Locked Wheels

Chapter 2

Karkat looked down at the paper in his lap, his eyebrows knit together. He glanced up at the building before him, a looming, impressively massive structure, all sharp corners and dirty grey bricks and a courtyard full of skeletal trees, their browning leaves scattered across the low cut grass and the dingy foot paths. Almost nothing like the shiny beautiful campus Kankri had showed him on the school's website. The only thing that told him that the two were the same school was the sign in the yard that read "John Webster Community High School."

"Is something the matter?" Kankri asked from beside him. "This ia the right address, isn't it?"

Karkat glanced at his brother then back at his new school. "It just... looks different from what I thought. It's... bigger."

"Well, the website said there are only a handful of other schools in this area, so they're all fairly large," Kankri explained. "If you're feeling too nervous," he added quickly, "perhaps we could ask the administration to give another day to––"

"No, it's fine." Karkat opened his door and stepped out. The pavement beneath his dirty sneakers was wet and slick. It had rained nearly every day of the two weeks they had been there ("Welcome to your first Texan winter," their landlord had joked to them when they moved in). Karkat slung his backpack over his shoulder, pausing for a moment to rub his arms and pull down his sleeves, shivering in the cold wind. "I'm just... I'll be fine."

Kankri nodded. "Alright. If you insist."

Karkat turned towards the school, arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. "Bye."

"I'll see you when I pick you up."

From the corner of his eye, Karkat watched Kankri pull away. A small kernel of apprehension grew and sat in his chest, pressing uncomfortably on his throat. He looked down at his papers, then back at the school. He sighed and started the slow trudge up the lawn towards the front door.

Karkat was taken aback somewhat by the sheer size of the school's foyer. Compared to this school, his old one was little more than a box. Students were milling around, even at this hour, looking down at their phones or sitting in corners doing work or chatting with their friends. He clutched his papers closer to his chest, his breath catching in his throat, and trudged to the front desk.

"H... hi," Karkat said when the secretary noticed him, his voice shrinking and tightening the way it did when he was nervous. "Um, I'm Karkat Vantas. I'm a new student."

The secretary nodded and looked down at her computer. "Karkat... V-A-N..." Her fingers flitted over the keys as she typed something. She nodded again, gently, when it gave a quiet chime. "Yes. Here you are. Hello, Karkat. Welcome to John Webster. Where are you from?"

"New York."

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Really? Anywhere near the city?" She looked down at the screen and typed something in. "Excuse me; I'm just trying to pull up your schedule."

Karkat awkwardly pulled his face into a small smile. "Yeah, we were in a little suburb an hour-ish away from the city."

She rolled over to the printer nearby and firmly pressed a few buttons. As it whirred to life, she looked back at Karkat and smiled again. "Sorry. That must've been nice, living so close to everything. How do you like it here in Houston so far?"

Karkat shrugged. "It's ok. It's really different from my old town. It's a lot bigger."

The secretary nodded. The printer screeched loudly and shuddered before it finally stopped and spat out a sheet of paper. She took it and shook it out as she reached to pick up a thin brochure and a small spiral bound notebook. She stacked it and his schedule and a few more papers and stapled them together as she flew back to the desk. She handed everything to Karkat and smiled, eyes wrinkling at the corners. "Well, I hope you have a nice time here in Houston, and at John Webster. If you want to wait in the sitting area, one of our student helpers should be down here in a few minutes to show you around."