It was the first of September and the first day of school at Oakdale High School. The hallways were crowded and loud, full of returning students shouting greetings to their friends and teachers already disgruntled by the lack of obedience of the teenagers.
Luke Snyder was standing at his locker, entirely apprehensive about the coming year. It was his senior year, the year that should have been the best. But he had absolutely no idea how things were going to happen. He had come out over the summer and, while people – except Kevin, of course – said they were okay with his sexuality, Luke could feel the eyes of his peers boring into him, judging him. Listening to the sniggers of the other kids, Luke made a decision: this year was about getting the best grades he could and playing basketball as well as he could, if the team would still have him, that is. Sighing sadly, Luke shut his locker and made his way to his homeroom classroom, successfully avoiding having to talk to anyone he passed.
When he arrived at the classroom, Luke discovered that there was only one other person there so far – a new student it seemed, since Luke had never seen him before; Oakdale High was small so Luke pretty much knew all the students, if not by name then at least by sight. Not wanting to deal with his classmates walking past them on the way to their seats, Luke made his way to the back row and sat down next to the new kid.
Always eager to make new friends, especially now when he was so unsure of his status amongst his old ones, Luke introduced himself to the new boy.
"Hi, I'm Luke Snyder," Luke said, holding out his hand.
"Hi," the other boy said curtly, ignoring Luke's outstretched hand and burying himself in a science textbook.
Luke blinked rapidly, taken aback by the new boy's rudeness. Not one to be put off, though, Luke continued to attempt a conversation. "You're new here, aren't you?"
"Yep," the stranger said, still reading.
Luke was baffled at the boy's impolite manners, but persisted in trying to get him to talk.
"Are you a senior?"
"What are you, a cop?"
"No, I'm just trying to be friendly," Luke said defensively.
"Fine. You want to be friendly? I'm Reid Oliver. I'm a senior. My mother died three months ago and my father dragged me out here to this godforsaken town. I don't want to be here, so, if you don't mind, I'd really like it if you just left me alone."
Luke sat with his eyebrows raised, thoroughly and utterly appalled by the discourtesy of this new student.
"Alright, I'm sorry," Luke said, pouting and turning away from the boy while sliding down in his desk to a more comfortable position. Other seniors were filing into the classroom now and Luke was, by this time, ready for the first day of school to begin. He waved to Maddie Coleman as she entered the room, but he didn't have a chance to say hello to her.
A half an hour later, when the bell signaling the beginning of first period rang, Luke was the first out into the corridor even though he had been sitting in the back of the classroom. He quickly made his way down the hall to the next classroom. Unfortunately, just as he about to enter room 115 for his AP English class, Luke found himself face-to-face with Kevin Davis.
"Kevin, hi," Luke said nervously.
"Out of my way, Snyder," Kevin said rudely. "I'm late for class and it's at the other end of the hall."
"Can we talk at lunch, Kevin?" Luke asked.
"No. I really don't think so," Kevin said, stepping around Luke and walking away.
Luke clenched his teeth and walked into the classroom. He could see that this year was going to go splendidly. If Kevin didn't want anything to do with him, he was most definitely going to be booted off the basketball team. That also meant he was going to lose his friends from the team; at least he still had Maddie in his corner, or so he hoped since she had waved back at him in homeroom. Despite that, Luke could tell that he was going to have a very lonely senior year of high school. Sighing sadly again, Luke slipped into a desk at the back of the room and buried himself in his notebook.
An hour later, a slightly more cheerful Luke – English always made him happy – walked into the science lab for AP Biology. He immediately saw the new kid he been talking to in homeroom and steered his feet towards one of the two-person counter-like desks across the classroom. Luke was in no mood to deal with the boy's rudeness again.
Five minutes later, the teacher walked into the room and the talking students fell silent.
"Welcome to a new school year," Mr. Humderson said, cheerfully. "I'm sure you are thrilled to be studying the fine art of AP Bio."
A few students chuckled, Luke included.
"I am also sure that you are aware this is no easy subject. In fact, it's incredibly difficult. That being the case, you will all be partnered with someone else. This will make your tasks of doing labs easier and will give you each someone go to for help, if necessary. You will not get to choose," Mr. Humderson reprimanded as some students started to gravitate towards their friends. "I have chosen partners for you."
The class groaned simultaneously, as he began to read off the names of the pairs he had created.
"Luke Snyder you will be with our newest student, Reid Oliver."