First stop

One stop

Day one

I couldn’t wait to move on, really. I couldn’t wait to make the next stop. It seemed like it took weeks to make it to the second school, but I knew it had only been days since I was torn away from Ohio. It was almost perfect, I was at an after-school program with other kids my age, My best friend was about to visit for the weekend, and my other best friend had gotten into a new friend group as soon as I left. It was a friend group that he would’ve invited me to.

I’m not, like, outgoing per-say. It took me months before I signed up for the after-school program and that building is where I met my best friend, Tyler. On the way to Florida, I couldn’t help but think about all the times we’d shared during summer camp. I thought it couldn’t get much better than summer camp, but then the school year came around and there was an after-school program a lot like it. The only downside was having Tyler move away right before school started. That was another thing on its own, Ty was about to move back right before I left.

It felt awful being on the road with nothing but my family and the thoughts of a lost friend.

“You have social media,” My mom would remind me during the ride.

“It’s not the same,” Was all I could manage back.

Then, we arrived in Florida.

It was a planned trip, of course, so I was already registered for school the day that we arrived. It wasn’t anything special. It had a four out of ten rating online and the comments were atrocious, talking about racist teachers and the like. When I got there for the first time, though, I found that everyone was nice. I was a smaller black kid at the time, but I was smart and funny. People didn’t mind having me around as long as I made jokes, so I could assimilate into just about any situation and no one would get annoyed at me. It was the survival of high school. I also got good grades. Before I left Ohio, the thought of skipping school had never even been an option for me, it had never occurred to me that it was possible. As soon as I moved to Florida, I learned very quickly that it was a different place, that grades didn’t get you very far among the other kids.

When I arrived at school for the first time, I was actually an hour late. I was a car-rider that day, but I didn’t have any clothes that met the dress code, which I hadn’t even heard of in Ohio. The building itself was foreign as well, or buildings. There were maybe five different buildings, each with about eight classes with a hallway down the middle. They were set in a standard light bulb shape and at the base of the shape was the cafeteria and the main office building.

When I went to my third period, I didn’t have any idea where I was going. A few people I asked would turn away and completely ignore me, but finally, someone had the same class as I did.

“Oh yeah,” They said, rubbing their chin. “You have science with Ms. Gretchen, I do too, you can follow me.”

“Okay,” I reply quietly. I was a thinner kid, but I was almost six feet tall. So it was weird following a kid half my height. He was slightly thicker than me, but not chubby, and he had a lot of curly hair that went down to his shoulders.

“I’m Azrael by the way,” He said, still examining my schedule. “It looks like most of your classes are with me, so you can just follow me if you want.”

A lot of people assumed I didn’t pay attention because my eyes wandered, but I paid close attention to every mannerism that Azrael was showing me. The way he said I could follow him told me that he didn’t have a lot of friends and that if I did follow him, he’d end up making me his friend, which wasn’t a bad thing. It just sucked to be able to tell that he was lonely.

“Sounds good,” I said aloud.

“Also,” Azrael said. “You shouldn’t have to worry about being late the first few days, they’ll just excuse you.”

“Okay,” I reply.

I would probably call Azrael Spanish because of his complexion, but I also knew that it wasn’t likely. I wasn’t good at guessing those sorts of things, and I definitely didn’t want someone to get mad at me.

When we arrived at the classroom, I immediately felt like dying. Everyone, everyone, was staring at me. I was tall, and that always garnered attention, but now I was the new kid that no one had met before. The new kid that anyone could twist to their side if they wanted to. Impressionable is the word I would’ve used if someone asked.

When the teacher looked up from her desk to see everyone looking at me, she turned to see too. When she did look, her expression was confused.

“Are you Simon?” She asked politely. Azrael completely abandoned me and left for his own seat.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Oh,” She said, marking attendance on her computer. “Well, you were supposed to be here days ago. No matter, I’ll get you a test right after I get everyone else started, m’kay?”

I nod.

“Can he sit with us?” Said a table of cute girls in the corner farthest from the door.

Ms. Gretchen narrowed her eyes, but she nodded.

When I walked nervously to the table, I took note of how the class looked. There were at least three full shelves of books against the wall farthest from the door. On the left of the wall sat a table full of cute girls, the one I was headed towards. All of the other tables were strewn around the room, but to the left of the door was an enormous standing desk for the teacher. To the right side of the room were boxes of robotic stuff and a closet, probably full of science equipment.

When I reached the table, the girls immediately started looking me over. All three of them were white and only one had brown hair, the others had blonde hair.

“So,” One of the blondes said. “I’m Allison, Allie, and this is Phoebe,” She pointed to the other blonde. “And this is Erin.” She pointed to the girl with brown hair. “Where’re you from Simon?”

“Um… Ohio,” I answered.

That was the rest of the day for me. A bunch of girls would start talking to me and learn that I was from Ohio and played Volleyball. They would only talk to me for a few minutes, mostly about a boy playing volleyball, and then they’d leave, leaving me to talk to Azrael.

When my parents picked me up at the end of the day, I didn’t have the heart to tell them I hated the new school. It sucked, even more, to have to go home to a new apartment, another place that I wasn’t used to.

Day five

For the past few days, people had stopped ogling me for the most part. Every once in a while, I’d meet a new teacher. When I told them I was from Ohio, they’d get excited, but they’d eventually stop caring enough to make conversation and leave.

It didn’t matter anymore, though, on the fourth day, I’d signed up for Drama. Back in Ohio, I was pretty good at volleyball, especially with my height, but acting was where I’d shined. I’d been in a bunch of plays, most of them were cheap and didn’t include many props, but I didn’t care as long as I got to flaunt my talent. I could cry, laugh, and get angry convincingly. I really was the star of the drama crew. Then I moved to Florida.

Today, though, was the time to prove myself to whoever was running it. When school ended, instead of going to the cafeteria like usual, I went over to the auditorium next to it and opened the double doors to find two people already there. One was Phoebe, but I hadn’t met the other yet. When they looked at me, Phoebe smiled immediately.

“Hey, Simon!” She yelled as I half walked/half jogged down the aisles of seats. About halfway I passed sound equipment.

This place must be serious I thought.

When I met with the two girls, four other people trailed in behind me. Two were teachers.

The first teacher was a man in gym shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. I actually recognized him as one of the gym coaches. He still had his whistle and clipboard in his hand. The other teacher was a woman with brown-red hair. She had the same t-shirt as the coach and upon closer inspection, I realized it was a school t-shirt. She was wearing jeans instead of gym shorts, though. She was walking with a kid who looked older than me holding her hand. Immediately, I could tell from the way he walked that he was one of the kids in the special classes. One of those kids that was a little bit slower than most people. He looked friendly, though. A few years back, I’d met a kid in a wheelchair. He got away with pinching and insulting people, no one told on him because… he was in a wheelchair. I almost asked him if he wanted to play soccer once, but it was too mean for my taste.

The last girl that entered was black, my complexion. She was wearing hoop earrings and jeans with a green and grey hoodie. She walked with a kind of swag that no high school boy could match.

“Simon,” Phoebe whispered as they made their way down the ramp. “This is Amber,” She pointed to the girl standing next to her. “That’s Mr. Phillips and Ms. Kate, and that’s Blaire and Peter.”

“Okay,” I whispered back.

“Alright, guys,” Mr. Phillips said. “We’ll get sound and lights set up when Ian gets here, but for now, let’s discuss what we wanna do for the showcase.”

Day ten

No was my only thought.

“I’m sorry,” Mom said, pulling into the start of the drop-off. “But it just isn’t working out, we want to go farther south.”

“But what about the showcase?” I asked desperately.

“Maybe you can work something out to come back,” Mom said. “But we’re leaving and that’s the end of it.”

Finally, after hating Florida for almost a week, I met people I could get behind. Mr. Phillips was easily my favorite teacher, Azrael still accompanied me to most classes and lunch, and Blaire, Amber, and Phoebe were becoming my best friends. It was too painful to be ripped away again.

“Mom, please,” I begged as she stopped to let me out.

“People are waiting, honey,” Was all she said. “Just tell them today so you don’t set them up for disappointment.”

I got out of the car and did my best not to slam the door in anger.

When everyone finally left to go home, I made my way over to the auditorium one last time. When I reached Phoebe, Blaire, and Amber at the bottom, the doors opened for the teachers and Peter to walk through. I turned my attention back to my friends.

“Guys--” Was all I managed before Mr. Philips interrupted.

“You okay, Si?” He asked. I must’ve looked like an idiot.

“I-- um--” I couldn’t get the words out for my life.

“What’s wrong?” Amber asked.

I sat down, my back against the bottom of the stage. Everyone was looking at me. Everyone was expecting me to be ready for the group scene.

“I can’t,” Was all I could say. “I can’t do the group scene.”

“Why?” Phoebe asked.

They couldn’t even comprehend what I was feeling, the anguish. They didn’t even know to feel bad, yet. I didn’t want them to, of course.

“Simon,” Mr. Phillips said. “Are you nervous?”

I shook my head. It took everything I had to keep the tears inside my eyelid. I wasn’t sure I could move my head without letting it all out.

“I have to leave,” I said quietly. “I’m moving again.”

I half expected them to be angry. I was ruining the perfectly good group scene, and we already had trouble finding this one, it would be a nightmare for them to find another.

Mr. Phillips just sighed. “That sucks, man,” He said. “You’re a good actor, and you’re the best tenth-grade singer I’ve ever seen.”

Phoebe probably wasn’t trying to offend me, but she questioned him with her eyes.

“Tenth-grade boy,” He corrected himself.

“Well,” Blaire said. “I’m sorry, Si.”

I was glad that none of them tried to make it better by saying something cheesy.

Rehearsal still went on as usual, and I participated, but in the end, I still felt awful. Right after rehearsal ended, Phoebe pulled me into the dressing room without anyone seeing. But, it was a little suspicious that both Amber and Blaire had gotten the teacher's attention at the same time. Something about musicals.

“Here,” Phoebe whispered in the dark. She pressed a folded piece of paper in my hand. Then, before I could even respond, she pulled us both out of the dressing room before the teachers could get suspicious.

I made my way back up the ramp without saying anything. I didn’t want to give anything away in front of the teachers. When we reached the drop-off, everyone got into their respective cars one-by-one. Mr. Phillips left Ms. Kate to watch over us, but she just stared at her phone. When Phoebe’s ride entered the loop, she picked up her backpack and prepared to get in.

“Call me,” She said before getting in her car immediately. I wanted to protest that I didn’t have her phone number or any way of finding it. Then I looked at the piece of paper to find Blaire, Amber, and Phoebe’s phone numbers. I felt bad not having Azrael’s, I knew he’d be lonely without me. Then, I figured out that I could just ask one of the girls to get it. My mom pulled into the loop soon after that.

“Bye, Ms. Kate,” I said as I got in the passenger seat.

“Bye Simon,” She said one last time. It stung, but I had my friends, still. If I ever wanted to talk to Mr. Phillips, I could find his email if I wanted to.

That night, I called Phoebe first, and then I added Amber and Blaire to the call. We talked for three hours. Before I hung up, I asked if they could get Azrael’s phone number too, and they said they would find a way.

I still have all of my friends I told myself.

Maybe they’ll visit in the summer I told myself.

It was bittersweet, but it wasn’t the end, it was only the first stop of the rest of my life.