2 Chapter 2

Alex had to admit, the walk to the school was nice. Though, that's only in the morning when it isn't as loud. Otherwise, you're greeted with honking cars, barking dogs and angry couples in their apartments.

Rarely anyone would bother saying 'hi' or 'good morning', but instead give you that 'I got places to be' look. Didn't bother Alex though. He'd just spend the whole walk thinking about food and what recipes he could try next. Maybe an Eggs Benedict. Or a nice Teriyaki Salmon. Or how about a Risotto, Mario Batali's style? He did like Mario Batali.

Fun fact: cooking also helped with his ADHD; just something to keep his mind and hands occupied.

After a while, Alex finally reached the street that housed the school. He took a deep breath, knowing good and well that this day could go either way. No Queens. No friends… except maybe one. No mom. What could go wrong?

Just as he made a B-line for the entrance, a familiar voice stopped him.

"Please tell me you speak English."

Alex didn't even realize there was someone in front of him. He guessed that's what happens when your brain goes on autopilot.

Remember that resource officer he mentioned earlier?

"I'M. OFFICER. HEDGE!"

Alex blinked at him cluelessly. "What are you-"

He leaned in closer. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF-"

"-my mouth," Alex half-smiled. "Rush Hour, right?"

"And that's a point for the Queen's wonder!" The officer chortled before slapping him on the back, which hurt by the way. "Good morning to you, Mr. Sinclair. Ready to beat this day up?"

Officer, or as most called him, Coach Hedge, the resident P.E. teacher. Quite the enthusiastic guy, but he was cool. He had grown a typical brown goatee paired with his square-face jaw. The baseball hat he always wore and the muscles made him look intimidating, even if he was… vertically challenged. Hedge could easily be a bouncer. If you saw him during a street fight, you'd run. That is until you talk to him and realize he just tries to act tough and is quite jolly most of the time.

Alex would still not recommend picking a fight with him.

He's probably one of the two real 'connections' Alex made at this school. From day one he's always greeted him with a smile accompanied by some action movie reference. Alex quickly learned the Coach loved that stuff, or any movie with a bit of fighting, really.

Did someone throw a punch in a movie? He's seen it. The red bat he always carried around probably sealed the deal when it came to his love for those types of movies.

It was pretty obnoxious at first, but it was kinda starting to grow on Alex. He'd started to guess some of the references, but he was still pretty bad at it. Half of them came from movies he couldn't rent at Movie Gallery. 'Eh… you don't look 16.'

"You got around to watching that movie I told you?" Coach Hedge questioned.

"What? That fighting one?" Alex paused for a moment. "Fight Disco… or something?"

"Club," he corrected, looking slightly offended.

"Yeah, sorry Coach. Dad won't buy it, and the dude at the rentals already knows who I am."

Hedge frowned. "Oh come on, kid! How about Die Hard 2? The Matrix? True Lies? At least Reservoir Dogs? Everyone's seen Reservoir Dogs!"

Alex stared at him awkwardly. He had tried to rent them, he really did. But he could only do so much as an 11-year-old.

"Uhhh… Hey, look, Hedge, I gotta go."

Slowly, he inched his way farther and farther from the coach. Alex could see the open gates of the school and gazed upon the tall brick structure of Thornbrook Middle Wing. Already he could see a few students piling in.

It was your standard city school, except for the small courtyard that contained a bronze statue of three lions in a sort of protective formation. The beasts were the mascots of the school, and the 'Lions of Thornbrook' football team was its pride and joy.

Apparently, there was an incident with the central lion statue. It had been knocked off and they had to get it replaced with a new, much, MUCH larger one. Alex remembered walking in here on his first day and they were just installing it.

He still wondered — how do you knock down a bronze statue and find a similar one, except it's the size of a small pickup truck?

As he strolled through the gates, he made his way around the statue and towards the steps that up to the double glass doors of the school wing. Behind him, he could hear Coach Hedge shout something.

"Hey, Sinclair! Maybe after school, you should come out to the coast, we'll get together, and have a few laughs!"

"What? Why would I…" Alex stopped, realizing what he meant. "Die Hard 1! Okay, I've watched that one!"

He accompanied the rest of the students as they began their day at Thornbrook. He got there at 7:30, just as homeroom class was starting. Dad would probably consider that late and lecture him for it.

Alex chuckled at the thought.

Going through the hallways of the city school, students were quickly rushing to their respective homerooms like Alex whilst some didn't even care. He heard the sounds of chattering as he walked by the classrooms until he finally reached his. It was at the end of a hallway, and it was one of the closer ones to the canteen so that was nice.

Homeroom X10. Which also technically meant 10/10 if you thought about it.

The class was already practically full with maybe about a fifth, still getting themselves settled in.

"Ah," His teacher called out to him. "I see you took your time."

"Sorry, Mrs Stone, weird morning."

"Then let's hope the rest of the day isn't."

That was his homeroom teacher, Mrs Stone. She was alright, Alex guessed, as far as teachers went. He heard that she earned herself the nickname Stone Cold. Not because she was mean or anything, but because she rarely showed any emotion. You could never tell if she was disappointed or proud - or both. She always gave him a 'deadly librarian' vibe.

Alex took his usual seat, second row from the back, as the class started to quiet down.

"Hey," a voice to my left whispered. "Why are you late?"

He turned to recognise the pimp-riddled face of Grover. He looked like what you'd typically call a geek, always trying to teach Alex as much as he could about Mythomagic cards. He had no shame in it.

Still, he was one of the few people that Alex had managed to somewhat strike up a conversation with so far daily. You could say… Grover was his only friend his age in here.

However, besides discussing homework, his weird card obsession, and made-up theories, Alex didn't really know much about him other than his fascination with Greek Mythology.

"Uhh, like I said, morning was weird," he replied.

"No, no, no. You always arrive at homeroom at 7:15. 7:20 at the latest. However, today you arrived at 7:35 which is unusual for you."

Has this guy seriously been keeping track of all this?

"What are you talking about, Grover?" Alex looked at him. "Dude, I'm like 5 minutes late. Relax."

He tried to move past the topic but Grover persisted.

"No, you're never late. What happened?"

"Nothing, man." Alex looked straight ahead.

"Were you attacked by a bronze hound?"

"No." He raised his voice slightly. When the hell does attendance start?

"Did you encounter a Lizard person?"

"No." Alex started to tense up.

"Oh! Was it a Giant Scorpion? They can be tricky sometimes-"

"My dad's gone! He left for work!" Alex barked back, though quiet enough so only Grover could hear. "There, happy!? Got anything better to do than ask annoying questions?"

Grover looked stunned for a second, and so was Alex. Did that really set him off? That's when he noticed his breathing a bit heavier than usual. He stopped for a moment.

'Don't break', he repeated to himself. 'Phalanx', just like dad said. Keep it together.

"Sorry," Alex managed to say. "I didn't mean to be so harsh."

Grover quickly shifted from stunned to indifferent. "Eh, that's okay. I know I annoy people. Didn't know it was a touchy subject."

"No, you're fine," he responded. "I… guess I didn't know it was a touchy subject either."

"So… your dad works in another state or something?" His nerdy friend continued. "That's cool."

Before Alex could say anything else, Grover immediately went back to whatever he was writing in his notebook, almost as if the conversation they had hadn't even happened.

Now, he could hear Mrs Stone starting attendance.

But he was still processing how quickly he snapped. That was so unnecessary. He couldn't believe he overreacted like that. The anger problems aren't getting worse, are they?

"Alexander Sinclair?"

The teacher's voice managed to catch him out of the spiral. Mrs Stone peered over her half-rimmed reading glasses as she waited for a response.

"Uh, yes ma'am. Present."

Nice, Alex. Hadn't even gotten through homeroom and he'd already made a fool of yourself.

Yay.

==========

The first two classes of the day went by like a blur. Try understanding History or English when you struggle to read. He knew some fancy words, but don't let that deceive you. Instead, during those classes he spent most of his time occupying his mind with new recipes he could try.

It didn't mean Alex's grades were super bad or anything, just meant he had to put in a little extra effort. Plus, if Dad could do what he did — he could get a good grade.

However, this time, his mind was still thinking about what happened in homeroom. He tried to forget it but he just felt embarrassed.

Alex had personally apologized again in recess, but Grover was unbothered, having seemingly forgiven and forgotten. Still, Alex didn't like it.

Being out of control, even for a split second, made him feel vulnerable. The worst thing about anger issues is that you don't realize the damage until after it's already happened. He'd gotten much better at keeping them in check but what happened earlier was… yikes.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to dwell on it further since P.E. was up next.

In case you're wondering, Alex was one hundred percent that kid on the monkey bars. Most people would say that he fit the description of a jock, but truthfully, he wasn't one. Most of it came from genetics he supposed. His Dad was pretty buff.

But the thing is, being only 11, he had never touched a weight in his life, and he definitely wasn't a sports guy.

Basketball? He only knew how to dribble the ball. Volleyball? He could jump, but good luck trying to make contact with the ball. Soccer? Couldn't tell whether he should lead with his left or right. Baseball? Ok, this one he was pretty good at.

But if there was one thing he could do really well…

"Alright, class! We're doing an obstacle course today!"

Oh, he did love an obstacle course.

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A/N: Enjoyed the chapter? Leave some stones!