Struggle to be Heard
Each chapter will focus in some way on an opinion that someone has about Sandy and how he overcomes this/proves them wrong.
Chapter 1 – More Mature Than He Realises
"C'mon kiddo, get a move on or you'll be late!" An elderly man yelled up the stairs to where his grandson was yet to emerge from his room. Said grandson was just putting on his favourite yellow jumper before heading downstairs to grab some breakfast. He was short for his age, and had blonde spiky hair that always seemed to look like he had just got out of bed. His eyes were a golden shade of brown that, if you cared to look hard enough, would speak more volumes than the boy ever could.
"Hey, there you are. I put some toast in for you, spread is on the table."
Sandy grabbed a plate then picked up his toast on the way to the table, and proceeded to slather the toast with peanut butter.
"You better hurry up or you're going to miss the bus." The elderly man sat opposite his grandson with a cup of coffee and his favourite newspaper. He looked up though when he saw Sandy shaking his head and signing to him.
"I'm not getting the bus. We agreed I was walking."
"Yes but it's quite a way for you walk on your own."
Sandy sighed and rolled his eyes good naturedly, "Yes but it isn't far to North's house. Then we're picking everyone else up along the way. I live the furthest from school so it makes sense for me to head over to them." Sandy knew his granddad worried about him. It had just been the two of them for a long time.
Looking at the clock, he realised he would have to leave soon if he didn't want to be late. He went to put his shoes on and grabbed his bag, before throwing a wave goodbye to his granddad.
"Just be careful and have a good day!" The door shut quietly behind the short boy without a reply, though the man wasn't expecting one.
It wasn't far to North's house. Sandy was looking forward to meeting up with him, with the whole group. They had all spent some time together over the summer but each had other things to do with their families and it felt like it had been a long time since they had really all gotten together. They had been friends for a long time.
Sandy walked up the path to his friend's door and reached up to use the door knocker. Suddenly the door was thrown open and Sandy was faced with the large form of North.
North, actually called Nicholas Claussen, was huge. He was heavyset in a way that made him the perfect candidate for the football team, which he happened to be a star player on. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were a sharp blue. North was a passionate person and that; combined with his size and thick Russian accent; often meant that he came across as intimidating. That is, until you spent five minutes with the guy, then you realised there was a lot more to him.
"Sandy! Good to see you, come in, come in. I'm nearly ready."
Sandy stepped into the hallway and, on seeing North's mum and dad in the kitchen, sent a wave in greeting. They smiled and waved back, and Sandy returned his attention back to his large friend.
North grabbed his favourite red jacket and followed Sandy out the door. As they walked to their next stop, North told Sandy all about how he had gone to stay with his older brother for a week. North and his brother were close but he had moved on and had his own house and a good job. North went to visit him often and his brother returned for the holidays, but Sandy knew that his friend missed having his older brother nearer. North had always looked up to him.
The next person they were stopping to pick up was Aster. His full name was E. Aster Bunnymund. No-one could get him to say what the E stood for and an attempt to give him the nickname 'Bunny' did not end well.
It didn't take long to reach Aster's house and within seconds the door was thrown open for them and they were met with a shout of,
"Finally!"
Sandy and North stepped into the house awaiting an explanation. Aster was a blur, grabbing his shoes and bag before pushing them back out the door. It wasn't until the door slammed behind him that he relaxed and began to explain.
"My parents are driving me round the bend! They still don't get that I'm not a kid anymore!"
At his friends' amused looks he added, "I know, they love me but I need my space. My mum still wants to pick out my clothes, it's embarrassing!"
North let out a loud laugh while Sandy was silently cracking up beside him.
"Maybe you should let her."
"Hey, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Aster demanded, looking down at himself. He was wearing long shorts and a dark green tank top under a green jacket, hiding a slim but muscular frame built from hours on the running track. His brown hair was short and his green eyes narrowed at the much shorter boy.
Sandy threw his hands up in mock surrender but the smile broke all illusions of seriousness. Aster laughed and led the way down the path and on towards Thea's house leaving North and Sandy to catch up. He had spent a large part of the summer visiting family back in Australia and he told them all about the camping trip and surfing lessons he had enjoyed. North retold how he had spent his summer. Sandy was about to add what he had done when they arrived at Thea's house.
Sandy buzzed at the gate and waited before a bored voice came through, "State your name and business." He frowned, turned to the others and shrugged, moving out of the way so North could answer, "We are here to pick Thea up for school. We are her classmates."
Sandy looked up at the camera and gave a friendly wave. A few seconds later there was a buzz and the gate swung open to let them onto the huge driveway leading up to the house.
As they stepped onto the porch and rang the bell they could hear a familiar commotion coming from inside. When the door opened a wall of noise hit the three boys. It was the sound of at least eight children, ages ranging from three to thirteen. It seemed like chaos, everyone in various stages of being ready for the day. In amongst them, helping one of her many younger siblings tie a plait in her hair, was their friend Thea.
Her long, dark hair had several streaks of colours and her purple eyes were narrowed in concentration as her finger quickly entwined the younger girl's hair. The brightly coloured top she was wearing meant that she was easy to pick out in the busy household, and as always she had a pair of delicate feather earrings and an intricate gold bracelet and necklace.
Once she was finished she looked up and spotted her friends by the front door.
"Hey guys! I'll be right over just let me grab my stuff and finish up helping these little monsters get ready and we can head off, you need to get your shoes, socks are in the laundry room, you can't wear that go and get a clean shirt from the closet…"
North, Aster and Sandy glanced at each other knowing full well she could keep talking at full speed until someone stopped her.
She was surprisingly efficient and it wasn't too long before she was ushering the guys out the door and back past the gates. Once they had started towards their final stop before school, Thea launched into an animated description of her family's trip to India and all the amazing things they had seen and done.
Jack was the last of their group to collect, living closest to the school, but they were beginning to run late so the four friends picked up the pace and it wasn't long before they were approaching the small house.
They walked through the front garden and up to the door, knocking on the dark stained wood. Jack's mum opened the door and gave them a warm smile.
"Good morning guys, Jack will be right out." At that she turned and called to Jack to 'get his butt into gear' before asking if they all had a good summer.
A jumbled reply of 'yes thank you', 'it was wonderful' and an enthusiastic thumbs up from Sandy came from the group and she smiled warmly at them. "Glad to hear it, though I know Jack has missed you all."
"Mom! Don't embarrass me."
Jack had appeared behind her as he struggled to get his favourite blue hoody over his head. Eventually his mop of chocolate brown hair pushed its way through followed by the rest of his head and his ice blue eyes looked accusingly but not unkindly at his mum. She moved out of the way so her son could slip past and join his friends. As they left she wished him a good day at school and went back inside.
"So Jack, have a good summer?"
"It was too hot! I felt like I was melting most of the time, and I had to spend most of it with my little sister."
Sandy got his attention and gave him a puzzled look, "I thought you liked your sister?"
"Yeah, it wasn't so bad but I got grounded for a week for pulling a prank on her and her friends."
They continued chatting until they reached the school and headed inside to find their lockers and collect their new class schedules. They each had a couple of classes together and as they finished at their lockers they moved on to their first class until only Sandy was left.
As he was closing his locker he felt someone behind him and turned, expecting it to be one of his friends waiting for him. Instead, it was the last person he wanted to see.
Pitch was tall, with jet black hair that he slicked back. He was always in black but never in a way that could be described as 'Goth' and he managed to pull it off as stylish and smart. He was also the head of a ruthless gang, always causing trouble but never getting caught. His father was a very successful lawyer and the apple definitely hadn't fallen far from the tree.
He had piercing eyes that were a silver shade of grey, and they were looking straight at him. Sandy looked from Pitch to the three other guys that flanked him and also served to cut off any escape.
He narrowed his eyes at Pitch and signed "Pitch, have a good summer?"
Pitch was well known for picking out individuals and making their lives hell and Sandy was going to tread carefully so as not to make the situation worse but making sure to give the message 'I'm not going to be intimidated by you'.
Pitch surprised him by answering, "I'm not interested in small talk little man." The surrounding guys obviously hadn't expected their leader to have understood the strange hand signals as they glanced quickly back and forth between the short blonde and Pitch.
"In that case tell me what you want or move out my way please."
"What I want," he advanced into Sandy's personal space, "is your fear."
Sandy felt a shiver run through him but held his ground. He tried to give a look of indifference and push past the wall of thugs but was forced back, his head bouncing off the lockers behind him. Trying not to show how nervous he was getting as Pitch closed in once again, Sandy tried to stand up straight while trying not to resign himself to the amount of pain that could be heading his way. Suddenly the shrill tone of the bell cut through the tension and Pitch glowered up and down the corridor, backing off as he saw a teacher walk around the corner.
Taking the opportunity presented to him and slipping past the gang, Sandy headed quickly to his first class and let out the breath he had been holding in a quick sigh. Saved by the bell never felt so literal.
So, I have to confess that I'm British so I apologise for any mistakes I've made to do with American high school. Please feel free to let me know in a review and I will endeavour to correct them. Oh yeah, and let me know if anyone gets the chapter title...who has this opinion of Sandy? I'm just curious to know if I made this too vague or if I'm worrying for no reason.
Also, this is my first ever story on Fanfiction so I hope you've enjoyed it so far. This was only a taste of things to come and there will be much more drama and action in future chapters!