It was currently 17h00. I was starting to feel the pressure and anxiety building within me. School began tomorrow and, naturally, I was pretty nervous.
I had been in this country for only a week so far and everything was still new to me. It's one thing to visit a foreign country as a tourist, which is something I've always loved to do. But to move to one and attend school in it to boot? That's a whole new layer of complexities and troubles to teenage life. Especially to a kid like me who's always been shy, awkward and has experienced bullying in the past. Not only would I be the new kid in school this time, but also the foreign kid with a funny accent, I bet. Plus, my mother was also going to teach in this school. So could you blame me for being highly anxious?!
We moved all the way from Portugal to the USA, more specifically to Middleton, Colorado. It's not as big as Lisbon, but it's also not a small city per se. It's part of what's called the tri-city area in the state of Colorado alongside Denver and Colorado Springs. Middleton is the smallest of the 3 cities, with a population of around 250000 inhabitants. Not a megalopolis by any means, but it would be a large city back in Portugal. Now, why did we move from Portugal to the USA? My mother got a job as a school teacher at Middleton High, so therefore she had to move and so did I. Also, why was I attending the same school she's going to work at? Because I'm 15 years old and have to attend school, it's not like I have a choice, and it wouldn't make sense for me to attend a much further away HS from the one my mother will be teaching at. So, I was doomed ever since my mother got greenlighted to teach at Middleton High, pretty much.
I was sitting on the living room sofa. The house we moved to here in Middleton was pretty nice. It had a small yard and a fence and everything. Outside it was white and had a dark grey/almost black roof. I kept staring at the TV even though it was turned off. You might be wondering why I was not trying to enjoy my last hours of freedom before going back to school, which was a fair question to make, truth be told. But, the thing is, I was an anxious guy, and when I dreaded something that's nearby, I basically became paralysed and found myself unable to do anything but sit down or lie down and overthink about it as the clock kept on ticking.
"Rafael?" my mother entered the living room. "Here you are." She stood to the side of the sofa.
"Need anything, mum?" I asked with a neutral expression, even though I had a feeling I knew what the kind of subject she's going to broach was.
"I just want to know how you're doing." She smiled softly.
"Oh… I'm alright, I guess" I scratched the back of my head.
"I don't want you to be nervous, dear. It's going to be fine." She tried to reassure me.
"I mean, it was just so fast, you know?" I sighed. "Moving from Portugal all the way to here and we've only been here for a week so far."
"I know." She sat down next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "But I'm sure you will adapt quickly, dear. You're a smart and strong boy."
"I'm just scared of this new environment, you know?" I lowered my head nervously.
"I know you've been through a lot, dear. But moving abroad can be the perfect opportunity for you to start over. And remember, we're in this together. I'll be working in Middleton High as well, so if you ever need my help don't hesitate to reach me, OK?" she smiled softly.
"I guess… but the USA? Why couldn't you pick a fellow European country to move to? There's English speaking countries in Europe too, like Ireland and the UK…" I look at my mother dryly.
"Well, Middleton High offered me a job. No school in Ireland or the UK did" she chuckled.
"The USA is so different from Europe as a whole, though…" I said tiredly.
"I know, dear. But perhaps we should take this as a learning opportunity." She ruffled my hair slightly. "Did you put everything in your backpack yet?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Have you seen the copy of your schedule yet? I left it on your room's desk the other day." she asked.
"Yeah, I have. Don't worry, I won't go in blind on my very first day." I reassured her.
"Good." she smirked. "Just wanted to make sure."
My mother stood up and told me she's going to start preparing dinner for later today. And also suggested I turn on the TV or play some video games to unwind. She did warn me not to start a new story-driven sort of game, however, since summer break ended tonight, naturally. I just turned on my Nintendo GameCube and played some Super Smash Bros. Melee until dinner. I loved this game!
Later that day, we ate some chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner and then, around 22h00, my mother told me I better go to bed. School started early tomorrow, at 8h00. Ouch! I didn't have any fight in me today, so I nodded and walked up to my bedroom, changed and slid between my bedsheets, turned the light off and looked at the ceiling for nearly an hour. I couldn't sleep due to my nerves. I kept turning in bed trying to find the best position to sleep. The last time I had been this nervous the night before a new school year was in 7th grade or something. I was now 15 and about to start 10th grade tomorrow and yet I was still a little kid, it seemed. Even though I was now about 175cm tall, going through puberty and only 3 years away from legally becoming an adult. Teenage years are so weird and lousy.
As I eventually fell asleep, I had rather intense and fast paced incoherent dreams like I usually do when I'm highly anxious or excited about something or when I'm ill. Unfortunately, I was not ill, so no chance of skipping school tomorrow… rats!
I suddenly found myself walking through a huge city that I didn't know, with wide plazas, tall buildings, large hotels and shopping malls and a never-ending metro system. Somehow my legs took me places automatically. Destination? Unknown. Suddenly I felt someone shaking my arm but didn't see anyone touching it?!
"Rafael! Wake up!" a voice told me. I looked around and it didn't seem to belong to any of the faceless people in the crowd walking around me.
"Wake up! Time for school!" I heard it again… mum?!
And then, suddenly my eyesight went blind and I stared at the back of my eyelids for a few seconds until I was able to open my eyes and feel my mother gently rocking my upper body in bed with her hands. It looked like it's morning already and time to get up and go to school on my first day.
"Good morning, dear!" Mum smiled softly at me. "Time to get up."
I slowly sat-up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. I still felt a little tired and sleepy. I let out a deep sigh and my mother gently tapped me in the back trying to give me strength and courage for me to get up and face the beginning of the school year in this foreign land. I stood up and walked to the bathroom to take my morning shower. It didn't take too long, but I washed properly. Then, I brushed my teeth and gargled. And then, I went back to my room and got dressed. Here in the USA, the school year started earlier than in Portugal. So, the weather was still hot since we were still in summer. We were in late August, for crying out loud! Therefore, I just put on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. The t-shirt I was wearing today? My Slayer t-shirt. Might as well look badass on my first day of school!
I climbed down the stairwell and entered the kitchen to join my mother for breakfast. She was reading a newspaper while she drank her coffee mug. I took a seat and had a ham and cheese sandwich and a strawberry yoghurt in front of me waiting to get opened. I didn't waste time and ate my breakfast silently. As I finished eating my sandwich and my yoghurt and my mother finished drinking her coffee, she folded her newspaper and told me it was time to go. So, we headed to the garage and entered her car. She took the driver's seat, obviously, and I sat in the back. Sadly, public transportation in the USA was rudimentary in most places, so it was not feasible for me to take any form of public transportation to and from school. I was going to have to rely on my mother giving me rides. As suffocating as it was that she's working at the same school I was attending! It sucked having no choice. And school was a bit far from home to walk to every morning and Americans didn't build their cities for walking, but for driving around. Strange people…
Throughout the 30-minute car ride, I admired the scenery of Middleton's suburbs and the closer we got to the city centre. Lots of green areas, trees, nice houses and a sense of peace. It did seem like a nice and peaceful city overall. Then, we finally got to Middleton High. Mum drived to the parking lot to park the car, and when she's done parking it, she looked at me.
"Ready, dear?" She smiled softly at me.
"Do I have a choice?" I shrugged.
She chuckled. "I mean, do you feel nervous?"
"Don't think so, no…" I lowered my head as I answered her without sounding very convincing.
"You can get out. I'll get out of the car a bit later. I might as well let you walk to the school entrance alone on your first day in order to let you get used to it" she smiled softly.
"Oh…" I was a bit surprised at her statement. She was giving me some privacy and not letting every kid in school know from the first minute I stepped in Middleton High that I was the son of a teacher. That was surprisingly comforting from her. I nodded, opened the car door, took a quick look around the school parking lot, shut the door gently, took a deep breath, and walked to the school entrance.
Once I stepped inside Middleton High, I felt a bit overwhelmed. So many students! And the halls were long and wide too. So, this was an American high school… It was just like in the movies. So many kids were walking around and none seemed to notice me. I guess the school was so large that people couldn't easily tell who's new at first glance or something. I took out a small paper with the number of my locker. I was a bit excited since I never had a locker back home. Why did American schools have lockers, anyway? I needed my books and notebooks to take home with me to study and do homework. Were they meant to just store valuables to avoid them getting lost or stolen? Most likely. Anyway, I got to my locker and it was rather spacy. I put a lock on it and now I needed to pick a combination for it. I input 3-1-6, as in 'Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass' hehehe!
I just put my lunchbox in my locker. No point in carrying it around throughout the day. Now, I had to head to my first class of the day. I checked my schedule and it said I started with history in classroom nr. 40. I walked around the school looking for it and found it just a few minutes before the bell rang. Once it did, other students began entering the classroom and I followed suit. I sat in the back in order to go incognito. Plus, my eyesight was good and I was taller than average, so I didn't need to sit in the front rows. A few of my classmates were chatting as they waited for the teacher to arrive in the classroom. They either didn't notice my presence or didn't seem bothered by it, even if they didn't recognise me. Not even my Slayer t-shirt seemed to draw their attention, which led me to think they didn't even know the band or anything about heavy metal music. Plebeians!
I double checked my schedule to see if I was in the right place, and I was indeed. I did notice classes were only 1 hour long here, while back in Portugal they're usually 90 minutes long. It looked like the USA kept a similar runtime for classes to Portugal before the 2001/2002 school year. On the other hand, I noticed lunch break was only 30 minutes long, yikes!
A couple of minutes after the bell rang, the teacher entered the classroom. He was a tall, burly man with a big chin and short dark brown hair. He had a stern look on his face and wore a brown blazer and a black tie.
"Okay people LISTEN UP!" he commanded, and the whole classroom went quiet in their seats. "As some of you might not know yet, my name is Steven Barkin and I am your history teacher for this year and also am still Middleton High's football team coach in case any of you would like to try out for the football team this season!" He explained it loudly and authoritatively. "This year, in history, we'll learn about various topics such as the democratic revolutions, the industrial revolution, the rise of European imperialism and colonialism, WW1, the Great Depression and WW2."
Well, at least it was going to be an interesting curriculum! But this teacher sounded like he was pretty strict. And that could easily kill any student's enthusiasm for a class, no matter how interesting the subject matter might be. Barkin then began taking attendance, calling each student's name one by one in alphabetical order. We must raise our hand and say 'here' as he called our names. When he reached my turn, he mispronounced my name but I just raised my hand and didn't bother correcting him.
"You're an exchange student, right?" he asked me.
"Yes…" I nodded a bit shyly. I could now feel the whole classroom's eyes on me.
"What country are you from?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Portugal…" I replied short and quick.
"Well, welcome to the United States" he smirked. "If you have any questions don't hesitate in asking me, OK?"
I nodded and he resumed the attendance call. It looked like this Barkin fellow was not so bad after all? But I could tell he was a demanding teacher and I better make a good effort in his class.
The class went on normally. No one misbehaved and Barkin didn't yell at anyone either, fortunately. He just started telling us about the American and French Revolutions, mostly focusing on the American one. I had already learned about them back in 7th or 8th grade, so this was nothing new to me and it was easy to keep up with the material.
The bell rang at 9h00 and I had a 10-minute break until my next class. I left the classroom and didn't know where to go. After all, I didn't know any other kids yet so I could not hang out with anyone during break. I decided to explore the school a bit more and walk down the hallways. I reached two large doors eventually at the end of a hallway. They were ajar, so I took a peek in and it looked like they led to the school's gym. No class seemed to be ongoing, so I stepped in. The school gym had a basketball court, a volleyball court, bleachers and… I saw some people practicing something, but no teacher around? I walked a bit closer and saw a group of girls wearing colourful outfits that showed a significant amount of skin, exposing the girl's midriffs and showing off their legs. They seemed to be practicing some strange dance moves, and then it dawned on me… these were cheerleaders like the ones I saw in American movies! And they were practicing their routine at the moment. I took a seat on the bleachers and watched them for a bit. Taking a better look at them now, they wore purple outfits with a bit of orange and yellow as well. As for the cheerleaders themselves, they were all very physically attractive. They were all thin and in shape and had pretty faces.
They seemed to have a leader or captain, or whatever they're called. It was this stunning redhead with green eyes and smooth pale skin. It was hard to keep my eyes off her legs. She seemed to be guiding the other cheerleaders with her commands and they all seemed to respect her and do as she says. They then did something that looked like a human pyramid of some sort, with the gorgeous redhead standing on top of the other girls.
The practice seemed to be over and the girls were now chatting and giggling between themselves. I couldn't really make out what they're saying. Not that it mattered, really. Suddenly, one of the girls seemed to be walking in my direction. She had wavy sunny yellow, long blonde hair, blue eyes, a slender build, pretty face and nice legs. She was now standing in front of me and looked me in the eyes curiously.
"Enjoying the show?" she smiled as she cocked her head slightly to the side.
I just blinked fast, stunned at this smoking hot girl being so close to me and coming over to talk to me. That was not something I've ever truly experienced before.
"Cat got your tongue?" she giggled. "Don't worry. I don't bite." she smiled at me and I blush slightly, still unable to speak.
"Tara? What are you doing?" a voice came from behind the blonde and then another cheerleader showed up. This one was a tanned brunette with shoulder length hair in a shag cut, a slender albeit curvier body and with eyes that were either blue or green, I couldn't really tell. Regardless, they were gorgeous and hypnotic as much as their owner was. The brunette glanced at me. She had a strange aura to her. She emanated a more snobbish and intimidating energy than the blonde. Even though she was smirking at me, she came across as smug.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" she raised her eyebrow as she maintained her smirk.
"He was watching us practice, Bonnie." the blonde told her.
"Oh, really?" Bonnie's smirk widened. "Liked what you saw, boy?"
"Hum… it was cool…" I stuttered a bit embarrassed.
"He's so cute!" Tara giggled and I blushed again.
"Anyway" Bonnie cleared her throat "I don't recognise your face." She looked at me as if she was studying me. "Are you new in Middleton High?"
"Yeah…" I nodded a bit hesitantly.
"I knew it!" Bonnie put her hands on her hips triumphantly. "What's your name, new guy?" she asked with a sense of confidence that came more across as arrogance than self-confidence, but maybe I was just reading too much into it.
"Rafael." I replied curtly.
"Rafael?" Both girls blinked and exchanged glances. "That's an uncommon name." Bonnie raised her eyebrow.
"Where are you from?" Tara put her hands on her knees and bent over, her face now being close to mine, making me even more nervous.
"P-P-Portugal" I stuttered and sweat slowly dropped down my forehead.
The girls' eyes opened wide. "Oh, interesting!" Tara exclaimed. "How did you end up here in Middleton of all places in the US?" Bonnie asked me filled with curiosity.
I swallowed and prepared to answer them. I was not going to tell them the crucial detail of my mother getting a teaching job at Middleton High. That would automatically make me lame in front of two smoking hot babes. So, I decided to just tell them a half-truth. "Had to move here due to my parents getting a job in this city." I explained and hoped they were unable to tell I was withholding something more from them.
"Ah, makes sense." Bonnie nodded. It looked like that answer was good enough for her. Phew!
"Your accent is pretty cool!" Tara smiled at me.
"It is?!" I was surprised.
"Totally!" she nodded energetically.
I blushed yet again. Jesus, I'm dying here!
"What are you two up to?" another voice came from behind them, and suddenly another one of the cheerleaders cut between Tara and Bonnie. And it was none other than the gorgeous redhead who seemed to be their leader! She stared at me with an extremely confident aura that made me feel very self-conscious and insecure about myself. This was the type of girl that's the alpha female of her social group. A girl so popular and so hot that I'd never be able to get anywhere near her, since she'd just think of me as a lame loser geek. I felt paralysed as she stared at me and studied me, definitely judging me harshly even without speaking a single word or displaying any betraying facial expressions.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The bell rang. I automatically jolted up from my seat and ran away out of the school gym in embarrassment with my face burning red. This was the most embarrassing moment I've experienced in a long time. I was now 'weak' in the eyes of 3 hot popular girls. What a horrible way to start my life as a HS student in the USA!
I slowed down as I got closer to my next classroom. I didn't even remember what class I was about to have. I only remembered the number of the classroom somehow. I entered it and took a seat. Not many empty ones left, so I sat down next to this blonde guy with freckles on his face who wore a short sleeved red jersey and a blue shirt underneath it. The teacher entered the classroom and class began. It looked like it was geography class.
Some minutes later I noticed a strange presence in the corner of my eye. I turned my head and noticed something pink on the blonde guy's shoulder… was that a rat?!
The blonde guy noticed me looking at the big rodent. "Oh, that's just Rufus!" he smiled. "He's harmless."
"Rufus?" I blinked. "What kind of animal is he?"
"Oh, he's a naked mole rat!" the blonde guy said it excitedly. He seemed to really care about his pet. But why bring a pet rat to school of all places?!
"By the way, Ron Stoppable is the name!" He pointed his thumb at himself.
"Rafael" I told him my name.
"Rafael… like the ninja turtle! Where are you from?"
"Portugal."
"Oh, cool. How long have you been here in Middleton?" he asked filled with curiosity to know more about me.
"Just a week." I shrugged.
"Ah so you're pretty new to the States." he realised. "Must be a huge change from back home, no?" he smiled softly now.
"Yeah, a bit. Hard to say how I feel so far, really…" I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.
"Well, don't worry about it. We're friendly here in Middleton." he said reassuringly.
Class went on without anything noteworthy happening. The geography teacher was an older woman who seemed close to retirement and didn't have much energy left in her. Therefore, the class was a bit boring and a lot of my classmates barely paid attention to it and chatted with their classmates instead. The teacher didn't seem to care much. She looked like the type of teacher that was not very authoritative compared to Barkin, for example.
The bell rang and Ron asked me if I wanted to hang out with him during break. I shrugged and accepted it. He seemed nice and harmless. It looked like I've made my first friend at Middleton High!
We left the classroom and Ron suddenly asked me something. "Hey, didn't I see you in history class earlier today as well?"
"Oh? You have history with Barkin too?" I raised my eyebrow, not remembering Ron from the previous class I had.
"Yeah, he's the worst!" he threw his hands in the air.
"Oh?" I blinked and looked at Ron a bit concerned. Barkin indeed came across as a strict teacher, but was he really that bad?
"He gives me flack constantly!" Ron covered his eyes "It's like his job is to instill fear in my heart" and let out a sigh in defeat.
"Ah, that kind of teacher…" I rolled my eyes. "I hate those too."
"I know, right!" Ron nodded. "Trust me, Rafael. You don't want to get on his bad side." he warned me and I nodded understandingly.
"Yeah, he seems tough." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.
"Anyway, tell me more about yourself, dude." Ron changed the subject to something more pleasant.
"Well, I like video games, anime, wrestling and heavy metal." I summed it up for him.
"Video games and wrestling? BOO-YAH!" he punched the air in excitement. "I'm a big fan of those myself too!"
"Cool!" I smiled.
"What kind of games are you into?" he asked, very eager to hear my answer.
"Oh, so many. Mostly Nintendo, Sega and Capcom games. I have a GameCube instead of an Xbox or a PS2, for example. I also have a Game Boy Advance." I added.
"Ah, I have a GBA too! Not a GameCube, though. I got the PS2 instead. What do you play on the GBA?"
"I don't have that many games for the GBA since it's not my primary system, so I basically have Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Pokémon Ruby, Mario Kart Super Circuit, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Super Mario Advance 2, Warioware Inc Mega Microgame$, Golden Sun and Super Mario Advance 4." I looked up in the air as I listed all my GBA games off the top of my head.
"Nice little collection." Ron flashed me a thumbs up. "I have Pokémon, Warioware and Mario Kart too! Who's your starter in Pokémon Ruby?"
"Torchic. Yours?"
"Treecko" he pointed his thumb at himself and flashed a cocky smile. "He's my spirit animal."
"You mean your spirit Pokémon." I chuckled.
"Whatever." Ron chuckled too.
We kept on chatting as we walked down the school halls when suddenly someone ran in our direction. It was… the pretty red headed cheerleader! Why was she running in our direction?
"Ron!" she waved. Wait, she knew Ron?!
"KP!" Ron waved back at her. KP, he said? What did that stand for?
The redhead stopped in front of us and began talking to Ron. Not only did they know each other, but they seemed to be pretty close friends. They were incredibly comfortable with each other and shared a lot of inside references and jokes, it sounded. I just stood there stunned and looking like a deer in headlights. How did Ron, a fellow geek like myself, manage to chat with a popular hot girl like this red headed cheerleader?! And how did he not feel nervous and intimidated at all? And why did she even give him the time of the day? I thought girls like that wouldn't be caught dead talking to guys like Ron.
The redhead looked at me now and Ron smiled. "Oh, right, KP, this is my newest buddy, Rafael. He's new in Middleton and moved recently from Europe."
The redhead looked at me and smirked. "You're the guy who watched our cheerleading practice earlier today, aren't you?"
I blushed a bit at her question and looked away from her, since I was too embarrassed by the fact I ran away from them.
"I'm Kim Possible. Teen hero." She introduced herself. "Nice to meet you."
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, and my silence became a bit awkward. Ron nudged me with his elbow slightly. "You ok, man?" he asked, a bit worried. I nodded slightly but didn't open my mouth.
"You're a shy one, aren't you?" Kim smiles.
I lowered my head a bit and blushed slightly.
"Don't worry, Rafael. KP and I aren't going to hurt you." Ron placed a hand on my shoulder.
"So, which European country are you from, Rafael?" Kim asked.
"Portugal…" I answered her with a low timid voice.
"How nice! Welcome to Middleton!" she smiled. "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask me or Ron."
The bell rang and we had to finish our conversation. Also, what did Kim mean by calling herself a teen hero? Was that slang for something here in the USA? Having said that, she did seem nicer than I expected a girl like her to be. But I didn't really know her yet, so I was still a bit wary. I didn't expect her to physically hurt me or anything like that, though. As for other students, I hoped none would bully me. I've been through that in the past and I didn't want to go through such pain ever again. How would I deal with it if someone tried to bully me, though? I had some ideas up my sleeve, but hopefully I'd never need to resort to them…