Before anyone really knew it, the first day of school had approached. John was already awake, as he'd made sure to wake up early so he'd have time to walk to school. The bus was gross and smelly, and his dad couldn't drive him because he had to go to work, and John didn't know how to drive yet, so he walked to school. The brunette ran his fingers through his messy, dark brown hair and climbed out of bed, stretching a bit. It kind of felt nice to go through the routine of getting ready: eating breakfast, taking a shower, brushing teeth, putting on the nice clothes his dad had bought him for his return to school. John managed to get ready in about an hour, which gave him plenty of time to walk to school and to be there before the bell rang.
He locked the door to the house behind him as he left, and put his key in his pocket so he wouldn't lose it. The brunette sighed as the crisp autumn breeze combed through his hair and lightly brushed his skin. It was really nice. The boy walked calmly down the streets of the suburb that he lived in, sometimes stopping to take in all the sensory magic, like the way fall smelled or how the leaves crackled when he stepped on them, or the way the blue-gray sky contrasted with the colors of the leaves. He lived pretty close to the school, and could see it from where he stood on the sidewalk.
The brunette walked onto the school campus, glancing around. He saw Dave, who was leaning against the flagpole. It seemed like he was waiting for someone, which probably was the case, considering that none of his friends looked to be around. "Hey Dave!" John called, waving to his friend. The blonde's eyes widened beneath his black shades as soon as he saw his friend. "John!" a smile came onto Dave's face, and he hugged his best friend. "Still pale as ever, I see," John teased. "I can't believe you'd make fun of someone with a medical condition!" the albino laughed. That was true, Dave did have a medical condition, and he really couldn't tan out of fear of getting burnt. John seemed very dark in comparison, even though his skin was pretty fair for someone who was half Israeli.
"Where are the others?" John asked. "Dirk's gonna be late. He slept through his goddamn alarm again. Rose is on her way, and Jade is over there talking to Jake. Not sure where Roxy or Jane are, although Roxy is probably with Rose, and who knows where the hell Jane is. That girl's a fuckin' enigma," Dave shrugged. "I'm gonna go say hi to Jade and Jake," the brunette nodded, walking over to where the two were standing. "Hey!" John chirped. Jade glanced over at John, her green eyes widening. A huge smile came on to her face, and it's bright glow contrasted with her otherwise dark skin and hair. "Oh my gosh! Hi John!" Jade laughed, hugging her friend tightly. The boy drew in a sharp breath as Jade hugged him. Jesus. That girl had strong arms!
"Hi Jade. Hi Jake," the boy waved at Jake, who was smiling a little awkwardly. Jake and Jade were cousins on her Mom's side, so they didn't really talk or meet a lot as family. "Hey John! Swell meeting you again!" the shorter boy nodded. He had a rather thick English accent, which was ironic considering his last name. It was merely coincidental, though. "Dave's over there—" the brunette was cut off by a loud squeal from Jade. He looked over to make sure that she was okay, only to find her tightly embracing none other than Jane Crocker, who still had the same short black hair and pudgy frame that she'd had at the beginning of last year, and who was also his cousin, albeit not one he met very much outside of the occasional family reunion.
Eventually, Rose and Roxy showed up, completing the group of friends. Except Dirk, of course, who was apparently running late. The seven of them chatted for a bit before Dave's older brother showed up, an orange hoodie tied around his waist and a piece of toast in his mouth, anime style. "Sorry I'm late. I accidentally slept through my shitty alarm again," the blonde laughed. "Dave didn't wake me up either," Dirk mumbled, glancing at his younger brother. "I knew if I woke you up you'd be mad. Don't fuckin' lie to me, bro. I know you like sleeping in," the younger Strider teased. Dirk simply sighed and ate his toast, eventually joining in with the others' conversation.
They mostly just talked about what they did over the summer. Dave apparently released his 'totally sweet and absolute fire' mixtape on some popular music sites and had gotten quite a lot of hits, and even some people asking him to DJ for them, which was cool. The Lalonde girls had a pool party; Rose also reread Harry Potter in full, and Roxy was able to crack a difficult encryption she'd been working on for a summer programming class. Jake had gone hiking with Dirk, and Jane had quite a few bake sales, which had given her some extra spending money that she could use for whatever she liked. Jade dog-sat for some neighbors while they were on a trip, and she also replanted her garden, which was torn up by said dogs. When it got to be John's turn, he wasn't very sure what to say. "Uh...I replayed all my Pokemon games. I wrote some essays for my STEM thing, and rewatched all Matthew McConaughey's movies. I also wrote some really basic coding stuff, but I ended up scrapping it because it sucked," the boy nodded. Pretty uneventful. Regardless, everyone seemed like they had fun, so John was happy about that.
Afterwards, they all compared schedules. John had English first period, which he was with Rose in. Second period was Math, and since he and Dirk were the only ones doing the STEM program at the school, they had STEM math together. Third was French, which he really enjoyed but wasn't too good at. He and Jade were both in the same French III this year, so she could help him study. Apparently he had classes with all his friends except Jake, Jane, and Dave, but he saw them at lunch, so it more or less evened everything out. As the eight of them entered the school building for the first time in months, nothing would have prepared them for what was to come in the next few months.