VOID in HIGH SCHOOL

Chapter 1: Estavan

'Oh Estavan, your new high school will be just like your old one just in a new town. You will fit right in!' This quote kept repeating itself over and over and over again in till the movers arrived to move all the things that decorated the house I lived in since I was born. El Paso, Texas… oh yes I will fit right in! I just lived in a cloudy place for the first 15 years of my life I mean it's not like I am as white as snow. Oh wait, I AM! El Paso, Texas an over populated city that borders Juarez, Mexico and is in the desert. It's also sunshine practically everyday. I'm leaving my best friends in the whole world to live next to a bunch of Cocoas or however they say gangsters over there. The timing is perfect too! Today in the paper a mother of a 2 year old got shot and the baby roller got hit by a passing car. The assassin missed the target. We are moving to the border of Mexico in the middle of a Drug War how wonderful! The goodbyes were heartbreaking for all. My girl friends were crying fountains and even my boy friends had red eyes. I knew them all for 13 years and I had to say goodbye to them all when we were just planning on going to the same college. My parents have always had perfect timing on destroying my plans.

We arrived at the airport the day after the movers. I silently whispered goodbye to the airport that I will probably never see again. The flight took about 5 hours from Toledo, Ohio to El Paso. It was 6:30 when my grandparents came to pick us up. 8:30 in Toledo… I wonder what everyone is doing. What is Melissa doing? I had a crush on Melissa since I learned girls didn't have cooties. I turned up my iPod and let the screaming sound of Marilyn Manson's voice numb my thoughts. I woke 2 hours before I was supposed to the next morning and got dressed. I heated up a pop tart, grabbed my abused messenger backpack and rode away to my new school on my bike. Hanks High School is the oddest thing I have ever seen. The front looks like a castle with everything. They had the fake gate and mote with a bridge even! All they were missing was water in the mote instead of grass and man eating crocodiles and it would have been perfect. Going to a new school in a new town is nerve wrecking but even more so when it was the middle of the semester with Christmas just a few weeks away. I had to embarrass my self asking students how to get to the office. A nice girl helped me out by walking me to the actual front building. Once inside I was stopped by a blonde haired security officer. "Where do you think your going, sir?" The security officer asked with the 'you-better-have-a-good-answer' kind of voice. "I'm going to the attendance office to get my schedule. I'm new here."

"It's right there." She pointed to a white wall that had windows in it and huge red letters on the top of it clearly saying "ATTENDANCE OFFICE". I mumbled my thanks and rushed to the side door. "How may I help you?" A student looking lady asked.

"Um my name is Estavan Michaels. I'm new here and was told to come here for my schedule."

"Right we were expecting you. Hold on a bit and let me print out your schedule." A few types later my new pink schedule was in my hand and I was thrown into the busy halls. I stopped a few kids asking where room 301 was and they all glared at me and walked away. When I was about to give up asking for help when I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw it was the girl form earlier this morning. "Hi!" she exclaimed, "Need any help finding your classes?"

"Uh, yeah, do you know where room 301 is?" She took my schedule and skimmed it for a second and laughed.

"You don't go there today, it's a B day. You go to room 525 today." Huh?

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain on the way but we are going to be late." As we ascended the stairs, she explained that A days were 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th period classes and were on Mondays and Wednesdays while on Tuesdays and Thursdays it was B days where we had 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th periods and Fridays, C days, we had all of our classes. That's stupid. I thought as we finally arrived to my Algebra class. We both walked in and she sat at an empty table. She motioned me to join her and a few minutes later Ms. Ordonez arrived and explained how things went on in the class room. Ms. Ordonez was the first tom boy teacher I have ever seen. Today in the class we were doing a group project. "Okay, are you any good in algebra?" Sable, the girl, asked.

"Duh." I responded rolling my eyes.

"Thank God, for once I'm not stuck with an idiot." We finished our project before everyone else and just started talking. By the end of the period we knew each others secrets, fears, likes and dislikes, favorite things, and hobbies. We walked to our next class, Speech, and again I sat next to Sable. Mr. Piquet was the first gay teacher I ever met. He was funny and annoying all at the same time and I nicked named him Mr. Interesting because it seemed like the only thing he would say if he had nothing else to say. Lucky for me today we were starting a new speech which was an information speech. I decided to make mine about gay marriage.

Lunch used to be a blessing to me in till I tasted Hanks food, one word, eww. Hanks did have a million fast food places in the strip mall areas surrounding it all across the street literally but leave it up to me to forget my wallet. So instead of sinking my teeth in a Big Mac, I was eating water down beans, enchiladas, and some sort of red rice. I hate Mexican food! By 6th period I was starving and could barley understand what Mr. Halatan was saying about some S.A.M sheet and a book I read in my English class the Odyssey. He was the first rock lover teacher I ever had. When 8th period biology finally came around I was both mentally and physically drained. Mrs. Large was the first teacher I ever knew who was bipolar. Taylor was in my algebra, English and biology and boy did he make it obvious he hated Mrs. Large. It seemed he would do anything just to piss her off. I know you're probably thinking he is an attention seeker but the truth is in the other classes he was polite to the teachers. After school Sable and I walked to her bus talking about the project Mr. Halatan gave us and I copied her earlier notes from the year that I didn't finish coping in class. So far she was in all my classes and I was glad that I at least knew someone. We had the same classes yesterday except 7th where she had TAKS math and I had P.E. Her bus finally arrived and we said our goodbyes. I was walking to the bike rack when the 'new guy' welcome wagon rolled in out of nowhere. Now fighting has never been my cup of tea not only because it hurts like hell but also because I suck at it. After what felt like an hour, they left me laying on the ground in fetal position. As I slowly uncurled I felt some ones hand on my back and I curled back up a bit too quickly. I screamed into my arm as the pain shot through every inch of my body, even through areas I never knew existed. "It's okay, man. I'm not gonna hurt you." A beautiful and silky voice reassured me. I felt arms slide under me and was lifted from the ground. All I remember was the white hot pain coursing through my body then I blacked out.

When I woke up I was on my couch in my room with my mom sitting on the floor with her head bowed. "W-what happened?" I muttered to her through clenched teeth and a hoarse voice. Her head snapped up and I saw that she was crying. "A nice boy brought you home," she explained, "he said when he went to go get his bike, he saw you on the ground in fetal position and were bleeding. He looked through you backpack and found your I.D and where you lived through your cell. Oh honey I'm so sorry!" And she started the major waterworks and hung on to me as if I was her only anchor to the world. I heard footsteps on the stairs then my dad burst through the door and when he saw me, he came over and wrapped me and my mom in his strong but gentle arms. We just sat there hugging each other in till I felt someone's eyes on me. I turned my head back to the door and saw a tall and very handsome guy I never saw before leaning on the door frame. My mom looked up and untangled her self from the mass of arms and said that he 'was the young gentleman that brought me back to the safety of home.' "Hi, my names Eric." He smiled and I recognized the soft silky voice from when I was back at school. It took my brain a few moments to register what he just said before I stuttered out my name and thanks. My mom saw that he was about to say he was going and immediately shot down the warning before it could even be uttered. "Please stay for dinner, we insist!" She took my dad by the arm and dragged him out of the room calling back that dinner would be ready in 30 minutes.

"Your mom is one who can't take no for an answer, isn't she?" he chuckled at me, his hazel eyes twinkling in the setting suns rays. I quickly ran my eyes over his very nicely toned body. He stood about 6' 2" and had a long body. His body build was very lean and he looked as if he could out run a cheetah yet he also had a swimmers shoulders. His face looked like one of those cosmetic girls with the flawless smoothness. His lips had a slight pout to them and his nose looked like an artist spent hours making it and his jaw was feminine like yet strong. He looked like a girl with a guy's hot body. His hair was a midnight black with blue tint and was cut short. He was wearing a Seven Avenger Folds t-shirt with dark blue jeans and American Eagle flat shoes. He noticed me checking him out and told me to stop or else he'll blush mad crazy. I had to laugh at him. We started talking about shit and then we got on the subject of Sable. Small world she was his best friend. Note to self, ask Sable about his life. Exactly 30 minutes later, mom called us down for dinner. When Eric announced he had to go home after helping put away the dirty dishes, it felt like half of my heart left with him, which was weird. I changed clothes and threw my bloody ones in the shoot that lead to the laundry room. I crawled in to bed and dreamed about Eric.