Lesson 5; Part 2:
Things aren't always as bad as they seem.
As the boy in glasses hurried over to me, I glanced around the hallway
nervously. I really hoped he wasn't looking for a fight, because I know it
doesn't really look like it, but I'm not much of a fighter. Hint at the sarcasm
there, but in all seriousness, I'm not. Getting into a fight was the last thing
I wanted, and when the kid finally came up to me, I almost cringed.
Quickly giving me a once over, he nodded and smiled. Almost as if he was
satisfied with something. "God, it's been a while Alex. You certainly don't
change much though, I have to admit. I knew it was you by that stupid
look you had on your face the entire time."
There it was. I was almost just expecting a punch to the face, but when he
suddenly just started talking to me, I couldn't help but stare at him with
a strange look on my face. He seemed to have noticed this, and his shoulders
drooped considerably and he spoke again. "No way, you don't remember me?
Jeremy Holt? Your best friend since, Christ, the fourth grade?"
It took me a moment, but suddenly I remembered him. I almost jumped back
a couple of feet and began laughing. Shaking my head, and ran my fingers
dumbly through my hair and smiled. "Oh sh-, I didn't even recognize you.
Glasses? What the hell?"
In midst of our nostalgic laughter, we both managed to wipe away a few
tears from our eyes and move into a hug. We patted each others back, and
I was slightly dumbstruck. This kid had been my best friend since the fourth
grade, and then one day during the seventh grade he just up and moved. It
was probably the saddest day of my life, and ever since then I always
wondered what the crazy bastard was up to. Turns out his eye sight got
worse with all the video games. If there was one thing in common between
us, it was our devoted attraction to video games. Of any kind.
After that awkward moment, we jumped straight into a conversation. Mostly
about my parents, and why I'm now going to this school and it was weird
to explain, yet he listened and laughed, making the small comment, "And
the adopted child strikes again!"
Oh, maybe I might have forgotten to mention this (and it seems stupid that
I did, since it's slightly crucial that you understand this), but I'm adopted.
Gale isn't my blood brother, and my parents aren't really my "parents". I was
six when they adopted me, and even since then I've been living with them.
It was always Jeremy's theory that the reason my parents are so hard on
me is because I'm not their kid. It's hard to think about it like that, but after
listening to him tell me that as a kid, I began to believe it too. After all, they
don't seem to do anything to disprove the theory, and ever since I can
remember, there was a wall separating us. Somehow I got used to it, I guess.
Though, now that I was reunited with this old, stupid friend of mine, I felt
a little better. Adjusting to this "new" life of mine wasn't going to be very
hard anymore since now I had somebody who "understood" me, or whatever
that's suppose to mean. Basically, a kid who's on my side regardless of what
happens.
After I got done talking about the shit that's going on in my life, Jeremy
went into a bland monologue about his home life. His parents were still
as weird as ever, and his younger sister still had a crush on me even though
I hadn't seen her for several years (claiming that I was the only one who
could steal her heart) and I found that sort of funny. His sister was now
in middle school probably, and it was hard to imagine her anything other
than the little girl who used to want to play dress-up with me. I felt a knot
in my stomach as we talked about these things, and I couldn't help but
feel a breath of nostalgia sweep through me.
Though, Jeremy suddenly paused, and I was thankful that he had stopped.
I might have started crying if he had continued on. He wasn't a poetic type
of kid, but he always had a way of describing things that made me feel like
I was taking part of it. I had suddenly noticed somebody else standing next
to Jeremy, and I glanced at him. He smiled, and Jeremy introduced us.
"Alex, this is Luka Martin. Luka, this is Alex. I used to talk about him all the
time, remember?"
Luka slightly laughed and nodded, before turning to me. His hair was pretty
awesome, I had to admit. The color, I mean. I'd never seen somebody
that had hair like that. At the same time, we both stuck out hands out
and grasped the others with a smile, and Luka welcomed me to the school.
"I've heard a lot about you, Alex."
"I've. . . heard nothing about anything" I joked.
Then, suddenly, the three of us engaged in a fruitful conversation that lasted
till the end of the break, and when the bell rang we lingered in the hallways
for a little longer. After announcing that I had computers next, Jeremy
practically jumped out of his skin and proclaimed that he had the same class
too. After waving to Luka, the two of us made our way down the hall.
After we entered the class, things suddenly began to fall into place in a
more comfortable manner, now that Jeremy was with me, and even though
the computer teacher was being a super bitch that day, just knowing that
something had gone right was making my day slightly better.
That, and the fact that Jeremy was playing some game on the internet
instead of listening to the teacher explain the instructions for the day.