Sweet Surrender

“Nathan, you're going to be late!”

Nathan sighed, hearing his Mother's voice for what could have easily been the fifth time. First days were always the worst.

Especially the first day of your Senior year.

He ran a hand through his still-damp hair from his shower earlier, glaring into the bathroom mirror when it refused to do anything he wanted it to. Finally he simply settled on just pushing it out of his face, grabbing his jacket and running down the stairs to see his Mother, Elle.

“Where's Dad?”

Elle put down her coffee on the table, clearing her throat. “He actually went to work early today.” upon seeing the keys hanging from Nathan's fingers, she continued, “You're driving today?”

“I have work after school. Aunt Millie's giving me a job, remember?” he responded quietly, shrugging on the jacket and heading for the door.

“Right... Well, drive safely. I'll see you later.” Elle called, barely seeing Nathan's responding nod before the door was shut loudly.

It was going to be a long 'First Day'.

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"Varian? I'm scared. What if the teacher doesn't like me?"

"It'd be impossible for the teacher to not like you Venerra." Varian soothed, stopping outside of his little sister's classroom and squatting down to be on eye level with her. Setting her tiny backpack down, he took both of her hands with his and gazed into her yellow eyes.

"Don't be scared Venerra, I know it all seems scary right now, but First Grade is really important, and it means you're a big girl now."

Venerra's eyes shifted into a warm gold with hope brimming on the smile that rose on her lips.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Varian said, drawing her into a hug and nonchalantly lifting his left fist to glance at his watch.

"Crap. I'm running later than I should be. I have to go now Venerra. You be a big girl and do what Mrs. Kelly wants okay?"

"Okay," Venerra said nodding her head, her chin length auburn curls shaking with the movement.

"I'll see you later," Varian said getting up and patting Venerra's head. Turning away he sprinted off down the hall and out the doors, glancing at his watch again.

"7:45! Crap!" Practically ripping the door off of his white wooden backed truck, he slammed it shut and turned the ignition.

The engine whined, clicking, but not catching.

"Come on! I can't be late on the first day! Come on you hunk of tin! Work!" Varian snarled, beating the dashboard where several dents were from previous battles with his fists.

The engine caught and purred to life, and Varian floored it, streaking out of the parking lot and squealing the tires turning sharply onto the asphalt.

"Some times I think you like being abused...." he muttered, tapping on his steering wheel.

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Nathan's car engine quietly cut off in his parking space around 7:50; ten minutes to spare before he had to be in Homeroom. He sighed, leaning back against the seat for a minute before glancing around, noting all the new Freshman who were quickly rushing inside the building, as opposed to the Sophomores and up who were lazily walking around.

Finally deciding to get out, Nathan slammed the car door shut behind him, shoving his keys into his jacket pocket and adjusting his shirt as he walked toward the building.

"Morning Nate."

Justin and his sister, Andrea, walked up with matching smiles. They were twins, though Nathan personally though Andrea was superior, physically speaking.

"I guess." Nathan replied quietly, glaring up at the sun briefly as Andrea shook her head.

"How was your summer?"

"Boring. Weird. Stuck with Mom usually. Dad had an unusual amount of work." Nathan mumbled before opening the door for the both of them, following them inside and through the office.

"Better than our summer at least. Andrea crashed her car, and now Mom refuses to buy either of us one." Justin complained, elbowing Andrea's ribs and mumbling a 'good job' sarcastically.

Nathan smiled, snorting quietly. He enjoyed his friends usually, but sometimes, they could be so...

Odd.

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Varian didn't need to look for the High School looming ahead of him. He could feel it.

All those vibes of fear, anxiety, excitement, happiness, and he wanted to throw up thinking about it, but joy even; he could sense them all.

Turning into the Senior parking lot, Varian wasn't surprised to see it almost brimming full with cars. Glancing at his watch again, he swore silently.

"Of course it's almost full...it's 7:55. I got five minutes."

Unbuckling his seat belt, Varian killed the ignition and shoved open his sticky driver's side door. Slinging his thread-bare bag over his shoulder he slammed the door shut.

Pocketing his keys, he took off across the parking lot at a light jog. He couldn't risk scaring the humans.

Flying up the steps of the building, he yanked the entrance door open and took off down the hall for the main office. Weeding his way through other stragglers, Varian butted a wimpy looking kid out of the way and received a low growl and a flash of red tinted brown eyes.

Smiling, Varian tilted his gaze down to meet the eyes of the wimpster. "Excuse me."

The eyes of the new comer widened, and he backed up, hands open and apart. "Um, no problem, sorry."

The wimpy kid took off, bolting down the hall, his shoes skidding.

Varian smiled to himself and was greeted with a half dozen glares of irritation and scorn.

"Great," he muttered to himself. "Two minutes in the building, and I've already made six enemies."

Rolling his eyes, he fixed his gaze on the list of homerooms tacked to a board.

'R.404 -J-L'.

Shifting his pack to a different shoulder, Varian turned on his heels back out into the hall and headed in the direction of room 404.

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"Which homeroom do you have?"

Nathan glanced at Justin, raising an eyebrow. "The same one I have every year. 408. And you two are in 409."

Andrea and Justin's last names were Yamin, while Nathan's was Vogel.

Justin had been watching a small altercation earlier between two other boys. Not much had happened, but the one guy had run away, looking scared shitless.

"Hey, we're gonna head to homeroom. We'll see you later Nate." Andrea mumbled, leaning up to lightly kiss his cheek before pulling Justin away, who had been talking to a girl that was most likely younger.

Nathan wrinkled his nose up, lightly rubbing his cheek. He had no problems being kissed, but it was the fact that it was Andrea that made it... Weird.

He shook his head, pushing his way past the crowd of people and out of the office.