The school year hadn't started long ago, just about two months, but transfer students weren't common. Especially not in an all boy's school in the dead ass town of Nalfic where everyone knows everyone. So, it was no surprise that everyone throughout the school was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. Carter, on the other hand, didn't give two shits. The likelihood of it affecting his boring life was very unlikely. He weaved his way through the halls, making his way to his classroom, swimming around the boys and teachers in his way. Relieved, he slipped into his classroom, setting his things down next to his desk. Today, he decided to shake things up. He brought his guitar with him, he was going to stop by the park on the way home from school. Sit by the lake and watch the ducks as he played.

     Hanging his messenger bag on the back of his chair, leaning his guitar against the wall. He really hoped Mr. Brier wouldn't make any of his usual comments. Mr. Brier had the habit to point out things that are different, especially with the "shy" students. Carter was one of his favorites to call out since he was the only one without at least one friend.

      Carter took a deep breath, taking his seat. Boys slowly started to shuffle into the room, often in groups. They were loud as they entered, jostling around the desks as they made their way to their seats. The room was soon bustling with laughter and talking within a few minutes. The bell was going to ring soon.

      With a loud trill, the bell rang and Mr. Brier entered the room followed by a short messy hair boy. That must be the new student, Carter thought. Everyone quieted down, taking their seats as Mr. Brier adjusted his papers in front of him. He grinned widely, glancing over the class. The intercom came on, and the morning announcements drulled out. Carter tapped on his desk, making a rhythm underneath the principal's monotone rambling. He looked around the room, looking at all his classmates until his eyes fell back on the new boy.

     Taking in his appearance, Carter noticed quite a few things he couldn't help but smile at. The boy had missed several buttons on his shirt, and it was only half-tucked into his pants. The pant's pockets hung inside out. His shoelaces were knotted, not tied. Even his bag! It was still open, and Carter could see it was a mess. Jam-packed with papers, a couple of folders, a binder, and some other things he couldn't make out. Honestly, the messy uniform matched his messy hair, which was every which way. He seemed to have a sort of wide-eyed innocent air around him, but Carter could guess he was not innocent in the slightest.

     The announcements came to an end and Mr. Brier's smile widened. "Good morning, Class!" He enthusiastically hollered out to the room full of dull staring teenagers.

     "Good morning Mr. Brier," they all called back in unison.

      Unphased Mr. Brier continued on with his huge grin. "As I'm sure you've all hear, we have a new student joining us today. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Mr. Brown." The boy stepped forward, grinning and flashing a mouthful of colourful braces.

      "Hello everyone!" His voice was a lot deeper than Carter had expected. (Honestly, he expected the voice of a 13-year-old, not an actual 15-year-old to come out of him.) But he wasn't going to complain, he had the sort of voice Carter could listen to all day. "My name is Luis Brown, my family and I moved from Palmar, please treat me well!" Luis glanced around the room, smiling brightly at all the boys. Except when his eyes fell on Carter, his smile dropped for a quick second as their eyes met. Carter sighed, letting his eyes fall away from the boy. Yet again...

      "Thank you, Mr. Brown. Your seat will be behind Mr. Morales, Mr. Morales please stand up." Mr. Brier grinned at Carter, giving him a wink. Carter couldn't help the quiet growl that escaped him as he stood up. He should have known Mr. Brier had something up his sleeve.

      Luis let out a sheepish smile as he hurried over to Carter, taking the seat behind him. Once Luis had settled into his seat, Mr. Brier continued on with the basics of homeroom, talking about some of the upcoming projects.

      "Psst..." A small voice sounded behind Carter. Turning, Carter met eyes with Luis, who was leaning his entire torso over his desk. "What's your name?"

     "Carter..."

    "It's nice to meet you, Carter" Luis smiled, sliding back in his seat, seeming satisfied with himself. Carter turned back around, smiling to himself. Okay, maybe this won't be so bad.

*****

      Soon enough lunchtime rolled around, and Carter's earlier excitement slowly faded away. A lot of the other boys had taken this time to talk to Luis and find out more about him, so most of the class was circled around Carter and his desks. There really wasn't much room for Carter to talk, not that he was going to anyway. Carter wasn't really friendly with his class, which is probably due to the fact that they're scared of him. He couldn't blame them though. Who wouldn't be scared of the white-eyed, fanged demon who sits by themselves and never talks to anyone?

There was a loud crash that pulled Carter out of his train of thought. Looking back he saw Luis standing up, his chair knocked down onto the floor, his bag and belongings everywhere. Everyone was staring at him in shock. Noticing, Luis smiled, laughing nervously.

"Sorry," he laughed, setting his chair back up on its feet. "I'd like to eat my lunch now if you'd please leave." The boys muttered to themselves as they dispersed back to their own areas and groups. Carter stood up, walking over to where Luis's bag had slid, picking it up, and handing it to him.

"You okay?" The question slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Luis's face lit up, his braces flashing Carter's way.

"Yeah, thank you." Getting on their hands and knees, they started picking up Luis's belongings, another boy joining to help.

"Wow, how much shit can you put in your bag?" The boy laughed, holding a black and white panda pen. Luis snatched it, shoving it into his bag. "Woah, woah, woah! I didn't mean any offense, but you do need to organize your bag, dude."

"I know, don't judge me," Luis laughed, "I'm really bad at organizing things."

"I noticed," the boy laughed, looking at Luis head to toe. Luis blushed, pulling his blazer moreover his shirt. "My name's Kia Cannon, it's nice to meet you, Luis. I can help you organize your bag if you'd like." Kia stopped laughing, his smile softening. "I really mean no harm, I'm just trying to help here."

Luis glanced him over, "that would be nice," he smiled.

Taking this as his time to leave, Carter placed the papers and folders he collected and placed them neatly on Luis's desk before taking his seat. He should have been smart enough to realize that Luis wasn't going to be his friend. When their eyes met. How Luis's smile dropped. That should have told him enough. He could hear Luis's and Kia's laughter behind him, but he tried hard to ignore it, staring hard into the grooves of his desk and willing himself not to cry.

It was always hard for Carter to make friends, especially after what happened in childhood. A lot of the parents told their children to stay away from him, that he was a danger, he wasn't safe to be around. That's followed him around his whole life, even now. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, but part of him hoped that Luis would be different. Maybe things could would be different. But it isn't... It wasn't ever going to be different. It was never going to be different.

Standing up, Carter politely excused himself to the bathroom. Grabbing the hall pass, he made his way out of the class and into the near-empty hallway. Classes were going to start again soon. Perfect. Carter made his way down the halls, down the stairs, and to the lobby bathrooms. His safe spot. No one really used the lobby bathrooms, they were the farthest away from the classrooms.

Carter entered the farthest stall, sitting down in the corner. He let out a sigh, resting his head against the wall. Staring up at the lights, tears started to well up in his and slipping down his face. He swore to himself before coming to school today that he wouldn't get excited about the new boy; but yet here he is, crying in a bathroom stall. It wasn't like he meant to! He didn't expect to see a very messy boy walk through those doors. Or that same boy's triumphant smile when he asked Carter's name. It caught him off guard, and he let his guard down. Maybe this time will be different... Maybe Mr. Brier made a good choice this time.

A small sob escaped from his mouth as he quickly smothered his face into his arms, pulling himself into himself. A soft knock sounded at the stall, startling him. Under the stall door, Carter could see knotted shoes and instantly knew who it was. Luis.

"Sorry, I followed you, I was worried..." Luis's voice sounded quiet, but it wasn't because of the door. "Are you okay?"

Carter was speechless. Luis followed him? He was worried? Why? That doesn't make any sense. They just met. Luis met Kia, who is so much better than Carter. Why would Luis even look at him? Let alone long enough to watch him leave and come all the way down here. That's a lot to process.

"I'm coming in!" Luis called out, dropping down and shimmying underneath the door. And then there he was, sitting in front of Carter. His hair was messier than before, and it shined underneath the bathroom lights. "So?"

"Oh, um..." Carter stumbled out, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "It's nothing..." Forcing a smile he looked up at Luis. Luis's gaze was soft as he watched him. Maybe it's okay to hope with him...

"Obviously it's not nothing, you're in the bathroom all the way downstairs, crying." Luis scooted over next to him, lowering his voice again. "I really mean no harm, I'm just trying to help here."

Carter chuckled, "I'm better now, thanks for following me."

Luis's face lit up, his shit-eating grin on his face. "No problem!"

They sat there just talking until the bell signaling the end of class rang. They made their way back to class in silence among the herd of students. It was time for Chemistry and he made a friend. This day wasn't too bad. They both sink back into their seats, right as their chemistry teacher, Mrs. Golden, came in. As the class started Carter let his eyes roll to the window, looking out across the field, waiting for Joan to appear for his gym class.

Suddenly, he felt a slight nudge against the back of his chair, glancing back he saw Luis staring at him. He felt another nudge against his chair, so he nudged back at Luis's desk with his fingers. Luis grinned, resting his feet on the back bottom bar of Carter's chair. And that's how chemistry passed, Carter's fingers on the edge of Luis's desk, and Luis's feet on his chair. It was nice. It felt like they were friends... Today wasn't so bad.

"I HATE IT HERE!" Luis screamed, kicking the soccer ball as hard as he could towards the goal, promptly falling on his ass right after. Carter couldn't help but laugh, hurrying over to the sweating boy. Luis was laying on his back, staring up into the sky.

"You're doing great!" Carter smiled down at him, casting a shadow over his face. Luis huffed, staring back up at him, sweat running across his forehead.

"I will eat your cat." Carter laughed again, reaching a hand down to Luis. Luis grinned, taking his hand. Carter gave him a yank, trying to hoist him up, but Luis had different plans. With a swift pull, Carter was down on the ground. They laughed as the teacher yelled at them to stop goofing off. Getting back up, they went back to the game.

Yeah, Carter told himself, today was a good day.