“Hi, Kev,” he says with a smile.
“Hey, Nathan.” The secretary behind the desk smiles back. “Not in any trouble, are we?”
“I knew my street racing days would catch up with me.” This kid, Nathan, laughs like it’s his favorite thing in the world to do. “Principal Smith called for me.”
“You specifically?” Kev raises an eyebrow. “Must be some special occasion.”
“Maybe my status as a model student is finally getting recognized.”
“Hilarious.” Kev doesn’t laugh. “Well, she’s in a meeting right now, so just take a seat, shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“Cool.” Nathan takes the seat next to me, crossing one long leg over the other, and rests his hands in his lap. It takes just a few seconds for him to break the silence. “Are you new? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” He adjusts the way he’s sitting so he can sort of face me.
“Yeah, um, just moved here.” I shuffle my feet, my socks falling farther down the backs of my feet.
“Nice. I’m Nathan.” He sticks out a hand.
I take it slowly but don’t shake, and I don’t really know why. It’s like my brain is falling behind the rest of my body. “Ben.”
“So where are you from, Ben?”
“Here.” I answer before I realize what I’m really saying. “Or, not here, but I am from North Carolina,” I sputter. Dammit, I can’t even get this right. “Goldsboro, I’m from Goldsboro,” I finally say.
“Oh.” To his credit, he doesn’t laugh at how much of a walking disaster I am. “So not too far out?”
“Yeah.”
“Ben.” Thomas saves me from any further embarrassment. “Principal Smith’s ready to see you.”
“Hey, Mr. W!” Nathan perks up in his seat. “Thought you were out today?”
“Hey, Nathan, just helping Ben with something.” Thomas tucks his hands into his pockets. “What’re you doing here?”
“Principal Smith called me in.”
“Oh,” Thomas says, looking a little confused before he glances my way again. “Come on in, Ben, she’s waiting.”
“Good luck, Ben, hope to see you around.” Nathan grins at me.
“Thanks,” I say, giving him a quiet smile back before I follow Thomas down the hallway.
Principal Smith has a slow way of explaining things that I really appreciate, because all this information feels like it’s going in one ear and out the other.
There are about two dozen documents to read over and fill out. Forms to get me back into my classes, authorization for a school ID, cafeteria account information, classes to sign up for.
It’s all so confusing.
“Will Ben still be on track to graduate?” I can tell Thomas is watching his pronoun use, which I appreciate more than he probably realizes.
“We won’t know until we get his transcripts and grades, but I’m guessing he will be. Our school system operates similarly to his former one.”
His.
No, I can’t be angry, or upset. This was my choice, and that isn’t allowed, not right now.
“How soon could I start?” I ask.
“Tomorrow if you wanted, provided the papers are faxed over in a timely manner. Thankfully it’s the start of a new semester, so you won’t have too much trouble catching up in your classes.”
“Ben’s a smart kid.” Thomas pats my shoulder. I want to take the compliment, but we’ve known each other for all of about two hours in total now.
“So, what do you say, Ben? Would you be okay with that?” Principal Smith asks me.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Good.” She pulls out a manila folder and stuffs inside all the papers she’s laid out for me. “If you two want to review the documents real quick, fill them out, and just sign where each page tells you.”
“Come on, we’ll go to the teachers’ lounge, should be empty.” Thomas takes the folder.
“Oh and, Thomas? Can you send in Nathan, please?” Principal Smith asks.
“Sure thing.” Thomas holds the door to the office for me. “Nathan, Mrs. Smith is ready for you now.” Nathan’s typing away on his phone when Thomas calls for him.
He gives Thomas a mock salute and jumps out of his seat, giving me a smirk and a wink as we cross paths. Yep. He’s definitely taller than me, at least a full head, and maybe more. I try to smile back, but I’m sure it comes off as creepy more than anything else. I follow Thomas down the hall to a door just outside what looks like an empty cafeteria. He types a code into this keypad, and there’s a distinct click before he pushes it open.
A hell of a lot fancier than Wayne.
Filling out paperwork is even more tedious than it sounds. There are questions I don’t know the answers to, some that make me feel totally useless, some I’m worried I’m answering in the wrong way because the wording is confusing. If Thomas wasn’t here to help, I would be up a creek. But forty-five minutes later, we finish and march right back to Principal Smith’s office.
“Excellent.” Mrs. Smith takes the papers. “And I’ve contacted your old school, and they’re going to fax over the rest of your papers today. I’ll call you tonight if there are any problems, Thomas, but it looks like Ben is North Wake’s newest student.” Mrs. Smith sounds way too excited about this, but I guess I should be grateful she didn’t turn me down without question.
Thomas puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Oh, and I’ve assigned someone to help show you around. Nathan Allan. He said you two met in the waiting room?”
“Yeah. Sort of.”
“He’s going to meet you here in the office tomorrow morning, so get here a little earlier than you normally would.”
“Got it. We’ll be here bright and early.” Thomas moves toward the door. “Thank you, Diane.”
“No problem. And, Ben, welcome to North Wake.”
I don’t talk during the drive home. Thomas wants to, apparently, but he gets the message pretty quickly.
“You can take the bus, or you can ride with me if you want.”
Nothing.
He chuckles awkwardly. “You’ll have to wake up about an hour earlier if you want me to take you though.”
I don’t answer him. Really, I don’t mind either way, but I’d prefer riding with Thomas. Buses suck.
But I just don’t feel like talking. Not right now. Thomas probably thinks I’m some asshole. He takes me in, gets me into a new school the day after my parents kick me out, and here I am, ignoring him.
Maybe Hannah is right. Maybe I do need counseling. I just feel so … drained.
By the time we make it back to their house, Hannah is gone, her spot in the garage empty. “I’m going to work on some lesson plans. You can relax in the living room or do whatever. There’s food in the kitchen if you get hungry. Nothing’s off-limits, so don’t hesitate.” Thomas drops his keys in a bowl by the door.
I retrace my steps back into the living room and take the same seat on the couch as before, pulling out the laptop. A few seconds after booting it up, the notifications start going wild. It’s Mariam.