-Ah, not again…
Noah watched as a group of teenage boys ran away from his locker, looking backwards and screaming the word 'fag' at him while showing the finger. He sighed and looked at the foul words that had been written on the rusty old locker.

Go die fucking queer.

He chuckled sadly as he began to walk to a nearby toilet; chuckled because he was used to this, used to be made fun of and to be humiliated. But he would lie if he said it didn't affect him, most of the time it did. Smiling and laughing it off was a façade he had built up to delude himself into that he wasn't affected, that he didn't care about all those scornful words. But that lie became less convincing each day, which made him hate himself for being so weak. Ever since half a year ago, this had happened to him at least once a week. It started to become a daily routine hearing all the insults and people pushing him in to walls and what not. Occasionally he got led into an isolated place, where kids took turns in beating him up.

When he reached the toilet he ripped a piece of paper off and soaked it with warm water. As he squeezed the paper dry, he looked up in the mirror and faced his pale face. He wasn't ugly, rather quite handsome. He had a tall slender body with a hint of muscles, even though he didn't go on any sport. Sports had never interested him, but neither had studies, so he didn't belong to any special clique. He cupped his hands and splashed his face with cold water to avoid thinking about his appearance to much; all the mockery had made him pretty insecure about the whole thing. The black bangs dripped of water, so he took a sheet of paper and dried it the best he could. He returned to his locker and wiped off the red paint that stained the blue background. When he was done he took his bag out and threw it over his shoulder as he walked towards the exit.

He felt a relief as soon as he had disappeared from school grounds - he had made another day. School was something he despised, not only because of how he was treated, but also because he didn't like to do something he had no interest in. But then again, who would like something they had no interest in?
He began to walk faster as he saw the bus approaching.
The doors were about to close, but he made it just in time. He smiled gratefully to the driver and took a seat in the back of the bus. He felt around in his bag and took out a pair of headphones. With a simple click the music started to flow through his ears. He leaned his head on the padded chair as he looked out the window with a bass solo being background music. He loved riding the bus; being able to relax and disappear in his own bubble for a moment, being sucked in by the music and looking out on the seemingly beautiful landscape that was shown in front of his eyes. He was about to fall into a light sleep when he suddenly felt an elbow touching his. He turned his head a bit to see who had touched his bare arm.
The passenger next to him was a boy his age, with dark brown hair and a light build. He looked Caucasian, but also something else, Asian perhaps? He looked at the boy for a while and hadn't noticed that he had stared at him for quite some time. The boy gave him a quick glance and then turned his head to face Noah.

-Hey, I've noticed you've stared at me for a while now.

Noah was startled by his sudden comment and looked down on the floor. He felt his cheeks becoming bright red of embarrassment and clenched his hands.

-I-I' m sorry. I thought I had seen you before, but I was mistaken.
Noah had blurted out the first thing on his mind to save him from this situation, even though it wasn't true.

-Hey, you don't have to be so embarrassed. It's nothing to worry about.
The dark haired boy smiled at him as he reassured him everything was alright. Noah felt his redness gradually go down to a light shade of pink as he looked up at the boy.

-Eh…I haven't seen you around here, even though it's quite a small neighborhood, Noah said in an attempt to release some of the awkwardness.

-Oh, that's because I'm new here. Moved in a week ago because of my dad's work and I started school today.

Noah was stunned by the boy's openness and kindness. Most people his age wouldn't make a conversation if a person just started talking with them out of the blue.

-You go to the nearby school?

-Yeah, I don't see a point in going to a school further away when I've heard pretty good things about this one. He smiled at him and gave off a light chuckle.

-Oh? I go to the nearby school too, Noah replied smiling back at the boy.

-Want to go together then? I'm pretty new here, so it would be cool with someone that could show me around. But only if you want to I mean, I just thought you seemed like a pretty nice guy. About being so forward like that, I'm sorry if it seemed weird.

-No, no! It's fine, I'd love to show a newcomer around.

-Really? Thanks a lot!

-N-no problem, Noah replied as he felt a flush of happiness coming over him. But where do you live?

-The last bus stop is where I'm going on and off, but I don't remember what the street is called. He looked down and laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

-It's fine; I'm going off a stop before you, so let's meet on the bus. By the way, what grade are you in? We start different times in different grades, so that would kind of be a problem.

-Ah, I go in ninth grade.

-What a coincidence, me too.

-That's perfect then, let's exchange phone numbers, the boy said.

Noah took up his phone and typed the numbers he said. He then gave him his and looked up at him.

-What's your name? Got to know so I know who's calling, he chuckled.

-Call me Kai. What's your name?

-That's a pretty cool one. Mines Noah.

-Thanks, I think it's pretty ordinary though. I like your name, it suits you.

What an odd boy, Noah thought to himself. Being so open and friendly, not looking weirdly at him or insulting him. It had gone a long time since anyone had been this kind to him.
The bus started to slow down and Noah's stop was coming up.

-Hey, I got to get off now. Nice meeting you and see you tomorrow. Bye!

-Bye, Kai replied as he looked after him when he went off the bus.

Noah watched the vehicle drive further and further away until it was out of sight. He took out his phone and looked at his newly made contact.

-Kai, he slowly said to himself as a smile played on his lips.