joke about getting hit by a bus, like in ‘There is a light that never goes out’, but he’s certain that his mom won’t get the reference so he just mutters a ‘bye’ before walking out of the door.
He put on his black headphones (yes, black. he does own stuff that isn’t black, but colours make him stand out… even though the whole school will probably call him ‘emo’ now.) and walked down a narrow path.
He was on the way to Welton Academy, some fancy school his parents decided to send him to. Jeffrey mentioned how it used to be an all-boy school, but people protested and they started allowing girls around ten years ago. It wasn’t too far from his house, so he could walk there easily.
Todd could see a bunch of kids his age, who also probably went to Welton. He glanced at a strawberry-blonde haired guy with round glasses walking a few steps in front of him, holding hands with a brunette who was way taller than the other guy. They were both holding some kind of textbook about computers or something; Todd couldn’t really make out the words.
After a while, he could finally see it. Welton Academy, in all its glory. It kind of looked like a castle, which Todd appreciated. He’s the type of guy to take notice of the architecture of buildings, being an observant person. As he looked around, he saw about a hundred people walking into the school. A couple of jocks, whose hands are gripped tight onto their selected cheerleader girlfriends. Todd also saw a few different stereotypes… wow.. is Vermont that cliché.
Suddenly…
“CHARLIE! WAI- CHAR!!!!!” Todd heard a voice screeching behind him before he felt an instant pain to his shoulder. This guy had just ran right into him!
Todd started observing him. The guy was around the same height as him, only being a few inches taller. He was wearing a green vest over a white shirt.. ‘interesting’, Todd thought. The guy was waving a piece of paper around, presumably a script of some sort, while chasing after some blonde guy… Charlie? Is that what he said the blonde’s name was? Ugh, why did he even care, they were probably just stupid mean guys.
Todd remembered that the whole school was being forced to sit through some half-hour long assembly. Assemblies were probably the worst part of high school, as they would always waste your time and talk about the same ten things.
But (not) luckily, before that he had to go and speak to the headmaster, Mr Nolan, about his electives. He started to set off to the school office.
The office wasn’t the brightest of spaces. There were a few broken computers plus a lot of paperwork piled around the room. Todd walked up to the counter and rested his hands on the wood.
“E-excuse me..” Todd muttered quietly, hoping that it was enough to get the office worker’s attention.
No heads were turned. Nobody heard the faintest noise.
Todd sighed quietly. He absolutely hated being alone and having to talk to a teacher or something. It was always awkward and he didn’t know what to say.
He decided to just knock on the counter. A woman with short, straight dark hair turned to glance at him.
“What do you need.” The woman said bluntly.
Todd squeezed his hands from under the table, “I-uh- I need- I’m new and I have to speak to the headmaster.”
The woman looked agitated. “You don’t have to come over here for that. Just knock on his door”
Todd suddenly looked down in embarrassment. “Oh… sorry.. I-i didn’t know.” He creeped over to Nolan’s office.
The door was chestnut brown and made of wood, probably expensive wood. Todd stood outside and didn’t knock for about a minute. When he did, he took a step back from the door and waited.
Waiting… waiting… waiting….
“Come in.” A deep voice rang out from inside the room. Todd grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, slowly and silently walking in.
He looked down until the headmaster spoke to him again.
“Anderson, is it?” Mr Nolan asked. He was an old guy, with white hair and a receding hairline.
“Y-yes, sir.” Todd answered him, not fully making eye contact.
Nolan looked up at him. “Sit down.”
Todd went to sit down. The chair was black with a cushion on the seat. It was probably the most comfortable seat that Todd’s ever sat in.
Nolan spoke up again, “You’re here to pick your electives, correct?” Todd just nodded.
He passed Todd a sheet of paper with a list of subjects. Todd had been planning this out all week so there wasn’t too much to think about at all. He grabbed a highlighter and underlined the elective subjects he wished to do.
“Care to share what you picked?” Nolan asked as Todd finished up.
Todd took a deep breath before speaking quickly, “Latin, History and Art.”
Nolan nodded, “Interesting choices. I feel like you’d get along with Mr Steven Meeks. He does those electives aswell, minus art.”
Todd took in this information. “Meeks… noted.”
He was dismissed shortly after and started making his way through the halls. He was sent a locker key in the mail so he decided to head there first.
Todd opened the locker and put a few books in there. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him. Voices…
“Hey.”
Todd turned around. The strawberry-blonde boy was standing in front of him, still holding hands with the brunette guy.
“H-hi..” Todd had a faint smile on his face.
“We’ve seen you around. You seem nice.” The strawberry-blonde adjusted his glasses. “I’m Meeks. Steven Meeks. And this here is Gerard Pitts, my b-friend… yeah.. friend.” He gestured to Pitts.
Todd started to think to himself, ‘so that’s Meeks. Seems like a nice guy.’
Todd spoke up, “I’m pretty sure Nolan mentioned you. You apparently take History and Latin.”
Meeks immediately glanced at Pitts. “I sure do.” He noticed the writing on Todd’s t shirt and laughed. “Trying to make a statement on your first day?”
Todd’s face instantly flushed red. “It’s not like anyone who doesn’t take Latin can translate it.”
Pitts spoke for the first time, “I can read it and I don’t take Latin.”
Meeks shoved him. “That’s because I taught you Latin. Not everyone has an amazing Latin speaking boyf…” He looked straight at Todd, hoping he’d be accepting.
Todd smirked, “it’s obvious. You don’t have to hide it with me.”
Meeks sighed with relief. “Okay, good. We weren’t really sure how people here would.. take it.”
Todd nodded. “Yeah, that’s understandable.”
“You should be glad you have us. We’ll give you all the inside details about everything. Who everyone is, who they’re dating, what cliques they’re in.” Pitts said.
Todd laughed. “Okay.. noted. You guys are like little gossiping spies.”
Meeks checked the time on his watch. “Shit. We’ve gotta start heading to the auditorium. Maybe after we can introduce you to our other friends?”
Todd just nodded. He was not fully comfortable with the idea but he didn’t want to offend Meeks or Pitts.
The trio started to walk towards the auditorium. The two boyfriends were subtly playing with each other’s hands. Todd just looked around. He looked up and saw the brown haired student from earlier staring right at them. Todd felt uncomfortable at this.. why is he being stared at? Who cares, he’s probably just curious.
The boys get to the auditorium and sit at the back so they get a good view. There were only a few minutes until the assembly was supposed to start, so they just spoke for a while.
All of a sudden, Headmaster Nolan walked up to the podium and announced the start of the assembly. “Hello students. It is nice to see lots of familiar faces with a few new ones.” He looked straight at Todd when he said that, making the latter uncomfortable.
Nolan went through the rules of the school and a few notices before moving on. “Here at Welton it is also mandatory that you are to join at least one club. A few members of the drama club are now going to do a small presentation.”
Two students walked onto the stage with a large, rolled up sheet of paper. A blonde guy, who Todd recognised as the Charlie guy from earlier, and a taller brunette he didn’t recognise. Todd then became hyperaware of the two laughing maniacs next to him.
“What’s so funny?” Todd asked.
“They’re our friends,” Pitts answered, “They told us they had to do a presentation about this semester’s school production. No idea what the sheet is for, though.”
Meeks pointed. “Left is Charlie Dalton. Also head of the school band. He’s kind of chaotic, but you’ll get used to it. He’s like, super fun. Also a huge Bowie nerd so if you’re into that stuff he is your guy.” He paused.
“Right is Knox Overstreet, Welton’s resident hopeless romantic. Had a messy breakup with a girl called Chris over the summer so do not mention it to him. He’s bisexual but he doesn’t know that.. he’s also into Charlie but he also doesn’t know that. How do we know this? It’s obvious. Ask literally anyone in our grade.”
Knox and Charlie opened the scroll. It’s a large poster saying ‘Join the Drama Club!’ In big blue letters covered in glitter. Suddenly, another figure strut onto the stage. Todd instantly freezed.
It’s him. The guy from earlier, the guy who was staring at him, the guy who ran into him. Him. That guy. He had now changed into a t shirt that had the cover of the movie version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ starring DiCaprio.
Pitts spoke up, “Now that is Neil Perry. Drama God. Girls’ biggest heartbreak back in freshman year, if you get what I mean. He’s the sweetest guy we know. You’re gonna love him. I’m sure he’ll like you.”
Todd tried to ignore what Pitts was saying and focused on the stage.
“Helloooooo Welton!” Neil smirked dramatically. “I have come here today to offer you the experience of a lifetime: the school’s drama club! This semester we are doing a production of Romeo and Juliet, hence the shirt.”
“Auditions start on Friday, however you don’t have to act to be part of it. You can run the lights or sound, deal with props and costumes, or be a stage manager which is probably the easiest. You just observe and make sure everything’s on schedule. If you’re willing to be a part of our backstage crew just let me know.”
Neil suddenly looked straight at Todd, causing the latter to blush a little. It’s clear that Neil was going to try and get him to join this club… somehow.
The assembly ended and Todd, along with Meeks and Pitts, left the auditorium. The halls were now crowded with hundreds of students.
“What club are you guys doing?” Todd quietly asked.
“Robotics and Drama. We promised Neil we’ll help with the tech.” Meeks answered. “What about you?”
“I’ll think about it. What class do you have now?”
“We both have Chemistry. You?” Pitts said, his arm around Meeks’ shoulder.
“Art.” Todd fiddled with his messenger bag while slowly walking away.
He can think about Neil and this Drama Club business later. Right now, his main focus was surviving Art class.