Mike Bailey…

(Zack's POV)

It had been a week, and I still hadn't spoken to anyone. The stares still hadn't stopped so I just had to live with it. Everyone had their group of friends, and it looked like there was no room for me. I felt a bit suffocated, but I didn't want that to stop me from being in school. I had been a bit interested in the girl that caught my eye on the first day so occasionally I'd glance at her and her friend. She looked like she had found her place. While I was going through my thoughts, I heard a knock on my desk. I looked up and saw a rather stern-looking guy. I wondered what he wanted from me. "Heard you haven't spoken to anyone since you arrived. My name is Mike, Mike Bailey. Wanna be friends?" I was surprised that someone walked up to me and spoke to me. I didn't know how to respond so I said whatever came to mind "I don't feel comfortable talking to people I don't know." After I said these words, he started laughing. I was confused, did what I said sound funny? "So, you're just shy? Since I've introduced myself, I'm no longer a stranger so you can speak to me freely". After he spoke, He took an extra seat and sat beside me. For some reason, his actions intrigued me, and I didn't feel uncomfortable in any way, so I spoke to him. I told him my name and I told him that it wouldn't be a bad idea to become friends. I had been told by my nanny that I talk and act differently from people my age so if I decided to make a friend, I would want to learn how to communicate properly with people of the same age. I made my first friend, and it didn't feel all that special. He was quite an interesting guy, but his eyes looked like they had a dark past. His eyes looked dim without any light in them. I didn't understand why his eyes looked that way, but I wasn't ready to bear the weight of anyone's past when I hadn't even figured out how to sort out my issues. I decided to not overthink things and just let things flow how they want to. He spoke to me all through lunch break and it felt quite nice to have someone of my age talk to me. The bell rang and the break was over, then he said something really funny, and we both couldn't help but laugh. While laughing, I looked away from his direction and my eyes happened to lock with that girl. She was staring again and just like before, she hurriedly turned after seeing that she had been caught which made me laugh again. Mike looked in the same direction and saw who I was looking at. Then he stood up and walked up to her. I was taken aback by his sudden action, and I wanted to follow him, but I couldn't. My body refused to move so instead of fighting it, I just remained seated. I tried to figure out what he was saying to her, but then they both looked in my direction and I looked away wondering what they could have said about me. After a while he came back and said something even more interesting, "Do you like her?" I was shocked. What did he mean by that? Why would I like someone that I knew nothing about.? Why would he even ask such a thing? I didn't even know how I was supposed to explain it to him. "It's not that I like her, I just find her actions to be a bit cute. I don't even know her name so why would you ask me that?" He didn't say anything after I replied to him, and I didn't understand the expression on his face. I tried explaining a bit more, but the teacher walked in, and our conversation had to be put on hold.

The weeks flew by, and it was already time for the midterm tests. Mike and I had gotten more comfortable around each other, and I had gotten to know a lot more about him. Even though I didn't speak much, he didn't mind doing the talking. I found out that he was a year older, and he had stayed back a year due to personal reasons which he wouldn't tell me about. I didn't pry either because I didn't want to talk about my past too. I had learnt a lot from him, and I had been trying to change a few things about myself from what he had told me. I was intentional about curing myself of this disease because I wanted to live like everyone else. I had been studying every night for the mid-term tests and I was quite sure that it'd be a walkover. Even though it was my first time, I knew that I'd do well, after all, I'm a genius. 

I had a math test first and I had always been way ahead of myself in math, so I was quite confident and just as I expected, it was quite easy. I wrote every other test with a lot of confidence, and I was sure that I didn't miss anything. This isn't something to brag about but, one of the perks of being autistic is that once I pick up something of interest, then I'd be extremely good at it, and that one thing was studying. I enjoyed studying and I was proud of myself for that because the more I knew, the more I could help my grandfather with the weight on his shoulders. We were given a week off of school and our results would have been pasted on the notice board by the time we got back. That meant that I wouldn't be around people anymore. I felt a bit relieved because I had been walking on thin ice trying to avoid people for the past weeks. It had been uncomfortable having to stay in the same space with strangers, but I had to live with it to fit into society. The most important thing was for no one to find out about my condition. I wanted to hide it as best as I could because I wouldn't want to be treated differently.