If there was anything Roman Kruger hated about being the new kid in school, it had to do with the stares he got as he made his way down the hallway. The giant red scar near his right eye sure didn't help the situation as he scowled at every student who dared look his way.
A hand on his wrist made him turn his gaze to the source. Jane, his sister, was besides him and looking at him quizzically. Her black hair was pointed in all directions and suited her punk rocker style. Her green eyes held a look of concern as she searched his face.
"Glaring at people won't help them stop staring. If anything, they'll become more intrigued by us." Jane explained with a sheepish smile.
"Don't they know it's rude to stare?" Roman practically growled out as he adjusted the strap of his backpack.
"We're the new kids. There's nothing we can do to stop their curiosity." Jane shrugged her shoulders before glancing down at the schedule in between her hands.
"Looks like I have to deal with Calculus early in the morning." She grimaced as she read over her schedule, attempting to memorize it.
Roman's own green eyes fell to his schedule and he matched Jane's grimace with one of his own. "I have Chemistry first."
"This school is already trying to ruin our school year." Jane replied with a shake of her head. "My class isn't in this building so see you at lunch?"
Roman nodded. "Of course."
"Good luck!" Jane exclaimed with a smile before turning and heading out the nearest doorway.
Roman watched her leave before turning and heading for the stairs to find his classroom on the upper floor of the science building. As he walked, he thought about the events that lead him to this precise moment.
His adoptive mother had gotten a job reassignment which lead to her moving the entire family of three to their new home in Blanton, New York. Blanton was a rural town surrounded by lush greenery and fields of wheat. It was a quaint little town that had only three schools: Blanton Elementary, Blanton Middle, and Blanton High.
Jane and him were both lucky to start the school year with all of the other students but they were still newcomers and would have to get used to the layout of not only the school but the whole town. Luckily for Jane, this was her senior year and she would be out of high school next year. Roman was a junior so he was still one year away from graduation.
One whole year until freedom.
Sliding into the correct classroom, Roman paused in the doorway when he noticed that the teacher already had a seating chart plastered to the whiteboard. Stepping closer to the chart, Roman was able to locate his seat before settling into the back of the classroom.
The classroom was set up like your typical high school science room. The desks were two person tables with stools for seats. They were positioned in front of the teacher's immense lab table and desk, facing the whiteboard. The actual lab tables were in the back of the classroom and were set up to be occupied by four people at a time.
After having settled into his seat, Roman placed his backpack down besides the table. Hunching forward to place both arms onto the black tabletop, he allowed his eyes to wander around the room. Posters about Chemistry were hung up on the walls and shelves filled with lab equipment were locked behind glass doors.
He had been so busy observing the classroom that he hadn't noticed the blonde woman who settled into the seat besides him. When she cleared her throat, Roman turned to look at her with a look that would have intimidated anyone else if Patterson hadn't seen that same look before on someone else.
"Hi, I'm Patterson. I just wanted to introduce myself to you seeing as we are going to be lab partners for the rest of the year." The happy blonde introduced herself with a beaming smile.
Roman didn't really feel like making small talk but as they would be lab partners for the rest of the year, he might as well befriend her.
"I'm Roman. Nice to meet you." He awkwardly extended his hand but was relieved when Patterson shook it nonetheless.
"Roman. Cool name." She replied with a nod.
"I guess. What kind of name is Patterson?" He questioned with an arched brow.
"It's my last name. I really hate my first name so I prefer to go by Patterson or Patty, whichever works for you."
Roman nodded in intrigue before turning his gaze to the sound of a new voice in front of him. The table in front of Patterson and his own had now been occupied by two individuals. The boy had black hair and fit the bill for what one might call a nerd. The girl was blonde and pretty and smiled upon meeting Roman's gaze.
"Hey Patterson!" The boy had said as he settled into his seat besides the other blonde.
"David! Sarah! Small world!" Patterson exclaimed as she happily looked at her friends.
"How awesome is it that we all are in the same chemistry class?" Sarah shrieked before turning her gaze back to Roman.
"Oh! David, Sarah, this is Roman." Patterson explained as she motioned towards the blonde man besides her.
"Nice to meet you, Roman." David greeted and extended his hand for a proper handshake.
As Roman shook his then Sarah's hand, he couldn't help but feel that he somehow got dragged into the start of a friendship against his will.
Roman soon discovered that he had multiple classes with the trio he had met in Chemistry. His second period English class was once more shared with all three, a fact that delighted Sarah to no end. Third period US History was shared with David, who proved to be quite the chatterbox once he learned Roman was new to Blanton. Sarah was in his fourth period Pre-Calculus class who confessed to being afraid of the class as she was not a fan of math. Roman couldn't help but agree with her as soon as he looked at some practice problems the teacher had set out.
When lunch rolled around, Sarah had managed to convince Roman to join her full group of friends. She even went as far to tell him to invite his sister as she too ate lunch with her brother.
David and Patterson met up with them along the way and the four of them were soon in the cafeteria filling their trays with the most appetizing looking food. As the trio lead him to a circular table outside the cafeteria underneath the shade of a tree, Roman looked for Jane. He hadn't seen her once and worried that she would be forced to eat all by herself.
"Roman!" At the sound of Jane's voice, Roman turned and was surprised to see her already seated at the table he had been being lead to.
"So this is your brother," The beautiful Hispanic girl besides Jane said as she turned her gaze his way. Her outfit seemed to resemble Jane's and Roman could see why the two had quickly became acquaintances.
"Time for introductions!" Sarah shouted as she placed her tray down besides Patterson.
Everyone in the group seemed to collectively groan but Sarah paid them no mind as she pointed out every person.
"Jane, this is David and Patterson and I'm Sarah. Roman, this is Tasha." She explained with dramatic sweepings of both hands.
"So you're all juniors besides Tasha and I?" Jane questioned as Roman settled into the seat besides her.
"The three of us are. But Reed and Kurt are seniors like you two." Patterson stated as she prepared her burger upon her tray.
"Edgar likes to go by his last name like Patterson here but to me, he's my boyfriend." Sarah gushed, her fair skin flushing a light shade of pink.
"Are you two dating?" Roman asked David and Patterson.
Tasha burst into laughter at the sight of the two lovebirds blushing. "They're not but we're waiting to see when that changes."
Chuckling, Jane shared a look with Roman who also found the predicament amusing and hilarious.
"Oh! I almost forgot to mention that Kurt is my brother." Sarah practically shouted as she then took a drink from her milk carton.
"Looks like we're not the only siblings here then." Jane commented just as two new faces made their way over to the table.
"You mean the Weller's have competition?" A dark skinned boy questioned as he sat besides Sarah who practically flung herself at him.
"Reed!" She giggled as he enveloped her into a sidearm hug before kissing her forehead affectionately.
Roman averted his gaze from the public display of affection just as a tray slammed down loudly onto the table besides him. The entire group jumped in surprise as a tall, intimidating blue eyed boy turned to meet Roman's gaze.
"And you would be?" He questioned in a deep voice that sent shivers down Roman's spine.
"Kurt! Do you have to try and scare away every new friend we make?" Tasha retorted as she gave the male a pointed stare.
"Yes because if they scare away easily then they're not worth befriending." Kurt explained his actions with a shrug but never once broke his gaze with Roman.
"Well I assure you, you'll find it quite difficult to get rid of my sister and I." Roman finally spoke, using the same exact tone Kurt had previously used.
Lips twitching, Kurt finally sat down before smiling a full blown smile. A smile that made him look more crazy than happy.
"Siblings, huh? I like you two already."
"This is Jane and Roman." Sarah said from across the table as she met her brother's gaze.
"So you two are new to Blanton, right?" Reed questioned as he looked between the two siblings, awaiting a response.
"Yeah, moved here like a week before school started." Jane replied before jokingly making a face.
"Ugh, that must suck having to be the new student in your senior year." Patterson chimed in with a face of her own.
"Being new to a whole town is already a pain in itself." Tasha stated as she met Roman then Jane's gaze.
"Were you new here too?" Jane asked with an arched brow.
"Yeah, arrived here my sophomore year but luckily, I befriended this group."
"And we haven't been able to get rid of her since." Kurt teased with a low chuckle as the whole table laughed in amusement.
"Hey!" Tasha exclaimed as she threw a fry at him. The whole table just fell into another fit of laughter.
As lunch went on and the group fell into collective conversations, Roman couldn't help but meet Jane's gaze numerous times and every time they did, they would smile. Smile because despite the fact they were in a new town and starting school in a new place, they had somehow managed to befriend an amazing group of friends. A group that would no doubt not allow them to leave anytime soon and they were perfectly okay with that.
When lunch ended, the group went their separate ways to attend fifth period.
Roman had Spanish by himself as Tasha was fluent in Spanish and the rest of the group had opted to take French. The class went by without a hitch and he couldn't help but feel confident in his ability to learn the language.
Sixth period was Woodshop and was located in a large building at the back of the campus. Upon entering the classroom, he was struck with a smell of freshly cut wood and paint.
"Smells amazing, doesn't it?" A deep voice asked to his left causing him to turn his gaze.
Kurt was standing there, blue eyes roaming about the room before settling onto Roman.
"What are you doing here?" Roman asked rather rudely. But he was honestly curious of the other's presence.
"You do realize that seniors and juniors can be in the same elective class?"
"Yeah but this is the second level of woodshop. I took the first level back in my old highschool. You're a senior. Shouldn't you be in a higher level?"
"There isn't a higher level but Mr. Woodley told me I could sign up for the class again and he'd just give me more challenging tasks to accomplish." Kurt explained before pointing to a table in the back of the room. "Let's sit."
Roman didn't have time to protest as Kurt immediately turned and headed for the table. Sighing, Roman followed him.
As he sat, Kurt grinned at him and Roman couldn't help but grimace. This was going to be a long school year.