A New Friend

The next morning Doug yawned as the school bus pulled up in front of his house. He had not slept very well since his strange dream and now he wished he could crawl back into bed rather than face his first day at a new school. He staggered up the stairs and found a seat at the back of the bus and gazed out of the window without anything in particular on his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to summon some optimism about the coming day but it was hard given his life at his last school. Doug was far from popular and the jocks tended to remind him of it frequently. He was rather scrawny horrible at sports. He didn't like them much anyway; he'd much rather be writing a new program for his computer or reading a good book. Unfortunately, these were traits that tended to get you beat up and stuffed into your own locker.

He was snapped out of his daze by the chatter of his fellow students as they disembarked from the bus. Doug grabbed his bag and entered Bayville High. He walked directly to the front office and was greeted by the Principal.

"Ah, Douglas" he said shaking Doug's hand "My name is Edward Kelly."

"Pleased to meet you sir"

"And you. Now I won't keep you long; I just wanted to welcome you to Bayville and give you your class schedule."

"Thank you sir; I'm glad to be here."

"Fine, fine. Well I'll let you get to first period. Just a quick word of caution there are a few students you might want to avoid."

"You mean bullies?"

"Not exactly. Just a few who are…well…really different."

Doug knew that Principal Kelly was referring to mutants and he didn't like it. How much sense did it make to discriminate against someone for something they have absolutely no control over? However Doug did not voice this; he just nodded and left the office. He glanced at his schedule and groaned; his first class was P.E. What a way to start a Monday!

Ten minutes later he was joining his class on the field. He heard a muscular teen with blonde hair say to his friends "Check out the stick figure!"

His fellow jocks laughed and Doug sighed. Mr. McCoy stepped onto the field and called out "Settle down, settle down. Good morning everyone; before we begin today I'd like to give a warm welcome to our new friend Douglas Ramsey." Most people clapped as Doug blushed. "Today we will be playing that American favorite football."

Most of the class cheered but Doug gulped. He had a very bad feeling that he was going to be personally targeted by that blonde jock and he was right. Throughout the game, Doug was constantly pummeled by the bully and his friends. After ten minutes Mr. McCoy blew his whistle and called "Time out people. Matthews, Ramsey a word please."

Doug and the blonde bully approached Mr. McCoy "Duncan, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that you are paying a lot of attention to Mr. Ramsey here."

"Just playing the game sir."

"Yes I'm sure you were "just playing the game" when you swerved to knock Doug over when you had a straight shot for the end zone. I don't tolerate that sort of play in my class; hit the showers Duncan."

"But sir…"

"No buts; I will not have a new student harassed on his first day. The locker rooms are that way."

Duncan Matthews threw Doug a look of venom before stomping off the field. Mr. McCoy asked "Are you alright Doug?"

"I'm fine sir; thank you but that wasn't necessary…"

"Hogwash! You need to learn to stand up for yourself or people will walk over you your whole life."

"Yes sir; I'll keep that in mind."

"Very well. How about finishing the game?"

A bit later Doug was leaving the locker room but Duncan blocked his path. "Please let me pass."

"All in good time; I don't like it when I don't get to finish PE. I have some frustration to work off."

"I…" he was silenced when Duncan's fist sank into his stomach. He sank to his knees gasping in pain.

"Just try not to make me mad and we'll get along just fine." He walked away and Doug began to get to his feet.

"Need a hand" a tall brown haired guy with strange red sunglasses had the aforementioned appendage extended.

"Thanks" Doug accepted his help and gathered his things. "I need to get going."

"Wait are you…" but Doug had already hurried off to second period.

The rest of the morning passed in peace and finally it was lunch. As he exited the building with his food he noticed that Duncan and his gang were at the nearest picnic table. He turned around and settled down under a tree on the far side of the school and opened a book. He heard a strange sound like a small explosion and looked around to see what had caused it. Seeing nothing he shrugged and returned to his sandwich and his reading.

"Guten tag!"

Doug turned to see a guy with a pointed face and shoulder length black hair. "Oh hello."

"Do you mind if I eat with you?" He had a very distinct German accent.

"Um…sure, okay."

"Thanks!" He plopped down and said "My name is Kurt Wager."

"I'm Doug Ramsey."

"I know; my friend Scott told me about your unpleasantness with Duncan Matthews. Das ruck!"

"Yeah he's not the first jerk I've met believe me."

"Do you speak German?"

"Uh…not really, I just have a good knack for guessing."

"Ah. Ist das wirklich wahr? (Is that really true?)"

"Ja, es ist wirklich seltsam. (Yes, it's really weird.)" Doug realized what he had said and blushed crimson.

"Are you sure you don't speak German?"

"Only when I'm talking to a German; I don't understand it but it's like any language or code is instantly translated in my head. It doesn't matter if I hear it or read it. As soon as you leave I won't know a word of German."

"That is…interesting."

"I can't believe I'm telling you this. Sometimes I'm afraid I might…I might be a…"

"Mutant?"

"Yeah. You occasionally hear about them on the news and it's often not pretty. I try to hide my ability but sometimes I slip up."

"Mein freund, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You are who you are and you can't change that. Believe me I know what it feels like to learn that lesson. Sometimes I still struggle…"

Kurt looked thoughtfully sad and Doug tentatively asked "What do you mean?"

"Hm, oh don't worry about it." He flashed a warm smile and said "Come there is still some lunch time left; come eat with my friends."

"I don't know…"

"Unless you want to stay here sad and alone."

Well when you put it that way, let's go!"