A New Year

Introductions

'High school,' Kieran sighed to himself as he approached the sprawling building that stood above and beyond him.

The building was of old brick construction that had stood for four decades. At two stories tall, it stretched down the block and was a rather large facility that stood on even larger grounds by the time the track, football field, and other sports training grounds were taken into account. Most of it didn't matter to him though.

As a senior, Kieran Ryker was focused on getting his grades to graduate, baseball for his scholarships, and his love of puzzles through math and crosswords. He had a few 'friends' from the team, but they didn't understand his love of math so he was often teased for being a geek. A few girls had shown interest in him over the years, but he always bumbled at flirting, and he was busy between classes and sports, so they never stuck around for long. With little to his social life, he spent a lot of time observing others.

Weaving through the underclassmen with practiced ease, Kieran ignored most of his fellow students. The seniors were focused on getting through their last year, the juniors were bored, the sophomores were feeling confident, and finally the freshmen. Most of the freshmen were timid and nervous as they approached the strange building full of strange kids. Feeling no pity, Kieran knew they'd learn the ropes soon enough.

Getting to his favorite spot, a decorative alcove in the face of the building by the main doors, Kieran was preparing to settle in with a puzzle until the school opened, but he found a freshman sitting there instead.

Surprised, he expected the kid to be scared, but instead, he seemed confident as he observed the rest of his new classmates from a distance. "Beat it, kid. This is where I go in the morning," Kieran griped with a hint of gruffness.

Looking up, the kid had bright blue eyes and a bit of his hair dropped forward into his face with the movement, "Excuse me?"

Sighing, Kieran repeated his point in a nicer fashion. "This is where I come in the mornings before school so I'm asking you to find a different spot this year." He crossed his arms and stood over the younger kid while he waited for his spot to be vacated.

Picking up his things, the kid congenially apologized before introducing himself as Daniel Brooks. "What's your name?"

Snorting softly, Kieran didn't think he'd be friends with this kid but he complied and gave his name anyway. His mother would have his hide if he wasn't at least polite, "Kieran Ryker."

"Hi, Kieran, you can call me Danny if you want. See you around," then the kid moved off into the crowd since he seemed to sense that Kieran wasn't interested.

Vaguely amused, Kieran wasn't going to bother trying to remember the kid's name, there was no reason to. Settling in, he pulled out his crossword puzzle book and turned to the next one.

This was going to be an interesting year for Danny, Neal thought to himself as he settled into an alcove where he could see his fellow classmates.

Ever since the incident that caused the truth to be revealed, his mother had retreated into herself more while he'd struggled to adjust.

His birth name was Neal George Bennett and he was in Wit-sec as Daniel Brooks. When he was three, his father had been arrested for murder before testifying against the mob. As revenge, people associated with the case had searched until they found him, abducted him, and then tried to kill him. This caused everything to explode before he got a new name and life.

Sure, his injuries had healed physically, but he was still mentally reeling. Who expected everything they knew about themselves to be a lie? It also made his freshman year of high school worse, but, on the upside, it meant he wasn't the only one awkwardly entering a new phase of his life.

He'd barely settled when a larger and older boy instructed him to move to another spot for the year. Complying, he moved to the mirroring alcove on the other side of the doors and settled in again.

Pulling out a comic book, Neal tried to distract himself by thinking about his first interaction with the other student, Kieran Ryker.

Kieran seemed a little gruff, but he was nice enough. He didn't think the senior thought much of him as a little freshman though. Glancing over at the larger student as he looked at a book, Neal could still remember his brown features frowning down at him when he'd looked up.

Shrugging, he hadn't made a friend, but he knew the name of one student. That was a start and had to account for something.

With the bell going off to start the day, Neal slid off of his perch and packed his comic before entering the school.

Walking to his first class, he chanted to himself mentally, 'my name is Danny Brooks, my name is Danny Brooks.'

Part of his struggle was having grown up thinking he was his Wit-Sec alias, learning he was Neal, and then trying to become Danny.

He thought of himself as Neal, that was his birth name, and he was trying to find core points of who he was before labeling them as Neal. Danny, he was part able to be himself, and part required to play a role assigned by the Marshals. He had memorized his alleged history and had been practicing the story with his aunt, Ellen as he now needed to call her, but he was worried that he might slip up and say the wrong information. Even if it was just at school, he didn't want to risk a repeat of what he'd endured the year before.

The nightmares still plagued him without reinforcing the abuse he'd endured.

Finding his place in the assigned seating chart, he sat down and began arranging his things to be comfortable. He was towards the back, which was the reverse of what he expected, but he wouldn't complain.

Most of the desks around him were either empty or had students reconnecting with their friends after the summer. After taking a preliminary glance around the generic room he started to read his comics again.

"He's a geek!" Someone was whispering to their friend, but Neal heard it anyway with the feeling it was being directed at him.

"If you're referring to me, I'm a nerd, and I'd appreciate you to get your insults right," Neal glanced over his comic to the two boys who were sniggering at him.

"GEEK," one spelled it out expressively to insult him before high-fiving his friend.

Shaking his head, Neal raised his comic and resumed reading.

At least his experience of being teased and bullied made him less susceptible to being hurt by it.

Growing up with an inattentive mother meant he learned to bathe, do laundry, cook, and so on by himself at early ages to cover his needs and reduce those early years of ridicule.

Once he'd gotten past that, then his nerdy interest in comics, computer games, math, and being a cop had become targets.

He'd resigned himself to being an outcast amongst his peers in general, but he couldn't help the tiny hope that maybe it would be different someday. In the meanwhile, he was friendly to all and tried to cultivate friendly acquaintances in the absence of friendships.

When the next bell rang, it was for all students to be in class. The teacher entered the room from where he'd been standing in the hall and began introductions.

Putting his comic book away, Neal didn't want to cause trouble with the teacher on the first day, and then he settled back to the class routine.

Routine

Just like the years before, life had settled down into a routine for Kieran. He got up, got ready, ate his cereal, and headed to school. There, he went to his perch and did homework or puzzles until class started. After school, he had his training to keep in shape, a part-time job for spending money, and homework before calling it a day.

There was one other aspect to his day that became an unexpected routine. He noticed that kid, Danny, and his growing routine.

Why did it matter, why did he care?

Regardless of the reason, he noticed that Danny rode the bus to school as well, but one from a different neighborhood. When he arrived, he always walked up to his matching perch across from where Kieran sat and pulled a comic book or homework assignment out to keep himself occupied until school started. He'd always nod over the distance in greeting too, much as he did if he saw him in the hallway between classes. Then after school, Kieran had seen the kid doing his own training towards some kind of track sport. There didn't seem to be anything in common between them, and yet, they seemed to always notice the other if their paths crossed.

Chalking it up to boredom, Kieran ignored the kid in general and never returned the nods. He wasn't friends with Danny and they never talked.

Growing used to his new life, Danny had even learned to think of himself as his alias. It probably helped to think of it as a long-term undercover assignment. He couldn't be a cop anymore, not after learning the truth of his dad, but he still felt the connection to cops that had been instilled into him since childhood.

As expected, most of his fellow classmates treated him cordially at a distance, some teased or attempted to bully him, but no one seemed to be particularly inclined to be friends. Even Kieran seemed to keep a distance by generally ignoring him. It was expected, but he was still disappointed.

The rest of his life fell into a more predictable pattern.

His days started early to go for a run, shower, cook breakfast, and see his mom off to work before catching the bus himself. When he got to school, he nodded to Kieran and took up his residence in the opposing space until school started. His classes were accomplished easily enough, he was smart and could keep up even if he zoned out to sketch once in a while. After school, he trained to keep in shape for track before dropping by a few places inquiring for a job. Back at home, he did the chores and put dinner on the table so that everything was ready when his mom got home. Once she'd gone to her room for the night, he did his homework and either did some art or played video games until bed.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, commenting/reviewing, leaving kudos, and choosing to favorite :D

While some of my family was passing through where we used to live, they picked up a little boy hamster since the shop we've frequented over the years sells them younger and more tame than others we've visited in our experience. When they returned, we welcomed little baby Oliver (middle name yet to be decided) into our home and family :D He has albino red eyes and reddish brown and white fur with a copper undertone and almost no tail which makes him a unique little genetic composion to go with the usual adorableness that was too be expected! He doesn't replace Dakota, but we look forward to as much time as possible with him :D