Chapter 1: "First Day Lament"


You were supposed to get to fifth grade and be on top. You ruled the entire playground, got to leave class to read to kindergarteners, and, of course, you only had one year left until middle school. What was not to love about the fifth grade? Oh yeah, a new school. That's the thing. Fifth grade would have been fantastic if Lukas was staying at his old school, but no, his parents had begun to look for a home in Copenhagen and now Lukas was stuck going to some stupid private school.

He hated school enough as it was. The other kids were always so stupid and mean. He guessed that might have been a positive. Nobody at the new school knew him. They couldn't judge him for the time he peed himself in kindergarten or for the time he choked on a carrot stick at lunch and cried afterwards. It was scary, believe it or not.

Anyways, that was the ONLY good thing coming out of this. Lukas watched his mother iron his shirt for the first day tomorrow. The uniform currently consisted of either khaki or navy blue shorts, a white short sleeved shirt, and a hideous blue and green tie. They weren't leniant on the shoes, either. He had to wear ugly brown shoes that looked like something his grandfather would wear. He picked them up and pouted, looking up at his mother. "I don't want to wear these stupid things," he said, crossing his arms adamantly.

His mother patted his head. "I don't need anymore of that attitude, Lukas," she said as she turned the iron off and handed him a pile of stiff clothes. He eyed them with disdain, but put them away nonetheless. He climbed into bed and glared at his dresser, grumbling under his breath.

"Goodnight, Lukas. I love you," his mother said, peeking in just to smile at him. He 'hmphed' and muttered a quite, "Love you, too." She turned off the light and left, though he could still hear her walking around as he fell asleep that night.


The walk to school was painful. With each step, Lukas felt as if he was walking into a bad dream. His stomach had butterflies and his heart was racing as he stepped into the building. He walked nervously into the office, trying to speak to the secretary at the front, but being to shy to even let out a squeak. Luckily, the secretary caught on and took his name, looking through her computer until she found him. "You have Mr. Vainamoinen, Lukas. He is in room 21. It is right down the hall and to the left. You'll see little apples on the door. Do you think you've got it?"

He wasn't a baby, of course he could find the room. He nodded quickly and left, walking as slowly as possible to the classroom. He nearly missed the bell by the time he got in. The teacher was already writing things on the board and he was smiling really big for some weird reason. "Hello!" He said, still wearing the smile. "What's your name?"

So, so cheerful. "Lukas Bondevik," he said quietly. The teacher led him to a seat on the left near the back. Lukas looked at the desk with a frown. It was a two-person desk. He looked over at his partner. He had on glasses and a silly smile. Lukas looked at a nametag on his desk that read "Eduard." What a silly way to spell it, he thought. He took a seat, keeping his head down.

The rest of the morning consisted of "Find someone who's" and paperwork for parents. The teacher was still smiling by the end of the morning. Didn't his cheeks hurt or something? Lukas stood up, grabbed his lunchbox, and made his way to the cafeteria with the rest of the children. They didn't have to walk in a line like he had to back at his old school. He sat down at the end of one of the tables, opening his lunchbox and beginning to eat in silence.

The peace lasted about five minutes. That's how long it took a group of boys from his class to get their food and sit back down. Did they have to sit so close? There was a completely bare table over there in the middle. Why sit so close? He scooted down a bit, tilting his head lower until his face was practically inside his lunchbox. Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't-

"Hey, what's on your lunchbox?"

They'd noticed him. He looked up faintly, opening his mouth to speak, then stopping to stare at a pudding cup his mother had packed him. He wanted to answer, but he couldn't. He just couldn't. The idea of speaking to anyone right now made him feel sick.

"Can you hear me?"

Lukas could feel his heart beating faster. "Yes," he replied. He sort of slid his lunchbox closer to the edge of the table protectively, not looking at the boys, though he could feel their eyes boring into him. "So what's on your lunchbox? I think I've seen it before."

Lukas gulped and fiddled with a carrot stick. "It's a painting." They seemed content with the answer and ignored him for a moment. The moment was short lived. "You're quiet," one said, and another one laughed. Lukas turned finally to see who they were. One boy was tall and had a funny scar on his forehead. His face was concerning. Something about it was too cold. Another had auburn eyes and hair so blond he swore it was white. He looked silly and a little scary. The third had blond, messy looking hair. He was smiling, his blue eyes sparkling as he stared down at Lukas.

"Yes," he said, immediately feeling stupid for only saying that. He could have at least said, "Yes, I am" or something, but no, it had to be just "yes" didn't it? "Hey, what's in your hair?" The one with blue eyes asked. Lukas reached up and touched the pin in his hair. He nervously fiddled with the carrot again and said, "My hair gets in my face."

They all looked at each other, then back at him. "I'm Mathias. That's Gilbert and that's Ned. And you're not from here, huh?" Lukas shook his head and nibbled on the carrot, though now it was uncomfortably warm since he'd been rolling it in his hand. "So where are you from?"

"Norway." He started putting away his half-eaten food and sipped on a box of grape juice. They all scooted closer to him and he slowly put the juicebox down, looking at all of them. Gilbert smiled and leaned closer, saying, "How come you're so small? I thought you were a girl when you came in. I was like, 'Aren't girls supposed to be on the other side of the building?'"

Lukas' eyes reduced to slits and he looked from Mathias to Gilbert, ignoring the silent Ned. "So?" Oh, gosh. So? So? Couldn't he think of something better to say? Plus, that was an invitation for them to say something even worse. He quickly tossed his trash from lunch into his lunchbox and snapped the lid shut.

"So how come you're so girly looking?"

This time it was Mathias who asked him this. Lukas froze, one hand on the table and the other nervously clutching his knee. "Stop it," he said. Gilbert laughed and mocked him, saying "stop it" over and over again in a high pitched voice. Mathias laughed, too. At that point, Lukas stood up and left for the hall. He could hear them yelling after him but he didn't dare look back.


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