Jack peered out the window of the parked car, staring at the school he would be attending for the next year. It was a private school but from the looks of it it seemed like any other high school.
His aunt smiled at him. "You'll do great, Sean-y. You've adjusted well to the move and I just know you'll do terrific here." He looked to her with a blank expression. She remained positive.
"I'll pick you up at three, unless one of your many new friends wants to take you home." That made Jack smile slightly.
"You're ridiculous. But thanks, Aunt Erin." She kissed his cheek and he got out of the car. As he watched the only person he knew in this country slowly disappear he took the headphones from his around his neck and put them on. He let the extremely loud music wash over him as he walked inside.
He had thanked his lucky stars that this school hadn't required uniforms but was slowly changing his mind with all the stares he was getting. Granted, the neon green hair would've caught some attention anyway. But his oversized hoodie, ripped jeans, painted nails, gauges, and other piercings made him the current star of this freak show called high school. It's not like they were all pretentious country club goers, so why all the stares?
He couldn't hear what they were saying because of his music but he could guess that none of it was pleasant. He went to the locker that matched the number he had been given and opened it. Little did he know, being in his own little world, someone had been walking up to talk to him and got a face full of metal. Jack quickly closed the door and shoved his headphones off of his head. He knelt down to help the guy pick up all of his stuff.
"Oh, thanks," he said when Jack handed him a book. They stood up and the guy extended a hand for him to shake.
"My name's Joey. What's yours?" Jack just stared at him before mumbling, "Jack." Joey dropped his arm but didn't look discouraged.
"Ooh, the standoff-ish type. I could get into that," he said flirtatiously. Jack stood there in shock, not knowing what to do.
"Stop being such a slut, Joey!" he heard shouted from behind him. He turned to see a guy leaning against the wall. By the looks of him, this guy would probably be the most relatable. He had a 90s grunge look to him with his obscure band t-shirt coupled with a flannel and the eyeliner he wore. He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to them. Joey rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, Shane. We all know you want the fresh meat all to yourself." Shane's eyes grew a little.
"Psh, no! I'm strictly vag. I just know you could do better than all this." He gestured to the entirety of Jack. Jack furrowed his brow in offense. Shane laughed dryly.
"Oh, come on, honey. Your fake attempt at a punk look is so 2006. Tell me I'm wrong." Jack looked at him like he was stupid.
"And you're dressed like a half assed attempt at the year you were born. What's your point?" Joey looked away with a quiet, "Oh, damn." Jack let out a short sigh.
"Look, I can see you think of me as some kind of competition on your turf or something but he approached me. And don't worry, you can have your gloomy, grunge look; I'm not trying to steal it. Mine's authentic. "There was death in Shane's eyes. He pushed Joey out of the way and got in Jack's face.
"Listen, leprechaun, let's get a couple things straight. 1) I'm straight. I don't want him. 2) Don't mistake the look. I could most definitely kick your ass."
Jack looked down at the finger he had poked at his chest and could make out a small tattoo on his arm when his sleeve rode up: 'Joe'. He smiled.
"Well let's hope it never comes to that. And yeah," He grabbed his wrist and held it up a little. "You're definitely straight." Shane's eyes widened again. He pulled his sleeve down and glared at him.
"Watch it." He walked over to Joey. "I'm gonna meet up with Drew and Trisha to smoke at lunch, if you wanna join." He nodded and they both walked away, but not before Jack caught sight of the 'S' on the back of Joey's neck.
"Those dumb idiots," he mumbled. Jack, himself, hadn't gotten any sign of the start of his tattoo. Seeing as they show up one letter at a time, you would think he would have at least something. Not that he cared who his soulmate was. It's not like he stood naked in front of the mirror every now and then and checked himself. It was never worth the letdown. Yet he let himself get his hopes up each time.
He was about to walk away when a tall guy wearing a shirt that said 'Lord Minion' on it ran up to him.
"Oh my god, you just went toe to toe with Shane Dawson. You could've been killed!" Jack scoffed.
"I could've taken that cheeky bastard." The scruffy guy smiled.
"Anyway, the real reason I came over was because my friend kept talking about the new guy but was too shy for the first time in his life to talk to him, himself." He pointed behind him and Jack just caught sight of a guy ducking behind his bigger friend, who smiled and waved. Lord Minion chuckled.
"He's the guy currently using Bob as a human shield. But trust me, he'll come to his senses soon enough and he'll want to usher you around all day."
"Shut up, Wade!" They both looked up and saw the guy hide again.
"Oh yeah, my name's Wade, by the way. And the huggable loser over there is Bob. And loverboy is Mark."
"Oh my god…" they heard him groan. Jack looked back to Wade. At least this one wasn't overly flirty or had tried to kill him. That was a plus. He smiled slightly.
"I'm Jack." Before Wade could say anything else the bell rang.
"Oops, gotta go! It was nice meeting you, Jack. What's your first class?"
"Um…" He flipped over the paper in his hands. "Chem, apparently." Wade's smile grew devious.
"Oh, what a coincidence. That's where Mark's headin'. He can show you the way." They heard a small, "What?" before Wade grabbed hold of Bob's arm and they took off down the hall. Jack concealed a grin. They reminded him of cartoon characters. He turned back to the guy standing awkwardly in the corner. He had crazy, unkempt hair, glasses, and a Minecraft t-shirt. He shuffled his feet before slowly approaching him. He cleared his throat, not really meeting his eye.
"Uh, Chem's, uh, this way." He pointed his thumb in the opposite direction of where his friends had fled. Jack quirked an eyebrow.
"Okay, Mr. Articulate." Mark blushed and started down the hall. Jack walked alongside him and caught him stealing glances. He stopped in front of a door and gestured for him to walk in.
"Here we are." Jack nodded once and entered.