Walking out of the office with a note stating his bus number, Silver felt relieved. The day was over, and he could leave. Of course, leaving school meant going home, but at this point, he'd take home over school, just as the lesser of two miseries.

He stepped out the front doors and scanned the row of buses before glancing at his note. His bus was the fifth in line. He walked up to the bus and started to get on, before the bus driver looked at him questioningly. "I ain't seen you on here before. You got a pass or are you new?"

"Oh," said Silver. "I'm new. I have this thing that says this is my bus, see?" He passed the note to the driver.

The driver nodded. "Yup. Your address is on this route. Your stops on the corner of your street and Carlson Street, so keep an eye out."

Silver took the note and went to a random empty seat. There were a few, as everyone seemed to want to sit with someone else. This, of course made Silver the odd one out once again. He sat down and checked his phone. None of the friends he'd texted had replied. He sighed, sliding the keyboard of his phone back into the phone. He'd try IM'ing them when he got home. He put his phone away, then suddenly felt someone plop next to him in the seat. It was the chameleon from the hallway. "Oh, hey. Didn't see you there," said Silver.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," said Espio. "So, Silver, you on this bus route?"

Silver was astonished that this dude had remembered his name. They only met once and didn't talk at all for the rest of the day. "Well, I'm here."

"Yeah. You don't mind me sitting here do you? I just saw you were alone and thought you might wanna chat."

Silver couldn't help to crack a smile. "No, go right ahead. Didn't have anything else to do or anyone else to talk to."

"Really? You didn't make any friends?"

"I told you man, nobody gave me more of a passing glance today. My old friends have been pretty silent, too."

"Well, you made one friend today," said Espio. "Me. It's their loss if they don't wanna hang out with you."

"I wouldn't call it a loss. I mean, I didn't talk to them enough to give them a reason to hang."

"Still, it isn't that hard for someone to strike up a conversation with the quiet new kid. I mean, I did it. Twice. Maybe you should just put yourself out more. Let people get to know you."

Silver shook his head. "Letting people get to know me didn't go so well at my last school."

"It was just a suggestion." Espio changed the subject. "So where do you live?"

"Uh," Silver had to glance at his note. He had yet to commit his address to memory. "I live on Thomson street. In the white house with the screened in porch."

"Oh, cool! I live like a block over. My stops right after yours. Maybe I'll see you around after school."

Silver glanced out the window. He forgot to remember to look out for his stop. They bus was still not near his neighborhood, from what he could recall. "I'd have to check with my dad on that one."

"You have to ask your dad if you can have friends over? At fourteen?"

"I mean, he's usually cool with having friends over, that's not his thing. It's going to other peoples places he has a problem with. He's kinda strict," explained Silver.

"That sucks. There any way I can get ahold of you then?" Asked Espio.

"Uh, yeah," said Silver. You got a cell phone?"

"Yeah, I do. You can't always reach me by it though, so I'll give you my home number, too. I can put them in your phone right now."

"Great," said Silver, opening up a new contact in his phone and handing it over to Espio.

Espio entered in his numbers and handed back the phone to Silver. "Just shoot me a text when you get home so I can get your number."

"Yeah, no problem." Silver looked up. "Looks like my stop's soon."

Espio hopped to the seat across the row from him as the bus rolled to a stop.

"See you around," said Silver as he got up. He walked off the bus with the rest of the kids for the stop and walked down the street to his house.

His house was almost halfway down the block, and Silver made it a quick walk. He opened the screen door and stepped onto the porch. The front door was unlocked, but he knew his dad wasn't home. He wouldn't be home until six, maybe seven if he got dinner on his way home. The only reason the door was unlocked right now was Silver hadn't gotten a copy of the key yet. He walked in and hung his bag on a hook in the foyer. He checked the table by the door for a note. There wasn't one, meaning Silver could just go to his room and do whatever until his dad got home.

Naturally, Silver did just that. His bedroom was upstairs as opposed to his fathers, and quite small. He liked it though. He had finally unpacked everything and made his room how he liked it. He had all his posters up on the wall, and what little furniture he had set up nicely. He walked to his computer desk, tucked into the far corner, away from the door, and sat at the chair. As he turned on his computer, he texted Espio like he said he would, and then signed into the computer. Once again, there were no messages from his friends on his IM. He checked to see was online, and it was the people he messaged earlier and a couple more. He figured he'd try his best friend, since she didn't have a phone, and sent her a message.

"S1lver_: hows it going back there? just had my first day at school today and it totally sucked"

to his surprise, there was an almost immediate response.

"XxPrincess_BxX: nothins changed back home except ur not here :( miss you lots! Sounds like the new schools full of losers

S1lver_: everyone was just so wrapped up in their friends they didnt notice me :/ I may have made one friend tho. he lives a block away from me and we talked on the bus."

As he sent the last message, his computer dinged to notify him someone had gone online. He checked to see who it was and smiled. He'd recognize that username anywhere. He clicked on it.

"S1lver_: hey 3 missed you today."

His boyfriend was another person he only contacted via IM. This was mostly because he only used IM when his dad wasn't home. He stared at the screen with anticipation.

"Blacksky23: sucky first day?

S1lver_: yeah. not that i wouldnt miss you if i had a good day.

Blacksky23: i know, cuz i had a pretty ok day and i missed u 2

S1lver_: people suck. none of them wanna get to know me and im too scared to let them. they didnt like me much back there when they did know me and theyre not gonna like me here.

Blacksky23: well I like u so dont worry about it ;-) but did u really not talk to anyone?

S1lver_: theres a guy on my bus i got along with. hes ok but thats it

Blacksky23: thats a potential friend right there! just be urself and itll be fine! I got a paper to do so ill chat l8r ok? Bye xox"

Once he said goodbye, Silver closed the window and turned off his computer. It was still a couple hours before his dad would get home, and he had nothing to do. What he had felt about being alone in the halls earlier today did not ring true in his room. Here, he felt lonely again. That panging, empty loneliness that hurts inside. He got up from his chair and flung himself onto his bed, sighing. "I hate it here."

A/N: Hey! Another long chapter! I really like writing Silver :). This chapter took a little longer to write bc I never used IM, it was way before my time lol, so I had to do some "research" about it. Do you like the screen names I made? Just an fyi, I hope to get posting more chapters, since I'm home all the time now for once. Just keep reading them! Well, see you around, K