Chapter 7: First Day

Vincent walked through the empty hallways, trying to get to his first class. He found the room number and stepped through the door. Evidently, he'd gotten in late; all of the other students were already in their seats. The teacher looked over at the door and his face beamed. "Ah," he exclaimed to his pupils, "This must be our new student! Come here, child!" Vincent shyly made his way to this new mentor and faced his new classmates. "Class, this young man is Vincent Valentine. He's just moved in from Wutai and he'll be your classmate for the duration of this year! He's new here in Midgar, so make him feel at home, okay? Vincent, why don't you have that empty seat near Darsy over there." He pointed the seat out to the boy and one small girl raised her hand. "Yes, Kadie?" "Mr. LeFollette? Why do his eyes look so funny?" The teacher was taken aback. He looked to Vincent to apologize. "It's okay," he said nervously, "I was expecting that." He swiftly sat in his seat and pulled out a notebook. The young teacher sighed and turned to the board. "Okay class, time to start a new lesson. Can anyone tell me the name of at least ONE of the ships that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World?" The class was stilled with confusion. One small hand went up near the back. The tutor's face lit up once again."Yes, Vincent?" "If I'm right, they were the Santa Maria, the NiƱa, and the Pinta." The class of 10 and 11- year- olds looked at the boy strangely. Even the teacher was impressed. "Th- that's right... Good job, Vincent."

Things continued like that throughout the day, even as they switched classes going to different subjects. Vincent kept getting jabs from the students about his ethnicity and Vincent kept answering the majority of the questions. All of his teachers were stunned. In a unanimous decision made during their lunch break, they decided that they would have to talk to his father to see about getting him into classes a little more suited to his level. A small band of boys were getting sick of Vincent making them look bad. Vincent had Gym with these boys for his last class. Once the instructor had let them go back into the locker rooms to change, they approched him.

"Hey, uhh... Valentine, wasn't it?" He only acknowledged the boys by looking at them as he continued to get changed. "Yea, well, you think you could maybe lay off the smarts for a while," the tallest boy, obviously the leader asked him. A smaller, red- headed boy with a scar across his face came forward. "Yea! You're makin us look dumb." Vincent pulled his shirt over his head. "Heh. Why should I restrict my abilities for you," he argued," What have you ever done but limit yourselves and continue to ridicule my Wutainese ancestry?" The leader of the group grabbed Vincent's collar. "Listen, slant, we asked nicely. Now you're gonna stop makin' us look bad or ELSE!" Vincent looked the boy dead in the eyes and simply answered "No." The boy's free arm drew back and Vincent saw the other boys developing crazed grins on their faces. Before Vincent knew it, he was on the ground, being kicked, punched and cursed by this possee. It seemed like an eternity before they finally stopped. The end-of- school bell rang and the boys left Vincent laying there, bleeding from a broken nose, a big black eye, cracked ribs and a broken arm. Miraculously, he managed to get himself on his feet and walked into the hallways; empty again because everyone had left. However, there were still some teachers left in their rooms with papers to grade. Mr. LeFollette was one of them, and Vincent's belongings were still in the back of his room.

He snuck into the room, trying his best to go unnoticed, but he didn't seem to realize that he was breathing harshly through his mouth. The man looked up toward his 'prized' student. "Ah! Vincent! Just the person I wanted to see!" The boy looked up at his mentor and panicked. He grabbed his equipment and hustled out the door, not looking at the man again. He kept his head down. grabbed the child's arm in his hand, not knowing it was broken. Vincent cried out in pain. Taken aback, the teacher finally saw his battered student's injuries. "Vincent," he asked sternly, "who did this to you?" "I- i'm fine! R-really!" "No you're not! Vincent, you're seriously hurt. You need to go to a hospital! I'm calling your father and telling him what's happened. Wait here." As Vincent watched his teacher go to his phone, he suddenly felt a desperate need to cry. A need he gave into, partially because of the pain, mosly because he was afraid of what his father would think of him getting in a fight- let alone losing it. When Mr. LeFollette ended the call, he went to Vincent and held him, comforting him. He knew the kid had to be terrified. He adjusted his glasses and told Vincent he would be okay and that an ambulance was on it's way.

(AN: Poor Vinny! I so totally need ideas. I just kinda make this all up as I go along! This chapter took me a while to think up... SOMEWHAT SPOILER: Next Chap: Vinny is going to a different school- Two grades ahead of what he's supposed to be in! This is where he will meet the friend he's always needed! Thank you all for your support! It's much needed!)