What Is Life Without a Purpose? What Is Purpose Without Love?

Being new is one of the best things that's ever happened to me, school wise. 
 So far. 
Nobody knew a damn thing about me, which was good. That's what I'd hoped for; a fresh start. 
And hopefully it'd stay that way. 
I could make it two, three years without making any close contact with anyone, right? Not being friends with anyone wasn't as hard as it seemed. 
  All I had to do was stay quiet- something that came naturally anyway- and keep my distance. Also easy. 

Art was easy, and seemed to be the best class I could have to start my school day. Math was alright. I got quite a few looks in that class, even if about half of them were from the same person. Who was also in my third block biology. Great. 
He didn't seem all that nice, but what do I really know? I couldn't look much nicer myself, I guess. 
I could forget about him and his looks easily, but his friend-or what I assumed was his friend? I couldn't stop looking at him. 
He was wearing a black tank top with a design I recognized as one of my favorite band's logo on it. That was attention capturing, and I couldn't stop wondering, wanting to ask him, what his favorite bands were, what he liked to do. He seemed interesting.
 But that's not what I need right now, even if having someone to relate to would be nice. 

  "So, what's your name again?" The girl next to me, Allison, asked. 

"Alan." 

"Hi Alan." She smiled, and I gave her a small smile in return. 

"Hi." 

The rest of Biology went on just as boring as it had begun, the teacher giving out packets for parents to sign then leaving us to do what we wanted. 
 I didn't have much to do, so I occupied myself by listening to music and watching everyone else. 
  Every once in a while I'd look over to that guy's friend- Austin, was it? And couldn't help but wonder if he was a complete. Ass. 
  He spent the entire time doing what I assumed was drawing, and listening to whatever was running through his headphones. And he didn't look very happy to have to keep pulling them out while everyone around him tried to make conversation. You could see the annoyance in the way he slumped his shoulders and when he rolled his eyes when they looked away. 

 He looked pretty popular, it couldn't be because he was an ass; maybe he was just having a bad day. 

Thankfully, the bell rang- after praying for this class to be over at least 300 times- and I made the search for my next class, American History. 

I ended up being just a couple minutes late, but nobody seemed to notice anyway; class hadn't started even in the slightest. Everyone was still figuring out their seating when the teacher came in, but I had found mine. Second row, third seat in from the right. Got it. 
  I always hated sitting anywhere near the front, it felt like there was a constant staring at the back of my head from anyone seated behind me that made the back of my mind itch, wanting to constantly look over my shoulder. But I pushed the urge away, picking at the hems of my hoodie sleeves. 

I looked up just as guess-who walked in. There were a couple people from my earlier classes in here, but what was surprising about Austin, was that he was seated right next to me. He slung his bag over the back of his chair after withdrawing that same notebook and sat down. I pulled my gaze away from him then, not wanting to stare. 

-&- 

"How was school?" My mother walked in from the living room, meeting me at the door. I kicked off my shoes and made my way to the bottom of the stairs. 

"It was okay." 

"Just okay? Did you meet anyone? How are the classes?" She tilted her head in that concerned way that mothers do. 

"Mom," I chuckled, "it was fine, I didn't really, and I wouldn't know because all classes do on first days is talk about the class." 

She looked almost disappointed in my answer, her lips pursed. But I brushed it off and made my way up the stairs into my room. I was pretty much already used to the new set-up, besides having a few boxes filled with miscellaneous things in a corner. 
The new house, the new town, the new school, it all wasn't that bad. I could get used to living here, even if I'd just moved away from where I'd spent all of my life. There wasn't much to miss there any way, and the people here seemed much nicer. 

I sighed, laying down on my bed and taking out my iPod. I clicked on the Internet but it didn't work. 

"Mooooooomm!" The silence after me yelling almost hurt my ears, waiting for her response. I heard her foot steps coming up the stairs then she was at my door. 

"What Honey?" 

"The Internet isn't working." I pouted and she laughed a little. 

"It's not set up yet, it should be done by this weekend." 

"But it's only Tuesday!" How was I supposed to wait so long to use my own life line? 
"I'm gonna die!" 

"I'm sure you'll make it, Alan." She rolled her eyes, smiling. 
I let out a long sigh, pulling myself off the bed. 

"I guess I'll take a shower...since there's nothing else to do." I shuffled out into the hall and into the upstairs bathroom. But soon returned to my room, forgetting my iPod speaker. Couldn't shower without music. 

I undressed quickly, avoiding any confrontation with the mirror over the sink, and got in the warm water. 
While showers were one of my favorite things, they didn't always end well. By that I mean I sometimes ended up crying but that probably makes me sound like a stupid seventh grader or something, right?

 I took a shower this morning so I wasn't unclean at all, so I just sat at the bottom of the new white tub, letting the water fall over my head. 
  I spent the next half hour just thinking, about today and whatever else. When I finally got out of the water, I was convinced I had all the secrets to life figured out. 
Or maybe I was just filled with a million more questions, like what if the earth is just a piece of dust and the whole universe is actually the planet we're floating around on? Trippy shit. 
Once dressed, I made my way back down stairs, getting a glass of water. 

  "I made cake today, do you want a piece?" My mother asked from the table. 
I stood back-to to her, contemplating what she said. I could feel my stomach, full and heavy still from cereal this morning. But she would probably be suspicious if I said no. 

"Sure." I sighed, turning around with a smile.