Ch. 7 Back To School

Nathan walked up to Daley's doorstep, his backpack tossed over his shoulder. He was a little nervous- today was the first day of school and the first day they came back to the real world. Nathan knew that, somehow, things were not going to go over very well. He figured that it was his job to make sure that he and Daley didn't get taunted or even worse, picked upon. He knew that people would be surprised at them as well as angry.

He knocked carefully, and Lex answered.

"Hey, Daley will be there in a second. Looking forward to school?" Lex joked.

"No, not really," Nathan laughed.

"Nor am I. I begged my Mom to let me be home schooled. She refused. Ah well. Oh look, here comes Daley," Lex went back to his breakfast table immediately as Daley came running down the stairs, her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hey you," Daley laughed.

"Hey you," Nathan rolled his eyes but grinned.

"Ready to go?" Nathan asked.

"Ready as ever," Daley nodded.

Nathan grabbed her hand and laced her fingers with his, "come on, let's go."

Daley grinned and got into Nathan's car with him. They drove up to school, and Daley got out nervously. Jackson and Melissa came running over to greet them.

"Hey guys. I don't see Eric, Taylor or Abby yet. But we're early so that we don't have to worry about people asking stupid questions, so they should be here soon," Jackson shrugged.

"People are going to ask us stupid questions anyway, Jackson," Nathan sighed, "and hopefully we'll be able to dodge most of them."

All nodded and let out murmurs of agreement.

Eric, Taylor, and Abby pulled up then, and ran out to meet them.

"Ready?" Eric asked.

They all nodded, and went inside.

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Lex walked into his school, and sighed. It still smelled the same. A sporty boy came walking up to him.

"So. You're back," he growled.

"Hey Butch. What do you want?" Lex sighed.

"I want your lunch money. For too long I have been broke," he growled.

"Here," Lex sighed, spilling out two dollars, "can you leave me alone now?"

"I might," he cackled and walked off.

Lex sighed, "Great…"

Another one of the jocks came walking up to him.

"Hey geek," he shoved some books into Lex's arms, "do my homework."

Lex sighed and walked away quickly, dropping the books on the ground as he went.

"GEEK!" the jock picked up the books and shoved them in his arms again.

"No," Lex spat, and the jock went and punched him in the face. Lex groaned and rolled over when a teacher came running over.

"What are you doing? Detention for you, Jake! Possible Suspension!" she gasped. The bully snarled and walked away, as the teacher bent down to Lex.

"Lex, do you need to see the nurse?" she asked kindly.

"Yes, please," Lex revealed that his nose was bleeding heavily.

"Oh dear," she gasped, "Anne! Robert! Please come over!"

Lex's two best friends from before he left, who were very glad to see him today, came running over.

"Yes Mrs. Javenson?" they both asked, and then gasped when the saw Lex.

"Lex?" Anne gasped.

"Lex!" Robert's eyes bulged out.

"Can you help me take Lex to the nurse's office?" Mrs. Javenson asked calmly.

"Yes," they both said immediately and lifted Lex's arms around both their shoulders as Mrs. Javenson followed close behind.

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Nathan walked cautiously through the cafeteria. Carrying his tray of food, he walked around the cafeteria.

The people who he would normally sit with, the smart jocks, waved him over. He shook his head sadly and went past. He went past the dumb jocks, the popular girls (used to be Taylor's group), the rocker and punk kids (Jackson sat there, didn't really talk), the geeks, the perfectionists (all girls, both sporty and smart, and worried about their looks in the meantime, used to be Daley's group), the animal rights activists (used to be Abby's group), the slackers (used to be Eric's group), the helpers and volunteers (used to be Melissa's group), and the slightly geeky slightly cool kids. Right up to the table that was always empty.

Except today. Today Daley, Melissa, and Jackson were already sitting there and laughing; and Abby, Eric, and Taylor were on their way over.

"Hi guys," Nathan sat down in-between Daley and Melissa and grinned.

"Hi Nathan," Daley smiled.

"Hola," Melissa laughed.

Jackson nodded in greeting. Taylor, Eric, and Abby sat down then. They all laughed and talked, but it was obvious that the entire Junior Class was staring at them in complete shock.

"So Jackson," Daley began, trying to get the mood to lighten a little when they all looked around and saw everyone staring at them, expecting something along the lines of the Apocalypse, "what's going on with the whole trial thing?"

"My Step-dad's trying to put it off for a while, so that I can really get back into my routine before I go through something like that," Jackson shrugged.

"You know what I found out yesterday?" Nathan said bluntly, looking angry.

"What?" Melissa asked.

"My sister's depressed! Kate, you know. She's been taking more than what she's supposed to on her antidepressants, and so she has to go without for a few days. She's just moping around the house, and when an airplane is mentioned she screams, and hugs me every five seconds. I can't believe my parents didn't tell me! I mean, I noticed every day she was gone for about an hour, but I thought that was just at a friend's house! Turns out she's going to a psychiatrist," Nathan sighed.

"That really sucks," Melissa acknowledged.

"Yeah. How are you doing with it?" Daley gently squeezed his hand.

"Ah. Could be better. Could be worse. I wish it hadn't happened, though. She was always so much fun. Full of life," Nathan shook his head.

"That's how it always happens. Someone really happy all the time experiences something horrible, and they crash. That's what happened with my real Dad," Jackson explained.

"Yeah, he went insane and had to go to prison," Melissa rubbed his back to calm him.

"He was always so happy. Ah well. Nathan, don't let that happen. As the leader, I command you!" he joked, knowing he wasn't really the leader anymore.

"Will do," Nathan saluted him with laugh.

Everyone was still staring at them, but they frankly didn't care.

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After school was tutoring. All the kids went to a tutor to make up for the last year. Lex didn't have to because, frankly, he was far ahead of his class anyway.

Nathan sighed, lugging home his homework from his tutor. He had tons, as well as his homework from normal school. He called Daley as soon as he dropped the heavy books on his desk.

"Hey Daley," Nathan murmured into the phone.

"Hi. Do you have lots of homework too?" she complained.

"By the ton," Nathan laughed, "so I guess we can't talk."

"No, probably not a good idea. See you tomorrow?"

"Yup. See you. I love you," he grinned.

"I love you too," and Daley hung up reluctantly. Nathan did the same, and started on his homework.

(1, 206 Words) Sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I've had a really busy couple of days. There's only ONE more week of frequent updates, though! So sad! A week from tomorrow my school starts! However, there is an upside. I'm now the 4th oldest student in the school! (Two kids were held back and one is a week older than me) Ha ha!