New Students

Third Person Story

Ezekiel was somewhat riddled with muscle. No, he wasn't a bodybuilder, but he kept himself fit. His first school had offered a lot of different sports, some of which he freely participated in. His parents were jocks so naturally, he was one as well. It ran in his blood, or so that's what he would tell anyone who asked. The truth was that his parents had raised him that way. Since he could walk being fit was the number one option choice. He remembered the holidays they had where all they did was a series of exercise regimens. He was basically fed protein supplements until he was 12 years old. He found himself often unwillingly participating in different sports and clubs. Then he had been taken out of school and homeschooled.

"It's just for the year." His parents told him. "Until we have finally settled."

They were moving to another town. It was a smaller one compared to where they stayed. Everything was within walking distance from their new house. Now, between the self-taught exercises and packing, Ezekiel found that he didn't have much time to spend on his reading or writing. He wanted to get some more poems written down before they officially left their current house. Yes, you got that right... Under his whole jock physique, attitude, and determination he was a pretty down-to-earth guy. His best friend was the school dubbed 'nerd'. He loved to read and his friend always joked about him being an undercover nerd. That had become an inside joke between the two of them. Well, it lasted right up until he was put into a homeschooling program.

Most of the time he wished his parents would pay more attention to his little sister. 'They could always make her a prima ballerina. One that plays netball or some shit like that.' He often found himself thinking. Being firstborn didn't help with such matters though. The attention was on him 24/7 no questions asked, no objections. He was expected to be 'this' or 'that', expected to do 'this' or 'that'. His sister knew he didn't like all the attention so she never got upset about it.

Ezekiel managed to squeeze in writing two poems before hiding them in the wall of his room for someone else to find at a later date. The idea made him feel really good about his current situation. It kept him in touch with his more romantic side. Sure girls liked him and he didn't have to do much to get their attention, but that was because of how he was built and his looks so he was automatically considered attractive. Such was the life of a popular jock. He'd learned that the many hoards of girls only wanted to be noticed by people and praised. They didn't care for the romantic stuff much, but he certainly did. It was one of his better quirks. He didn't care that it made him look soft. He was always true to himself because, among other things, he believed character is what makes a person who they really are. So what if that made him the cheesiest guy to roam the planet, only the people who really got to know him knew about this stuff.

Over the normal school holidays, Ezekiel and his sister finished up what little work they had left with the homeschool program. They then spent the last two weeks enjoying the outdoors and the peace it gave them. They had been officially moved into their new house the second week after the holidays had started. They weren't able to officially meet their neighbors because they were busy with their school work. Neither of them worried about it anyway. They would be going to the same school as pretty much everyone else in this town. It was the only school there that had major sports programs and They knew what that meant. It was also the only school that allowed parents to get rid of their kids for a couple of months.

*~*

The first week was their 'induction' process. The first day there Ezekiel and his sister watched as other students casually went back and forth from the office collecting papers and leaving. He found it amusing and subconsciously compared it to a yoyo. The numerous students being the wheel returning to the person's hand (the office) every so often. The family was early for their meeting with the principal so all they could really do was sit and wait. A girl about Ezekiel's age walked in around 11 or 12, Ezekiel wasn't sure of the exact time. She looked something like a Barbie doll die-hard. It was clear that she didn't care about anything, and possibly anyone, around her. She had a 'casual' pair of shorts on, red in color. She wore a crop-top paired with a denim jacket that just barely covered her chest area. The principal called her into his office and they spoke for 5-10 minutes before she walked out with the same uninterested, bored expression.

The principal walked out after her looking defeated. He quickly fixed himself and called the family of four into his office. They got up quickly and filed into his office with ease. Ezekiel heard him asking someone to bring more chairs and within a few seconds, they were brought. They all sat down one after the other to get on with the meeting.

"Good day." The man said looking through the papers on his desk. "Ezekiel and... Samantha. Correct?"

They nodded their response to him. Silence filled the room for two more seconds. It was their mother who broke it.

"Why could we not have done this sooner?" She asked.

"I'm sorry ma'am. We make out our student timetables during the week before classes and considering there is a large number of students we are busy right up until the day of their first assembly. We do it this way so that when new students come at the beginning of the year teachers can give certain students extra work on the first day so that they do not fall behind in their own work." He said with a smile. "Your children will not lose any progress either. Their guides will be students from their grades and as such those students can help with whatever work they might have missed today."

Their father sat silent as their mother asked another two questions. "And when will their timetables be done then? Also what subjects are they going to be doing?"

"Ma'am as soon as we are finished here I will personally get to making their timetables. They will be able to collect them tomorrow morning from my office and we will have two students waiting for them. As I said those students will serve as a guide for your children through the school for the two weeks. So can we continue with their subject choices now?" He smiled pulling out two pieces of paper. "You get to choose up to 9 subjects. Perhaps ten if there are any teachers able to fit in an extra."

He handed Ezekiel and Samantha the papers and a pen. They took the lists and marked off their subject choices one at a time. They had the compulsory three, the chosen three, and then if they wanted three extra-mural subjects. They had the option of choosing 4 subjects from the second group and they didn't have to choose anything from the third group. As the principal had explained. Ezekiel's final decision was 3-3-2. He figured eight would be enough for him with sports in the afternoon.

After all the paperwork was completed the principal lead them towards the dormitories. They first went to the girls' side. Outside they were met with a friendly female face. The principal ushered Samantha towards the woman. Explaining that she was the mother hen of the girls' dormitories. After saying goodbye to her parents Samantha walked into the dorm with the teacher to be shown around and to her room. Ezekiel and his parents went on with the principal to the boys' dorm. Another man met them outside. Ezekiel said goodbye to his parents and was lead inside for his tour of the dorms and directions to his room. The principal lead their parents out to the parking lot. He walked them right up to their car.

"Will their guides be of the same gender?" Their father suddenly asked.

"Samantha's guide will be a female, yes. Ezekiel's guide will not be a male. We have selected a female student to help him. Please remember that we only chose the most reliable students for such tasks. The best of the best so to say. The ones that will certainly not have any issues in their own work." He said and bid them goodbye.

*~*

The next day the teachers lead Ezekiel and Samantha to the office and instructed them to wait there until one of the guides came. They assured the two that they wouldn't have to wait too long. Then they left to set up their own classes for their upcoming lectures.

"Hey. I'm Adrienne." A gentle voice came from the side.

It was almost immediately after the teachers had left them. Barely 2 minutes had passed by. Samantha and Ezekiel both turned to see a girl standing by the door with a smile. She looked to be Ezekiel's age and there was something familiar about her. 'The Barbie doll?' Ezekiel thought almost immediately. He was confused for a minute or two. 'But... No, it's not her. Different attitude and appearance.' He quickly corrected his thoughts. He examined her a bit more to make sure he wasn't making a mistake.

"Adre... Adre-nine?" Samantha said pronouncing the name horribly wrong.

The girl smiled and shook her head. "No, it's pronounced Adri enne."

She wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed that to Samantha. Ezekiel was still silently staring at her.

"Oh, my bad." Samantha smiled.

Ezekiel couldn't help but think that this girl was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He felt like she might have a soul that could never be tainted no matter how hard one tried. He was awe-struck, to say the least. Something that had never happened before, well not to him at least. 'Was she some sort of angel?' His mind asked.

"I'm Samantha and this dodo bird over here is my big brother, Ezekiel. Excuse him it seems like he has never seen a beautiful girl before." Samantha giggled.

Adrienne smiled at her and stuck her hand forward towards Samantha. They shook hands and Adrienne repeated the action with Ezekiel. That seemed to get him out of whatever daze or spell he was under. He smiled a little embarrassed with himself. He scratched the back of his neck with one hand and took her hand with the other. He gently shook her hand fearing she might break if he was too rough. If it bothered Adrienne she didn't show it.

"I'm Ezekiel. Ammm yeah, Ezekiel like Sam said. I'm sorry for staring it's just you look like this girl I saw here yesterday and I was trying to figure out if you're the same person." Ezekiel said rather lamely with an awkward chuckle.

Adrienne's face dropped a bit at his explanation. She shook her head forcing a smile.

"So it seems Amber must have been sent to the office again. She never was one to behave." She mumbled and faced the two again. "That was my sister Amber. Now I have been assigned to showing Ezekiel around the school. Samantha, your guide is a girl named Siān. She should be out of the dorms a bit later to take care of you. Our times are different because I'm in a higher phase." Adrienne quickly said changing the topic. "If you would follow me please, I'm going to get the both of you sorted with your timetables, lockers, and other necessary documents."

"Thank you. Adri," Samantha said smiling.

Welcome to Wherever You Are

Song by Bon Jovi

(1970 words)