Jorge found it hard to fit in at school. After a recent growth spurt, he was already a bit over six feet tall and weighing in at over two hundred pounds. If that wasn't enough, he also had a large scar, extending from the bottom of his elbow to his wrist. His messy, dark hair slightly covered his face, and created a bit of darkness around his eyes. This, alone, would have made him quite unapproachable, though his physical descriptions were nothing. After all, it was only this year that he was released from juvie and only a few months since then that he was adopted.

It was now early morning on the first day of school. Jorge had his bag over his shoulder, taking the path to school. Summer still hadn't ended, so he, and the other students that he saw along the way, were dressed quite light. Of course, the other students made sure to stay their distance away from Jorge. 

It was an uneventful walk. He made it to school on time. Everyone got settled, and classes were about to start, though it seemed like many already knew each other. 

That's fair. He thought, taking a seat in the back of the class. This school isn't so big, after all.

Jorge considered talking to those around him. He tried getting the attention of a guy to the seat right of him, but it was like he was being ignored.

"Don't look..." The student muttered, trying not to look at him. "I don't want to die..."

"Are... you alright?" Jorge asked, politely tapping him on the shoulder. "Did you say something?"

The student slowly cranked their head around. One glance at Jorge was all that it took to give him goosebumps. Without hesitation, the student screamed and ran to the bathroom.

The class was now completely silent. Everyone stared at Jorge for a moment, but they quickly pretended nothing had happened. The silence was now replaced by whispers.

"Isn't that the kid who got sent to juvie?" One whispered.

"I heard he was a gang member." Another said.

"No, I heard he was the leader of one! What's he doing in our school?"

"My friend told me he strangled a prisoner and ate him afterwards."

The teacher came in, carrying a stack of papers. He was a bit unkempt and looked quite a bit too tired, to the point where he could topple over with any wrong step. For his age, he looked a bit older, though he was one of the younger teachers in the school. He had glasses and a full head of hair alongside a messy beard, and he wears black turtlenecks.

"Alright class." He yawned, dropping all his papers. "I forgot to mention our new special student, Jor..."

He fell asleep standing up. Nobody batted an eye. One loud snore later, he woke up and continued speaking.

"Jorge is... he was released this year... and he'll be joining our... school. Say hello."

"H-hello." Jorge muttered. "I- uh... I want to clear-"

"What?" The teacher said. "Just- whatever. I'll be starting math class now. I'm... Mr. T."

It was a strange lesson. Almost everyone fell asleep, Mr. T included. Jorge didn't have a single thing jotted down in his notebook. There was only one other student that was still awake, which he only noticed now.

"Well, it seems like you're a strange one." The boy said, standing behind Jorge. "Are you here to stop me, then?"

"Wait, what?"

The boy had a white shirt and a yellow jacket. He was around medium sized, just a bit taller than the other students, and had a severe case of blonde bed hair. There was a yellow eye mask around his neck, which seemed to have been used a lot. 

"My name's Snoos." He said, taking a few steps back as Jorge stood up from his seat. "Goodnight."

"Hold on, what are you-"

"Sleep, put him to sleep." Snoos whispered, snapping his fingers.

Jorge could feel something strange was in the air. It was something he had never experienced before. It was like a sixth sense, and whatever he was feeling was starting to approach him, even if he couldn't see it.

He felt something pass through his body, followed by a sense of drowsiness, though he was determined not to fall asleep. Then, whatever it was became much clearer to his eyes. It was... a person?

"Sleep, what are you doing?" Snoos asked. "Why isn't he falling asleep?"

"It's not my problem." Sleep muttered. "You're just weak. I'm tired now."

Sleep started to vanish, leaving nothing behind but air. Snoos was visibly upset and making his way towards Jorge, who was still confused.

"You think you've bested me, huh? I'll-"

"Dude, I don't know what's going on, alright! I don't have anything to do with you!"

Snoos stopped. He took a moment to see if Jorge was lying, though it was hard to tell.

"Wait... for real?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh. I mean... if that's the case, then... huh."

He sighed and sat down on the floor, cleaning his nails. Meanwhile, Jorge stood and tried to break down everything that had happened earlier. Almost a minute passed in complete silence.

"Wow... Okay, but... did you make everyone here fall asleep? Why?"

"Well... I mean... it's just that I don't like all the noise."

"So... you made them fall asleep because they were noisy?"

"Well- no." Snoos coughed. He turned away from Jorge. "I just... don't have anyone to talk to. I'm just a loner. Not even Sleep wants to talk with me."

"You were jealous that they were talking because they had friends?"

"Y-yeah. Whatever. Gee, I feel like trash now. Thanks a lot. I'll leave everyone alone now. Is that what you want?"

He snapped his fingers again. Then, everyone started to wake up again, one by one. Class resumed as per usual, though everyone found it to be confusing when the bell rang so early. Jorge pretended not to notice and continued to speak.

"You can always just talk to me." He said. "I'm also a... loner... like you."

It was a bit awkward for him to say, leaving a bad taste in the back of his mouth.

"You're a real rat, you know that?" Snoos replied, smiling a bit. "I hate to say it, but I kind of missed the noise."

The students started packing up and leaving the class. Snoos got off the ground and dusted himself off. Then, Jorge grabbed his bag and prepared to leave, before turning around and asking.

"See you later?"

Snoos nodded.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

A bit later, the boy from earlier returned from the bathroom, though class was already over.