• What ever builder designed this place deserved to have their hands chopped off.

    The place was a goddamn maze, and I found myself running frantically past many confused students. They whispered in each other's ears, obviously interested in this strange new face rampaging through their halls. What a to start the year as the pathetic lost kid... I was sure to get hell for this. As the clock hands wound closer to class time, the number of people in the halls began to dwindle, causing me to panic. I stopped to take another look at my schedule, which said my first class was in Classroom 605, and numbers of the rooms I was next to were in the 200's...

    I darted round another corner, running as fast as I could past 300, 400, 500...

    Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

    So close. Yet so far. A half-groan half-sigh left my throat without restraint, and I ran a hand through my brown-red hair in frustration. At my old school, the place was one story high, so it was pretty easy to find classes, but this place had five floors to it. Only three were used for classes, but it was two too many for me. I leaned against the wall, trying to let some of the steam roll off... this was turning out to be a horrible first day.

    "Hey! You!"

    Huh? I looked up. Standing there, on the other side of the hall, was probably the most stern-faced kid I'd ever seen. Hands on his hips, he was looking right across at me, though the way he glared it made me felt like he was looking down on me, seering into my soul. A bright orange sash stretched across his uniform, and spelled out in big black block letters, "HALL MONITER."

    Oh jeeze.

    I frowned with annoyance, expecting what was to come. Hall Moniters were never taken seriously at my old school, the only people who took up the job were basically a bunch of jerks that hadn't made the cut for the football team or something, and we're looking for another way to feel like they could boss people around. I sighed, waiting for this kid to be the same way.

    I had never made a more wrong assumption in my life.

    "Hall Pass?" he asked the standard question, holding out his hand.

    "I don't... have one..."

    He narrowed his eyes at me, and I waited for the usual teacher's pet rant about how he'd report me to the principal for supposedly cutting class. But he didn't. He just stood there like a silent stone wall, chin low, keeping his eyes on my face, as if trying to read my expression. I felt my indifferent expression slide down into a concerned frown, and quickly realized this wasn't some teacher's pet... this guy meant business. The way he stood reminded me of a cop, and not the crazy kind of cop-kid that thought they were oh-so cool and badass, I mean like a real cop. The kind that watched you for any wrong move, and was prepared to cuff you and pepper-spray you blind you if you did. After a while, like a soldier, he lifted his chin and put his hands behind his back, still insepcting me.

    "This is your first day, right?"

    "No- I mean, yes! Yes it is!" I was tempted to add "Sir."

    "Well then I guess I'll cut you some slack this time."

    He wipped out a pencil and hallpass pad lightning fast like a proffesional cop, and scribbled on it. I stared at him. He kept that stern expression, althought it was less hard now that he was leaving me with a warning. But the sterness isn't what struck me... it was sure that this was the first time I'd ever met the kid, but the way he locked his jaw, kept his head straight, only moving his eyes... it all seemed so... familiar...

    There was a second-long ripping sound, and he held out the pass to me.

    "Thank you."

    "Do you know your way to your class?"

    "... No." I didn't like admitting defeat to anything, but there was no use trying to hide the facts. I was the lost new kid.

    "Why didn't you just ask someone for directions?"

    I was silent, letting the question sink in. Why hadn't I asked for directions? Uuugh... one of my moments. To tell you the truth... I wasn't exactly always the smartest guy in the world. I had my moments where sometimes I rushed into things without planning, and they often got me into trouble. This was one of those moments.

    "I don't know."

    "What room?"

    "Six o'five."

    He turned on his heel and began to strut ahead, and I followed. The kid kept his hands behind his back, and I half-expected him to start goose-stepping.

    "Here you are." He stopped in front of a room marked, "Science."

    "Thanks..."

    My mind got a little image of him saluting me, but (unfortunately...?) he just turned and left. I watched his back, and was struck by the same mysterious sense of familiarity...

    "HEY!" I called after him. He wipped around with a murderous look that made me flinch, and vowed in my heart to never, EVER yell in a school hallway ever again. But I still had to ask. "What's your name?"

    "Michael." he said simply, before walking away to continue his oh-so important Hall Moniter duties to the world.

    Well then.

    Let's see, creepy black bird, over-serious creepy Hall Moniter... New School: 0, Theo's Paranoia: 2. It was an uphill battle, but we had to keep on going. I entered science class, and sat quietly for the rest of the hour.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

    The bell chimed through the halls, signaling lunch time, at last. Mom had actually packed a lunch on the way here as something of a parting gift... I'd always taken home lunch, and this would be the last one before eating cafeteria food for the next four years. I wondered if it really was as bad as people made it out to be... I prayed it wasn't, and decided to enjoy my last guarenteed-good lunch as best I could.

    The lunch room was set up on the first floor, and very spacious, with various round tables placed around in no particular order. It was loud like any cafeteria, people chattting away with their friends and no one really seemed to notice me, which let me breath a sigh of relief. By some miracle stroke of luck, my little pillage through the halls hadn't become a stain on my reputation. The rays of hope were shining, and to celebrate such, I picked a nice empty table by a window where rays of sun were shining and dug into my food.

    Tap, tap...

    "Caw!"

    Gagging on my sandwich, I whirled around to see a big black bird sitting on the sill of the window. The thing was looking directly at me, though I did not freeze this time... well, at least not in terms of motor skills. Rather an instinctive chill ran up my spine, and it faintly registered in my head how pathetic it was that I was scared of a bird... but hey, it was scary! Was this thing stalking me?

    "You again...?" I said quietly, not wanting anyone to see me talking to a creepy bird.

    It just stared at me.

    "Let go of me-!"

    There was a loud crash, and I completely forgot about the bird as I whipped my head to the source of the comotion. It was coming from a secluded corner of the lunch room, where not many people were paying attention to, and I could see three upper-classmen boys surrounding someone into a corner. As I stood up and approached closer, I could moe clearly see what was happening.

    One of the older boys was holding up another boy about my age against the wall by his uniform jacket's collar, and practically snarling in his face. The other two, whom I assumed were his pals, just stood next to him and watched.

    "That answer sheet you sold me was bogus!" he yelled, "I want my money back!"

    The kid didn't seem fazed the older boy's threatening attitude, and just glared back at him with a snarky grin.

    "Whatever do you mean...? I gave you your answer sheet."

    "I failed my exam because of you, you dirty little rat!"

    "Your exact words were, 'I want you to get me an answer sheet'," the kid said almost mockingly, "And I gave you that! I don't recall you asking for correct answers..."

    Another violent crash rang out as the upper classman dropped the kid into the nearby metal trash cans, and I could tell from the way his victim fell on the ground that it had not been a pleasant drop. The older kid threw various curses at him, but I had to give the other boy points... there was obvious pain registered in his body language, he was on his knees, and holding his side, but he kept smiling through it all.

    "I outta teach a lesson about what happens to con-artists around here..." the upper classman said, menancingly.

    "You feel like a big man, saying that?" the kid threw back, "Heh... I've heard scarier threats in movi-"

    His sentence was cut off and replaced with a sharp gasp as the older kid's foot collided into his stomach, violently. I had seen enough.

    "Get away from him!" I shouted, and all four heads turned to me. That was probably a stupid move, but like I said, sometimes I didn't make the smartest choices... but at the moment, I hadn't cared. If there was one thing I absolutely did not tolerate, it was people ganging up on someone smaller than them.

    There was a short period of tense silence, before the older kid smiled and turned completely to me, his two friends doing the same.

    "Well, well... looks like we got a little hero here..." he said mockingly to his friends, who chuckled along. The kid on the floor just stared at me with a stunned expression, one hand cupped around his mouth to stop the small flow of blood he'd coughed up after taking the blow.

    It was three against one.

    New school: 0, Theo's paranoia: 3 plus 10 extra credits for confirmation in paranoia. I wasn't a math genius, but I think that said something about my odds at winning any fight these guys presented...

    I was screwed.