In Our Heads

Chapter 1

*****

The trees outside had lost most of their leaves leaving the ground scattered in crunchy piles of brown and red that the janitors were currently trying to blow into a single heap, but every few seconds a gush of wind would send most of it flying everywhere again despite their efforts to bag the dry leaves quickly.

It was mid-autumn, the period before lunch on a quiet cold day leaving the usually vibrant class of 12th graders half asleep at their desks as they tried to keep warm and stay awake enough to hear what their teacher was saying. Turning on the heat seemed to exasperate their fatigue. The three classes before this one had had the same vibe and Cassian was sure the three after lunch would continue to share the drained atmosphere. Maybe it was because it was Friday? 

Cassian was focused less on trying to listen and more on what was happening just outside the window, as he often was. The tree he always stared at had gone bare and he actually loved what it looked like without its leaves. He loved autumn and winter. It brought warm clothing, hot chocolate and misty days where barely anything could be seen and it seemed to minimise the number of gatherings his parents had which was a bonus for him. He frowned as he remembered that he had to pass on hanging out with his friends that weekend as he studied the lines he could see in the bark across the yard. 

The cold did not prevent his parents' annual autumn gathering and they refused to let him skip it despite there usually being no one there his age except a couple of his cousins. Cassian's mother was a well-known planner and interior decorator and so loved every opportunity to create a party, since she had no shortage of funding or space she used every opportunity as well.

He was always quite aloof despite his grades and usually drifted into his own mind, especially in class. The door opening in the front of the room drew his attention from outside and seemed to make everyone sit up a little straighter as if he had not been the only one who had spaced out and been brought back to the room by the sudden noise. He watched as someone he had not seen before walked in. The guy was clearly too young to be a teacher and carried a backpack strapped onto both his shoulders as he walked in looking incredibly uncomfortable by all the attention he was getting.

The kid walked straight up to the teacher and held out a page. The class began murmuring softly while their teacher was clearly distracted by the paper he was reading.

"Fresh meat." Cassian looked at his cousin Amber and grimaced at her chosen words. Amber and Cassian shared paternal grandparents and their surname.

"Looks like trouble," their friend Kian replied. Cassian just shook his head looking back towards the front of the classroom.

He knew some of his friends and most of the people in his school could be quite judgemental and prejudiced. They all came from extremely well-off families, their school was quite costly to attend as well. There was a handful of scholarship kids who could not really relate to anyone else so they ended up somewhat ostracised. The guy in the front of the class actually did look like he was probably a scholarship kid, especially because he was not wearing their school uniform. 

He had somewhat outgrown hair that could just barely be seen as his hood was beginning to slip from his head. The colour of his large hoodie matched his black sweatpants and sneakers. Cassian wanted to bet he wore an oversized t-shirt under that oversized hoodie. He watched the pair's lips move from where he sat at the back of the class unable to hear a word they were saying but took note that most of the guy's answers to the teacher were in the form of a nod or a shake of his head. Eventually, they turned to the class. Well, the older man did, the younger barely tilted his body towards them.

"Everyone, this is Theodore. He will be joining our school as of today so you'll continue to see him around campus. Theodore, would you like to introduce yourself?" The guy just shook his head in response leaving an awkward pause as if the teacher did not expect that answer before he continued, "Uh... Alright, you can take one of the empty seats."