The day I started my new high school, I didn't think anything special would happen. I had lived in southern Minnesota my entire life, but when my mother decided it was time for us to start a new life, me, her, and my little sister Katie were hauled up to the north. But before I get into my real story, let me tell you a few little things about my life. One thing I have to say about where we moved that I didn't like was that it was cold, very cold, every day. I dreaded where we were moving to, but when my mom pointed out it would be better for hockey, the idea didn't seem so bad anymore.
I love hockey, I always have and still do. I started playing when I was 3 with those little plastic toy sets you buy for your kids at Toys R Us. As I got older, I got more into the sport, and when I reached elementary school, my principal saw my skills and decided to start a team for the younger grades. I got our team to first every single year.
But sadly, when I was about halfway through my 8th grade year, my mom announced we'd be moving further up north. Her and my dad divorced when Katie was about 2, and I guess she felt the need to start a better life for us both. Katie didn't want to leave any of her friends behind, and she cried and protested against the idea. Me, I kinda felt the same way she did. How could I leave my hockey team when I was going to enter high school? They had already accepted me on varsity for the high school team when I was in 7th grade for crying out loud. But, my mom pointed out that the principal of the new school I'd be attending saw videos of me playing on my school's website and already I was accepted onto the team, and they hadn't even met me. Even though I was still wary of going, me, my mom and little sister moved up to northern Minnesota where we were destined to live the rest of our lives.
My name is Kendall Knight, and this is where my story really begins.
So like I said, after my mom and dad split up, my mother became upset and almost just downright depressed. We were the only things who really kept her happy. She didn't date much after that, and after a few years she decided to move us. So, we finally got settled into our new home, and Katie immediatly forgot about leaving her friends behind because our new house was better than our old one, and she got to pick her own room. Me? I didn't care at all, I still somewhat detested the move. I didn't make friends quite too well, and it was hard enough to befriend kids at my old school. Now that I was starting a new school, especially starting high school for the first time, this was going to be more difficult than ever. So our first day, of course my mother had to get out her camera and take loads of pictures. My school was in walking distance from our house, so after the bus came to pick up Katie, my mom gave me a great big hug and kissed my forehead.
"Have fun on your first day of school. sweetheart." She said, rubbing my shoulder. I groaned and rolled my eyes.
"Mom, I'm 14, not 4." I said. My mom smiled and shook her head. She kissed me one last time before letting me go.
"Have fun, sweetie." She said as I started walking away. "You'll have a good day, and you'll meet some new friends, I know you will."
My bookbag slung across my shoulder, I hauled myself to my new school, dreading each step I took. Each block I crossed took me closer and closer to Hell. I didn't know why I was dreading it so much, maybe it was the fact that I truly wasn't good at making new friends, or perhaps it was because back home, I was the star of the hockey team, everyone knew me, everyone liked me. Here, I was new, and here I would be nothing.
When I finally reached the building, I stood outside for several minutes watching all the happy students walking in together as if they had known each other for years. I swallowed hard and nervously took a step forward, my legs shaking with each step. I had never been as nervous as I was then before, and I was never nervous, so it struck me as strange, the way I was behaving.
When I finally reached the inside, the first thing I saw was the large eagle tiled into the floor beneath my feet. "Northwood High Eagles" was below it, and judging by the large number of sports memorabilia and trophies that lined the wall, I concluded they were a very sports-enthused high school. I sighed and made my way to locker 317.
At that moment, I just didn't care. I didn't want to be there, I had no idea how to make friends, and I just wanted to go back home, where everyone knew me and I could just be myself. Here, I was new along with over a hundred other freshman, and although over half of them probably knew each other, I was completely alone.
I passed a few people on the way, every one of them looking at me like I was some sort of foreign object, but shrugged them off as I headed for my locker. I guess I musn't have been looking where I was going, because as soon as I rounded the corner of the hallway I bumped into two boys and we all got knocked to the floor.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The one said, grabbing his head. He flipped his dark brown hair aside and watched as I picked myself up from the floor. "You could've damaged my face." He made uneccessary gestures around his head, showcasing himself, and I rolled my eyes at him and stood up.
"Sorry, I just have no idea where I'm going in this stupid place." I replied, slinging my bookbag back over my shoulder. This kid's friend stood up and crossed his arms.
"Haven't seen you before." He said. He straightened the hockey helmet on his head and smirked. "Hockey helmet." He said. "James doesn't understand why I wear it, but I think it's great."
"What's your name, anyway?" The other kid, apparently James, asked me. I looked at them strangely before replying.
"Kendall Knight." I said. "Just moved here from southern Minnesota. Have no idea where the hell I'm at or what I'm doing."
The two of them looked at each other, then back at me. "Carlos Garcia." The younger Latino said, stretching his hand out towards me.
"Diamond." James said, following Carlos' gesture. "James Diamond." I nodded and pulled my bookbag closer to me. Friends, making new friends, this was the difficult part. But a few seconds before that moment I wasn't sure if they were actually friends or enemies.
"So where exactly are you heading towards? Just sort of wandering aimlessly?" James asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"I'm locker 317." I replied. "But I honestly have no idea where that is. I've barely been in this town a few days and am completely lost. Ugh, I told my mom I didn't want us to move, but she insisted."
James and Carlos grinned and pointed to the other end of the hallway. "Well, you're going completely in the wrong direction, 317 is on the other side of the building, by our lockers. Come on, we'll show you the way."
So I followed them as they directed me in the right direction. We started talking, and as it turned out, they weren't so bad after all. I found out they were also freshman, but they've lived there their entire lives. They also lived within walking distance of the school, a lot of the kids did, and that we shared quite a few of the same interests, but one most important of them all.
"So, you guys play hockey?" I asked, gesturing towards Carlos' helmet. They both grinned at each other and nodded.
"Since we were little." Carlos replied. "I've been wearing a helmet all the time since we were little." He slapped his prized possession and James grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Yep, we're only freshman, but we're gonna try out for varsity, see if we've got a shot at it. Why, do you play?"
"I was already accepted on varsity before I even moved here." I felt the need to say it, and as soon as I did, they both stopped and stared at me.
"No way, you're lying. Impossible." James said. I shrugged and kept walking.
"The principal or something saw me playing on my old school's website and wanted me on the team. I was the reason my old school started a team for middle schoolers."
"Dude, you're automatically much cooler than we thought you were." Carlos said, grinning. I smiled and got an uplifting feeling. Maybe I would be able to make and keep friends, after all.
"Here's your locker, bro." James said, slapping the bright, red metal. "Ours are just over there." He gestured over his shoulder and leaned against the locker. A group of girls passed us, smiling and giggling as they walked past James. He grinned and nodded at them, a few of them squealing as they walked away, sneaking peeks at him over their shoulders. James turned to us and shrugged. "What can I say?" He said. "I have a sort of, gift, as you can say."
Carlos shook his head. "Don't mind him." He said to me. "He's an arrogant asshole." James slapped him and he started laughing, and I couldn't help but join in. I had no idea how I did it, but apparently I had just made two new friends, and I didn't feel so lonely after all.
But, while I was all caught up talking to them, I spotted someone walking across the hall. Dressed all in black with a hood pulled over his head, he walked with his face to the floor and his hands stuck in his pockets, people pointing and whispering at him as he passed them. I couldn't help but stare in curiosity at them.
James and Carlos must have caught my glance because they both turned to stare at this mysterious boy. But as soon as they saw him, they turned back around to face me, as if he was nothing important at all.
"Don't mind that one." James said, motioning towards the stranger. "That's just Logan Mitchell, he's always been weird like that."
"He doesn't talk to anyone, it's scary almost." Carlos said, he watched as Logan passed the three of us. I caught a glimpse of the boy's eyes as he walked past, the dark brown orbs, cloudy and full of sadness, it seemed, peeked out at me barely before he rushed away from everyone, avoiding any and all human contact. I watched him as he left, an odd feeling inside of me. Something told me he wasn't just 'nothing'.
"He's been in our class for years but never talks to anyone. He just sits there by himself, his head down low, not saying a word." Carlos continued.
"Yeah, nobody knows a thing about him." James said. "All we know is that he's really good at school, always gets A's and stuff on tests and projects. I worked with him once when we were partnered up for a science project. He barely talked, just said a couple of words here and there, but man, did we ace that damn project. He's wicked smart, that's all anyone knows."
I turned and faced the direction where Logan left. Something about his demeanur, something about the way he seemed to act, I didn't know, it just gave me a weird feeling. But I shook it aside as the bell for first period rung and slammed my locker shut.
"There's the bell." James said. "Come on, follow us. You're in first period English with us, right?"
We continued to talk, them telling me all about the school and the people in it, letting me know about hockey practice and how stupid a bunch of people acted, and all kinds of other stuff. We didn't even know each other for an hour and they already acted as if we were friends for years, which I kind of appreciated. As we made our way into our first class, I noticed Logan sitting in the back of the room, slumped back in his chair, hood still pulled down over his face, everyone in the room avoiding him as they laughed and joked with each other as if he wasn't even there. Me, Carlos and James sat down and they kept going off on random tangents, but my eyes kept drifting back to Logan's lone figure, my mind continually drifting into wondering what this lonely person was all about.
A girl walked into the room and sat a few desks away from us, which completely threw James and Carlos off and they began whispering about her, arguing over which one was going to talk to her first. I felt this was my chance to try and talk to this Logan kid, so I stood up and made my way to the back of the room.
"Hey." I said, approaching him. His dark, lonely eyes traveled up to my face and he gave me sort of a weird look, like he never talked to or seen another human before.
"I, um, I'm Kendall." I said, extending my hand towards him. When he failed to exchange handshakes, I put my hand back at my side. "I'm new here, and I just, uh, wanted to say hi, cause I noticed you were sitting all by yourself."
God I was an idiot, but hey, I wasn't good at talking to people. I had a 'be myself' sort of strategy which sometimes worked, but sometimes didn't, so I just decided to give it a try and see where it went.
The lone person grunted and shifted in his seat, uttering an almost inaudible "Hey." I nodded and patted his shoulder, smiling, but he shriveled away from me as if he was allergic to human touch.
"You're welcome to sit with us if you want." I said, but he gently shook his head no and continued to stare at his feet, avoiding eye contact with me.
I began walking back to my seat when I turned around and said one more thing to him. "You're still welcome if you feel like it. It was nice to meet you, Logan."
As I sat back down, the teacher walked in and my first day of class started. I looked back at Logan a few more times, and he seemed to be watching me, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't muster up the courage to open his mouth.
My first day of classes wasn't so bad after all. I wanted to not be there just a little bit less, but all throughout first period my eyes kept wandering back to the dark figure in the back. Why Logan was so dark and brooding, I had no idea, I just wanted to know more about him.
So when the bell rang for second period, I immediatly got up and spun around to speak to him, but he was already out the door. I shrugged and turned to the guys. "He's fast, I'll admit that." I commented, but they were totally distracted by this girl they looked at all class. I grinned, rolled my eyes, and dismissed the whole thing.
My day went pretty good. James and Carlos turned out to be really cool guys, and the more classes we had together the more we talked, and the more I began to like my new school. I got to talk to some other people, too, and the more people I met the more I questioned why I didn't want to leave my old school at all.