Making Friends

Chapter 1

It was a typical day a Bayville High. Students running to their classes so that they wouldn't be late.

The Brother Hood skipping the classes that they didn't like, as usual, and they would have succeeded too if it wasn't for Principal Kelly catching them loitering around in the hall way. After receiving their millionth detention slip in a row, the Brother Hood parted ways, and went to their respective classes. That is except for Freddy and Toad.

As soon as they were out of Principal Kelly's site, both Freddy and Toad left the building to go hang out behind the football bleachers.

Toad pulled out a flask from the inside of his sweater vest, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig, "You want some?"

"What's in it?" asked Freddy.

"Rum."

"Yeah, I'll take some." Freddy took the flask from Toad and swallowed, flinching as it left a bitter after taste in his mouth, "Yuck! How can you stand this stuff?"

"It's not as bad as getting beat up by Duncan everyday."

"Yeah, but it does some serious damage to your kidneys."

"I rather take this kind of beatin' than the kind that Duncan gives me any day. At least the rum gives ya something fun in return."

Freddy shook his head and looked around to see if any teachers had seen them. He saw no one, except a small girl, who looked to be very young sitting by herself. "Hey, check it out." he nudged Toad, "What's a little kid doing in High School territory?"

Toad gazed out in the distance, till he saw the young girl that Freddy was looking at, "Oh, her? That's Angel. She's 17 like you. She's just really small."

"Really? Why's she out here and not in class?"

"Why do you think? School's boring."

"Yeah, I guess so." just then the school bell rang, "Hey, I'm gonna go on ahead and go to my fourth period class. Don't get caught with that rum."

Toad chuckled, "What's the worse that can happen?"

"Principal Kelly could catch ya and tell Mystique."

"Yeah, well, Mystique can kiss my ass. I'm tired of her bullying me around all the time."

"Whatever. Later, Toad."

"Later, yo."

Later that day, during lunch time, Freddy decided to eat alone on a picnic bench. As he put the toppings on his sandwich, he noticed the small girl he had seen earlier sitting once again by herself under a tree. He was about to get up and get a better look at her, but then Duncan and his crew came over and blocked his view of her.

"Hey, blob boy." Duncan smirked, cracking his knuckles, "Why aren't ya sittin' with your loser friends, huh?"

"Maybe I just wanna eat by myself for once." Freddy glared at the young man with sheer hatred, "Why don't ya go and pick on somebody else for once, blondie."

"Ooh." taunted Duncan and his friends.

"What's wrong, blob boy? Don't like our company?"

"I don't like you and unless you want me to wipe the floor with you, I suggest that you get outta my face."

The sound of the fifth period bell rang, signaling that it was time for all of them to go.

"You're lucky, blob boy. I wouldn't want to fuck up my perfect attendance record just because of you. Come on, guys."

Freddy watched them leave and directed his attention back to where the Angel had sat, but was disappointed to find that she had gone. Sighing, he went to his math class, and sat in the back away from the others. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes, wishing that school would be over already. The sound of books dropping on the desk next to him made him open his eyes, looking over at the desk next to him, and to his surprise he saw that it was Angel.

"Uh… Hi." he said.

The young girl looked up at him, revealing to him for the first time what she really looked like. She was very small for her age, somewhere between four feet and five feet, her hair was a dirty blonde, her eyes were gave the hint of Asian heritage, except her eyes were a golden amber color. When Freddy greeted her she shied away a bit and didn't speak.

Freddy wasn't a least bit surprised at this. Most people don't even want anything to do with him. "Fuck you, then. Be a snob like everyone else." he faced forward and slouched down in his seat, angry that yet another girl wants nothing to do with him.

After class, Freddy headed to his locker, just as he opened it he noticed Angel approaching him out of the corner of his eye. Turning to see what she wanted, he was surprised to see her simply hand him a note, and then scurry away. He raised an eye brow, eyeing the not suspiciously, then finally opened it to read: 'I'm sorry. I'm a mute.'

"Aw, crap!" he groaned, "I'm such a jerk." he looked around for Angel, but didn't see her. Toad came around the corner, Freddy approached him, "Hey, Toad! Did you by any chance happen to see where Angel went?"

"Angel? Why you wanna go lookin' for her, yo? She owe you money?"

"No. I just want to find her and apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

"Look! Just tell me whether or not you've seen her?"

"Yeah, that way." he pointed down the hall, "But I don't see why-"

"Thanks, man. I'll see ya later." Freddy rushed past him and headed down the hall, looking around, he finally found her in an abandoned classroom, once again sitting by herself. Angel was so beside herself that she didn't even notice him entering the room, "Hi." she gasped and tried to get away, "No, wait! I'm not gonna hurt you." she froze, looking at him with an uncertain expression, "Look. I wanted to say that I'm really sorry for what I said back there. I didn't know that you couldn't speak. If I'd of known that I wouldn't have acted like such a jerk. So… I'm sorry." Freddy looked down at his feet, shuffling them nervously.

Angle stared at him for a while, finally relaxed, she pulled out a peace of paper and a pen and wrote: "It's okay." and handed it to him.

"Cool." he smiled, after reading the note, "So… Um… You wanna hang out after school today?"

She nodded, and handed him another note: "Yes, but it'll have to be fore only 30 minutes."

Freddy frowned, "How come?"

She scribbled away: "My dad…"

"Oh, okay. So… I'll meet you back here at 3, cool?"

Smiling, she nodded.

"Cool. I'll see after school, then."

3 o'clock came rolling around slowly, but Freddy and Angel finally got the chance to meet up. They hung behind the football bleachers, Freddy asked her some yes or no questions to keep communication simple, until it was time for Angel to go meet up with her dad. A man wearing a flannel shirt, faded jeans, a white cowboy hat, and cowboy boots stood in the distance. Angel quickly got up, waved good-bye to Freddy, and ran towards the man in the distance.

Freddy met up with the rest of the Brother Hood and went back to the Brother Hood boarding house. They all sat down in the living room and watched tv.

"Man, this is boring." yawn Pietro, "Even racing with Evans is much more entertaining than the shit that's on tv."

"I'd rather be chasing after Kitty." moaned Lance.

Toad looked at Freddy and asked, "So did ya get a hold of that Angel girl today?"

"Yeah, she and I hung out after school till 3:30."

This caught the attention of both Lance and Pietro.

Toad stood up and stretched, "So, did she owe ya money or somethin'?"

"No. We just hung out."

"You mean a girl actually hung out with you?" Lance asked

"Yeah."

"With you?" Pietro speed up next to him.

"Yeah! Why is that so hard to believe!"

"Because, Freddrick, darling." Pietro teased, "Never before has a girl ever hung out with you, unless you made them."

"Well, not this one, and she didn't run away."

All three boys looked at each other doubtfully, then asked in unison, "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing's wrong with her!"

"Is she ugly?"

"Does she smell?"

"Is she poor?"

"No. No. And… No! She's perfectly fine, only she's a mute."

"Damn! I was going to guess that next." Pietro snapped his fingers.

"Oh, will you guys grow up!" Freddy got up and stomped out of the room.

"Aw, come on, Freddy!" laughed Lance, "Come back. We're only playing with ya."

Despite all of their taunts and teases, Freddy continued to hang out with Angel everyday for the next two weeks. They'd skip their boring classes and hang out behind the bleachers and for thirty minutes after school. They became very close, as close as best friends. Sometimes they could be seen sitting together at lunch time. Angel never really eats, but she does wait patiently for Freddy to finish his meal, but not always. Sometimes she would get so impatient, that she would climb up on him shoulder, perch like a frog, and nuzzle his head and neck, urging him to hurry up. Other times, they would nap outside during their classes. Freddy would lay on his back snoozing away, while Angel laid curled in a tight ball on top of his belly.

Freddy didn't care how much he got teased, all that really mattered was that he had a real friend who wouldn't laugh at him for making mistakes and would always listen to him when he hada problems. He just wished he could do the same for Angel.

Angel was just glad that she finally had a friend.