It was a bright new day with the warm sun shining in the sky for the city of Figuresticks. There, in one of the newly purchased houses, and from the window of one of its rooms, strings of sunlight crept in and fell on the face of a seventeen-year-old boy, with short, messy, fiery red hair and innocent eyes that were light blue, like the color of seashore water when the bright sunlight reflects on its waves.

Clear, flawless skin with a black shirt that shows his belly button and white loose shorts that covered the rest of his body. When he felt that sudden warmth on his face, disturbing his sleep, he quickly turned over in his messy bed, trying to cover his face with anything and go again back to sleep, but this just lasted for a few seconds before he was able to hear footsteps coming from downstairs and to his room, and he knew exactly who it was, probably because there were only two people who lived in this house, including him.

"Red, sweetie. Are you up yet?". A sweet, feminine voice was heard after knocking on the door three times politely to check on her son, and although Red just wanted to close his eyes shut and pretend he hadn't heard anything at all, wich was a bit stupid, he also didn't want to keep his dear mother waiting outside.

"... Yes, mom, I'm up!!".

"Good, I'll be waiting for you in the kitchen, get ready quick, okay? Oh, and breakfast is ready so hurry up". And with that, his mother walked away while humming a little song to herself, and Red could only sigh with obvious fatigue before getting up from his bed with hesitation and sadness over leaving his comfortable area.

He headed to the bathroom where he had hung his clothes on the door so he wouldn't have to search for something to wear for hours and be late. A short-sleeved white shirt with a dark red jacket covering his arms, short brown pants, a yellow headband so that his hair is pulled back, away from his forehead and eyes, and finally, he took out a hair tie from his closet and tied his messy hair into a short ponytail. Red looked at himself in the mirror, everything looked perfect, yeah?

Red shook the tension and anxiety from his head and raised his hands in the air with resolve and determination. He came all this way for a better life and to forget the past, this means that he will be a very new person, a new and updated Red!!
Red smiled reassuringly to himself before taking his bag from under the bed (I do that 'cause I forget where I put it the other day 🥲), and heading downstairs where his mother was waiting for him, one hand preparing sandwiches for her and her son and the other busy holding the phone close to her ear. When she noticed him, she smiled angelically and with great happiness before saying her last words of farewell to whoever she was talking to before hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?". Red asked with a raised eyebrow as he pulled out one of the chairs and placed it in front of the table. There was some dust here and there and furniture that was out of place, but they were going to work on it later.

"Just my lawyer, b- but don't worry about it!! A- anyway, you ready for school?!". She said in an excited voice to cheer him up, and even though he knew she was trying to distract him from the issue of her not having custody yet, but he also knew she was trying her best so he didn't really want to disappoint her or make her feel not enough, so he played along with nodding and smiling with a thumbs up.

"A little nervous, not gonna lie".

"Well, you shouldn't be because today is going to be wonderful!! I heard this school is the best here and students there are nice, at least that's what I heard".

"And you're sure of it, mom?". He laughed under his breath as he saw his mother shrug her shoulders uncertainly and then hand him his sandwich in his hands before taking some money out of her wallet.

"Here, it's not much but... That's what I have now, sorry-".

"No, mom. You don't have to be sorry for anything, and that's more than enough, really". And with Red's calm and charming smile in his mother's eyes, her smile at him expressed how grateful she was to him, and relieved that she had a wonderful and kind son. She didn't know what she would do in this life without him.
The rest of the time, the two continued to talk while his mother prepared herself to go to a place that she refused to tell him about, and only distracted him by going together after school to buy ice cream, before they got into the car and drove to Red's new school. And oh boy, his body was about to collapse from fear.

Everyone was walking through the school hallway with big smiles to see their friends, or to be more specific, with big wide smirks, girls dangerously approaching boys who looked older than them and he could swear they were flirting, other were carrying black sprays in their hands and vandalizing the door of the principal's office. Well, looks like his mom was wrong after all.
His hands gripped tightly onto his bag and he pushed through the crowd of students to find his class before the bell rang, which was almost impossible considering the fact that everyone was ignoring him when he tried to talk to them!!

"I'll never find my classroom like this... What should I- AHH!!". He only spaced out for a few seconds and ended up bumping into someone's back, making him fall on his buttocks and groan in pain. Great, just what he needed.

"Oh my, are you okay, kid?". A male voice spoke in front of him, and shortly afterward he felt a hand grab his arms and lift him to stand, wich was nice. Red opened his eyes as he was about to apologize to the boy because obviously it was his fault, who was a tall boy with black hair with green streaks on the side and a Dreadlocks hairstyle in a ponytail. A short, pale green hoodie that showed his black shirt underneath it. Black fingerless gloves with wide gray pants that were folded up a bit, and his headphones were around his neck connected to his phone, which was no doubt tucked inside his pants pocket. He looked older than him but he couldn't tell by how much, yet Red smiled at him and it seemed like that was what he was going to do all day, smile even if he didn't mean it.

"I- I'm really sorry, I- I didn't mean to bump into you...".

"No worries, kid, it's totally fine".

"Kid? I'm 17 Y'know". Red corrected him as he saw the boy's shocked and somewhat embarrassed expression as he scratched the back of his neck and smiled nervously.

"Oh, my bad. But say... Are you new here? I've never seen ya around".

"Y- yeah, I moved here with my mom a few weeks ago. I'm Red, by the way". Red extended his hand to him, who accepted it without hesitation and shook their hands together with excessive enthusiasm before introducing himself as well.

"Green, nice meeting you, Red!!".

The two walked together trying to find Red's locker to put that heavy bag away, and Red was more than happy to find at leat one person to talk to because the place here was so weird and uncomfortable at all!
As if a feeling that something bad was about to happen had settled in his stomach. And somehow Green was able to see the stress and uneasiness that the shorter one was feeling, and he couldn't blame him since there was a couple kissing under the stairs right now and all Red did was cover the side of his face and look away.

"So, you have any relatives or friends here? 'cause trust me, this place is SO fucked up, especially this year".

"Yeah, I... can totally see that. But no, I don't know anyone here, well, except for you".

"Perfect!! I could show you around this shitty place and then you can just join me and my friends in lunchtime, what do you say?". Red's smile had never been bigger in a long time, he had made a new friend so quickly just by bumping into him? And he even invited him to sit with his friends?? Could this day be any better?!! Red kept looking at Green's soul without noticing with starry eyes shining with obvious joy, something that made Green smirk and pat his shoulder.

"Guess that's a yes! C'mone, we better hurry and find your class 'cause those teachers are annoyingly STUPID!!".

"Am-hmm!!". It was the only thing that came out of his lips before he walked next to Green with an innocent, puppy face just like a child. It seemed that in the end this school isn't that bad. Right??

Words: 1557
Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and by the way, I'll try to make the chapters longer, or at least more than (2000) words perhaps. I would love to read your sweet, lovely comments so please don't hesitate and share your thoughts with the rest of us!! See ya next week.