'Can life get worse?' Leo Valdez thought as he sat in the car. His lawyer really hated him, but almost every adult did. But no one hated him as much as Karen. She hated him more than everyone. And she was driving. Leo was kind of scared that she would kill him, since her hatred was the strongest he had ever seen, Which did not include Theresa, his evil foster mother that constantly abused him. He tried to run away from her multiple times, but failed. And when he did run away, the police caught him. He ended up going to the wilderness school or something. It was either prison or school. If you asked Leo, he would choose prison. He would do everything to not go to a zoo to be treated like an animal. Or school. Whatever.
Leo had a reason to not like schools. He had been bullied by teachers and students. Even principals and guards had used to bully him. It did not matter that he was better in math, and basically smarter than most adults. They would just say: "Stop trying to get attention!" When in reality, Leo hated attention. Even when he tried to kill himself, they said it.
"We're here." Karen spat with hatred. Leo was kind of glad he didn't die. But not at the same time.
The school looked like a prison. Well, not completely. It looked like a school, and like a prison. It was made out of red bricks, and the doors were made out of steel. Leo sensed that it was top security, and that it was almost impossible to get out. Key word: Almost. How did he know that, you may ask? You see, Leo was not a normal kid. And he knew it. Reason number one. He was smarter than most college students, reason number two, he could sense mechanics and build very impressive stuff, and reason number three, well, Leo did not like to think or talk about it. It was the reason his mom died. The reason he was put in foster care, the reason he was in that prison (school), and the reason he kept running.
"Are you done thinking, diablo? Because we have a meeting with the principal." Karen said annoyed.
Leo felt kind of hurt. Diablo. That word stung. He have been called it multiple time. By Tia Rosa, by Mr Stevens, and by Theresa. And now by Karen.
"Well, inside. Now."
The principal's office was probably the only pretty thing in the school. The walls were purely white, with some pictures of beautiful flowers, there was a very nice sofa, and the floor was clean.
"Leonidas Valdez, right?" The principal asked.
"Just call me Leo, sir. " Leo answered.
"Right. Mr. Valdez, your dorm is in the male part of the building, here you have a map if it helps you. Now leave. The adults are talking."
Leo nodded, and left the office.
The map was NOT a map. It was a blueprint of the building. Leo considered himself lucky, since he could read blueprints better than maps.
"So..." He said to himself. "If the boys dorms are to my left, they are..."
"You need help?" A female voice asked. Leo looked up from the blueprint. It was a girl that looked native American. She had choppy brow hair and brown eyes. No wait. Green eyes. No, blue. Whatever. "Yeah, sure."
She smiled.
"Ny name is Piper Mclean. You?"
"Like in Tristan Mclean?" Piper rolled her eyes. "Leo Valdez." Leo said.
After joking around a bit, they found the boy dorms.
"Well, Thank you." Leo said to piper. She just smiled and walked away. Leo made a new friend.