Jack got out of his dad's car at the school gates. It wasn't a long walk from his new house but it was necessary. Only he knew who Jack had to meet this morning then he'd be off to his new job. That's why Jack moved to Rochdale. All Jack knew about Rochdale is that they had a lower Football League team and that's about it.
Walking through the gates for the first time among total strangers. All he knew is they went to the same school as him but he was the only one who had his dad with him. Since they came in early, it's not as many students as there could be. A few glances at the new face but not much more. If anything, his dad made him feel a little more out of place.
Little did he know, parents walking into the front gates are more of a sign of trouble at the school. He didn't know it as he expected a normal, quiet school like the one he experienced in the South. A story Waterloo Road experiences about once a month would have been unheard of in the history of the school Jack was in.
Michael Byrne is standing at the front door of the school. For him, this seemed like a more normal intake than was used to. A record from their previous school with a positive behavioural and attendance record. If anything, it's the opposite of the excitement a school like Waterloo Road is infamous for.
"Ah. Mr Williams." Says Michael Byrne in his usual tone. Putting his hand out to shake Marcus Williams' hand. "We spoke on the phone and everything seems to be in order." He continues to say with a more upbeat tone than he had with other new arrivals.
"And you must be Jack." Mr Byrne says as he looks over at him. Holding his hand out for a handshake which is shaken quickly.
"Yep. That's me." Says Jack in his usual understated tone. "Excellent. Follow me inside and we can sort your final things out." Mr Byrne replies as he turns to walk into the school.
Marcus walks back to his car and drives off as Jack and Mr Byrne head inside. Walking up to his office, Mr Byrne strikes up a conversation. "So this is a little different to your old school. I don't know if you've read much about it but this place has a history. I haven't been down South but I'm sure it didn't have that many issues. Here, you'll probably be a bit like a big fish in a small pond."
In reply, Jack looks a little confused. "Erm. No. What do you mean?"
Michael Byrne looks a little concerned. Wondering how much detail he should go into. "You've seen the place now and this is where you'll be. But don't be surprised if the unexpected happens. You could probably easily find some articles in the Rochdale Observer. I haven't been here long myself but that helped."
As they get into his office, he looks over to Janeece. "Janeece. This is Jack Williams. I just need you to make sure we have his details. Come in when you're done."
Janeece, almost out of character, quickly finds his details and allows Jack to have a quick scan through them. "I don't know my address exactly yet but I don't see anything wrong with what's here."
As he's done, he walks into Mr Byrne's office and takes a seat. Mr Byrne goes through the summary of his file. "Your coursework is already with your teachers and everything appears to be in order. It's a different place for you but you'll be fine. As I said, you'll be a big fish in a small pond. Just don't get arrogant doing that and we'll be fine." He pauses as Jack nods. Not fully understanding what he means but it's a different experience as Mr Byrne goes to stand up. "You've started on a good day. Your class is sitting in on a radio show this morning. But first, your tutor will be Mr Budgeon. I can take you to him if you'd like."
Jack stands as Mr Byrne does. Picking up his backpack and following Mr Byrne to Mr Budgeon's classroom. As they're outside, "I almost forgot." Says Mr Byrne as he hands two pieces of paper to Jack. "Your timetable and a map of the school. It's not as big as your old one but it's there if you need it."
Jack takes the pieces of paper from Mr Byrne. Taking a glance at his timetable as if any of the names would be recognisable. Of course, none of them are familiar so he heads in. As he walks in, there's a scowl from the man at the desk in the front of the room. "Who are you?" He says either in a foul mood or a miserable character.
"I'm Jack Williams." He says, assuming the seemingly grumpy man at the front of the room is referring to him. "I'm new. I start today." He says, slightly fearful of what he would say. Nobody with such an attitude existed at his old school. If they were, it was a grumpy day than the nature he seems to be.
He takes what feels like an age to look down his register. "Ah, yes. Sit down." He says in a demanding voice. Slightly put off by his nature, Jack goes to the back corner of the room. Confused by his attitude more than anything. He seemed like a stereotype from the 60s more than anything else.
Jack takes a look around the room. Obviously, he has no idea who anybody is. As Mr Budgeon goes through the register, he says a name and the boy on the table next to her says "Wake up Manga Girl." A little confused as it just looked like she was reading from behind and Jack's focus was a little drawn by not wanting to draw attention to himself.
As he continues, the boy on the table gets up and takes the book. He wasn't focusing on it to not draw attention to himself. Fortunately, the book seemed to have more attention than was on him. After what seemed like a threat, he hands the book back and takes a seat.
As he does, somebody else walks in. Mentioning foster parents as her reason or excuse for being late. As she walks past the girl in front, it looks like she kicks the book as she walks past and the girl gets a little defensive. She had mentioned something about the 1985 original but he doesn't know what she means by that. He doesn't know if anybody else knows or even cares.
For a few moments, it's a little confusing when it sounds like a radio show in the classroom for a moment. It didn't appear it would be a school announcement like an American film but a man with a local accent spoke for a few moments almost confused before a female voice. She mentioned something about hosting a radio show. Jack didn't pay much attention until she says about the headteacher surviving a violent stabbing. "Is that what he meant by a strange school?" Jack thought to himself. Quickly dismissing those thoughts as he said he hadn't been there long.
After the announcement, the room became a little more alive with talk of a radio show. Fortunately, Jack realises he isn't alone in having no clue who she is as one of the other kids says the same. Though hearing her described as uncensored makes Jack a little concerned. Thinking she's more like one of those bottom-of-the-barrel gossip TV magazines or The Sun.
As the bell goes, Jack asks the boys in front if they were going to this radio 'thing' since he doesn't know his way around the school. Fortunately, they were and Jack tagged along with them. As he enters, the man with the local accent from the start of the announcement calls him to stand to the side and asks him outside for a moment.
The man introduces himself as Mr Clarkson. "So, you're Jack Williams." He says as Jack nods. "I've had a look at your English coursework and you seem fine. I hope you're settling in fine. We can properly go through it later." Jack seems hopeful that his English teacher is less miserable than the one he had met earlier. "Don't worry if you don't have any idea what's going on today." With a little more confidence in him, Jack replies quickly. "Yeah. Mr Byrne said about as much to me about the entire school." Jack says as a lighthearted comment.
"You get used to it." Mr Clarkson says as he ushers me back into the room. Taking the only remaining seat in the back corner. The back corner was probably a good place to sit with the story going on and then the ensuing conversation about virginity. A conversation like this would have been shut down at Jack's old school.
Sitting in on this got a little more awkward as the girl known as Manga Girl appeared on the screen of the show host's laptop. It was a little surprising but the new boy story was fortunately diverted by this girl running out of the room. I introduced myself to a few of the people around me. They seemed normal-ish as she ran out of the room embarrassed.
Fortunately, the radio show cut into PE. Mr Diamond was surprised that Jack had a PE kit as some of the normal kids can't bring their own. Shuffling into the school hall, trying to stay anonymous, they continued to tease this girl. They got what they wanted since she responded. All Jack knew about the girl is that she is in foster care. So the comment about 'Manga Girl' kissing her dad was funnier than it should have been. As good as the comment was, trying to catch her out by throwing the ball wasn't the right move. Watching this go on was more fun as an outsider. Able to treat it like an episode of some TV show about people he doesn't know.
Outside of the bites between the group and the girl, PE turned out uneventful. Heading back to the changing room, Jack was surprised to see people showering. There were showers at his old school but he never saw them used. Definitely not after PE. We generally hid ourselves to make sure we didn't get attacked or something.
Despite this, Jack was one of the last out. Walking out to a commotion in the corridor. He let out a sigh as it looked like the girl was treated badly. Feeling sorry for her more than anything as this guy rushes through. He looked older. He could have been her brother. Jack kept to the side mainly to stay out of the way. He recognises Mr Clarkson's voice and a few laughs but it just all felt a little pathetic. I don't know how she was before I was here but doesn't seem the type to deserve being treated that way.
In English, it was a little awkward. Mr Clarkson requested I sit at the front since he wanted to speak to me anyway. It felt awkward being in that situation where he seemed annoyed at the class. As much as I thought Denzil had a point, Jack feels like he'd have been sent out in his last school. Same for the girl who openly called her a freak. The tone of the discussion would have struck fear into us. It did into Jack who was a little worried about speaking to Mr Clarkson. Even though he understood exactly why.
Of Mice and Men wasn't Jack's favourite book having studied it in his previous school. Being on the same exam board meant it didn't take much adjusting and he already had the book with some work. It was pretty much silence after the shouting he gave the class. Being called to his desk generated more attention than Jack would have liked. He apologised for the situation but Jack understood. "No, it's fine. They've been doing it all day."
Double PE and then double English would have been a nightmare day but Jack felt it was easy. Being able to refer to his previous work gave him an unfair advantage but it helps with understanding where they are. If anything, it felt like his previous school was ahead than of him struggling.
Lunch was fairly quiet. Having spoken to a few people, they warned Jack off the school dinners. There was never an interest in that area anyway since he always brought a packed lunch. Jack took a spot against a wall to eat his lunch. Taking notice of the football and basketball to make sure he wasn't in their way. This was about as normal as it got. Sat against a wall with his friends, which he didn't have yet, eating lunch.
Looking around, he noticed an open gate. It's unusual. At his old school, there was one way out but it was pretty much a detour en route to the sports pitches. Even then, it was supervised to make sure nobody went missing. "I could walk out of here and nobody would know." Jack thought to himself as he looked around. Noticing the two friends from earlier and an unfamiliar girl. Since she went over to the boy from earlier, I think it's 'Manga Girl' looking a little different. Jack couldn't help but notice they just walked out of school. We were never allowed to and it was never a thought anyway.
Walking around the school, trying to find his way around, he found the Common Room. Bumping into a larger man with glasses. Anybody would have thought he'd be a Maths or IT teacher. It looked like he went into, what it was called at Jack's school, the Food Tech room. The man returned for Maths. As with Mr Clarkson earlier, he had wanted to speak to me. He seemed great and mentioned it was his first year of teaching. He was impressed by my grades at my last school and was glad to hear somebody call Maths and IT their favourite subjects.
It was about 2pm when we were interrupted by the radio show and the teacher headed out in a rush. Jack didn't know why but it was probably important. The place is a little less structured than his old school. Whatever it was before turned into absolute chaos when the girl they called 'Manga Girl's voice came over the speaker. Detailing something which made Jack ever more uncomfortable. He was speechless at that point in the front row. Being the new kid on a day like this would be a godsend for a lot of people. All the attention is off you but it's turned into a baptism of fire.
One of the Sciences was cancelled to head back to this radio show. Jack was regretting it as he expected it to just become more awkward. Unsurprisingly, it did become awkward as 'Manga Girl' walked in. She had been called out during Maths and returned now. It played out like a soap opera in front of him.
At the end of the day, Jack thought it was a decent idea to wait for this girl and spotted her when she was walking out. "Hey. I'm Jack. Thanks for taking the heat off being the new kid." He didn't know if it was shyness or wanting the world to swallow her from the day she had. "I'm joking. That was horrible to listen to. One of them called you a freak in front of Mr Clarkson. That's ridiculous."
She smiled as she headed off. "Thanks. I'm Andi by the way." She says as she got into the van with her mum.
As she walked off, Mr Clarkson came out. "Hey. Sorry about today. You seem like a smart kid so I'll explain it quickly. She went off with a Year 13 boy at lunch, came back, said she had sex on the call-in and then admitted it to be a lie." Understandingly, Jack nods. "I thought it was her brother at break. I saw them heading off but I don't know the policy around here. They'd been going on at her before that. She had a decent comeback but I think that struck a nerve with the fostered blonde girl. Something about kissing her dad."
Mr Clarkson nods. "I doubt it's something you're used to. I've seen a wide variety of things." Understanding what he means, Jack replies quickly. "My Byrne said about stories in the local paper. I'll have a look at those and I'll probably figure out what he means. It's definitely different to my old school."