Kenny groaned. "Some first day, huh buddy?"

Andre didn't answer. He was too upset and hungry to notice that they were in an office already.

"Taro, I was told you threw a pizza at someone." The man said.

"No sir, I ran out to stop them from creaming Andre and I accidentally bumped into her. I swear I didn't mean to." Kenny said. "I'd swear it, but swearing isn't allowed in school. Honestly Mr. Bennett, we're innocent victims."

"You're a pretty believable kid." Mr. Bennett said. "But I'll need your part of the story." He said, switching his stern gaze to Andre.

Andre proceeded to explain that he'd been sitting, waiting for Kenny when the seniors demanded that he move. He said he just wanted to ask why he wasn't allowed to sit where he wanted and they just lost their temper. Then Rico had come and saved his face from being punched in.

"Rico isn't going to be expelled, is he?" Kenny said. "That guy threw the first punch, not Rico."

"Yeah, and you're not going to tell my mother are you?" Andre asked nervously.

"Unfortunately, yes." Bennett said. "It's my job to alert parents to what occurred. Rico is not expelled. I will tell them your story and that you two are not in trouble, but I don't want either of you in any more fights."

"Yes sir." Andre said.

Kenny shifted uncomfortably. "Y-you're not going to call my dad are you?" he whispered.

"It is down to the rule book that I must." He noticed Kenny's face grew pale. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." Kenny said in a barely audible whisper.

"Did you two eat lunch at all?"

Andre shook his head.

"I'll be right back." He said, exiting the room.

"I'm sorry." Andre said.

Kenny didn't respond.

Andre thought he might be angry over losing his pizza.

"Excuse me." The door opened and a girl peeked in. "I've been told to bring you two somewhere." She said.

Kenny stood up silently and nodded. Andre followed both of them to part of the high school.

The girl had dark brown hair in a ponytail and light brown eyes.

"You two are lucky that there's a pizza lunch for the ASL club." She said. "We'll let you have pizza if you promise to give our club a try when you come to high school."

Andre smiled, "I will. By the way, who are you?"

"The name's Marlene." She said, leading them up the stairs. "So what did you two do anyway?"

"Some seniors were bullying us." Kenny muttered. "Actually, him." He pointed to Andre. "I did a poor job of helping. Rico came to help, and then it turned into a fight."

"Rico…he sounds familiar."

"He was here last semester." Kenny said.

"I guess I never met him." Marlene said, opening a door. "Hey everyone!" She said. "These two are going to join us for today."

Andre also noticed she was moving her hands unusually. He saw a few kids with some devices in their ears and they were watching Marlene carefully as the three entered the room.

"Er…" Andre said. "Hi, I uh…I'm Andre." He kept becoming distracted by Marlene's hand movements.

"And I'm Kenny." Kenny said as if this didn't bother him at all.

A boy towards the other room signed something.

"I know you from the dorms, Kowalski's brother, right?" Marlene said.

Andre was confused, of course she knew Kenny was Kowalski's brother, but Marlene was looking at the boy.

"Yeah, I saw you this morning. How's it going, Phil?" Kenny said with a smile.

Again, Marlene moved her hands while Kenny spoke, but Phil was looking at her instead of Kenny.

"Fine, how about you?" Marlene spoke.

Andre stared at Kenny. Kenny had formed his hand into a 'c' as if he was holding a cup to his chest and then slid it down. He also had an expression on his face that suggested that he might be hungry.

Phil grinned and gestured to some tables that had pizzas on them.

Kenny put his hand on his chin and then brought it down which caused the other boy to nod. Then Kenny grabbed a piece of pizza.

Andre was completely lost.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Kenny blushed sheepishly, he had forgotten about Andre.

"ASL stands for American Sign Language." Marlene explained while moving her hands. "What I'm doing right now is signing for the deaf people in the room."

"Deaf? So they can't hear me?"

"No, but some can read your lips. I was interpreting Phil's signs for you and Kenny, and Kenny's words for everyone else."

"Phil's deaf?" Andre said, looking over at the boy who was having a signed conversation with his friend.

"Hard of hearing, but he relies on sign language to communicate because he can't speak. He had vocal problems as a baby and couldn't speak after the age of two."

"Oh, Kenny knows sign language?"

"Phil lives in the apartments so I pick up a few things." Kenny said.

"Oh." Andre said. He smiled at everyone and grabbed a slice of pizza. He sat down next to Kenny. "What an interesting day." He said, taking a bite. He gasped with wide eyes.

"What? Too hot?" Kenny asked.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted." Andre said. "Mum told me not to eat pizza, but…Mum's not here!"

Phil's friend laughed. "Really, you've never had pizza?" he asked.

Phil gasped and signed something.

"Did I just hear never and pizza in the same sentence?" His friend said.

Kenny nodded, "Yes, Mason and Phil, this is true."

Andre grinned. "You don't know my mum. Hey, did I hear a British accent?"

"Yup." Mason said. "The name's Mason, I'm from Wales. My family moved here when I was seven."

"Devon." Andre said with a wider smile. "I actually got here this morning. I think it was around 4:00."

Phil signed something questioningly to Mason and Kenny laughed. Mason rolled his eyes.

"What?" Andre said.

"Phil said: Your parents are whales?" Kenny said.

"Oh, because it looks the same on the lips, right?" Andre said.

"Yes, this is why lip-reading is hard sometimes." Kenny said.

Mason nodded in agreement.

By the end of lunch, Andre had learned the alphabet and how to sign 'hi, my name is Andre' as well as a few other signs.

The two younger boys headed back to the middle school, passing the senior girls as they went. Kenny returned the glares they gave him and Andre pretended not to notice.

"Aw man, I forgot." Kenny said. "Andre, I didn't notice we have different English classes. I actually have to go see a teacher who helps me with my dyslexia and I have a tutor two times a week."

"It's alright, where do I go?"

"I don't know, I haven't been there yet…I think it's over there."

Andre headed off in the direction Kenny pointed and asked for directions on the way. However, he became lost when he entered the building.

"Andre?" A girl said. "Over here."

"Ramona, you're in my class?" He asked.

She looked at his schedule for a moment. "No, this is AP English, your class is right down the hall. Look for a teacher with curly brown hair; I think she's wearing a green dress today. Also, we have study hall together last period."

"Thanks." Andre said, hurrying off. He managed to find the classroom about two minutes after the bell. The teacher said she'd let him off because it was his first day.

English class wasn't too bad; the teacher seemed nice, but strict if you got on her bad side. Andre was a bit nervous without Kenny there. He asked the teacher who said that Kenny was trying to pass a special instruction class so he could be in sixth grade English. If he passed this semester, he'd be able to join the class next semester.

Andre met Ramona after class so that they could go to Study Hall.

"Basically, it's just a class where you can do homework with student helpers." Ramona said. "Though you don't have too much homework. Do you have the textbooks?"

"I'm picking them up after class." Andre said.

"Okay, you can share mine."

Kenny and Barry joined them as they completed homework. Ramona helped Barry with science because he kept complaining. Barry seemed to have forgotten what happened during PE and was being perfectly friendly.

Then they had ten minutes left of relaxing.

"I'm bored." Barry said.

"Let's play a game." Ramona said. "If you were an animal, what would you be and why?"

"Easy, I'd be a poison dart frog." Barry said. "I think they're cool and they could boss people around."

"Maybe they'd be sad because no one wants to hug them." Andre said.

Ramona smiled. "I'd be a duckling." She said. "Because they're so cute and yellow, I like yellow and I love swimming."

"Cool, I'd be a penguin." Kenny said. "I know my brother would because he says they're highly intelligent."

"Yeah, not seeing it." Barry said.

"Shut up." Kenny snapped.

"What about you, Andre?" Ramona asked.

"Oh, um…I don't know…" Andre said. "Well, maybe a penguin. They're so cute and cuddly."

"Aww, cute!" Ramona said.

"Yeah, then they karate chop you!" Barry said, slicing his hand through the air.

"Oh please, like that will happen." Kenny said.

"It could!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Cou-"

The bell rang, much to Andre and Ramona's pleasure, interrupting the argument.

Barry zipped out of the room, shouting something about snow cones.

Kenny explained that there was a snow cone cart in the park near the school. They walked out to see the rest of the school piling out too.

Andre was amazed to see so many students.

"Come on or we'll be mowed over." Kenny said, quickening his pace.

Barry joined them with extra snow cones. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Kenny said, grabbing one.

Andre looked at the cone, "Oh, um…"

"Sorry, are you allergic to cherry?" Barry asked.

"No, his mom never lets him eat anything fun."

"Huh?"

"No pizza, no hamburger, sugar free cake…"

"She did what?!" Barry said, some ice spilled out of his mouth. "Gee, does she hate you?"

"No, no, she's just overprotective." Andre said. "My family had to help me beg her to let me come here. Remember when you joked about me going to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I said basketball wasn't Quidditch."

"If I was a wizard, she wouldn't let me go and even if she did, I wouldn't be a Quidditch player even if I was the best player since Harry Potter."

"Dude..." Barry said.

Andre took a bite out of the snow cone and smiled.

"See, it's not like the cone's going to bite you back." Barry said. "It's just shaved ice with flavoring, what's dangerous about that?"

"I asked the same about the tricycle." Andre said as they approached the apartments.

Barry almost dropped his cone. "She wouldn't let you ride a tricycle? I heard that, but I thought you were joking. Riding a tricycle is a rite of passage for children; HOW COULD SHE NOT LET YOU- Oomph!"

Kenny had shoved the cone in Barry's face. "Drop it; we're going to teach him so much."

"Not if you don't clean your room." An angry voice said.

"Eh, hi Alice." Barry said nervously. They were in front of what looked like a giant hotel that must have been at least six stories high. A red headed lady was glaring at the boys.

"I work here, but I am not your maid." She said. "I can smell something terrible coming from your room. I let you order pizza, not throw it all over the place."

Kenny blushed. "Gee Alice, we were just having fun."

"Get up there and clean it!" Alice snapped.

"But I have to help Andre-"

"Clean it, Taro!"

Kenny yelped and ran into the building with Barry behind him.

"Who are you?" Alice asked.

"I-I'm Andre."

"You're the new kid, right? Your parents dropped off your stuff, follow me." She said, entering the building.

Andre's mouth fell open; the inside was huge and gorgeous. It had brown carpeted floors and the walls were painted with jungle scenery. Couches were on either side and two tables with magazines were in front of them. A girl was sitting on a couch reading a fashion magazine. On the other side of the room, there was a giant restaurant area where some kids were already sitting and chatting. There were elevators on the right and on the left were Alice's desk and a supply closet; behind the desk was a door leading to a conference room. There were also two doors on both sides leading to the stairs.

Alice entered the conference room and then returned with Andre's things.

"A bag, a backpack, and a large suitcase. That's it, right?" Alice asked in a bored tone.

"Yes, thank you." Andre said.

"Your room number is 4P. It's on the fourth floor; you can find it, right?" She asked, not sounding concerned at all as she pressed a key into his hand.

"Yes, ma'am." Andre said.

"The dining hall closes at midnight, 9:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; quiet hours are from 11:00pm to 5:00am; I am not to be disturbed during those hours unless it's an emergency; the pool is available for all residents, you must register a guest who doesn't live here; and finally, don't get on my bad side, got it?"

"I think so." Andre said, feeling a little intimidated.

"Good, have fun, Alvin."

"It's Andre."

"I couldn't care less." Alice said, walking away.

Andre shook his head and picked up his things, and then he dragged his case to the elevators and pushed the button. He headed up to the fourth floor.

When he got out of the elevators, he saw two different paths on both sides and a blank wall in front. He took the left hallway and walked down it, and then he realized that the letters went from A-M. Then he headed back up the corridor when a head peeked out of one of the rooms.

"Hey sweetie, are you lost?" The girl asked with a smile.

"I-I…"

"No worry, my name is Gloria and I'm happy to help any new students."

"Uh…" Andre said.

"Do you know your number?"

"Um…4P." Andre said shyly.

"That would be on the other side of this floor. I think you're somewhere on the right."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Gloria said.

Andre smiled and went to the other side and sure enough, his room was the second on the right. He heard loud music coming from 4Q, but he didn't investigate. He swiped the key in the lock and opened the door. He entered to a quiet room which told him that Kenny and Barry were not his roommates.

It was a nice little living room and dining room with a small TV and a cool looking fridge. He spotted the bathroom and two bedrooms. He looked in the first bedroom and saw it was already occupied as there were photos on the wall and papers on both desks. Also, one of the beds was a mess and the other was hastily made.

"So I have at least two roommates." Andre said to himself, checking out the other room.

One bed was empty except for a package that had been sent a few weeks earlier. Andre knew the package contained all of his bedding. He put his things down and looked at the other side of the room. It was clean and there was a laptop sitting out on the bed. The books were straightened on the desk and a journal was on the desk.

He knew he shouldn't look, but he was so curious. He saw that the page mentioned him, but not by name.

Andre lifted the book and began to read:

Dear Journal,

Tomorrow our new roommate comes. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I guess it would be nice to show him around. We're glad to be back at school and away from- that place…Anyway, I said hi to Doris today, well it came out as a squeak…gosh, I'm so embarrassed. But she said hi to me and…that's it. She was with some friends, why don't girls go places alone?

Rocca's helped my brother a lot by tutoring him. Apparently she has a sister back home with Dyslexia. Also, I have to wonder if the batteries ever run out on the music player across the hall…I wish they did.

By the way, Rocca is Marlene's last name. I-

Andre heard a noise from the front door and hastily tossed the journal back on the desk. He stood by his bed and took out all his bedding.

"-Lucky you weren't kicked out." A voice was saying. "I know what you did was in defense of others, but-"

"Aw leave him alone, he's already been talked to by the principal and you know he's going to get a lecture from his dad's girlfriend." Another boy said.

"Ugh." A third boy replied.

"I've met her; she's pretty nice…for a crazy lady." The second boy said.

"At least she's not Alice." The first one said.

The three of them laughed.

Andre let out a small chuckle.

"Hang on." One of the boys said. "Someone's here."

Andre was suddenly nervous, every part of him wanted to hide or run away, but he was frozen.

"Hello?"

Andre didn't respond.

The three boys approached the bedrooms as Andre zipped over to the closet.

Andre peeked over so he could see the back of their heads; two of the boys looked familiar, but the third one was too far back to see.

"There's no one here." One of the boys said.

"But someone has been here."The boy with glasses said. "My journal's been moved. Also, there are bags there." He pointed to Andre's things.

Andre stifled a gasp when the second boy stared right at the spot he was hiding. He just realized who they were.