One Week Later...
As Colin looked into the mirror, he asked himself, "am I ready to do this?" The last week had been the craziest ride of his life, and now here he was, standing in a random families bathroom, ready to start his first day of school.
Colin had been to school before, but it wasn't exactly what you would call a high class education. Most of the kids there were on free lunches, the gym was decaying, and most importantly, no one liked him. His friends were the kids that rarely showed up at school, and spent most of their time smoking, drinking, or a combination of the two. But today, he realized the big chance that he had.
"Maybe I'll actually make some friends, for once," he said to himself in the mirror. "Or maybe the teachers will like me. Or maybe even a girl could talk to me! Mama would be so proud..." His voice trailed off as he thought of Mama and Chica. "They'll be fine... they'll find a new employee or something... they can't just have no one worki-"
"COLIN, HURRY UP! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR LITERALLY 2 HOURS TO GET IN HERE!"
"Ok, ok, he patient, chica!" he yelled to Lori as he walked out of the bathroom. His whole appearance had been changed over the course of the past week. Instead of wearing his old Chargers shirt and ragged shorts, he wore new jeans and a University of Michigan hoodie. He also had a buzz cut and had shaved what little of a beard he had. He had had many firsts, also, such as his first shower in years, his first real sit down dinner, and an actual "brother." Yes, he knew Lincoln wasn't really his brother, but if they were going to live in the same house, they needed to get to know each other better.
"Sooo, what do you like to do?" Colin asked Lincoln.
"Well, I like to watch TV. And, umm, I like video games."
"Chico, I've never even owned anything remotely related to a TV, and when I bought one it sucked me into it."
"How about comic books? Do you like those?"
He thought for a minute. He used to read the comic books on the shelves in the corner store when it was closed, but he really couldn't remember all the characters. He did recall one, though.
"Oh yeah, I like comic books! My favorite was this one guy called, umm, Stupor Man."
"Who?"
"Stupor Man? You've never heard of him?"
"No, but my favorite is Ace Savvy. He's a crimefighter."
"Aww, sweet!" And so Colin and Lincoln had sorta bonded by the first day of school. But there were still 10 sisters left in the house to get to know, and he knew that wouldn't be so easy.
After -managing- to get all the kids in the car and get to school, Colin was sent to homeroom, where he was given a scedule and pencil. The teacher read off the names on his attendance sheet, and then made an announcement.
"Ladies, gentlemen, I believe we have a new student. Where's, umm, Colin G. Loud?"
"Colin Loud?" he thought to himself as he stood up. "Why would they have my last name as Loud?"
"Er, hi. Ummm, I'm Colin. And it's nice to meet all of-"
"Where are you from, kid?" Asked a short kid with red hair in the back.
"Umm, California. San Diego to be specific."
His announcement of where he was from was met by a barrage of questions.
"Was it hot down there?"
"Is San Diego in Mexico?"
"Are you a Chargers fan?"
"Yes, No, and most definitely," he said as the teacher restored order to the classroom and the bell rang.
He walked out of class, but before he even got out the door, someone rammed into him from the side.
"Hey, watch where you're going, chico," he said to the kid that ran into him.
"Did, you just speak spanish?"
"Sí. ¿Tienes algún problema con eso, amigo?
"No hay problema. ¿cuál es tu nombre?"
Colin, realizing that whoever ran into him was hispanic like him, replied, "My name? Colin. Colin Gomez"
"Nice to see another Latino here. I'm Bobby. Bobby Santiago."
"Good to meet you, Bobby. Hey, do you know where the Civics classroom is? I have no idea where I'm going."
"Sure, sure. You just go down the hall and take a left tur- Hey, Lori!"
"Hi, Bobby boo boo bear! I see you've met Colin."
"Bobby Boo Boo Bear?" Colin asked confused.
"Oh yeah, Colin, Bobby here is my boyfriend. You two should hang out some time!"
"Umm, ok?" He said as Lori walked away to get to class. "So where's the room again?"
"The what? Oh, yeah, the civics room I'd down the hall to the left. You better hurry though, or else you'll be late."
"Ok, thanks Bobby!" Colin said as he walked down the hall. Did he just make a new friend? He would have to think about it later as he walked into his first class of the year.