What Happens in High School

Bob’s POV

Max and I had first and second period together. I rode in with her and Ray the morning of the first day and let’s just say it was way more awkward than I would have liked it to have been.

When they knocked on my door I was only expecting Ray, but I was slightly shocked to also see Max standing there as well. I had only met the both of them the day before but I was already in deep. From the first moment I saw her, Max’s image stuck in my memory. Her long, dark hair fell perfectly around her shoulders and down her back. I had blue eyes, but hers made even me jealous. They were a clear, pale, and almost unrealistic blue so perfect I’d never seen anything like it before. She was small and had soft features. Her pale skin contrasted her dark hair like a porcelain doll and made her look even more delicate and perfect, and right when I saw her, I couldn’t look away.

This morning when they came up, I had my tie slung over my shoulders not actually tied. I heard the doorbell ring and yelled that I’d be a minute. So much for not being late on the first day at a new school. I grabbed my jacket and my bag and opened the door to see Ray and Max standing outside waiting for me. I was a little surprised to see her there. I knew her and Ray were best friends but I still didn’t consider seeing her at my house with him. I felt like an idiot as I explained that ties were my enemy.

Max ended up tying my tie for me. The whole time I tried not to be a creep but I found myself watching her face as she effortlessly fixed my tie. I wasn’t sure if she was nervous or just concentrating but she furrowed her brows and bit on her lower lip while she worked. I could already tell she had a lot of character and I wanted to get to know her. She finished and stepped back. We all got in the car and headed to school.

In the car Ray quietly played some Iron Maiden, pretty good band if you ask me, and he asked me of my schedule. I had received it in the mail only a few days before and hadn’t actually looked at it yet. I pulled it out and read it off. “Uh, Homeroom; room 215. US History; room 137. Music; well, in the music room.” I continued to read my schedule to them and when I finished Ray said, “Whoa, you and Max have a lot of classes together.” He told me that we had Homeroom, US History, Spanish, and English together. I wasn’t going to protest that, maybe this could give me a chance to get to know Max a bit better.

When we pulled into school, Ray bolted saying his class was all the way across campus. “I’ll see you guys later.” He yelled as he hurriedly made his way to his first class. This just left me and Max who started walking down the hall, I took this as my hint to follow her. She didn’t say a word, and things got awkward quickly. The halls started to fill up with kids, and they all stared at us, probably because I was the new kid with piercings.

The halls were pretty rowdy and dumb-ass jocks started to shove people around. I tried to avoid them as much as I could but then I was hit from the side. I looked over to see that someone had pushed Max into me. I grabbed her as she fell into me and I felt the electric rush again that I had felt at the music shop as we shook hands. I instantly felt weird and tried to lighten the moment as I brought her back to her balance.

“Whoa, hey are you okay? Too much to drink last night?” I really hoped she didn’t get offended by this. It just kind of came out before I had a chance to think. Luckily she smiled and replied, “Ha ha, no, yeah I’m fine. It’s just, these halls can get pretty crazy sometimes, especially with the jocks goofing off.” Yeah I could tell it would be fun walking through these halls every morning. I was glad though that I was getting Max to talk, it wasn’t much but it was a start. “Oh,” I responded, “well I guess I’ll have to keep an eye out for you.” I wasn’t the best flirt but I guess I did an alright job because, if I’m not mistaken, I could see Max’s cheeks flush a little at my remark. Not too shabby.

We got into class and we stopped so Max could introduce me to the teacher. “Ms. Brennan?” she said in a sweet and slightly shy voice. The teacher looked up and greeted Max, then directed her gaze immediately to me. She smiled and asked, “Well hello there, are you Robert?” I nodded and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Robert, I’m Ms. Brennan but you can call me Ms. B.” I took this opportunity to share with her my nickname; Bob. The only people who still called me Robert were my grandparents and my mom when she was upset with me.

Ms. B took note of my nickname in her book. After their hellos Max went to go find her seat. As I went to follow, Ms. B grabbed my arm and announced to the class, “Everyone, can you look up here please? Thank you, now I hope you all had a wonderful and productive summer. I’d like you all to meet Bob, he’s just come here from…” she looked at me to finish the introduction. “Uh Chicago.” I didn’t like being in the front of the room, how much easier it becomes to embarrass yourself when everyone’s already watching you. “Well Bob, why don’t you tell us all a bit about yourself?”

“Uh, okay. I just moved about two weeks ago. I have a younger sister, Jessie. I play the drums and I’m bad at math.” I tried to be a little funny and even got a few chuckles from some kids. Little did they know, I wasn’t lying. Ms. B approved of my introduction and let me find my seat. The only open one was next to some kid who was sitting next to Max. He was built a little like me but shorter and with black shoulder length hair that covered his ears and hazel eyes a little. I sat down on his other side and he leaned over. “Hey, I’m Gerard Way. I’m Ray and Max’s friend.” I smiled at him and said, “Hey, good to meet you, Gerard.” I was a little surprised to have already made three friends before first period but then again they all knew each other already. “So,” Gerard continued in a hushed tone, “Ray tells me you’re a drummer. Gonna come jam with us?”

“Oh, you’re in the band too? Cool, yeah we’ll see how it sounds.”
“Sweet, can’t wait. Max here says you’re amazing.” I looked passed Gerard to see Max looking at me with blushed cheeks. She turned her gaze toward Gerard and I’m not totally sure but I think she punched him. I liked a girl with a little spunk. Gerard straightened up and I replied, “Oh, well I’m no professional.” I tried to be modest as not to come off as a total jack-ass.

Gerard smirked and laid his head down on his desk, leaving me a clear view of Max. I looked at her while she listened to Ms. B go on about what we’d need for this year. She listened to the teacher drone on but obviously wasn’t all that interested. She picked up a pen and started to doodle on her notebook. I watched as she swirled circles and drew lines across the page. Suddenly she stopped and turned her head toward me. I quickly and smoothly tried to look away. Shit! She probably thought I was some kind of creep staring at her but that would only be half true. I was staring at her.

The bell rang and Gerard woke up. Max laughed at him, I guess this was nothing new. Max walked out of the room and I followed remembering we had the next class together. Gerard walked up to us and said goodbye. “See you two later.” He said as he headed to his next class leaving me and Max with just each other. I hoped she wouldn’t bring up the whole me-staring-at-her thing. She didn’t though and we just made our way to the social studies wing and entered room 137.

We went about the same routine. Max introduced me to Mr. Romero, my new US History teacher and he had me give another small introduction to the class. I pretty much repeated the one from homeroom verbatim. When I finished I went to sit with Max again but this time she sat with a short boy who had black hair streaked with red and tattoos covering his arms. Even with his rather intimidating exterior he seemed like he was really nice.

I sat down next to Max and the kid leaned over her lap to say, “Hey I’m Frank. I know Max. I’m in the band.” Well that was really all I needed to know about him at the moment and he just heard everything about me so I just shook his hand and he moved back onto his seat. Max playfully pushed him the rest of the way with a smile as he readjusted his position. She turned to me, still smiling and explained, “Don’t mind Frankie, he can be a little overly friendly sometimes.” I smiled and took her advice.

The rest of the class was pretty boring and uneventful. We went through the basic first-day routine. The teacher explained what the course was, what we would need, and stressed the importance of studying every day. Because I had nothing better to do. The bell rang signaling the end of class and we all got up and headed to the door. Before we parted Frank hugged Max and I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. I knew that Max said he was overly friendly but what if it was different with them?

I had my next two classes alone. No Gerard, no Frank, no Ray, and no Max. I did meet this kid named Mikey in period four though and he seemed pretty cool. After class I had lunch. I knew that Ray and Max wanted me to meet with them and their friends who I assumed would be Gerard and Frank again. As I walked to lunch I spotted Ray sitting under a tree with Max. To my surprise I noticed Mikey walk over to the tree with them and sit down and I followed suit. I took a seat next to Ray who greeted me with a, “Hey Bob, how’s Belleville so far?”

Notes