Prologue

Our story begins and follows the life of a young teenaged boy named Tyler. Tyler is a light-skinned African American who is currently 13 years old. He has dark brown eyes and black hair that is very curly and soft. He has a slim build and an average height for his age. He has a nice smile but he has braces. With both of his parents being in the military, he had moved around a lot. He has lived in places like Hawaii, Germany, and most of the East Coast. Atlanta is the first time Tyler had ever lived in an all civilian community and an all civilian school. It has been two years since he had moved here; however, things are still bumpy for him. 5th & 6th grade were the worst years of his life. He was shy, and he was bullied for his voice and often teased about his about his sexuality. He became depressed and he attempted suicide in 6th grade. 7th grade allowed him to move on and develop a new identity….

Chapter 1

Beginning of 7th grade:

I'm very grateful that Mrs. Smith switched my classes and all but I don't think that was very necessary. Sure I did make a detailed hit list, but sheesh…. I hope people might've forgotten what happened last year. Summer break is a long time

Tyler shrugged. He shyly walked down to go to his homeroom. He doesn't say much to people in the hallways and walked into his homeroom for the next 180 days of his life. When he walks in, no one is staring and no one is actually noticing his presence.

That's a relief

As the day continues, he met his 3 closest friends. Alex, Claire, and Hillary in band class. All four were percussionists who bonded in 6th. The few friends Tyler had back then. By the time lunch rolls around, Tyler had made more friends. All which happen to be girls. Girls just like talking to him and Tyler doesn't mind much of it. He still struggled with making guy friends. Tyler doesn't understand some of the pointless things they talk about nor does he care about sports too much. Tyler still has a positive attitude about it though.

I mean a lot of people are extremely friendly towards me now even though most are girls. I know I sound very gullible but hey if I need to I'll just be mean. Never again will I be weak or bullied. Never again

Making friends at church was another story. Tyler's church well...Sunday school is very much different from his school. His church Sunday school separated the school ages like kindergarten to 6th grade in one group while 7th grade to 12th grade was in another part. Also most of the kids there are home schooled and mostly black. That was a stark contrast to his public school being multicultural. Not to mention he went to 1st service, while now he's going to 2nd service. The personalities and people are completely different. So basically he was going to a new Sunday school all together. That very fact scared Tyler, but Tyler naively thought that you know that people would be outgoing and try to meet. He never ever felt so lonely before in his life

I don't know if I'm just being negative, but why do I feel so lonely? I get have their groups of friends but this is soul sucking. To think I would this way in a church of all places. LIKE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! You are supposed to welcome visitors not to drive them off.

When he came into the area within the student area, the room was a vast open area with two floors that has a gym and a cafe on the bottom and the choir room and classes upstairs. His older brother was well known there, so he just followed his big bro and sat in the back. After the service, he didn't pay much attention to, he headed to small group. There he began conversing with 5 guys. James, Jon, Jeremiah, Caleb, and Zain. The more they talked the more they got closer they got.

These guys seem nice and chill. It's still stupid of how the cliques work here. Being raised in the church since childhood doesn't entitle you to be rude to outsiders, can you say close minded? I should keep my thoughts to myself though. I'm still new and lonely. Might as well accept it and change it later on

As he left his small group, he walked towards the cafe. Inside the cafe, there was two billiard tables, an air hockey table, 4 Xboxes, and a ping pong table. Along the far wall to the right, there are 3 booths. On the left side, there was a counter. Behind that counter was coffee brewers, snacks and soda fountain. Tyler was amazed but the moment only lasted for a few minutes. The loneliness hit him like a truck. There were many people talking within the café. All of them with little circles or there were people who sat by themselves. Tyler didn't what to do since he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a new crowd. So he just found his older brother, Xanthos. His older brother was playing billiards with his other senior friends. While he was leaning against a wall, waiting for big brother so they can go home, Tyler heard from the other table

"Dude, why are you touching my balls? You like that don't you"? Tyler just shook his head and wondered who was the guy who said that. The guy was looked mixed probably Hispanic and Caucasian. He was slim as well but leaning towards the muscular, bulky side. He had serious curls with a jet black color. He was also taller than Tyler too.

He looks attractive, but he is probably one of those "Imma act gay but I'm actually straight douchebags"

"Those freshmen are so annoying" Xanthos said with much disgust and a side glare in their general direction.

"True, true". One of Xanthos' friends, Isaiah, chuckled. "Come on X. Cut them some slack. They are just I don't know…5" Isaiah joked. Xanthos started laughing.

So he's freshman. Interesting. I just hope I end up looking like a moron like they do right now when I get into high school. Can this game take any longer? IM STARVING!

Tyler got off the wall and tugged on Xanthos shirt and said, "You done yet?"

"Uh. Hang on one moment"

"Okay" Tyler said half-heartedly. As he turned around, he sighed and went back to his little spot on the wall

I really just want to go home…and not go to school tomorrow