"Cassie P streaming live on the first day of Bay City High's reopening!" Cassie Park beams into her camera, holding her phone in front of her face and tilting it back so the school was in view. "It's been four months since the school was destroyed and Mech X4 saved the city! Officials still have yet to locate Seth Harper, the supposed mastermind behind the monster attacks. Mech X4 has disappeared, as well. Do I miss the monsters? No, definitely not. Do I miss Mech X4? Well…"
I want to smile as I walk past Cassie. I want to be happy that things are finally going back to normal, but I can't find it in me. Mark is already gone, swallowed by his group of jocks that cheer the second he walks into a room. I spot Harris standing beside the front doors, talking to Veracity and a few other people I recognized from the Harper Grant Science Fair a few months ago. We make eye contact and Harris smiles and waves at me, but that's it. That's all it's been for two weeks now.
Inside, I see Spyder in the office. I want to laugh because of course he'd already be in trouble. But then a man who I've never seen before steps into view, a warm smile on his face as he hands a paper to Spyder. I decide to linger outside the door and wait to question Spyder about it. He's startled for a moment when he sees me, then he smiles.
"Hey bro, what's up?" he asks as we begin down the hallway.
"Nothing really. Who were you talking to and what's that?" I question, looking down at the paper.
"That," Spyder grins, "was the new mixed martial arts teacher and I'm in his first class."
"Mixed martial arts?"
"Yeah, yeah! I have a lot of time on my hands now and I learned that fighting people is awesome."
"That's… Great. You better still have time to hangout at the skate park, though. I have a sick new move I want to try out."
"For sure, dude! I'll be there after school!" We go our separate ways then, me to my locker and him to whatever class he has first period. The halls are buzzing around me, my classmates prepping for basketball games and new movies coming out this weekend. Not one person is talking about Mech X4. I guess we've become old news now.
Someone runs into me. Our shoulders collide and I wince. The boy falls to the ground, binders and papers scattering across the floor. He mumbles under his breath, drops to his knees, and begins gathering his things. I step around him, scooping the loose papers into my hands and walk back to him.
"Sorry about that," I say, kneeling next to him. "I should've been watching where I was going."
He looks up at me and fixes his glasses. He looks mixed, no older than myself. His black hair is short and curly and his brown eyes are huge and afraid. He gasps like the wind's been knocked out of him and he freezes.
"Um…" I look around, unsure of what to do.
"Are you… R-Ryan Walker?" he asks tentatively.
Warning bells sound in my head. I lean back and push away from him a bit. In my experience, it's best to be cautious of everyone, especially strangers who know your name.
"Who wants to know?" I demand a little harsher than I intend. He catches my tone and lowers his eyes.
"Um, well, I can't really explain right now. It's just that I've been wanting to meet you for so long and-"
I cut him off, "Look, I don't know who you are or what you want…" I glance around at the people walking around us, "but trust me, I'm not someone to mess with." With that, I lay the papers in front of him and continue to my locker. In my head, I know that was rude. The poor kid didn't look like any kind of threat to anybody, much less me. Still, I can't help any of it. Everything that happened with Harper changed us, all of us.
The boy's in my first period. He across from me and shoots a nervous side glance in my direction. Harris is beside me, scribbling something down on a piece of notebook paper. The boy is still watching me, I can feel it.
"Hey, Harris," I say, the silence and the staring becoming uncomfortable.
"Hey," Harris repeats, not looking up from his paper.
"Whatcha workin on?"
"A new design Veracity and I are working on." He smiles at me. "We're entering this competition to win the chance to attend an elite space science camp in the summer! How cool is that?"
My smile drops a little. "You guys have got those spots for sure, dude."
Nervously, Harris knocks on his desk. "Don't jinx it! This camp is huge if I ever want to get into an Ivy League school."
"Well, don't knock on the desk, then. That's plastic, not wood," the boy from earlier advises.
Harris knocks his forehead. "Knocking on a virgin's head is my last resort, I guess. Thanks, um…"
"Reuben," the boy answers. He looks at me and smiles, almost hopefully. "My name is Reuben."
I look away. Was he expecting his name to mean something to me? Harris frowns; he noticed it, too.
"So, I guess everyone's got their own things now. Did you hear Spyder's joining a mixed martial arts team?" I say.
"Not surprised, really. I think it'll be a good outlet for any, er, destructive tendencies he might have." Harris looked at him. "Have you also got your own thing?"
I open and close my mouth a few times, trying to think of a good response. Thankfully, the bell rings just as Spyder walks through the door. The class quiets and I turn away from Harris, hoping he'll forget about this whole thing.
"Morning, teach. Miss me?" Spyder asks, leaning on the teacher's desk with a smirk.
The teacher narrows her eyes. "Not in the slightest. Sit down before you get the first detention of the returning year."
Spyder snickers and walks back to his seat in front of me. He turns to look at Harris and me. With a scowl, he admits, "I really didn't miss her."
Class is mostly filled with note taking and the teacher speaking. When the bell rings, Harris, Spyder, and I split up. I nod to them and leave, hoping to get away from that new kid as quick as possible. I don't see him around me, so I sigh in relief and walk to my next class.
The hallways are filled with kids chatting about one thing or another. I spy Mark with a few of his varsity friends walking toward me, laughing at something. Someone shouts at Mark and the two fist bump each other as they pass. Mark's crew passes me and we don't even look at each other. I stop and watch my brother walk on, completely engulfed in his own world.
It's weird how quickly things have reverted back to normal. Mark and I don't speak to each other in school anymore. There's a basketball game tomorrow night. Drama club rehearsal today at four. They're serving chicken tenders in the cafeteria today.
You'd never know this school was completely demolished four months ago.
You'd never know this city was the source of the almost end of the world.
At lunch, I take my food outside. It's sunny and warm, so most of the kids in my lunch are out here with me. I sit in the shade at the table furthest from the door. Spyder and Harris also have this lunch, but I'm not sure where they're at. I watch the doors every few seconds between eating and playing on my phone, waiting for my friends to arrive.
I send a quick text to Leo, saying I would be by after school. With Harper gone, Leo decided to take over Harper Futuristics. He might've performed some illegal work by hacking into the computer database and changing all ownership into his name, but it's worth it. Whatever dangerous weapons Harper might've been possessing under that roof is now Leo's property. It's safer this way, even if Harris wasn't completely on board with it at first.
Spyder and Harris walk outside together and head to my table. I watch Harris glance briefly to his right at a group of science nerds, but he shakes his head and looks away. Spyder sits in front of me and I toss my milk onto his tray.
"So," Harris begins, sitting next to Spyder, "what was the deal with that kid in our first period?"
"You mean Reuben?" I ask, ripping open my bag of BBQ sauce. "No idea."
"He kept looking back at you during class. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he has a crush on you," Spyder admits, raising an eyebrow knowingly.
I roll my eyes. "Shut up."
"But real talk here, he kinda looks like you," Harris points out, twisting around to look at the boy in question, leaning against a tree with his phone in his hands. "You really don't know anything about him?"
"I know he ran into me in the hall and knew my name, but I stopped talking to him after that."
"That's freaky, dude," Spyder says. I nod in agreement. "If you really want to know who he is, you can always take a look at his phone…"
"Bad idea," Harris protests, pointing a finger at Ryan. "That's invasion of privacy and-"
"He's just texting his mom," I inform, cutting Harris off.
"You can't just tap into people's phones like that!"
"What else am I going to use my powers for?" Harris falls silent. Neither have a good answer, so I continue, "Without monsters to fight, the robot isn't needed and I'm as helpful as any other average high school kid. I'm bored, what do you expect me to do?"
"Are you saying you want Harper and his monsters back?" Harris asks in disbelief.
"Of course not! But you have to admit, being normal is a drag."
"Normally, I'd agree," Spyder admits, "but I actually like this time off. I have so much free time; I'll be a black belt before you can say hi-yah!"
"Me too. I've been working nonstop with Veracity on our entry invention for that competition I was telling you about. The deadline is this Friday and we still have a lot to do."
I stare at the food on my tray. It's colorless and boring, much like my new life. "Well, I'm glad you guys have found new hobbies. Seems like you all three moved on pretty quick."
Harris frowns. He says, "C'mon, you can't get mad at us because we're not focused on something that happened months ago. Life keeps going, Ryan. Everyone has to move on eventually."
"I know." I stand and grab my back. They're watching me carefully, but I don't meet their eyes. I grab my tray and mutter, "I just didn't think you guys would move on without me."
As I walk back into the school, I keep my eyes down. Mark also my lunch, so I know he's somewhere. Although he acts like we don't know each other in school, I know he'll question me later if he thinks something's wrong. I don't know where he is at the moment, but all I have to do is make it into the hall.
Great first day back, I think bitterly as I walk to my locker. I hope tomorrow is at least a little better.
Looking back now, I laugh at my poor naive nature. The first day might've been rough, but the second was what really changed my life.