Witness

I watched from the car window at all of the students making their way into school. “You ready, honey?” My mum asked, watching over me as I just stared out of the window. She knew that I was worried about starting this school after witnessing what I had yesterday, but she still told me that I had to go. Fair enough I guess, but I still didn't want to go.

“It’ll be fine,” she told me, running her fingers through the longer part of my hair. “You know, I’m getting used to it already,” she smiled, trying to comfort me. I just smiled weakly at her before opening the door and climbing out, shivering slightly as the wind bit at my cheeks. I waved behind me after closing the door, and made my way up to the school again, a chill running through my just looking at the big grey building, and the intimidating students situated outside the gate before the bell went for the first lesson of the day. Half of them probably won't even go.

Once again I went into the office, to see the same old lady sitting at the desk. Once again I coughed, and once again she ignored me. Did she seriously make a habit of this? Surly it wasn’t allowed?

“Can I help you?” she asked, a bit more snappy than yesterday. She obviously recognized me as someone who now attended this school, and no longer felt the need to be polite to me.

“I-I need to pick up my time-table,” I muttered out, slightly wary of this strange old lady. Who knew? Right now, she could be searching for witch-craft and curses on the computer, because she is secretly a witch, and she wants to turn the new kid with red hair who constantly appears to forget his name into a toad. That wouldn’t surprise me.

She typed a few things up on the computer, and the almost ancient printer next to her kicked in, letting out some coughing noises, before choking out a piece of paper which I assumed to be my time-table. She thrust it through the gap in the window at me, before going back to...whatever she was doing on the computer before I rudely interrupted.

I glanced at the time-table, feeling utterly lost. Maybe I should have insisted I go on that tour yesterday. Sighing, I made my way into the bustling hallways. Girls chattering with their friends, giggling at the appropriate moments, and boys strutting down the hall, heads high as they glowered down on everyone around them. That whole ‘I am God’ appeal? Yeah. Really pisses me off.

“Frank!” Someone shouted behind me, clapping me on the back. “Man, you changed your hair already?”

I looked up to see James and smiled slightly. “Yeah, I was planning on changing it, I just hadn’t gotten round to it yet,”

“Awesome, it looks good man. Will sure get you some chicks round here,” he smiled, slinging an arm around my shoulder and winking at a group of girls who walked past, and began giggling in a pitch I’m sure I had never heard before, at the gesture from James. I wonder who the big-shot around here was!

“So, what you got first?” He asked, obviously no longer caring for the word ‘have’.

“I’m not sure,” I sighed, twisting my time-table around, unsure of even which way to hold it, let alone what it said. James laughed slightly, and grabbed the timetable, scanning over it.

“Gutted. You have English first. None of us are in that class, looks like you’ll be alone,” he laughed again, clapping me on the back once more before calling out to one of his friends and jogging up the hall towards him.

I just stood there, mouth slightly agape. He could have at least shown me where I needed to be! I couldn’t get used to New Jersey. I wanted to go home.

A bell sounded though out the halls, and instantly I was being pushed and shoved around by an unruly group of teens who all had somewhere to be, and were going to get there, no matter who they trampled on the way. It was almost like they were all in a flow, like water, all knowing where they had to go, and how to get there, weaving in and around everything in the way. I felt more like a rock, taking a beating from the cool water as it got momentarily stuck against me before flowing around me, carrying on the journey to the sea or lake or – where ever it needed to be.

Then, before I knew it, the halls were completely silent. Not a soul in sight. The only sound being that of paper fluttering to the floor, or a door suddenly being closed once the teacher deemed the class to be all there. I looked around, and couldn’t even begin to guess where I needed to be, wondering along endless corridors and reading the name plaques on the door. I felt so helpless.

I came to another hall way that looked exactly like the last, and groaned out, walking over and kicking the first locker I could see.

“Hello?” Someone said from somewhere near me. The voice sounded tinny, and far away, but they obviously knew I was here. I turned around to see the hall completely empty, and panicked almost. “You still there?” I heard them ask. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I decided that this school must be haunted. Either that, or the lady at the desk had cast a spell to get all her little ghouls to follow me. It all stemmed to the same conclusion really.
The more obvious idea could have been that I’m so psychologically damaged that I can no longer function properly, and I’m making up imaginary friends and hearing voices in my head. Yeah. That sounded about right.

I took a step forward, wincing at my shoe which squeaked on the linoleum floors, flinching as I heard someone exhale sharply somewhere in front of me. “I can see you now,” The voice said, almost a giggle placed at the end.

“I don’t want to sound like an idiot, but what the hell?!” I said out loud hoping to get an answer of some sort.

A chuckle sounded through the hall, and the locker door in front of me and to the left a bit moved slightly as the tinny sound of it being hit echoed around the hall. “I’m in here,” they sighed, almost as if they were used to it. I raised my eyebrow, and stepped forward, glancing into the small slits that they always have in lockers, and saw a pair of shiny eyes staring back at me.

“Uh, do you know the combination?” I asked, feeling slightly stupid. I was talking to a boy in a locker. ...And I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder.

He sighed, before thinking about it and answering. I listened closely to his instruction and eventually, the lock popped open. The door fell open and a thin, lanky boy popped out his feet landing firmly on the floor with a slight thud.

He was thin, too thin in my opinion, and he had glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose as he looked down at my much shorter frame. “I’m Mikey Way,” he smiled, sticking his hand out at me. Way...I knew that name! I just glanced at it before his fingers curled inwards and he brought his hand back to his side. “Introducing myself is a little weird when you’ve just rescued me from a locker?”

“Yeah, just a little,” I chuckled slightly. “So...why were you in there?”

“James,” he grunted out. “He doesn’t like me because of my brother. Gerard’s gay so James treats him worst than he would treat gum on the bottom of his shoe. Beats him up all the time, it’s getting ridiculous now,”

“I think I saw him yesterday...” I mused out loud, thinking back to the kid who has only even been known to me as ‘Way’. I assumed he was Gerard. “I was supposed to be, being shown around the school by James, but he couldn’t be bothered, and then they decided to go see this kid they referred to as ‘Way’. When we got there they just started beating the shit out of him,”

“Yeah, that’s Gerard. I bet they asked you to join in?”

“Yeah. I told them he wasn’t worth it,”

Mikey frowned for a second before realizing my motive. “Thank you so much!” He suddenly said. “That probably really boosted his self esteem. Okay, probably not, because he has no confidence whatsoever, but no-one in the school cares if they see him getting hurt. It’s not that they’re afraid of James; they just literally don’t even care. Knowing that someone actually stopped them will make him feel a lot better,”

“Oh uhm well, glad I could help?” I said unsurely.

Mikey laughed slightly, before a voice boomed down the hall at us. “Boys! What are you doing out of class?”

“Mikey was just about to show me where I need to be. Since I’m new and all,” I said quickly. Mikey glanced at me and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the teacher and nodding, a small reassuring smile lacing his features.

“Okay, well hurry on,” he dismissed quickly, continuing along the hall.

“You’re the new kid?” he asked slowly.

“Yeah? Why?”

“I saw you yesterday, you looked different,”

“I changed my hair last night I chuckled, looking to the side a bit so that he could see the bright red dye.

“That is so kick-ass!” he yelled. “So, where do you need to be...?” he asked, obviously wanting to know my name.

“Antho-” I paused and looked at him, clearing my throat quickly. “Frank,”

“Frank? That sounds nothing like what you started to say,”

“No, I had something stuck in my throat, you know. Just clearing it,”

Mikey looked unconvinced but nodded anyway, leading me to the English classroom I was supposed to be in about twenty minutes ago.