Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 3 -

Patton couldn't help feeling preoccupied as he walked to the cafeteria. He was a little shaken up from being so blatantly rejected by the new kid. He hadn't expected complete compliance, judging from Virgil's initial attitude, but he had sort of expected the boy to lighten up when he was offered an opportunity to make friends. Maybe he just didn't like Patton?

Patton tried to shake the feeling of hurt off. It was a respectable decision! Virgil was allowed to like being alone. But Patton couldn't help it -- everything he felt was always so intense. It was a nuisance sometimes, but Patton was too optimistic to let it bring him down much.

Plus, the poor new kid was probably just shy. Sure, he hadn't been super nice that day but... well, sometimes people's defense mechanisms were a little more aggressive than others. Surely Virgil was anxious, and that can never make for a good day. Patton's 'dad sense' (as his friends called it) had immediately picked up with Vigil, like inner turmoil or something -- but maybe he was wrong.

He made it to his lunch table and pulled out his blue lunch box. He liked to pack his own food, since the cafeteria wasn't very nutritional. His table group, despite Patton's friendly nature and general popularity, was fairly small. It had started out larger a couple of years ago, but had dwindled by senior year. It's not that Patton didn't have friends, it's just that most of his friends sat with other people. He only sat with two kids this year.

Chandler was the first to show up. He had dark coffee skin and curly black hair. Today he was wearing a red jacket and tired expression. "Hiya Chandler," Patton greeted his friend brightly. "You look sleepy."

Chandler let out a laugh. "Yeah, I am. I've been sleeping in till twelve all summer."

"Really? C'mon! You've gotta condition yourself for the school year -- you know that." Patton pointed out while he opened a bag of chips.

Chandler just laughed tiredly again. "Well not everyone's an early bird like you, okay sunshine?"

"Maybe so, Chandler."

The next member of the group arrived with her food tray. Her name was Susan, and she had sheets of shiny black hair that rolled down the back of her
pink sweater. "Sorry I'm late, guys," she said, adjusting the black baseball cap on her head, "I had band last period and I practically had to walk all the way across campus." She rolled her eyes.

Both Chandler and Patton replied with statement pretty much equivalent to "that sucks" and then continued to eat lunch.

The half-hour-long lunch period passed nicely, with good conversation between the three. They were all a little tired from the first day of school but also excited. Senior year was relaxing thus far, after the hectic journey that was junior year, and everyone seemed relieved.

When lunch was over, Patton walked to his last class -- math -- and sat down at one of the six four-desk tables. He wasn't much of a math brain, but he wanted to take four years of math. So pre-calculus it was.

He was feeling especially bright that day -- spare for his encounter with Virgil before lunch, but even that was beginning to fade. Something about going to school again and seeing everyone he knew... It was charming.

The other thing that was charming was the fact that he sat right in front of Virgil in chemistry! This meant he got many more chances at making the new kid feel included and wanted as a friend. Being nice to people always made Patton feel bubbly.

Class went on for fifty minutes and Patton was given his first real homework of the school year. Ten problems. That wouldn't be so bad, right?

But Patton hated math -- with a burning passion. He had been sitting at his living room table, attempting to solve problems using the methods he had forgotten over the summer for an hour.

It's just review, Patton! he told himself. You know this, remember? No. He didn't remember at all. And he still didn't remember even after finally plugging the problems into google and finding the steps. It was going to be a tough year in math unless he could find some help...

But the math homework was finally done, so Patton tried not to worry about it anymore. He spent the rest of the day lounging and binging TV before going to bed under his fluffy comforter, anticipating what the following day would bring.

-     -     -

Patton woke up bright and early on Tuesday afternoon, ready for the day and with fifteen minutes to spare before he had to leave.

Just kidding.

Patton, despite his knowledge that waking up early was the best way to start the day, slept past his alarm. He had to rush to get ready, rushed himself to get breakfast (because it's the most important meal of the day, and even if you're late, you can't skip it), and rushed out the door to school. He normally didn't sleep late, but the day wasn't going to go as planned, he supposed.

Patton ran through the halls once he arrived at school, desperately trying to make it to his first class. There it was. The door! In his sights! He grabbed the handle, chest heaving, and...

The bell rang. Of course.

So Patton was late and out of breath on his second day of school. A fabulous start. He was fine though -- perfectly fine. The teacher was forgiving on the second day and Patton managed to convince him to not mark him tardy. The rest of the class period -- English -- was fine. They were scheduled to check out a book at the library the next day, but for the time being, Patton had no homework. Score!

He left the English classroom, still a little off-put from his hectic morning. He tried to calm down as he walked to his next class. For a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of Logan and prepared to call out or approach the boy -- Patton loved talking with Logan, even if he didn't always understand what he was saying -- but upon looking closer, Patton realized that it wasn't him.

Logan was an interesting character. Patton enjoyed his company because of his elaborate vocabulary and word choice. His sentences were always intriguing to listen to, even if the subject itself was... well, less than noteworthy. There were quite a few kids at the school who found Logan's painstaking paragraphs of complexity either pretentious or just simply annoying, but Patton -- who could very rarely be annoyed by anything -- found them interesting. Sure, sometimes he treated the chatterbox like white noise -- not that they talked very much -- but Patton was never out of things to say when he was with Logan. The boy's wittiness and mock-displeasure -- or at least what Patton hoped was mock-displeasure -- was fun and playful. He liked to get under Logan's skin and watch him wind up with energy. And plus, just something about Logan's authority and politeness rubbed Patton the right way, even if their personalities didn't click.

But Patton shook himself out of his thoughts, slightly disappointed that he hadn't encountered Logan, and hurried to his second period. He would have to wait until fifth period to talk, he supposed.