I think I jumped to conclusions too quickly. Relying on Kathy sounded like a good plan, but in practice, it didn't work. Our first classes of the day were in different parts of the building, but at least she escorted me to the class. However, she could not stay long as she needed to catch hers.

"You're going to be fine," she reassured me for the last time before she disappeared into the crowd. This day was evidently based on constant reassurance.

With a deep breath, I stepped into the classroom and looked around. It was still quite early, so not many seats were taken yet. Automatically I headed for the back since I didn't want to draw too much attention. (Stupid thought, I know, who would ignore a new student?)

I chose the seat by the window in the first row.

The chatter in class suddenly stopped. I guess I was not as easily disregarded as I thought. I scanned the classroom and saw a few students staring at me. They didn't look away when our eyes met, so I guess nothing changed here. I knew they were secretly judging me, taking in my appearance, but I didn't care since I knew there was no chance, they would recognize me. I was sure I wasn't familiar with not even half of them. From a brief look, I recognized six people from middle school – Austin, Ellie, Jennet, Brie, Morgan, and Tony.

Austin was one of my childhood bullies. I still had a scar on my left hand from when he pushed me, and I cut my palm on the broken glass on the ground. I had to acknowledge, though, that he looked a bit concerned when he saw all that blood back then. For a moment I almost thought that maybe he had a conscience. Nevertheless, the next day he was back to his old bully self.

Ellie and Jennet were basically the same person. They used to have this habit of switching sides whenever they could. Anytime there was some kind of fight, they decided to choose the winning side and be friends with whoever had the most followers. Therefore, they had a new friend group almost every week. Kathy and I used to call them ping-pong balls. Ellie was Ping, and Jennet was Pong.

Next was Brie, who was somewhat nice. She was a shy introverted girl, who did not like conflicts. On the one hand, it sounded like she was a genuine person, but from my perspective, it meant she never tried to help me. So even when I didn't have any personal issues with her, I still remembered that she watched me get beaten up many times but never said a word.

Morgan was a perfect copy of his parents. Both of his parents were strict Catholics who thought that premarital sex, homosexuality, and abortion were sins. They had a daughter besides Morgan, Molly, who could never wear short skirts, dresses without sleeves, or anything they would say was inappropriate. She couldn't even paint her nails since it was too distinctive in their opinion. Morgan preached all those beliefs too. He once even told me that I would end up in hell because I was gay. Heart-warming, I know.

The thing about Tony was that his parents thought that he was just like Morgan, but actually, he was the exact opposite. In front of his parents and even teachers, he was this innocent, harmless-looking kid, who only cared about school and his family. In reality, Tony was just the guy you went to when you wanted cigarettes or beer. He could get anything, and he made no secret of the fact that he tried it all. There was even this rumour that he lost his virginity when he was just 13 years old.

Fortunately, the first person to address me was none of them.

"Hey, I noticed you're new here. I'm Gabriel." The boy right across me introduced himself and stretched out a hand. He had umber skin, short hair the deep shade of coal, and big round eyes that suited him perfectly.

"I'm Taylor," I smiled, pulling out my winner one, and shook his hand. I had to admit, he looked nice. Not just his appearance, he was giving friendly vibes, and right now, I couldn't be more thankful for that. Plus, the fact that I couldn't find him anywhere in my memories was a huge bonus.

"Nice to meet you. I can show you around if you want. I used to be the new kid, so I'm kind of an expert in choosing the most important information about this school," he offered, smiling widely, his brown eyes reflecting kindness.

New kid, huh? Maybe he hasn't managed to get infected with the bigotry of this town yet. Hoping he was immune like Kathy would be too much of a dream, so I could only hope for the bare minimum.

"That would be a lifesaver, thanks." I beamed at him once again. Having some friends besides Kathy in this hellhole would be nice. Especially when our schedules were so different.

"So, when did you move here?" he asked. Obviously, I didn't want to reveal too much about myself, so I chose my next words carefully. Plus, anyone could overhear our conversation, and I wasn't going to reveal myself. The fact that people in this town couldn't put two and two together was not my problem.

"Week ago, actually. Our house is still kind of a mess, but I wanted to start at the same time as everyone else, so it would be less awkward, you know." At least there wouldn't be any rumours about why I transferred so suddenly. I bet the students would have made up various far-fetched stories about me that I would have had a hard time getting rid of later.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I transferred in the middle of the year and wished I would wait until the new school year." I didn't ask what he meant. I kinda figured. As I said, Misthall loved rumours. Maybe that's why Gabriel looked so excited to see a new face in this classroom.

We chatted a bit after that, mostly about basic things, but soon we were interrupted by the bell.

Luckily, I didn't have to introduce myself in front of the class. The teacher just remarked that I was the new student, and I awkwardly waved to the rest of the class. It kind of felt like I was a lone soldier in an enemy field. No one cared about me, no one tried to talk to me, and in the middle of the lesson, they even stopped looking at me. I wasn't sure if it was a bad or good sign, but I prayed for the second.

After class, I showed Gabriel my schedule, and he took me to my next class, which we thankfully shared. We talked the whole time, so I didn't have to return any more unpleasant stares. The whole day went surprisingly well with occasional introductions and some more awkward waves, but I couldn't complain. It was, in fact, better than I expected.

The real challenge came after the third ring of the bell. Three rings meant lunch, and lunch meant the first chance to get a stable friend group. Since I brought lunch from home, my first destination was my locker. I quickly broke through the crowd and reached the locker. I entered my combination, which I surprisingly memorized on the first try, and put away the only book I took before. I promptly took my lunch box and closed my locker so I could hopefully join Kathy or Gabriel in the cafeteria. However, before I could even look up, I felt myself bumping into someone.

There was a quiet thump as our bodies collided, then a string of hissed curses. Before I could even process what had happened, I stumbled back and finally looked up to see the last person I wanted to meet today.

Max fucking Ardell.

As you could guess, Max was the person who once made my life a living hell. He was the one who started to spread rumours about me and told everyone that if they talk to me, they will catch the disease of unpopularity (and of course gayness) too. Not that it stopped only with words, I remembered exactly all the times when he pushed me into the lockers or made me stumble, so I dropped my lunch on the ground. He was my nightmare that I couldn't wake up from as a child, no matter how loud I screamed.

Without caution, I felt a lump rising in my throat. There was no reason to be afraid of him now that I could match him, but the habit was habit.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Max apologized, and I blinked twice. Was I hearing right? For a second, it felt like I lost my own voice, but then I finally found the right words. Fortunately, I was able to control myself and not show my shock.

"It's okay, no worries." I tried to smile at him, even when it was the last thing I wanted right now. I just hoped he wouldn't notice how much I was shaking on the inside. If anyone asked, I could always play it off as first-day jitters.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" He surprised me again with his concern, and the only thing I was able to do was shake my head. His face relaxed, and he beamed at me. I could have sworn I had never seen him smile so much in my life. That is, if we don't count the cruel smiles that always appeared on his face right before he decided to make my life hell again.

"Thank God. I was in a hurry and wasn't really looking. Lunch is kinda my favourite break, but you probably noticed that." I couldn't get the look of his laughing face out of my head. Max Ardell was smiling at me. Could it be more ironic?

"You sure you okay?" His smile was replaced by a worried expression, and I knew it was time to come to my senses, so I finally collected myself and fake-smiled at him.

"I'm fine, sorry. I'm still kinda shaky as it's my first day here," I apologized and hoped he wouldn't see through the half-lie I just gave him.

He looked puzzled for a second, and then he smiled even more than he had before. "Right, I knew you didn't look familiar. I'm Max. I hope I didn't ruin your first day too much." If I didn't know him, I'd say he seriously looked apologetic.

"I'm Taylor," I hesitantly introduced myself, "don't worry, it perfectly matches the awkward first-day experience." I offered him another smile that only I knew was far from sincere.

He gave me another cheerful smile in return, and I was beginning to doubt his mental health. No one smiles that much, and certainly not at someone they just met. That is, if they do not want to give them the wrong impression.

"Well since I added to it, let me fix it. So what do you say, lunch buddy?" Max asked, his eyes sparkling. If I didn't know him before, I would really think he was a nice person. But I did. Maybe that's why I interpreted the sparks in his eyes as the flames of hell, waiting for a single mistake of mine to consume me forever. Poetic, I know.

"I'll take you up on that offer," I smiled at him. You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Moreover, if I had him in front of me all the time, I didn't have to worry about the imaginary knife in the back.

Together we walked down the hall, and he never stopped beaming at me. It felt strangely nice, even when I was constantly looking for red flags. He maintained small talk, so there wouldn't be an awkward silence, and I was glad because it meant I couldn't be overthinking this too much. I could have one lunch with him without exposing myself, couldn't I?

We entered the cafeteria, and Max automatically went to the table in the centre. I followed him but I was still inconspicuously looking around to see if Kathy was already there. Unfortunately, she wasn't, so I didn't have any other choice than to sit with him.

When we reached the table, I noticed another three guys sitting there. First was Austin, which I already met, second was Josh – another childhood bully slash Max's friend, but the last one was a complete stranger to me.

"Guys, this is Taylor. Taylor, this is Austin, Josh, and Mike," Max said, and they all waved when their names came up. Again, at first glance, they looked like a normal, easy-going, almost friendly group of teens, but I knew it wasn't exactly the truth. Nevertheless, I showed my dazzling smile and greeted them.

"So Taylor, where are you from?" Mike asked, and the question caught Max's attention too as he looked at me.

"Gladwater. It's a small town a few hours away," I explained since I knew they probably never heard of it. Kids from Misthall never cared about small towns since they always aimed for the big cities. We had many star players or rich kids whose destinations were Ivy League Universities. Of course, I was never equal to them in their eyes.

"Nice. Did you play any sports back there?" Mike continued with his questions. I wasn't surprised. Just like the rest of the table, he looked like a jock. Not that I was stereotyping, I just knew these guys. If there was a sport, they could be even slightly good at, they automatically had to try it. And by the looks of them, they've obviously found one (or maybe even more) that caught their interest.

"Soccer," I answered shortly. Even when the other guys didn't look like they were paying attention before, they looked very pleased with my answer.

"That's cool. We play too. You should definitely try out, I'm pretty sure you'll make the team," this time it was Max who reacted. And let me tell you, he seemed very content. Almost like he really wanted to get to know me which was somehow even scarier than spending time with him. Which meant I had to be all the more careful about what I revealed to him about myself.  

"Sure, why not." I tried to act friendly and smiled at him. He reciprocated the gesture, and that's when I noticed the strange looks his friends were giving us. They were all trying to look cool like they weren't even paying attention to us, which was not only weird but also suspicious. I was missing something, but I wasn't sure what.

"Is everything alright?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. They obviously found some fault, although I tried my best not to make one. I had to make sure that the situation could still be saved.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry for them," Max apologized which left me even more confused. He had to notice it from the way I was looking at them since he continued, and I almost choked on my own saliva.

"Since I came out to them as bisexual, they are always trying to hook me up with some guy to show me their support. They are not very discreet about it, though,” he sighed.

At this moment I knew, the world really was fucked up.

I felt the colour drain from my face, and my eyebrows shot up involuntarily. I bet I looked like all those parents in awkward low-budget teen movies when someone decides to do a public coming out, and everyone is suddenly shocked, even though the signs were there all along.

"Shit. You're not homophobic, are you?"