“Like a crash the whole thing spun out of control.”

---

“You’re kidding right? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Keep your voice down,” I hushed Lynn. We were sitting in the cafeteria having lunch. She had shown me to two more classes before our lunch period so she felt the need to invite me to sit with her at her “usual” table with her friends. In all honesty it was nice not to have to sit alone.

“I’m sorry,” Lynn said, “but I can’t believe you stood up to Vic Fuentes.”

“I didn’t really stand up to him,” I said with a shrug, “I just tried to reason with him.”

“Oh please,” the blonde girl who was Jenna scoffed. “No one ‘reasons’ with Vic Fuentes.” At mention of his name I looked over to where he was sitting. He wasn’t paying any attention to me thankfully. He was too wrapped up in the conversation he was having with his friends.

“She’s right, Kellin,” Lynn said. I looked back to her. “I know it’s your first day and you don’t know how things work around here so I’d suggest that you try to make yourself as invisible as possible.” I shrugged. Being invisible was easy for me.

“What’s his deal anyway?” I asked.

“Dunno,” Lynn answered. “All I know is that when I was a freshman people were already scared of him, and he was only a sophomore then. Now no one looks his way when they see him in the hall.”

“Of course there have been some rumors,” Jenna added. “They say he’s killed some people, robbed a bank, is a drug lord.”

I scoffed. “People really believe that shit?”

“This is San Diego. You can’t go anywhere without hearing something about someone. People will buy into anything as long as others are talking about it.”

I looked at Vic once again. How could anyone think those things about him? He was a scrawny-looking guy but he had toned arms and legs. Other than that I didn’t see any proof that he worked out. He looked more goofy than tough. The way he was laughing with his friends didn’t really speak “killer” or “drug lord” but then again I wasn’t the best judge of character.

“Does he have a girlfriend?” I asked absentmindedly. Lynn looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Why? You interested?” I blushed, not because she’d guessed that I was gay but because she was teasing me.

“No,” I said quickly, “I’m just wondering. If he’s as bad as they say he is then wouldn’t there be a girl to try to get him out of it?”

“Hm, now that you mention it I’ve never seen him very close to any girl.”

“Really?”

“Don’t get her wrong,” Jenna said, “he’s been with girls, but you never see him walking down the halls holding hands with anyone.”

“Then how do you know?”

“Parties,” she said simply.

“Yeah,” Lynn said. “Vic Fuentes is kinda known as the king of hookups. He gets what he wants from who he wants then he never speaks to them again. He’s a pig if you ask me.”

“That sounds kinda personal, Lynn,” I said. She shrugged and ate a fry, closing the topic.

The three of us sat for the remainder of the hour and talked about the school; who to avoid and what clubs I should and shouldn’t join. All in all, Jenna and Lynn were very informative. By the end of lunch I had one class left, music appreciation. It was a duel credit class that sounded interesting enough so I decided to sign up for it.

“You ready to go?” Lynn asked as we she got up to throw her trash away. I nodded and got up as well. We made our way out of the cafeteria and into the hall, parting ways with Jenna as we turned the corner.

“Okay, so, your music appreciation class is in the room 114, which is down the hall from the band hall. You have Ms. Pope. She’s really chill and super nice; you’ll like her.”

“What’s the class like?” I only asked because it seemed interesting enough. I needed a fine arts credit and since I can’t play an instrument I thought this class would be the easiest way for me to fulfill that requirement.

“No idea,” Lynn answered. “I’ve heard it’s kinda boring. You learn about different types of music and how they fit in the world. Kinda like a history class.” I nodded. I didn’t mind history.

“Well, I’m late for class so go on in, make friends. You know, be a grown up.” I shot her a playful look.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Okay, okay,” she responded with a chuckle. “But really, go on in. I’ll see you after class.” I nodded with a smile. She smiled back and walked down the hall towards her next class.

I looked at the closed door and sighed. Well Kellin, you can’t stand out here forever. I turned the door handle and stepped into the room.

“Ah, there you are,” a chipper, hyper woman said from the front of the room. It registered quickly that she was Ms. Pope.

“Um, yeah. Here I am,” I said with an awkward laugh. She smiled a warm smile at me.

“Well, would you like to introduce yourself?”

No.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Uh, my name’s Kellin Quinn. I’m from Oregon but I’ve lived in Michigan, and now I live here. And yeah, that’s about it.”

“What grade are you in, Kellin?” Ms. Pope asked.

“I’m a senior.” She nodded.

“Class, I hope you all can fill Kellin in on what’s been happening so far this semester. And Kellin, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me. I’m always happy to help.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Now, take a seat. I think there’s one next to Vic.” I gulped. Did she say “Vic”? I looked toward the desks and sure enough, there was the little bastard staring at me with a cocky grin.

“Kellin, take your seat please.” I reluctantly felt my body move toward the desk. No no no no. Stop moving. I begged my body to snap out of it but nothing registered. Soon my butt was in the chair next to Vic Fuentes.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d see you this soon,” he said quietly. “Oh, this is gonna be a fun year.” I gulped yet again. Was it too late to drop this class? Maybe I could try choir. I did choir back in Michigan; surely I would be placed in a good ensemble.

“You’re shaking. Are you scared of me?” I didn’t answer. “It’s okay, I already know you are. You should be.”

“Vic, unless you’re telling Kellin about the assignment that’s due I suggest you face front.”

“Sorry Ms. Pope.” I breathed a sigh of relief when he finally faced away from me.

“Now that we’re all here are there any questions about the assignment that’s due next week?”

“Uh, yeah, what was it again?” The class snickered at the clueless kid who asked the question.

“Austin,” Ms. Pope sighed, “I’m getting tired of going over this with you.”

“Sorry,” he said bashfully. Ms. Pope smiled.

“It’s alright. I’d have to go over the assignment anyway for Kellin.” I blushed at the mention of my name. “For the rest of you who just can’t seem to remember, your assignment is to pick a genre of music and write about its development throughout the years; from when the genre was first introduced to now. I want no less than two pages, double-spaced. Three sources cited in MLA. It’s due next Friday.” I wrote the information down in my notebook.

“Kellin,” Ms. Pope spoke. I looked up at her. “You don’t have to turn in your assignment on Friday if you feel like it’s too short notice. The rest of the class has had two weeks so you may get the same amount of time.”

“Uh, that’s okay. I can do it in a week.”

“Are you sure?” I nodded, hoping that she’d drop the subject. I didn’t want any special treatment just because I was the new kid. Besides, I loved writing. This assignment would be a piece of cake. I already picked the genre I wanted to write about.

“Well now that that’s settled, let’s get back to learning about the end of the Medieval Period.”

I took notes over what she was saying while also mapping out how I would do my assignment. The period went by quickly but the entire class I felt a pair of eyes on me. During the last fifteen minutes of class was when the staring started annoying me. I looked to my left to confront the culprit.

“Can I help you?” I harshly whispered. He just looked at me with a cocky grin. “Seriously, what’s your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem,” he answered.

“Then why do you keep looking at me? What, did I take your seat again?”

“No, but thanks for reminding me. I still need to kick your ass for that.” My confidence shattered then and there. I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. “Oh, where’s that tough guy attitude now? What, can’t take a threat?”

“Shut up,” I mumbled as I turned back to my notebook.

“Aw, c’mon, play along.”

“Why are you bothering me?”

“I like to know about the people I beat up. You know, form a bond.” I rolled my eyes. There was no point in entertaining him any further. I tuned him out and proceeded to draw in my notebook. Ms. Pope had concluded the lesson but we weren’t allowed to leave until the bell rang, which would be in another five minutes.

“What are you drawing?” I subconsciously hid my notebook behind my arm. It wasn’t that I was drawing anything embarrassing, I was just self-conscious. I never felt like my art was anything special so I never shared it with others. I never got teased about it or anything; it was just a personal thing.

“C’mon, what are you drawing?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh yeah?” I heard him say. Next thing I knew his hand was reaching over my arm. He grabbed my notebook and tried to tug it out from under me.

“Leave me alone!” I yelled, getting the entire class’ attention.

“Vic, Kellin, stop that immediately!” Ms. Pope yelled. Vic let go of my notebook and stared back at Ms. Pope. “You two, go to the principal’s office.”

“But I didn’t do anything,” I said.

“Well obviously something happened and I doubt you want to tell me about it so tell it to the principal. He’ll decide on the punishment.” I huffed and rolled my eyes. Really? It was the last class of the day. We literally had three minutes until the final bell rang.

“Is there really a point to this?” I asked in an attempt to reason with her.

“Yes, I think there is. Either go there now and sort this out or you’ll be staying with him after school cleaning gum off the bottom of chairs.” I sighed. There was no arguing with her. It was my first day; I didn’t need detention.

I gathered my things and walked out the room to the front office. I heard Vic’s footsteps behind me. I didn’t dare turn around because I knew he’d have something smug to say. Frankly, I wasn’t in the mood for it. He got me in trouble; he didn’t deserve my attention.

“You know, you need to get whatever stick is up your butt out of your butt.” I rolled my eyes. “See, like that. I know you just rolled your eyes at me.”

“So I guess you know everything, huh?” I mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

“I know that you’d like me if you gave me a chance.” I shook my head and walked into the office. The receptionist told me to have a seat and wait for the principal to call us in. I sat in a chair against the corner of the wall. Vic walked in seconds later and sat a few chairs away from me.

I took the time to think about what he had said. What did he mean I’d like him if I got to know him? I’d only been here a day and all I’d heard about him was negative. The only interactions I’d had with him were negative. Negativity just seemed to be his theme.

“Kellin? Vic?” I snapped out of my trance and caught eyes with a man who I assumed was the principal. He did not look happy to see us.

“Dr. Johnson, good to see you. How’s the wife?”

“Not now, Fuentes,” the man sighed. He looked at me. “You got caught up with this one?” he asked me. I didn’t respond. The scowl on his face got more intense. “Come in here then.”

He held the door open and we walked in. I took a deep breath as I sat in the chair and awaited the punishment I was sure to get because apparently being involved with Vic Fuentes was bad news.

Notes