First was German class. I never had to take a foreign language in my previous schools, and now I was forced into a class, that felt more like Math than a real language.

Of course, the teacher insisted on speaking German all the time, annoying me to no end. I was sitting beside Angel again. I didn’t really care if I was bothering him, I felt tortured myself. Every time the teacher would ask a question, I noticed him glance at me, which just fed my annoyance.

Angel apparently did not learn from what happened the day before, as he suddenly asked, “Do you need help? Should I translate to you?”

I knew that he probably meant well, but his comments made me feel as if he was mocking me. That he exactly knew, he was more intelligent. That he was better than me. That he pitied me. It infuriated me, and I let him be the victim of my anger. “Fuck off, stop being an annoying shit, will you?” I snarled at him. Angel looked taken aback by my outburst and stared at me almost paralyzed.

The whole classroom turned silent, I fucked up. The teacher watched me, a stern look on his face. “Mr Carter, I sincerely hope I misheard that right now!”, immediately switching to English for the first time, so that even an idiot like me could understand him. “I demand you to visit the principal’s office right after this class!”

I swore I could see a vein on his forehead growing bigger and bigger. “Whatever,” was my only comment. I clenched my teeth and looked to the seat next to me. Angel’s eyes were glassed over, and he was creasing his brows, looking at his book. It made me feel bad, but I didn’t want to let it influence me, so I looked at the clock instead.

Right on cue, the bell rang, and the students strolled out the classroom one after another. I did as instructed and went to the principal’s office. He was my ticket to the gym, so I should try and please him a little. As soon as I entered the office, after knocking first, I could sense the heavy atmosphere. The teacher, whose name I didn’t even know, had already called.

“Sit,” Livingstone demanded, not smiling at all this time. I obeyed. “I was truly thinking, it was going upwards after yesterday, but clearly, I was wrong. First, I have to see you all bruised the other day. Only God knows what you did to earn those, and merely minutes ago, you were in yet another incident? Language, Mr. Carter. On your first day, I reminded you of its importance, and now I hear that you were insulting a student in such a way! Your roommate not to mention! Do you not get along with him? Do you want to switch rooms?” By now, he was massaging his temples.

To be honest, I didn’t want to switch rooms. Angel was an uncomplicated person, had no annoying or loud habits and was funny to tease when I was in the mood to. “No, it’s fine.”

“Then, why?”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t know, wasn’t anything personal. I was just in a bad mood.”

That obviously didn’t please the principal. “That doesn’t give you the permission to bully another person!” He was getting louder, “Have you at least apologized?”

I only turned my head to avoid his eyes instead of giving him a response. Bully… I’ve never considered myself to be a bully, surprisingly. In the other schools, there was no one to bully in the first place. We all sat in the same boat. How was it now, though? He sighed, “What should I do with you?”

Livingstone phoned his secretary to call out for Angel and shortly after, everyone could hear the announcement, “Misha Lightwood, please come to the principal’s office immediately. I repeat, Misha Lightwood, to the principal’s office!”

I was just waiting. What does Livingstone want? Should I simply apologize? Is he going to expel me? I started chewing on my bottom lip until a light knock sounded on the door. The principal spoke immediately, his tone a lot nicer now, “Come in.”

As expected, Misha stepped in, fidgeting with his hands and creasing his brows, “You asked for me?”

“Yes, yes. Please come and sit down. Mr Carter, wait outside for a moment.”

Without a word, I stood up, passed by Angel and went outside. What is he asking? What is Angel saying about me? I didn’t want to be in this school, but I had nowhere else to go. I would probably live on the streets if I couldn’t stay in here, and while I didn’t like the fake perfection surrounding this place, I didn’t want to be homeless either. My mother certainly wouldn’t take me back.

After around 5 minutes, I was called back into the office. I took my seat on the same place as before, folded my arms, and avoided looking into anyone’s eyes.

“Let’s start with the easy part first. Krane,” Oh, we are on first-name base now? “Apologize for what you’ve said.”

I reluctantly lifted my head a little and shifted it to the side. I was facing Angel now. His expression always held many different emotions. I could sense excitement, hope, uncertainty, and a bit of fear. I sighed. I couldn’t not do it, and I didn’t even know why it was so hard for me right now. “Sorry,” I mumbled. That wasn’t enough for the principal, even though I could see Misha’s joy from miles away. I sighed again and to please Livingstone spoke a bit louder, “I’m sorry for insulting you. Wasn’t your fault.”

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” the older man now also satisfied said. “But now comes the difficult part, boys.” Both of us turned our attention towards the man, anticipating his next words. They couldn’t be pleasant. “I want you both to get along, and I want you Krane, to feel included here, to be a real part of the school.” The queasy feeling in my stomach was getting more intense by the second. 

“So, I was watching this teeny-romance-comedy with my niece last week. The two protagonists didn’t get along as well, until”, Oh God, please, no, “they had to work together on a project for one year. Well, I don’t have any projects to give you, but since Misha here is a remarkable student, he could tutor you for the next few months, Krane. Let’s make it Tuesday, Thursday and either Saturday or Sunday depending on your time, how about that?”