Chapter 11 - Middle school part 1

I would be lying if I say that I was comfortable with attending classes of subjects I considered common knowledge, but still I was happy with the start of the school.

Besides the obvious relief I felt once I had a valid excuse to not attend another meeting with anyone that required my presence. I truly enjoyed the school's environment.

As a former shy guy in my teens, seeing awkward middle schoolers interacting with each other in a daily basis was really entertaining, especially when they dealed with romance.

"Sam this is where we separate" Hanna said with a little smile.

The both of us were walking to school, but unlike last year we were going towards different destinations. This year was Hanna's first year at high school.

"I know" I smiled back, "Well sis, you have to be careful out there, after all I will not be there to help you out"

"Ha ha ha. The only thing that worries me is that without me to control you, who knows how many girls will fall into your grasp?" She mocked me playfully.

"Mmm good question... I don't even know" I played along making a thoughtful expression with a finger on my chin.

I received silence. Instead of continuing with our banter as we usually do, Hanna kept quiet at my words and looked directly at me with deadpan eyes.

"Haaa. Who could have known that my once adorable little brother would become such a casanova?" She finally said with a troubled expression. To my surprise, I could tell that she was being serious about it.

That was an awkward topic, one we haven't ever touched in a serious manner. "Sis, you know I'm not like that. I didn't try to do anything, it just happened casually" I quickly tried to defend myself.

Not even I believed such words. I certainly could have said 'no' to the girls, but at the end my true colors showed up. Still it seemed that it worked out, because my sister eyes softened a little.

"I know" She sighed, "I don't even understand how Kate fell for you.

The thing is. Well... you know that I don't have that many friends. And besides you, Kate's the only one who shares my passion for animation... I guess what I'm trying to say is, please don't mess things up"

"Don't worry sis. I wasn't planning on it" I said with confidence.

It took me a while to calm her worries down, but at the end she knew that I was being honest. It was never on my mind to mess things up with any of the girls.

I mean, why would I? I still had some common sense within me.

After a long hug to settle this matter, we separated to go in our own ways. It was still early, so there was no hurry and I just enjoyed being by myself. With the awkward discussion I experienced, thinking about nothing was the thing I needed.

Sadly the relaxing time didn't last long. Even my own mind couldn't allow me to waste any time, so before I noticed I was already thinking on my ongoing projects. Especially about the movie I was working on with Elizabeth.

It's funny how life works. I had the idea of acquiring an upcoming animation company, and when I thought I had the opportunity to actually accomplish that, I ended up forming a production company of my own instead.

I wasn't complaining though, Elizabeth alone was worth all the risks associated with it. With her on my side, the script writing problem I had was resolved. And considering that this new company will be responsible of the production of brand new content, I was able to get an even better deal with the studio.

Now with the outline of 'Home alone' I had written, the script was progressing nicely. I think that it wouldn't be exaggerated to say that the movie could be released at Christmas of this year.

"Guys! Did you know that next month a new card game about 'pokemon' is coming out?"

"Yeah! The game is amazing, so I obviously will check it out"

"About that, I was wondering if any of you wants to trade a 'machoke' with me. I heard that it only evolves to a 'machamp' if you trade it"

"Sure! We can trade two 'machokes' so the both of us will end up with the same evolution forms"

I wasn't completely alone, there was some other people around me. Mainly students who were going in the same direction as me. Initially I just ignored them, but once I heard some of them talking about 'pokemon', my interest was immediately picked.

I couldn't be happier with 'my' game performance, besides 'Harry Potter' it was definitely my biggest success to date. Also the trading card game that I helped to design was about to come out, which only increased my excitement.

"Hey, isn't that Samuel? The one everyone hates" I heard that one of the guys of the same group murmured.

"Not everyone, only the ones that are jealous of him" The one that must definitely be the most intelligent of the group replied wisely to his friend.

"It's not just about how close he is with some cute girls. The guy barely communicates with anyone, and when he does he sounds so condescending, it's no wonder no one likes him"

Ouch. I wanted to complain right away, but that would reveal the fact that I was hearing them out. Besides the blockhead may have a point, I wasn't exactly the most social person in the school... Now that I think about it, I should have reminded Hanna about that piece of information earlier.

The rest of way was practically me over thinking about my behavior until this very moment, particularly in school. I wasn't in elementary school anymore, having good relationships with my classmates is an important matter.

Although it wasn't an easy thing to do when I wanted to participate in the heated discussion the boys were having about how Claire and the twins were more than just 'some cute girls'. The blockhead was clearly blind to even think about that.

"Sam! Here you are" Mike saluted me near the school gates.

He approached me along with a boy that looked my age, probably in his first year of middle school. Although the thing that surprised me the most was his latino appearance, maybe because I haven't seen any until now.

"Hey! How are you?" I said casually. I was certain that Mike would do the introductions.

"Wonderful! I'll admit that I missed school. Especially with 'pokemon' here, I want to battle everyone" He laughed, and 'secretly' winked at me with the mention of the game.

I laughed along. Hopefully not in an weird manner that reveals how I wanted to punch him in the face. That he hasn't let the school know all the popular works I've made was still a mistery to me.

"Oh! You must be curious why this guy's here, right?" He suddenly said. "This is Miguel, he just skipped two grades and will be our classmate from now on... Reminds you of someone?" He grinned.

I looked at the new guy in surprise, while he just smirked back at me mockingly. I wasn't a professional detective, but I'm pretty sure that it was fair to assume that this guy is like me. Someone who's not liked by a lot of people.