"John, it's time to wake up."
John rolled over and looked at the clock. It read 5:45.
"Whose awful idea was it to make this start before the sun comes up?"
"Stop complaining and get up or you are going to be late."
John slowly stood up and pulled on his pants and socks. He threw his shirt on over his head. It was 6:10 when he was ready to leave.
"You'll have to take the tube to school, we can't drive you."
"I have no idea where I'm going, how am I supposed to get there?"
"There are other kids around here who go to school the same way. You will be fine, John." His mother pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry things are the way they are, but just keep your head up and everything will be fine."
John walked outside and headed for the end of the street; he knew the general vicinity of where he was going, he just really disliked taking the tube. There were too many people, no matter what time of day you went. As he rounded the corner, sure enough there was a group of kids walking down the street. He didn't want to confront them; people were most definitely one of his weaker points. He kept a safe distance, hoping that they would not notice. Unfortunately for him, one of them turned around and saw him. He immediately put his attention on something else.
"Hey, kid. Why don't you walk with us?"
John nodded his head slightly. "I'm fine back here," he replied.
"You can walk closer. We don't bite, I promise."
John reluctantly walked up to join the group. They talked about lots of things, but they mostly talked about people; they talked about how one girl's head was too big, or one guy's hair was too long. He nervously tightened his grip on his map of the school. His game plan was to simply get through the day without any help; just stay invisible. If nobody noticed him then he wouldn't get picked on by anybody.
John simply followed the other group of kids as they got off of the subway and walked. Once he arrived at the school, he was already able to point out at least 3 groups that would probably want to rough up the new kid. However, while he was busy scoping out the school, he didn't notice the rather large student approach him from behind.
"Come on, Jim, it is his first day, just let him be," he heard a voice behind him say. He turned around to face the looming figure behind him.
"Well hey there, new kid." John supposed that this was Jim. "Don't mind my friend Sherl here-"
"Sherlock!" a tall, curly haired boy corrected from behind him.
"Sherlock, whatever. He doesn't know what he's talking about. You aren't a proper newbie until Jim has gotten a hold of ya." Jim picked John up by his shirt collar with ease and threw him to the ground.
The wind was immediately forced from his lungs as he hit the ground. There were mixes of gasps and giggles and hearty chuckles as several students gathered around. John slowly picked himself up, gasping. He looked up at Jim and his friends. They were laughing. Everyone was laughing; at least everyone except the one with the curly brown hair.
As quickly as the kids gathered, some teachers had dispersed them and sent them on their way. Jim and his group walked away triumphantly, but once again the curly-haired did not do as they did. He helped John stand up, and handed him his crumpled up map that had been crushed in his hand.
"I believe this is yours," he said with a slight smile. His voice was very deep and husky. "Don't worry, he shouldn't mess with you too much. He only likes to rough up new students once. What is your first class, I could walk you, if you like?"
"No thanks, I think I can manage," John replied almost too quiet for him to hear. "Thank you for catching this for me by the way."
Sherlock nodded as if to say 'you're welcome.' "The name is Sherlock, by the way. Sherlock Holmes."
"I'm John Watson." John replied.
"Nice to meet you, John Watson. I think you and I will be good friends."
John nodded awkwardly and turned to walk to the entrance of the school. Sherlock smiled after him.
"So, Sherly, making nice with the new kid already?" Sherlock sighed as Jim and his friends walked up to him. Again. A very dull question, from a very dull person, of course. Sherlock did not particularly like Jim. He was rather large; if it weren't for his massive size he wouldn't be able to scare anything. Surely someone with a brain capacity as small as his could not do anything without a little help.
"Nothing wrong with that," Sherlock defended. "And please stop calling me Sherly, even someone as dull as you could deduce that I am not a female."
Sherlock had an interesting group of…people. Well, they called themselves his friends, which was rather stupid of them; he didn't have friends. Jim and his friends simply followed Sherlock around. They admired his incredible deduction skills. I mean, everyone did.
However, there was something about the new student that he just seemed to take a liking to. He didn't really understand why. Was it his messy blonde hair? His blue-grey eyes? His awkward mannerisms? Sherlock honestly had no idea. He had always thought of himself higher than anyone. Therefore, he didn't make friends. What made this John character so different?