Witness

I was instantly aware of every single set of eyes on me, as I walked through the gates and past several groups of people who were sitting around eating their lunch. Everyone just wants so explore the new kid, see what they can find out about him, see what pisses him off or makes him sad. They’d probably have a field day if they knew what really happened behind the mask of Frank Iero, because really that was all it was. A mask. Hiding what had happened in the very recent past.

I walked through the large white doors into the main reception and saw the usual array of over-dramatic hypochondriacs who claimed that they were just not well enough to stay in school and must go home to their lives of comfort and luxury.

There were awards scattered around shelves and mounted in frames, announcing that this school had passed which ever inspection, whenever. Photos of various students carrying out various activities within school time. This whole lobby just screamed ‘school spirit’.

I made my way over to one of the windows in the wall that looked into the receptionists’ office and peered at a small woman with white hair. She sat at her desk, typing something on the computer; her glasses perched on the very edge of her nose as she pressed one key at a time before pausing to look down at where the next letter was on the keypad in front of her.

I cleared my throat purposely to try and get her attention, which it did, but all she did was look back down at the computer and carry on typing. I stood in a state of shock for a second, as I watched her thin, bony, almost sickly fingers press each key with so much force I feared they may break on contact.

I leant my hip against the wall the below the window and looked down on her as she sat, while I waited for her to finish whatever she was doing. After – I don’t know how long – she looked up at me once more, this time gracing an almost warm smile.

“Sorry about that. I was just writing an email to my son,”

That caught me off guard. Wasn’t she supposed to be doing more important things than writing emails to her family? Plus, even if she had to do that, why did it give her the right to ignore me?

Now, maybe I was just being picky, but so far I didn’t like this school much.

“Now, how can I help you?” Her crackly voice snapped me out of my almost trance.

“Oh, um, my name is Ant—Frank Iero, and I’m new here,”

“Ah yes, Mr Iero, today is your induction meeting?” she said in her small voice, either not noticing I’d almost given her the wrong name, or choosing to ignore it.

“Yeah, I think so,”

“Well, just walk through the door opposite this window and you’ll come to a hallway. The one right at the end belongs to the headmaster, Mr Reed. He’s probably waiting for you,”

Yeah, waiting because you were too busy typing a damn email!

I thanked her politely before turning on my heel and walking swiftly to the door that she’d pointed out as not to keep the head master waiting and longer. That’s not really a good first impression to make at a new school.

I came to a door that said ‘Mr Reed’ on it, and swiftly knocked on it. I heard a sharp charm “come in,” and opened the door.

I stepped into a medium sized room that was almost the same as the lobby. Several of the schools achievements gracing the walls in the form of framed certificates, photos and newspaper clippings. I’m sure this school isn’t as amazing as all these achievements stated, but I’m pretty sure that, that was just me being bitter about even having to be here in the first place.

“Ah, Frank I assume?” I nodded. “Take a seat,” he smiled, gesturing to one of the soft chairs placed in front of his desk, almost at an angle. I sat in the one on the right, and looked around the room a couple more times. I could feel the head masters eyes on me, and I couldn’t bear to look up at them. I had a bit of a problem with authority. I didn’t like people who could tell me what to do, but they made me nervous as opposed to cocky and angry towards them.

“Sorry I’m late...” I started.

“No worries. I assume you got caught up with the receptionist?” I nodded again. “Yeah, she does that to everyone,”

I just smiled slightly, awkwardly, as he got straight into talking about rules and the, basically, non-existent dress codes while I zoned in and out of what he was saying. I was pretending to listen, but my mind was flicking to other things, as it does when you’re supposed to be listening to something important...

“...and we have someone who will show you around the school now, just so you can have a small idea of where you need to be for all of your classes,” he finished off, pressing a button on his desk and talking through to the secretary. I decided that he wasn’t talking to the old woman, because the repliers voice didn’t sound as cracked and faded as the old lady that I’d talked to earlier. “Don’t worry though. We won’t expect you to know where you’re going on your first week,”

I nodded slightly, and became daunted by the idea of a new school. Everything was happening so quickly, yet it seemed like a million years ago that I saw my father killed.
I shook my head of the thoughts and looked over to where Mr Reed was pointing, and saw a tall-ish bored looking boy.

“James here will show you where you need to be,” Mr Reed smiled. I faintly nodded back, before looking over at James who nodded his head towards the door.

“Can I ask you something?” James asked as we walked through the crowded halls.

“Uh, sure?”

“Well, I only did this to get out of class, right, but then I found out I’d have to be showing you around during my lunch period, and honestly, I need a break, so how about you stay with me this lunch, and then I show you round during next period and we tell everyone that we didn’t realize we were walking so slow?”

“Sure, whatever,” I smiled. Honestly, I wanted to get this ‘tour’ thing over with, but who was I to go against someone at this school while I was still the new kid? I wanted to make friends, not instant enemies. I already had a whole bunch of those.

I felt a bit left out as I followed James around the halls with his friends, I mean, where-else was I even supposed to go?!

“Who’s the kid?” Someone asked.

“That’s...” James started before raising an eyebrow.

“My names An-Frank,” I said, cursing myself for forgetting my name again!

“He’s a new kid. I’m supposed to show him around the school, but I’m waiting ‘til class time,”

“Fair enough,” the other guy laughed, clapping James on the back for his obviously wonderful volunteering skills.

“Hey, let’s go see if we can find Way,” James suddenly piped up, grinning wickedly at his friends. There was a large group of them, and they were all pretty well built, so I instantly became worried for ‘Ways’ safety...