Chapter 2 The New Kids

A week had passed and CJ had started getting into the rhythm of senior year, sure the hours for classes were longer but the subjects were less and he had free periods in-between, he had just finished Art class and was waiting for the lunch bell to ring when Mrs Maria, the school secretary made an announcement over the speakers.

"Carlos Andrian Johnson, please make your way to the principal's office"

"Andrian, what did that name even mean" thought CJ to himself.

Then his mind shifted to another thought.

"Why would Mr Lexton call me into his office ?"

This train of thought was in his head as he walked through the empty halls. He got to the door of the office and gave a gentle knock, he heard the same feeble come in and opened the door, he saw Mr Lexton in his same weird attire that was always filled with colour, in front of him was a family, the mother was seated directly in front of the principal and was now looking directly at him, there were two teenagers each seated on one side of their mother and they too were facing me, the girl had straight long black hair and deep blue eyes, while the boy had the same hair with purple highlights scattered all around, his hair covered his eyes he didn't look like the conversation type.

"Ah, Mrs Ridan I'd like you to meet one of our very best students, Carlos Johnson his peers like to call him CJ"

"Hey nice to meet you Mrs Ridan"

She gave a simple nod.

"Yes Carlos this is Mrs Ridan and these are her kids, Zander and Skyler Ridan, the reason I called you here is because I need you to take them on a tour round the school so they can get acquainted with the school environment, can you do that for me"

"Of course Mr Lexton"

"Perfect, okay Zander, Skyler, please follow Carlos, he'll tell you whatever you need to know"

They both got up and followed behind Carlos after telling their mom a goodbye.

Carlos gestured for them to follow him, he had never done this before, he took a moment to study the two siblings, the girl looked like a junior while the boy looked like a senior, they were both good looking and had an amazing physique, the girl, despite being younger was definitely bolder than her brother, she had this air of confidence and charisma that would attract people to her, she would definitely be the Lucas of her class, the boy on the other hand looked more reserved and quiet but curious about everything, CJ noticed his eyes darting around the place looking in fascination at the walls and the lockers, these two looked like very interesting people.

"Okay, I'm Carlos, but you can call me CJ, if you could follow me I'll show you around" said CJ.

Skyler gave a smile and followed while Zander just bent his head and walked with his hands in his pockets.

"Okay so if you look to your left you'll see the Music Lab and to your right is Theatre and Arts Class, that's my personal favorite..."

"You're an actor ?" asked Skyler.

"Yeah I love acting, music, painting, basically anything art"

"Wow, well my brother here's also into all that stuff, maybe you should run him through sometime" said Skyler with sparkling eyes clearly enjoying putting her brother in the spotlight.

"I'd be happy to, anytime" said CJ wondering why it was Skyler that was talking instead of Zander.

"Yeah whatever" said Zander, that was the first thing he had said since the tour started.

"I have a question" said Skyler.

"Ask away"

"My mom said that Cornelius offers a variety of classes"

"Yeah"

"I was wondering where the photography studio is I really love photography"

"Okay right this way"

CJ took them to the photography studio, Skyler was fascinated with the photography equipment and the amazing backdrop, Zander also looked intrigued, he was staring at an edited photo on the wall.

CJ decided to use the opportunity to start up a conversation.

"You like that one" said CJ.

"Yeah , it's cool" said Zander.

"You could say that, whenever I look at it I feel..."

"Like your lost in it"

"Exactly"

They looked at each other and locked eyes for a second and immediately broke the contact.

"Okay boys the tour's not over yet" said Skyler.

"Of course, right this way".

CJ took them around the school and explained different programmes the school was doing for the year, him and Skyler were getting along well but CJ couldn't help but think that Zander was avoiding eye contact with him. The tour came to an end by the time lunch was over.

"Well that is Cornelius Academy for you, so when will you guys resume"

"Latest next week we actually just moved here and we need to settle in" said Skyler

"Okay good luck with that, I gotta go or I'll be late for class but I'll see you around".

CJ extended his hand and Skyler took it, he gave his hand to Zander, for a while he just looked at it, but then his sister gave him a nudge, he sighed and took it, as their skins touched CJ couldn't let go, he looked up and locked eyes with Zander for the second time today and for some reason he couldn't find the courage or the strength to let go, it was like Zander's touch weakened him, he cleared his throat and so did Zander, they released their grasp on each other as CJ gave a final awkward goodbye and left.

He sprinted to English Literature, he got into the class which was about halfway gone, Mr Rivera rolled his eyes,

"Carlos, nice of you to join us"

"Sorry sir" he dropped the letter Mr Lexton gave him to give to any teacher, Rivera read it, nodded and gestured CJ took to take a seat.

CJ sat down next to Micheal and took out his books.

"Psst, hey what's up, why are you late"whispered Micheal .

"I'll tell you later just..."

"Carlos, you've drawn enough attention to yourself by arriving late to my class, do you want detention to add to that"

"No sir, sorry"

"Don't worry all is forgiven, just behave yourself for the next half hour, can you do that for me"

"Yes Mr Rivera"

"Good, now back to Wuthering Heights"

Micheal mouthed a sorry before facing his text book, CJ sighed and opened his own.

1 hour and 30 minutes later the bell rang for end of school once again, CJ went to grab his books from his locker and was heading outside, he met with Zoey and Micheal and the three walked to his car, on the drive home Micheal decided to ask about what happened with Mr Lexton.

"So CJ, you never did say why you were late for class" asked Micheal

"Oh yeah, that, Mr Lexton asked me to give some new students a tour of the school"

"New students, any of them a senior"

"Yeah, one of them, his name's Zander"

"So how is he, is he cool"

"I don't know, he's.... different"

"Different, what do you mean different?" this time it was Zoey that talked.

"I don't know, he's a bit shy but he's really curious about a lot of things, especially art"

"Hmmm, sounds like your type of guy" said Zoey with a smirk.

"Shut up"

Micheal and Zoey burst into laughter.

"But seriously when are you gonna start dating again" said Micheal.

"Not any time soon, I'm struggling with coming out to my family, I don't want to add the stress of a relationship"

"Whatever"

CJ dropped Micheal and Zoey off at their respective houses and drove home.

"Hey dad I'm home" yelled CJ before going to his room to take a shower.

One movie and three homeworks later it was time for dinner, the whole family sat down and started eating.

"So CJ anything interesting happen in school today ?"asked his mom.

"Well I gave a tour to a couple of new students"

"New students ?" asked Hilda.

"Yeah, actually one of them is a junior"

"And the other ?" asked his dad.

"A senior"

"I hope you got along with them" said his mom

"Yeah they're very interesting"

After dinner, CJ went up to his room, he couldn't stop thinking about Zander, he looked like a kind of weirdo, but CJ knew better, what he was really worried about was how Cornelius Academy students would eat him alive.

"I've gotta protect him".

But why, why did CJ take the responsibility of protecting someone he barely even knew, he was already facing a lot with his secret, CJ didn't know the answer all he knew was that he had a sudden urge to just help Zander get by senior year without any problems.