SOuND

Tris.

"The principal will see you now, Mr..." The assistant principal guessed, trying to remember my last name.

"Mark is fine, ma'am." I stopped her, looking down at the ground. She nodded and returned to her office. I got up and slowly went to the principal's office. Once I was in the principal’s presence, I leaned against the wall and stared at her. She was doing paperwork for something. Hiring better teachers? I hoped.

"Sit. Explain," She commanded, watching me as I sat down on her leather chair. I told her everything, even about Mr. Murdock's possible anger issue.

"I've been thinking the same thing about Murdock," The principal chuckled, setting aside her paperwork.

"Kids come in her all the time from Mr. Murdock, about how he overacted about something. Kids make mistakes, he just doesn't seem to know that." She stated, twirling around her pen in her hand.

"I'm sorry, Aunty." I whispered. My aunt, Aunt Deana, works as the principal of the same school I go to. She's been looking out for me, and I don't really mind. She said that she's going to try to be the assistant principal for the high school I'm going to go to. She laughed at my shyness, leaning forward to ruffle my hair.

"It's OK, you can say that out loud. No one cares. Here," She reached for her purse and pulled out her lunch card.

"Pretty sure you forgot this again." I groaned again and banged my head against the leather backboard of the chair. I slowly reached for the card and slid it into my pocket.

"Thanks, aunty."

"Can't let you starve all the time. Have a nice day, sweetie. And make sure you give that back at the end of the day." She concluded, pulling her paperwork back to her to finish it up. I stood up and walked out, looking at the digital clock on the wall.

"Great. He made me miss first AND second period." I grumbled, walking down the hall to my third period class.

----~----

I bit into my grilled cheese sandwich, watching everyone talk to their friends at their own lunch table. Taking another bite, I looked over in front of me to see a girl sitting there. She must've been new because I’d never seen her before.

"Hi. My name is Tris, I'm new." She scoffed, looking at my food instead of me. I could tell that she had that tough girl personality. I didn't really mind it much.

"Mark. Hi, I guess." I said, finishing my sandwich and moving on to the macaroni and cheese.

"So what’s the deal here? Anything special I need to know?" She said, looking around at all of the other people.

"Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm pretty much a loner at this school. So you're kind of asking the wrong guy." I sighed, eating a spoonful of cheesy goodness. Teacher food was the best.

"Hmm. You're a pretty approachable guy for a loner. What do you like?"

"Stuff they don't like. Like technology. And books. And the history of Earth."

"Woah." Tris stammered, looking at me.

"Great. Seeya." I said, taking a sip of my orange juice.

"No, no... I like that stuff too..." She whispered. I smiled, starting to laugh. She laughed a little as well, cutting it off with a sigh.

After throwing my trash away, we talked about the stuff that we both liked. We were similar in so many ways.

The bell rang before we got to finish, however, it was somewhat on time for the end of the day. We had most of the same classes, except for 2nd and 6th, which was when I had WoodTech and Spanish, while she had Band and WoodTech.

We seemed like the perfect match. I didn't have interest in a girlfriend right now, though. It seemed like she just wanted to be friends anyway.

After walking home, I slothed my way through the entrance of my door and laid on our couch, smiling. But that smile turned into pure shock.

"Crap!" I exclaimed, sitting up and running upstairs. I started yell random numbers, which activated a hole in my wall.

Out came a blue and teal glossed hoverboard. I couldn't admire it, like how I sometimes do, but I picked it up and ran out the door.

 I forgot to give back my aunt Deana her lunch key.