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The Test

When entering a new town and a new school, fitting in is no easy task. Demetri found this out the hard way. He came from a small town on the outskirts of Barton. There he'd had a close circle of friends he'd made starting the year before he moved. It annoyed him that his parents were always carting him off to some new town always with the words, 'making friends is easy, you've just got to try.' They didn't understand. The only friend he would always have was his journal.

Demetri would never be popular. He got teased all his life for his name, his hair, his eyes, his clothes, the way he talked, his journal, anything people could touch. For years he let it get to him. He lived his life bending over backwards to get someone to like him. Anyone. In the Barton suburbs he'd managed to find a few friends that he enjoyed spending time with, though they still made fun of him often. Now, he had to start all over again.

He heaved a great sigh as he crossed the street to the bike racks at school. It was the second semester of eighth grade. He'd been in Durem for two months, and nothing had changed. He opened the gate and walked to his bike. He set his backpack down and rumaged through it looking for the tiny key that unlocked the padlock and chain that tethered his bike to the post. He finally found it making a mental note to tie a shoestring to it or something to make it easier to find. Smiling to himself he lifted the lock and noticed something pink smeared on the bottom. He groaned. Someone had shoved gum in the lock. "Guess I'm walking home."

"Hey D! Come here for a sec." One of the boys from his homeroom was standing on the other side of the fence with three others. Demetri was a little suspicious but he'd never make friends if he didn't at least see what they wanted. He sighed to himself and walked over. "You wanna be one of us? You gotta pass a test." The boy unzipped his backpack and revealed four cans of brightly colored spray paint. "We're going down to the Kwik Mart, to... improve our artistic horizons. Wanna come?" Demetri thought about it. Deep down he knew tagging was against the law, but there was so much graffiti on the walls of that convience store, a little more couldn't hurt.

"I'm there."

They made it to the store shortly after and the paint was passed out. "Here D," the boy threw a can of bright red paint at him. Demetri caught it and stared at the wall already covered in graffiti. Just a little bit. "You need a tag-name. How about..." The boy lifted his can and spelled out 'Big D' on the wall.

"Wait, wait, I got one." One of the other boys lifted his and wrote 'Vampire'. The others erupted in laughter, Demetri sighed. It was no different from school.

"What about..." The third put simply Demetree, with a little picture of a tree next to it. Not only were they insulting him, they were doing a terrible job at it.

Demetri had yet to even take the cap off of his can when they saw the red and blue lights of a cop car headed their way. "Scram!" one of the boys yelled and trusted his can into Demetri's hands. The other two followed suit. The three of them hopped the fence behind them and waved to Demetri as they ran. He looked around frantically for somewhere to run but it was too late. A rather large policeman stepped out of the car and cornered him. It was useless trying to argue. He had four cans of paint in his arms and the wall behind him was covered in his name.

When his mother answered the door she didn't even let him speak. As soon as the officer had told her what he assumed to be true, Demetri was grounded. He wasn't allowed out of the house except for school and his curfew time was pulled forward so he had less time to get home. It was useless telling her the truth, she'd never believe him over a man of the law. He shut himself in his room and pulled out his journal. After explaining his rotten day he added as the last line: 'I just want to be a part of something.'

The next day at school the three boys found him during lunch. "So you didn't tell on us, thats pretty cool of you."

"Really?" Demetri couldn't hide the hope in his voice. Maybe he'd proven himself to them that way.

"Yeah, but you still didn't pass the test."

"Oh."

"I suppose, since you're such a good sport, we could give you another chance. Meet us at downtown durem by H. R. Wesley's tomorrow after school." Demetri nodded, he had one last chance. If he could just impress them somehow. The only problem was breaking curfew when he was already on thin ice with his parents.

The next day he showed up outside H. R. Wesley's as promised. He kept nervously glancing at his watch. He had five minutes to get home and the others hadn't even shown up yet. He looked around for them, praying they'd come quickly so he'd only be a little late. Three minutes left. "Come on guys..." He glanced at his watch again and growned he was a minute late already.

"Demetri," He jumped and turned around to face the three behind him. "we've decided that you can be our friend, but we can't be friends with a f*****t. You've never even talked to a girl at school so your mission is to find a girlfriend before we go home. Bring her back here by 5:30." Demetri nodded slowly, he had less than an hour to find a girlfriend. He'd never wanted a girlfriend and barely ever spoke to girls. This was going to be difficult. "Better get going D. The clock is ticking."

It was best to go about these things systematically he supposed. There were two stores in Durem famous for a large amount of females. A flower shop, and a doll shop. The flower shop was run by four attractive males which meant it would be difficult to get anyone to agree. So that left the doll shop.

Twenty minutes later he was standing outside Descending Angels. He'd gotten lost on the way, and had asked three girls already. They had all responded with 'you're a creep go away.' This was not going well. He stared up at the sign above the door, it was pink and ... cute. His eyes traveled down to the windows. There were girls inside. A lot of them, all different ages. This was so stupid, he was really past curfew and he only had fifteen minutes to find a girl and get back to H. R. Wesley's. The door tinkled a little as he opened it but barely anyone would hear it over the noise in the store. He really didn't want to be here. "all I want are some friends, to be a part of something, why do I have to do this? Why do I need a girlfriend?" He walked around the shop, looking at everyone. There were two other males in the shop. One worked there and the other was a tall blonde with a pokeball in his hand. It felt like a sin just to be in here.

He looked at his watch, ten minutes left. He'd never make it. He might as well give up and go home. To get home he'd have to pass H. R. Wesley's so he decided to wait here for another ten minutes then go, so he wouldn't run into the others on his way. To pass the time he looked on the shelves. Everything was so... girly. Demetri didn't begin to understand the minds of girls, they might as well be another species entirely. He picked up an egg and examined it.

"Don't you steal anything kid." A woman with a look of 'all business' stood beside him. She was wearing a long white coat and a bright red skirt and her nametag said 'Ayumi'. "I've seen you with those other boys, always stealing from the skateshop next door."

"Hey, I'm not interested in dolls. And I'm not their friend."

"If you aren't interested why are you here?"

"I just came in because I wanted to find a... well, that doesn't matter now."

"You look pretty interested to me." She nodded toward the egg in his hand.

"I'm not here to steal anything lady. I'm only looking at this stuff because I don't understand whats so great about dolls."

Ayumi's eyes widened and her entire attitude changed, all of a sudden she was hyper and excited. "Whats so great about dolls?! Angelic Layer is more than just dolls!" Without giving Demetri another chance to talk she jumped into a detailed explination of the game, ending her speech with, "its a great way to make friends."

By the end of the speech Demetri had to admit he was interested. Ayumi had taken him around the store and shown him all of the things needed to play. "I don't have a lot of money for this stuff... is there like a less expensive version, just the basics?" Ayumi smiled and handed him an egg she told him the price. Demetri smiled, he supposed he could afford it. So long as he kept it simple, for now at least. He paid for the doll and what he needed to activate it and headed for home.

He bit his lip as he walked through the door two hours late. His mother was furious. "Demetri, Where have you been?"

"I-"

"I don't want to hear it! You've been out with those hooligans again! Causing trouble no doubt. You should really choose your friends more carefully."

"I really haven't!"

"Then where were you?"

"I was getting this." He pulled the egg out of his backpack and handed it to her. "Its for a game." Demetri mimicked the speech that Ayumi had given him ending with the same line.

His mother sighed heavily, "go to your room Demetri, we'll discuss this later." After he was out of sight his mother smiled. Maybe he wouldn't turn out so bad after all. Now all she had to do was get him to give up that punk look.

Demetri lay the egg carefully on the bed beside him as he pulled out his journal and wrote about his day. He smiled.

I think I may have found my niche.

I went back to Descending Angels today. I think I should stop going so often. People are starting to notice me more because I really get into it when I'm watching the games. Still, I can't help it.

I almost got caught though. It was rather frightening to find the guys outside Descending Angels. Of course they weren't there for that shop, but the skate shop next door. I wish Descending Angels was surrounded by more girly shops so they wouldn't come anywhere near it. Although if I got caught there I definitely couldn't play it like I was just in the wrong store. Its a difficult thing to wish for I guess.

Anyway, so I saw those guys and it freaked me out so badly that I bumped into this little girl and made her cry. I offered to buy her an ice cream but she ran off. It didn't bother me much because I was out of the spotlight again once she'd left. Well, until this other girl talked to me. She just kind of jumped right in and started telling me off for being afraid of the guys outside. To tell the truth she kind of creeped me out. She was very blunt. Came right out and asked if I was gay. As if there was any doubt. Of course I'm not. ... Well I guess I don't know. I'm not going to lie here, so I'll make my statement. I am undecided. I've never felt attraction toward a guy, but I've never felt attraction toward a girl either. Maybe I'm asexual?

After she left, I tried to get out without being seen. Long story short they saw me, harassed me and I told them I was waiting for my girlfriend just to get them off my back. I don't know why I thought it would work. I don't know why I thought they wouldn't want proof. I ended up back inside the store looking around for someone to play the part. The only girl I had an inkling of a chance with was the girl I talked to earlier. I asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend and she actually went along with it! How crazy is that?

She ended up going way too far. She was pushy and in their faces, she even pushed Jordan. I wanted to tell her off because I don't think I'll ever live this down, but she was just trying to help. It wouldn't be right if I did. She told me I had to 'man-up'. I'm pretty manly aren't I? Its not that I'm girly, I just don't like being called gay all the time. And I really need to fit in here. We probably won't be moving again very soon so I've got to make some friends.

I was late coming home again. Mom wasn't very happy about it but she'll get over it I guess. A week with an earlier curfew won't kill me, I just can't go to Descending Angels for a while. I just have to find a way to get Kylie the Root Beer Float I promised her for helping me. Or rather she blackmailed me into.