From the first few moments of meeting him I'm basically 100% sure that Scar has magic. His entire demeanour screams I'M HIDING SOMETHING, but as much as I want to, I don't tell him that I know. I might be wrong. It might end up worse for me.

Whatever's going on, what I am reluctantly sure of is that his first proper lesson is going to be how-to-discriminate-against-people-who-have-magic which, even if he doesn't have magic, is a horrible start for anyone. I feel sorry I half-bullied him into skipping Redstone class. At least that can be interesting and helpful. I ponder all this as I continue to lie in my bed. Scar's been awake half the night, probably classic first week nerves and as I dare a look out over at his empty bed from the mess of blankets, he's already awake now too. I know I should set a good impression and get out of bed too, so I do the classic roll out of physical bed and end up trapped in bedding that's become my regular method of getting up. 

It takes up a further five or so minutes escaping the self-caused imprisonment, and another few to get dressed, stretching and yawning as I eventually leave the room. 

The first thing I smell is smoke, and I can just see the awkward outline of Scar, watching me through the grey haze. It turns out the second thing I've now learnt about Scar is that he's a safety hazard. 

'Good morning Grian!' He greets me like nothing's happened. 'You want some... breakfast?' 

'I want to see more than 2 inches in front of my face. What happened?'

'Your toaster doesn't like me. I tried to cook some toast and then it started belching smoke everywhere!'

'Right. Leave it to me.' My polite way of saying get out the way before you burn the kitchen down works, and I take his place. Sure enough, my toaster's producing a lot of smoke. I grab a tea towel, pick it up, slam it against the table until what was probably bread at some point falls out, and throw it out the window for someone else to deal with. 'Your toast is a bit burnt.' I explain, picking up the corner of a blackened chunk of what might be bread. Scar's started laughing, and soon I do too. 'Scar, I know we've just met, but I'm very worried about your own safety.' 

'It was the toaster, not me!' 

'It was definitely you. Toasters don't do that.' I dare a glance at the window again. There's now smoke everywhere. 

'Are you going to deal with that?'

'Someone else will first. There's no proof for them to pin it on us. Don't worry. Besides, it's not exactly the worst that's happened on someone's first day. Jimmy set the entire kitchen on fire before running away and blaming Scott.' 

'He's that guy from yesterday, right?'

'Yeah. Jimmy's the kind of person... well, you know how most people have some kind of thing they're good at, like redstone, or building, and some people are just alright at everything? Jimmy's the kind of person who isn't particularly good at anything, and everyone bullies him for it, but also still love him or we have to deal with Scott.' 

Probably understand, Scar nods, before speaking. 

'I'm hungry.'

'Well it's your fault for breaking my toaster!' I reply, still laughing. 'You can have your... uhh... toast?' I pass over a piece of what is definitely not toast. Scar takes it, giving a small bite. 

'That's... wow, Grian you should really try some of this. It's so good.' I cross my arms. 

'Yeah... no. I'm making my own breakfast. You can have yours.' Being the generous guy I am, I find a plate for Scar, gathering all the crumbs and placing it in front of him. 'There. If you eat all of that I'll make you something else.' 

Looking from the plate, to me, and then back to the plate, Scar grimaces. 

'I'll pass.' 

Ren, Martyn, Tango and Impulse are there upon leaving the room, half an hour later. As expected, Scar did not eat any more of the toast, trying to pretend he had by feeding it to his cat, who I learnt was called Jellie with an 'ie' at the end. Not wanting to lose any more kitchen appliances, I still let him have some of my breakfast. 

Now, with far less time than we have to get to class, we're leaving our room, instantly bombarded by friends. 

'Hey dude! That's the new guy, right?' Ren asks, bounding over. Him and Scar shake hands and I almost laugh at the formality, especially with Ren's typical casual attire - long brown hair, red beanie and loose fitting red top and jeans. 'I'm Ren.' 

'Scar. Pleasure to meet you.' 

'So far he's already met Technoblade, kept me awake half the night and broken my toaster so much I threw it out a window.' 

'It was the toasters fault.' Replies Scar, as my other friends start laughing.

'Oh yeah? As little as I know about toastification, I can confidently say the toaster had no say in the matter of you ending up breaking it.' Tango replies, joining the line of hand-shaking. He's in a black jacket, red t-shirt and red jeans, his regular aesthetic, accompanied by a pair of sunglasses that 'make him look cooler'. 

'It's- Grian had a particularly bad toaster!'

'Don't diss my toaster!' I scold back. 

'If he managed to break it on the first day, the it must be a rubbish toaster, Grian.' Martyn adds, also introducing himself and shaking Scar's hand. The newcomer seems to be enjoying the attention. 'It seems really crumby.' 

'Another pun like that and you're toast.' I shoot back instantly. 

'But Grian! I crusted you!'

'Get a loaf of that!' Impulse joins in by saying, as we all head off down the stairs. No one laughs, and after a couple of failed explanations, he gives up on making it funny. 

By this point we've reached the main corridor, and I navigate our way to the nearest exit to the worst department in the entire school. The bell rings before we get there, and Scar asks what it was for. 

'Either Techno being Techno, or lessons have started.' 

'This technoblade person has quite the reputation...' Scar mutters. 

'Well, he is considered the best PvPer in this school...' Impulse shrugs. 

'I thought that was Dream.' 

'It's one of the two. Though we know Lord Grian Dreamslayer's the real PvP champion here.'

'Well... yeah.' I don't deny the claim as we find the correct classroom, entering stylishly late. 

'All of you sit down. Scar, you're next to Grian.' Begins the bored-sounding teacher, who, though having a band t-shirt, white hair in a ponytail and a scar across his face, is less interesting than a vacuum cleaner. 'Now, I was just telling everyone else that today we're talking about what happens to people found with magic.' The last word is spat like it's poisonous. I try to zone out of the lesson, but instantly give up on that as Stress is mentioned. 

'There's been far too many rumours about what's happened to Miss Stress Monster, but I can assure everyone in here that she will be alright, and the same isn't going to happen to any of you. And, contrary to whatever's been put in any newspapers, she did not leave due to any kind of magic. I will not accept any questions on the matter.' He quickly adds as Impulse and what's probably Joel, but I can't quite see properly raise their hands. 

'You mentioned Stress yesterday.' Scar whispers to me. 

'It's nothing. Like I said, rumours.' 

'But she's gone?'

'Not here.' I mutter, eyes glancing around to see if anyone who shouldn't be listening in is.

'Grian, can you focus and please tell me what you should do if you know someone has magic.'

'Report it to a teacher, don't go near the student, and if you're particularly worried, tell the principal.' I recite. There's a nod back. 

'Good. After that the student will be called to the principal's office and dealt with.' 

As the teacher continues, I sense someone behind trying to hand me something under the table. With a look back, I see Cub. He nods, and I take the paper, reading it. 

Tonight. 2, 1, 23 

I understand what it means, giving a brief thumbs up before spotting Tango in the seat across the gap in tables from me and passing it on. Luckily for all of us, Cub picked a good moment when the teacher was reading what counts as magical off the board. Despite its cryptic nature, if it's spotted and decoded, we'll all be in trouble. 

Everyone knows that whatever the teachers say about Stress is a lie

And I'm not letting anyone more friends end up like her.