Chapter 2

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*Leo's POV*

"Good God, shut the hell up!"

Picking up my alarm clock and throwing it across the room, I cursed a number of times as I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I hated that damn thing. No matter how many times I hit the off button, it would continue to blare in my ears. There was just something about that repetitive beeping that always put me in a bad mood.

After showering and brushing my teeth, I combed the front part of my hair up like I always did in a sad attempt to copy the style of Alistair Hawke: My favorite character from the romance book I had finished just a week before our move. Checking my reflection one last time, I admired my muscles with satisfaction. It may seem weird to check myself out, but I had been trying to get a body like this for years, and now that I had one, I was damn sure going to make sure it looked good.

Walking back to my room with only a towel wrapped around the lower half of my body, I headed for my dresser in order to grab the clothes I had set out the night before. Nothing fancy, just a plain white shirt to compliment my light blue jeans. I always liked to wear my clothes a little loose, giving a shock to anyone who had the chance to see what I really looked like.

Not that it happened often, anyways. The only time someone other than my family has seen me without a shirt on was at the school fieldtrip we took just last year. To this day I have never gone back to that swimming pool, and I never plan to again. The second I had taken my shirt off, a number of girls who never even gave me a second look were staring. It felt strange to finally be wanted by someone, even if it was just for their own sexual desires.

Truth is, I've never really had a friend. Even as a kid, people avoided or made fun of me. I wouldn't even know how to act if someone did want to be my friend. I admit it gets lonely, only having family around, but you just get used to it after a while, you know? Besides, I read. The closest thing to a friend is a nice big book.

After throwing on my clothes and taking off down the hallway, I pushed open the door to what I thought was the dining room, but turned out to be where most of our moving boxes were being held. The number of them amazed me. I didn't even know we owned this much stuff, and yet box upon box set stacked on top of one another, filling up almost the entire room.

"God, I'm going to hate going through all of this." I mumbled to myself, leaning against the door frame.

"Well, if all goes as planned, you won't have too. I hired some workers to come and help me out with all of this while you and Chloe are at school."

I didn't even hear her walk up to me. I had gotten used to the sounds her feet made on the floors at our old house, but since the tiles were different here, I had no idea she was anywhere near me. Turning my head to look at her, I smiled as her face came into view. Not very many people got to see my mom relaxed, given her position in the social media, so I always snapped pictures of her in the morning on my cellphone.

"Do me a favor, dear? Try and make some friends here. I'm tired of you not being able to share who you are with someone else."

"Do you mean friend? Or girlfriend?" I chuckled, pushing myself off the wall.

"Or boyfriend. Whatever makes you happy son. I just want you to have someone outside of your family. I worry about you, and you can't keep blaming your father for being alone."

"Mom, he didn't even stick around. What makes you think-"

"A strange kid is going too?" She asked, cutting my words short. "Honestly honey, you can't keep using the same excuse. Not everyone is going to leave you, so, will you at least try?"

Rolling my eyes, I agreed to give it a shot. I knew she was right, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell her that. I was so scared of meeting someone, anyone, becoming close with them, then watching them leave all over again.

"Thank you dear. I'm taking Chloe to school in a little bit, but if you don't hurry, you're going to be late. There's a surprise for you outside. Don't ask questions when you see it, just go to school."

Narrowing my eyes at her, I stood there for a moment trying to see if she would say more, but rushed out the door when she threatened me with her coffee cup. Walking around to where my car was parked, I stopped short and felt my mouth drop at the vehicle that had taken the place of my now old car.

Even though the sun was still rising, I could see dark black paint that covered the body frame of a brand new Corvette. Walking over to it and hoping in the driver's side door, I found the keys to the ignition along with a note attached to it.

"You can drool over your new car later. Now, don't be late for school!"

Bursting into laughter as my eyes darted across the words; I started the car up and followed the directions on the back of the paper to my new school. I couldn't believe she had actually gotten me one. I had been asking since they first came out about a month ago, but I never thought she'd really throw down the money.

As selfish as it sounded, I was really happy about my mom's big break. Not only had her acting career taken off, but we had some pretty great benefits from it too. Getting into special movie premiers, meeting the actors, all kinds of stuff. I enjoyed it, but it was also a little strange.

Pushing the thought from my mind and turning into the parking lot of my new school, I pulled in next to one of the nicer cars so that mine didn't seem so out of place. Getting out and grabbing my backpack from the passenger seat, turned around in time to see a number of people staring at what I myself had a hard time taking my eyes off of.

"Dude, I love your car!"

Smiling and thank the guy who had given me the compliment, I locked it up and headed inside to try and find the front office. I had already earned a bunch of stares from people just by walking inside. This school was twice as big as my old one, so there was no way everyone knew I was a new kid.

Walking around the school was pretty pointless. I couldn't find the office anywhere, and all the kids were already in their classes. After spotting a security guard and asking her for directions, she decided to escort me there after I couldn't figure out where she was telling me to go.

After about two minutes of walking, I discovered I had walked past it at least three times. After cursing myself for being so blind, I went up to the front desk and waited for the person behind it to get off the phone.

"Can I help you?" The man asked, looking up from a computer screen.

"I'm Leo. I'm starting school here."

"Ah, I've been waiting for you. Here, this is the map to the school and your schedule. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

After thanking him and taking off out the door, I tried to find the quickest route to my first class, then smiled when I noticed it was Math. Unlike most kids, I excelled at Algebra, or just about any other thing that involved numbers. I wasn't sure why, but I wasn't going to complain about it one bit.

Walking inside the door of my first period class, I headed to the nearest empty desk and took a seat while setting my backpack on the ground next to me. I could feel the kids in my class staring for a while, wondering who I was, but they quickly blew it off and went back to the work the teacher had assigned before I walked in.

I just sat there quietly. The teacher never once said a word to me nor I to him. By the time the bell had sounded over head for class to end, I had managed to map out my entire schedule and figure out quite a few different routes to my next class.

One thing I was happy about, was that no one had tried to approach me. Even now as I headed from my Science class to the lunchroom, I hadn't needed to avoid anyone so far. Everyone gave me the distance I enjoyed, and I was more than willing to return the favor.

I decided to cut through the courtyard in order to reach my destination a little quicker. Keeping my eyes level with everyone walking passed me, I turned my head to the right and caught sight of someone I had seen before. Sure there was still a lot of kid I hadn't seen yet, but something about this one stood out to me.

Sitting alone with his back against the wall, I watched him grab out a notebook and what looked to be a pencil then started moving it around the paper. I couldn't really see his face. Because of the object he held in front of himself, most of his features were blocked. It didn't stop me from staring, though. No matter what I tried, I couldn't take my eyes from him.

"That's Mute. Well, it's not his real name, but it's what everyone here calls him."

Using the new found voice that floated through the air as power, I was finally able to turn away only to meet eyes with the same kid who had complimented my new car this morning. The guy was fairly attractive. At least a grade lower than me, but still not bad. Sandy blonde and well taken care of hair rose out at least an inch longer than mine, giving a little curl to each strand.

He was pretty skinny, though. With brown eyes and a bright red shirt, He smiled at me and asked my name.

"I'm Leo."

"I'm Kyle."

We exchanged words for a few moments before I told him I needed to get some food. I figured he would have just left after that but instead he followed me through the doors to the lunchroom. I wasn't sure why he was following me, if he wanted to talk more, or not, but he just kept silent, hovering.

"Uh... is there a reason you're following me around?" I asked, setting my lunch tray down on a table.

"Kind of. You see, I've got this problem, and you look big enough to keep said problem from...well let's just say I like my face intact."

"I see. And just who is this problem, and what makes you think I want to get involved?"

I didn't like that this kid was already trying to use me. I couldn't help but fall back on the conversation me and my mom had just this morning. If this didn't prove me right, nothing will. I was getting tired of waiting for him to answer. Picking up my lunch tray and starting for the doors, I stopped as the boy finally started speaking.

"Well, he's kind of a homophobe, and I'm kind of a homosexual. Get the picture?"

"And what makes you think I'd protect you?"

"I don't. I'm pretty much throwing all my eggs in one basket."

Rolling my eyes and sitting back down, I told him I'd help out today, but not to make this a common occurrence. It was beyond awkward sitting there trying to eat with him hovering next to me, but I couldn't let the poor kid get hurt because of who he is.

"And so it begins." He stated, sliding his chair closer to mine.

Looking over at who he was talking about, I narrowed my eyes at the group of people who had just walked in. It looked like none of them knew what the hell a belt was, constantly having to pull up their pants.

The one that walked in front of them all looked the worst of the group. From the perpetual frown that covered his face and the greasy hair that fell in all directions from his head, the guy had douche bag written all over him.

"That's Hunter." Kyle said, pointing to the one in the middle. "He's the one that wants my head on a stick."

"Just stay next to me, I doubt he'll do anything stupid."

Doing what I said and moving closer to where I was sitting, he hid behind my back as the group walked by. When they had all finally left the cafeteria, I told him it was safe and picked up my tray leaving him at the table.

I felt bad for just walking away, but I didn't know how to act around other kids. I wanted to make friends, but I wouldn't know the first thing to say to any of them. Besides, it's not like Kyle actually wanted to be my friend, he just wanted someone to keep him safe.

Rolling my eyes as I headed out to the courtyard, I found a spot under a tree and began to read a book I had grabbed from my backpack. I couldn't focus. Normally the second I picked up a book, I would get lost in the bliss that is reading. But something stopped me this time. Something kept me from finding my happy place, and it was beginning to irritate me.

I knew exactly what it was, too. Putting the book back into my bag, I picked myself up off the floor and headed back in the lunchroom just in time to see Kyle walking backwards away from Hunter, and his group of friends.

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