Chapter 2

"Ready for school?" mother asked as Cedric finished his breakfast. "Yeah, just a sec!" he said and rushed into his room. He quickly collected everything he needed for school. Giving one last glance to his small window, he took his school bag and left.

"Alright let's go," his mom started the engine of the car as Cedric hopped in. As the car slowly drove away from their house, Cedric noticed the figure of a boy, watching them from the distance.

"Have fun, sweetie," mother pecked his cheek and Cedric started to walk towards his school. A school that he went to was really old, which showed on its condition. The depressing grey color just gave finishing touch to complete the prison-like look.

As Cedric walked across the school grounds, he could hear kids whispering about him, giving him dirty looks, and turning away from him. Even though he was used to it, it didn't let his spirit down and he continued to walk to his classroom.

"Hi, um, I will have a small party for my birthday, wanna come?" Cedric smiled and handed his classmate a handmade birthday card. His classmate just gave him a disgusted look and walked away. "It's okay! I'll give you some time to think about it," Cedric called behind his classmate. He sat back down and played with his birthday card in his hands. What am I doing wrong?

The day went by really slow. Usually, Cedric would keep his happy mood, but today with every minute, he felt worse and worse. When the bell rang, signalizing the end of the last period, everyone packed their things and left to the cafeteria for lunch. Except for Cedric.

He just sat in his seat, staring at the window. Why though? Because he was there. The boy that Cedric started to see since yesterday. He finally had a chance to look at him properly. The boy had black hair, just like Cedric, and he wore what seemed like an old school uniform. But something seemed off about him. Cedric couldn't see his face. It almost looked like he didn't have one...

"Cedric Stalford. What are you still doing here?" the voice of his teacher took him out of his thoughts. "U-Um, I spaced out. Sorry Ms. Scarlett," Cedric collected his books and put them in his bag. "It's okay. Go eat lunch, okay?" the teacher ruffled his hair and left the classroom.

Cedric looked back at the window where the boy was before. He was gone now.

"Hey, freak," a voice called as Cedric walked through the halls. Cedric turned around just to receive a punch in the face. He fell down, books scattering all over the floor. "Ha! Clean hit," the boy said and some people laughed. "W-Why, Oliver?" Cedric held back the tears forming in his eyes. "You were in my way," Oliver chuckled. "And I wanted to check if I can fix your dumb eyes like that," Oliver leaned closer to Cedric and put away hair from his left eye. "Nope. Still color eye freak," Oliver laughed and stood up straight. Cedric quickly put his hair back over his different colored left eye.

Oliver and his friends always made fun of Cedric for having heterochromia, and even though Cedric tried to ignore it, it bothered him deep inside. Oliver and his friends walked over him and disappeared in the big door that led to the cafeteria. Cedric collected his books from the floor and rushed to the cafeteria, so he could have lunch.

"So a birthday party, huh?" George looked at the handmade card Cedric gave him. Cedric had a hope he would accept for a second. But his hope was crushed with one single gesture. "As I would care about some dumb birthday of yours," George tore the card in half and dropped it on the floor. "You color eye freak," George gave Cedric one last hateful glance and walked away.

Cedric couldn't hold back tears anymore. Why was this happening? Why did they treat him like trash? He tried so hard. Yet nothing has changed how they look at him. He just wanted to be good enough.

"Hey, um, you okay?" Cedric heard a soft voice next to him. He looked up and saw a girl with chocolate brown skin, black curly hair, and green eyes. "O-oh, nothing," Cedric wiped his tears away and picked up his birthday card, or what was left of it. "Do you have a birthday?" the girl looked at the pieces of the card. "I will have soon," Cedric said quietly and put the pieces of his card into his pocket.

"Wow, really? Can I come?" the girl looked excitedly at Cedric. His eyes lit up. "Of course! I'll be happy," he pulled off his brightest smile and the girl excitedly squealed. "Oh, I forgot. My name is Sarah. I'm new around here," she stuck out her hand. "I'm Cedric," he shook it.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go now. But we can talk tomorrow," Sarah noticed her parent's car park near the school. Cedric happily nodded. "Great! See you tomorrow then, friend," she gave him a small wave and walked to the car.

Cedric was really happy. He finally made a friend! A real one! With a warm feeling inside, he started to walk home. But the feeling didn't last very long, because as he left the school grounds, he noticed the familiar figure of a boy, standing by the forest.

"H-Hey! W-Who are you?" Cedric yelled at the boy. He didn't answer but gestured he wanted Cedric to follow him. The boy slowly turned around and walked into the forest.

"Hey! Wait up!" Cedric yelled and ran into the forest behind the faceless boy.