Alex awoke promptly to the sound of an unfamiliar alarm clock, some groans and swearing in french. He cracked an eye open and saw an unfamiliar ceiling with a slowly moving fan. Where am I? He thought, and then the events of the past day came flooding back to him. Finding his room, meeting the other kids, studying until Herc threatened to flush his books down the toilet, and-his stomach grumbled- Right. Being too excited to eat dinner.
A pillow hit him on the face. He sat up, noticing Laf's guilty grin. He rolled his eyes and threw the pillow back at him.
"Dibs!" Herc yelled, running into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him. Herc, Alex recalled, had not skipped dinner.
Alex layed back down again, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. But that was cut short to just a few seconds, when John turned on the overhead lamp and threw the covers off Alex.
Alex groaned. "Just a few more minutes?"
John shook his head. "It's the first day of school, and we do not want to be late."
Alex stubbornly tried to grab the blankets back. "Suit yourself," John sighed, grabbing his clothes and heading into the closet to change.
Alex looked over his outfit for the millionth time, internally debating weather it was too formal or too casual. "What are you guys wearing?" he asked.
Laf held up his tee shirt and shorts, John shouted "Clothes," from inside the closet, and Herc began what seemed to be a well-rehearsed monologue.
"Well," he shouted from the other side of the door, "I sewed my outfit myself. The shirt is made of cotton fibers imported from-"
"Nobody cares!" Laf shouted back. It was obvious they'd had this argument many times before. Alex could imagine Herc's eye roll.
John stepped out of the closet, wearing a tee shirt, sweater, and khakis. He had his hair pulled back in a ponytail, but a few curls had already escaped and were trailing prettily around his head. He sat down on his bed, and began rifling through his backpack. Alex took one last look at his outfit, a polo and jeans, and stepped into the small walk-in closet.
When he emerged, Herc and John were restlessly fidgeting with their backpacks. Alex grabbed his. When Laf stepped out of the bathroom, Herc jumped up and pointed at the clock. "C'monit'stimetogowedontwannabelatehurryhurryhurry!"
Laf rolled his eyes, but John nodded at Herc encouragingly.
When the boys got into the hallway, John said, "I vote we each just take a granola bar from the bin and skip breakfast." Herc agreed, and Alex took two.
Walking toward the buildings, Laf asked, "Which course are you guys taking?"
"Huh?" Herc said, taking off his earbuds.
"Which class. Y'know, Sciences or Languages." That was John.
"Sciences is math, science, and biology," Alex added. "Languages is History, Writing, and Literature."
"Languages," Herc told them.
"Me too!" said Laf, John, and Alex. Then, "jinx!"
"I'm also doing debate club," said Alex.
"So am I!" said John, smiling.
"I'm doing the arts and crafts club," said Herc. Laf snorted. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Laf said, "But isn't that just for girls?"
"No!" Herc said. "It's for boys, too."
"How many boys do you know that like to sew?" Laf persisted.
"One," Herc replied grudgingly. But he was quick to add, "But I'm sure I'll meet more at the meeting today."
Laf chuckled. "Well, I'm doing the françe club."
"Wait, clubs are meeting today?" asked a suddenly worried John.
"Yeah. I'm so excited!" Alex said.
"Yeah, me too," said John. "Just nervous."
Laf and Herc nodded knowingly. Alex wondered if they had done after-school activities. He had never done extracurricular things in the past, as his family did not have enough money.
"Let's hurry, guys!" That was Herc.
"Yeah," said John. "To our classes we all have together!"
And so the new friends walked down the hallway with a renewed purpose, Alex gnawing on his second granola bar.