The class had begun in earnest. Mr. Rudy Strongwell was a science teacher, so he was about to show these kids some science! He pulled out a beaker of water.

 “Alright, so here I have some salt water. The salt makes it bad for drinking, right? So how would we make this safe to drink?” Rudy asked the class.

One student in front raised their hand. “We boil it?”

Rudy laughed. “A good start! But how do we make sure all the water doesn’t just boil away?”

“Do we use something to catch the steam?” The same student asked.

“That’s right! You’re good at this! You sure you don’t wanna teach this lesson instead of me? I could use a break,” Rudy joked. That got a chuckle from the class. “Alright, so what we wanna do is capture the steam so it doesn’t escape, right? Should we just send it to jail then? Who wants to slap the cuffs on the steam, any takers? No? Too bad. Who here knows the proper method then?”

No one raised their hand. “Alright, so what we wanna do then is take some copper tubing and put it directly in the center. The moisture will stick to it and then rapidly cool into water droplets. After that, it’s a matter of time and gravity. Who wants to see?” Everyone raised their hand for that one.

So Rudy got it set up. He grabbed a second beaker and put them both on stands. Then he put a bunsen burner under the first one and used a lighter to get it started. Finally, he added a copper tube in the middle and positioned it so it would hang over the second beaker. The class watched on as the water began to boil and instead of steam rising straight up, it went into the tube instead. Slowly, the water began dripping into the second beaker. In the end, all that was left in the first one was some salty residue, while the second was filled with water.

By the time this little experiment was done, the bell rang for the end of class. “Whoops, looks like that’s our time for today! No homework, it’s only the first day! See all of you tomorrow!” With that, everyone packed up their stuff and shuffled out of the classroom.

“Hey Jack, hold up a sec. I wanna talk to you real quick,” Rudy said. Jack gulped, was he already in trouble on the first day?

“Um, yes Mr. Strongwell?” Jack asked.

“I just wanna touch base with you, see if you’re ok. You seemed pretty distracted during class, and I almost missed you for roll call. Is everything alright? I know it’s only the first day of school and you don’t know me very well yet, but I want you to know that you can come to me about anything. Any sort of issues at all, please come and talk to me. I’ll listen, I promise,” he said, reassuringly.

Jack looked at him. Just a few minutes ago, this guy had been laughing and joking around. Now he seemed serious, but in a friendly way. Could he trust him? Tell him about how he felt about Neal? No, he couldn’t do that. He’d probably mock him, like everyone else.

“No, everything’s fine. Must not have gotten enough sleep last night, that’s all. I’ll head to bed early tonight and be much better tomorrow. Sorry for worrying you,” Jack said. He was lying through his teeth, but hopefully the teacher would buy it.

Rudy looked at him and thought back to when he was his age. How he’d always say he was fine, even after constant harassment and bullying. How he’d make a joke or quip in order to hide the pain. He didn’t want any other kid at this school to go through that, not if he could help them. At the moment though, there wasn’t much he could do. Hopefully he could build up some trust with this kid. For now, he sighed. “Alright, if you’re sure. Just remember, I’m on your side. You can trust me. Now get going, I don’t wanna make you late for your next class. I’ll see you tomorrow Jack.”

With that, Jack went out to his locker. Mr. Strongwell was an odd character, though that seemed par for the course today. It was a lot more interesting than back home, that much was for sure. He was really starting to warm up to this school, maybe moving here wasn’t so bad. He did miss his old friends, sure, but there were plenty of ways to talk to them online! It was 2023 after all, who didn’t have access to the net these days? Most people owned a smartphone, likely a computer as well. Jack was no exception, as he owned a cell phone and had access to the family computer. He wanted his own, but his parents said he’d have to save up for it and buy it himself.

For now, the day continued on. His next couple classes weren’t much to speak of, just math and social studies. The teachers were pretty average, fairly dull compared to Mr. Strongwell. Seemed he was an odd beast in this school, just Jack’s luck he supposed. He was meeting all the odd people here. Still, his stomach rumbled as he made his way to the cafeteria for lunch period.

Since his mom had packed him lunch, he didn’t need to wait in line. And true to his word, Neal saw him and waved him over. Jack blushed a little as he went over to join him.

“Hiya Jack, good to see you again. How’s your day been so far?” Neal asked.

“Well YOU almost got me in trouble during homeroom! I was so distracted that Mr. Strongwell almost counted me absent! I’m lucky he noticed me there,” Jack replied with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“Ooh, you got Mr. Rudy? Lucky! He’s one of the best teachers in the school! I had him last year and he was amazing! He was always showing us cool science experiments and stuff. Has he done any yet?” Neal asked, completely ignoring Jack’s accusations.

“Uh yeah, he showed us how to convert salt water into regular water. That was pretty neat I think,” Jack responded.

“See? That’s just a taste of what you’ll get with him. Trust me, he’s awesome! You’re gonna love his class.” he said with a grin.

Before Jack could say anything else, a girl approached the table. She was a bit on the tall side, maybe 5 foot 6. She had tan skin, long, curly, black hair, bright hazel eyes and a decent chest size. Her collar was red, so she must have been a freshman as well.

“Excuse me, do you mind if my brother and I sit here? This place is filling up fast and so far, no one wants to sit with us. So could we please join you?” The girl asked.

Neal smiled at her. “Absolutely, as long as Jack doesn’t have a problem with it. We just need to leave one spot open, I got a friend waiting in line for lunch.”

The girl looked at Jack with pleading eyes. She was rather cute, and for some reason, looking at her made his chest itch a little. But he couldn’t just deny her for a weird reason like that. “Sure, I don’t mind. The more, the merrier, right?”

“Oh thank you so much! You’re too kind.” She went over to retrieve her brother. Jack couldn’t help but overhear what they were saying, but didn’t understand a word of it. It sounded like Spanish. “Ahí está libre,” she said, pointing to the table.

He looked at them, then back to her. “No me da mucha confianza pero tu que dices?”

“Si vamos a estar bien se ve confiable, aparte me preocupas más tu por tu pierna,” she replied. ¹Spanish translations:“I found us a place to sit.” “Doesn’t seem trustworthy, but what do you think?” “We'll be fine. I think we can trust them. Besides, I'm more worried about you and your leg.”

He sighed as they went over to the table and sat down. The girl smiled. “Allow me to introduce us. I’m Annie and this is my brother Marco. Don’t mind him if he’s a bit grumpy, he’s distrustful of strangers.”

“Welcome, both of you! I’m Neal and this is my cute friend Jack! Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with us. We don’t bite, unless you want me to,” Neal said with a grin.

Jack just rolled his eyes. “Ignore him, he does this with everyone apparently. We just met this morning. He’s like a dog that likes to be overly friendly with everyone he sees.” Or maybe like a cute puppy begging for attention. Jack thought to himself, only to quickly shake it off. He took a look at Marco. Rather tall kid, maybe taller than Neal. He had short, black hair that was curly like his sisters, and the same bright hazel eyes. You could tell they were twins by that alone.

“Well I suppose it’s good to meet you both. I wish my sister hadn’t been so insistent on joining this table though, we could have been just fine at a standing one.” Marco said. He had an accent, but it wasn’t too thick to understand.

“Don’t give me that! With your leg? There’s no way I’d make you stand all through lunch. Besides, these guys are soooo not my type, you know this.”

“That’s why I need to protect you mija, you know teenage guys, they’re all horny and will go after any pretty girl. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“Ugh, I’m not some baby you need to protect. I can make my own decisions. Right now, I’m deciding these two are safe, until further notice.”

“Care to make it three then?” Everyone turned to look. Stella was standing there, lunch tray in hand. “Hey Neal, I see you made some new friends.”

“Hey Stella! You finally made it! Yeah this is Annie and Marco, they asked to sit with us. You don’t mind, do you?” Neal asked.

“Of course not, just surprised is all,” she replied as she set her tray down and extended her hand towards the twins. “Stella Jones, nice to meet you two. I’m guessing you two are related?”

Annie shook her hand. “That’s right, we’re twins. Annie and Marco Torres. It’s good to meet you as well Stella. Can I just say, I love your hair!”

“Heh, you actually like this rat’s nest? It’s so hard to maintain really, I’ve been considering getting it cut to a more manageable length. Lord knows my dad’s been after me to get it done. We’ll see, I guess.”

“I think it suits you, really. I like pretty redheads myself, such a wonderful color.”

“I see. Anyways, my job here is to keep those two boneheads in line. So you don’t have to worry about them making any moves or anything. Trust me, I’ve known Neal long enough. He’d hit on a rock if it could flirt back,” Stella laughed.

Jack pouted. “Hey, why am I being lumped in with him?! You don’t even know me yet!”

“I suppose that’s true, but in my experience, most teen guys are the same. They’ll hit on anything with a good set of melons.”

“Well my mom raised me to be a gentleman. I wouldn’t hit on just anyone, unlike him. I’m just waiting for the right girl to come along, that’s all,” Jack replied, blushing. He’d had crushes on girls before, but they always fizzled out real quick. Just something about them didn’t feel right after a few days. But maybe he just hadn’t found the one yet.

“Whatever floats your boat, kid. For now, I’m starving. I only had a small breakfast this morning. So if no one minds, I’m gonna sit down and eat,” And with that, they all started eating. They would need their energy for the rest of the day, Jack especially since he had gym class next.

Neal decided to strike up a conversation with Marco and Annie. “So, what do you two do for fun?”

“Well, I play the flute. I’m hoping to join the school band soon. Marco loves playing football though. Or, I guess you would call it soccer.” Annie replied.

“I never understood why Americans call their sport ‘football’ when it barely involves your feet,” Marco said dismissively. “Besides, I don’t really play much anymore. Things have gotten… complicated.”

“Complicated how exactly?” Jack asked.

Marco sighed. “If you must know. I was involved in an accident about a year ago now. My left leg didn't make it, they had to amputate. Now I have a prosthetic one in its place and I’m still not used to it. I’m still doing rehab on it as well, it’s a wonder I can walk at all. It’s why Annie insists that we don’t use a standing table, cause if I stand on it for too long, it starts to ache. I’m also excused from gym class, with a doctor’s note and everything. Maybe one day, I can play again. But right now, I’m just not ready.” He pulled up his pant leg to reveal an artificial limb.

“Ouch, I’m sorry Marco. You don’t have to share any more if you don’t want to,” Jack said.

“Of course man, we get it. You’re more than welcome to sit with us at lunch. Stay off that leg as much as you need to,” Neal added.

“See? I told you they were good. You should trust my instincts more often,” Annie said, elbowing her brother. Marco just rolled his eyes.

Before long, lunch period was over. They all said their farewells and Jack went on to gym class. He made his way to the boys locker room, where he would change into his gym uniform, consisting of a white t-shirt and blue shorts. Honestly, this was much more comfortable than the regular uniform. Unfortunately, he always felt awkward changing around other guys. That’s why he was surprised to see individual changing stalls in the locker room! A welcomed sight to be sure. He quickly grabbed his things and used one of the stalls to change. Once that was done and he had his normal uniform in his gym locker, he made his way out to the gymnasium.

Mrs. Stewart was the teacher and coach. She enjoyed whipping students into shape. This was always the best part, after a long summer, most of the kids were definitely not in shape. Oh well, more fun for her. As per usual, the class was divided up into boys and girls. She started them off running laps around the gym, 5 laps should suffice. After that, warm-ups followed. By now, half the kids were already out of breath.

“Come on, you’re already winded after just that? You kids today are way too lazy, all you do is sit around and look at your phones! Well, we’ll have to fix that while you’re here, won't we?”

Jack was actually doing rather well. He may not have seemed the type, but he was fairly athletic. He ran track in middle school back in Colorado, which gave him an advantage. Higher elevation meant his lungs had to work harder to breathe out there. So running here was nothing to him. Running made for a good escape, though he always kinda wished he had long hair, which would follow behind him as he ran. But his parents always insisted he keep it short, and now he had no choice due to the school’s dress code. Maybe one day…

After class, he took a quick shower to wash the stink off of him before putting his normal uniform on and headed to his last two classes of the day. First up was English, which was pretty dull. Finally, he had art with Mrs. Bryer-Valverde. Her name was definitely a bit of a mouthful, all things considered. Jack was never much of the artistic type, but it was either this or music for an elective. Lord knew he couldn’t play an instrument or carry a tune to save his life! He made his way to the art room and was surprised to see Neal there! Seemed this class wasn’t just limited to freshmen like his others. Marco from lunch was also here, which made sense at least.

“Hey Jack, I didn’t know you were in this class! Come on, there’s an empty seat next to me,” Neal said cheerfully. So Jack went over and sat next to him, not like he had any objections. Hopefully Neal would behave himself at least.

Before long, class began. “Welcome everyone, I’m Mrs. Bryer-Valverde. I know that’s a lot to say, so you can just call me Fara. Due to budget cuts, this class includes multiple grade levels. I really wish they’d focus more on the arts than athletics, but what can you do? For your first assignment, I’d like all of you to draw something. Anything that comes to mind. I want to get a feel for your various skill levels and keep the first day nice and light. You can use your phones to look up references, but I will be keeping an eye on you to see if you try to sneak something else past me. This isn’t a free period, I expect something with effort from each of you at the end of class. Understood?”

There was a murmuring of agreement from the class. With that, she set out paper and art supplies for the students to use. Jack grabbed some colored pencils and a regular one so he could do some sketching. His parents had gotten him a book on drawing manga for Christmas a couple years earlier, he had actually really enjoyed using it. Though it had been a while since he really drew anything. Well, now was as good a time as any to get back to it! Only question was, what would he draw?

Neal meanwhile, had no hesitation. He pulled out his phone and looked something up, but Jack didn’t see what it was. He took his supplies and got to work. His hand moved with a skill and grace that only a true professional could have, though Jack saw he was using his left hand for his. He must not have noticed before that Neal was left-handed. An interesting thing to note about him.

Jack turned back to his own paper. Without much thought, he started making a sketch. Maybe he’d draw an anime character or something. It didn’t matter, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He wasn’t much of an artist, he just liked to doodle. Other people were way better at this than him anyways. He always saw amazing artists online. Compared to that, his stuff looked like shit. He wasn’t any good at this and that was fine. He could just let others do it instead. Nothing against him, he just didn’t stack up.

A while later, Jack finished his drawing. He hadn’t really paid too much attention during it, but it came out decently. He had drawn an anime style girl in a really pretty dress, though something about her seemed familiar. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why though. Still, class was almost over and he had to turn in something. So he went and put it up with the others as the bell rang. Fara would take them home for grading later.

For now, Jack collected his things and went to his locker. It was time to head home. To no surprise, Neal was waiting for him by the exit. “Hey cutie, ready to head out? Come on, we can sit together on the bus again. Better hurry if we wanna get a seat!” Neal grabbed his hand and the two of them went out to the buses, Jack blushing the whole way.

As they sat down together, Neal flashed his typical smile at Jack. “So, how was your first day?”

“Honestly? Not bad. I got to meet you, Stella, Annie and Marco, and the teachers aren’t too bad either. Mr. Strongwell especially seemed really nice. Plus, I think he was the youngest teacher I’ve ever had. How old is he anyways?” Jack asked.

“Oh Mr. Rudy? I believe he’s like, 26. He’s really young, especially for a teacher here. And I gotta admit, he’s pretty hot too.” Neal said. “Damn, his husband is a really lucky guy!”

“Wait, husband? He’s married to a guy?” Jack asked, surprised.

“Oh, right, you’re still new here. Yeah, Mr. Rudy is gay. He got married last year, apparently to his high school sweetheart. They went to school right here at St. Hallvard and everything! Honestly, it’s super romantic,” he gave a loving smile.

“Whoa, I had no idea! So two guys can get married? Just like that?” Jack asked.

“I mean, yeah? It’s been legal for like, ten years now. You been living under a rock or something?”

“I guess I never gave it much thought. My folks are super religious and I grew up in a Catholic community. So it never really came up.”

“Ah, I get it now. You were sheltered. No wonder you’ve been so weird about me flirting with you. I can’t help it though, I just think you’re really cute. Especially when you blush,” Neal teased, making Jack blush once again.

A short time later, the bus pulled up to Neal’s stop. “Well, this is where I get off for now. It was wonderful meeting you Jack, I’ll see you tomorrow hot stuff!” As he got up, he planted a kiss on Jack’s cheek and winked at him, before finally getting off. Jack was at a loss for words as he watched him depart. He was a complete, blushing mess.

_____________________________

Later that night, Fara was going over the drawings from her classes that day. She was judging them on a pass/fail grade, as she couldn’t exactly assign a number to a drawing. What she was looking for was simply effort. If the student had at least tried to make something, no matter the quality, they would receive a pass. Of course, anyone looking for an easy A from this class would be sorely disappointed.

As she got to the last class of the day, her niece Rain came in after finishing up a stream. “Hey Aunt Fara, what are you working on?” She asked, curiously.

“Hey Rain, just going over some drawings. First day of school and all, I gave them a simple assignment. So far, maybe half of them put in any sort of effort.”

The next drawing she pulled out caught her off guard. It was done with colored pencils, but it was a picture of sunflowers in a vase on a table. It was really well done and seemed very familiar. She quickly pulled out her phone and after a quick search, saw it was almost an exact copy of a famous painting.

“Wow, this kid’s got some real talent,” she remarked. “They could stand to have more originality though. Let’s see here, Neal Gates. I’ll have to talk to him tomorrow about such blatant copying. Still, it looks really good.”

Rain’s curiosity had peaked at this point and she was looking over Fara’s shoulder. “Hey, what about this one?” She asked, pointing to the next drawing in the pile.

Fara pulled it up for a closer look. Well, this was interesting. Nowhere near the quality of the last one, but some decent talent on display. It was a generic teenage anime girl, but there was something odd about the face. The lines for the face formed more masculine angles. It could almost be read as a boy in girls clothes, or something more.

“You don’t think…?” Rain asked.

“It’s hard to tell from just this one picture, but this certainly has my attention. Let’s see, Jack Halden. Yeah, I remember him. A freshman, he was sitting next to Neal. Maybe I can have a chat with him as well, just to let him know he’s not alone.” Fara said.

“Heh, maybe you could point him towards my podcast,” Rain half-joked.

“We’ll have to see how things play out tomorrow. I don’t wanna push this kid too far. For all we know, this was an accident. Best to just let him come to his own conclusions in time.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Oh well, I’m gonna go ask Vincent about dinner, I’m getting hungry.” With that, she walked off. Fara sighed, hopefully she was wrong and this was just nothing. She didn’t wanna see this kid go through what Rain had when she went to school there. For now, she finished grading the papers. Tomorrow would hopefully be enlightening.

Chapter 2 End

Rain is copyright Jocelyn Samara

Spanish translations by MiragePotato on Discord