New Beginning

James went to an abrupt halt, turning to face Justin straight on.

"They don't. They don't know anything. They're all stupid, ignorant teenagers who are more concerned with checking their facebook statuses or spreading rumors about the pregnant girl than anything else. None of them are from families that are as well off or secretive as mine. I would know if they were, my parents always background check the students before putting me in a new school. And the hospital was extremely secretive, you know that. All they see when they look at you is a scared, skinny boy who looks like he could use some more sleep and a map to get around the school. You still have me here with you. I promise I won't leave your side once today."

The last thing he needed right now was Justin snapping into full out panic mode and bolting out of the school.

Justin visibly quivered, his voice wavering as he spoke.

"B-but...." he swallowed harshly and licked his lips.

"... You promise?" he whispered in a meek tone, looking at James from under his lashes.

James smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way and replied, "I promise."

He hated seeing Justin like this. They had made so much progress with him in the past few months, and the two of them had become nearly inseparable. But that probably had to do with the fact that Justin was still pretty paranoid about everything and was able to calm down a little more easily around the blond.

"Do you still want to meet the teachers ahead of time or do you just want to sit here against the wall for a bit until the bell rings? I'm fine with either one. Whichever you'd feel better doing."

"Teachers." Juston spoke, surprised at the finality in his tone.

"I-I mean... I'd like to know what to expect..."

"Alright, les' go."

James gave Justin's sleeve a gentle tug and he set off in the direction of the nearest classroom. Which, fortunately, was in this very hall. Just a few doors down.

"So this is our first period class. Spanish. Great way to start off the day, with a teacher speaking a foreign language to you and expecting perfect comprehension and responses. The teacher's a bit...overbearing but she'll love you when she finds out you're already fluent in french."

He felt it would be helpful to Justin a bit of background info on the class before shoving him into the room.

"Ready?"

They were right in front of the door now.

Justin nodded meekly. It was obvious that he clearly wasn't ready, but he'd try his best."

James opened the door and stepped into the large classroom. The walls were plastered with bright motivational posters with Spanish sayings and baby animals. There were five long rows of desks lining the room with evenly spaced aisles between them. A tall woman with dark hair was writing something on a whiteboard, back turned to them.

"Hola Senora Valdez," James called tentatively from where they stood near the back of the classroom.

"This is Justin, he's new here. I'm taking him around to have him meet all of his teachers before class starts."

She turned on the spot and capped her marker, dropping it back where the other markers were held in the holder thing. Her large earrings jangled loudly as she tilted her head, surveying both boys with a critical eye.

"Yes, yes your parents called me and told me the situation."

She had a considerable Spanish accent.

"Nice to meet you, Justin. I hope you'll be able to keep up in this class. I have high expectations of my students and you've already missed a semester. Have you taken any Spanish previously?"

Huh. So she could be serious too. That was news to James.

Justin faltered.

"U-uh... Well, I can speak the Spanish spoken in Spain, and Portuguese, but not Hispanic..."

She blinked.

"You...How many languages do you speak?"

James grinned. Yeah, Justin was quickly becoming her new favorite.

Justin swallowed and took a breath.

"I speak Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, French, Latin, Enochian, Italian, Polish, Arabic, and Greek."

He could carry on a conversation in many more, but those were the languages he was fluent in.

She stared at him, blinking slowly, mouth hanging a little open.

"Senora Valdez?" James waved his hand a little to get her attention.

The woman jumped a little and blinked, like waking up from a dream.

"Sorry. Wow. You could probably teach the class. You'll definitely slide by really easily in this class. You could probably help James here study his vocabulary. He got a, what, 86 on the last quiz? Big step down from his usual high standards," she said, raising a finely plucked eyebrow at James.

James gave a nervous laugh.

"Er, yeah. Didn't have time to study for that one."

That had been one of those days where he had pretty much collapsed in bed right after dinner and fallen asleep in seconds. He felt really bad about it afterwards, Justin hadn't fallen asleep for another maybe 5 hours, Lilith had been really annoyed that they had come at times that were so far apart.

Justin nodded at thew womans' remarks.

"I'll do my best."

She gave him a warm smile.

"That's the most I can ask of you. Good luck with your other classes!"

James gave her a wave and they headed out of the room.

"Alright next class is Trigonometry. That's the class that Alexis will be in. I'm sure she won't even glance in your direction so you don't have to worry about her. The teacher, Mrs. Drendal doesn't really care much about her students, but fall asleep in the middle of class or talk while she's teaching and you're screwed. She's an okay teacher. Doesn't explain things too well, but the class is easy anyway so it all works out. This one's upstairs and down a few halls," he explained as they made their way out into the main hall where the stairs were.

"I passed Trig about two years ago." Justin mumbled, not wanting to seem vain. "Do you think the teacher'll be mad?"

James laughed.

"Mad? She'll be glad to have another smart person in the class who can help the people that are failing the class. Really. Teachers love the smart, overachieving kids. She just doens't like me so much because I've slept in there from time to time. I usually got away with it but...Not every time."

They walked up the stairs and turned down a hallway on the right.

"Really, even if you do mess up or do something wrong, they aren't going to kill you for it. Some teachers even like you making mistakes, because they can use it as a way to teach the class and show them how to do something the right way."

They made a few turns down the hallway and finally James stopped them in front of another door.

"Whenever you're ready."

Justin nodded and let James push the door open.

And were greeted by a teacher, bustling about frantically, mumbling to herself. At the sound of the door, though, she stopped and turned on her heel, eyes wide in surprise.

"... Uhm, hello... Was I supposed to be helping you both with something this morning?"

"Morning Mrs. Drendal. This is Justin, I think my parents called all of my teachers to tell you about the situation. He's new here and I'm introducing him to all of his teachers before school starts," James explained. He could see by the surprised look in her eyes that she had indeed, not been made aware of this. Or she had forgotten.

She stared at them, mouth agape, for a few moments, as if processing their presence. Then her mouth snapped shut and she smiled.

"Oh, right. I remember now. The lost boy, right? you'll do fine in this class, I'm sure." She seemed tired, definitely frazzled and stressed.

"I'll be sure to seat you beside James, yes? He'll help you."

"That would be great, "James replied, smiling.

"I don't know how much help he'll need, he already passed this class two years ago," James added. Well she might as well know.

She blinked, once more surprised.

"... How old are you?"

"16." Justin replied submissively.

"... What are you, some kinda of genius?"

Justin shrugged.

"Yeah, he pretty much is," James answered, glancing at the clock on the wall. Seven minutes left.

"Weee should probably go see the other teachers now, only seven minutes left," James said, pulling Justin to the door and waving goodbye with his other hand.

Justin only let himself be herded from the room, face void of emotion.

James gave the boy a concerned look as he led him back to the main stairs and down.
"You holding out okay?"

"Absolutely not." he replied, but was able to mask the panic he felt.

God he wished he could give Justin a hug right now, or give his hand a squeeze. Something.

"Then do you just want to go back to the Spanish classroom and sit there where it's quiet until class starts? We don't really have time left to meet any other teachers."

(wanna do another time skip until it's time for lunch? i don't really feel like typing out classes and stuff XD;)