Chapter 1: An Eventful First Day

Stepping out of my mom's car I looked up at my new school and sighed. This was the fifth school I had gone to in three years. After saying bye to my mom I shut the car door and walked up the front steps. The school had sent me my schedule in the mail, so I wandered the halls trying to find my first class. Stopping in front of one of the doors I looked up at the room number then down at the paper in my hand. After double checking the room number I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hello, you must be Kylan. I'm Ms. Oh, welcome to Degrassi." The teacher said as I walked into the room.

"Thanks." I mumbled under my breath. I saw Ms. Oh's cheerful expression disappear before she turned and looked out over the class.

"Well, I guess you can sit here for now." She said pointing to an empty seat next to a blonde haired boy. Walking over I took my seat and sat through the rest of the class in silence. When the bell rang I rushed out the door trying to get to my next class as fast as possible. The sooner the day ended the better. As I rounded the corner I slammed into another student causing both of us to fall to the floor.

"Sorry." I said as I scrambled to pick up my books. Grabbing the last book on the floor the other person stood up before pulling me to my feet.

"It's fine. Here, I think this is yours." The kid said handing me my book. Looking up I saw that it was the same boy I had sat next to in Ms. Oh's class.

"Thanks." I said before walking past him down the hall. By now I knew that making friends was pointless, so I tried my hardest to avoid people. The rest of the day passed by pretty fast and I raced out of the class as soon as the last bell rang. Outside I spotted my mom's car and quickly got in before anyone said anything to me. On the way home neither of us talked, but as soon as we got through the door the questions just came pouring out.

"So, did you make any new friends today?" Mom asked as I helped her put the groceries away.

"Mom, you know I don't make friends anymore. There's no point making friends when I know we're probably gonna move again in a few months." I said as I put the cereal in the cabinet.

"Ky, I really wish you'd just give it a try. Maybe if you made some friends you wouldn't get in so much trouble and keep getting expelled." Mom said softly. As per usual that set me off. Slamming the cabinet I turned around to face her.

"You know it's not just my fault we keep moving! You always let some guy mess with you and then run away instead of standing up for yourself! I'm sick of you always blaming everything on me!" I snapped.

"Honey, you know that's not what I meant." She said quietly.

"Save it. I'm gonna take Mason to the park." I said before walking out of the kitchen and back to my nephews room. Picking him up out of his play pin I grabbed his jacket and shoes and made my way to the front door. After putting his shoes and jacket on I picked him up again and headed to the park. When we got there I was happy to see that there weren't many people there. Walking over to the slide I helped Mason climb the small ladder before putting him on my lap and going down the slide. After playing on the slide for a little while I took him over to play in the sand box. While he sat there playing happily in the sand I walked the few short feet to the water fountain for a drink. Once I had gotten a drink I turned around smiling, but my smile quickly faded as my eyes caught sight of the empty sand box. Racing over to the small wooden box I quickly looked around trying to see if I could spot Mason anywhere.

"Mason!" I called as panic gripped me. Racing over to the benches I checked to see if he had wandered over there, but there was no sign of him. I began to search every inch of the park calling for him every few minutes. After searching every place I could think of I sat down on one of the benches and tried to gather my thoughts. As I sat there trying to think of places I may not have looked I heard someone walk up next to the bench.

"Um...does this little guy belong to you?" I heard a boy ask from beside me. Looking up I saw a dark haired boy dressed in black holding Mason. Jumping up from the bench I grabbed Mason and held him close to me.

"Oh my god! I thought I had lost you. Where were you?" I said frantically as I stroked his hair gently.

"I found him wandering around near the bathrooms at the other end of the park. When I heard you calling for someone I had a feeling he was yours." The boy said with a slight smile.

"Thank you. I'm Kylan by the way, and this is Mason." I said unable to hide my thankful smile.

"I'm Eli. We actually go to school together. I saw you in the halls today." He said casually. After a few moments of awkward silence Eli decided to end it.

"So, is he yours?" He asked pointing to Mason.

"No, he's my sister's." I said knowing that my smile had faded to a frown. Seeing the expression on my face he took a deep breath before saying goodbye and walking off. Looking up at the sky I saw that it was getting dark and decided to head home. That night I went to bed thinking about what happened at the park and decided to write Eli a nice letter thanking him for his help.