in over my head

Part one: Stan

I didn't want to start a new school. Especially halfway through high school. My mom and I lived in Seaside, but my dad, being the nitorious gang leader he was, had gotten threats from people saying they had found the place he called home, where his wife and son resided, and they were going to kill them, so he brought them up to Riverdale, where the Ghoulies, his father's gruesome gang was. Stan wanted to stay in Seaside for many reasons. But the main one was his father's rather rough upbringing towards Stanley. If Stan was two hours away from where his dad's business was than he wouldn't beat him regularly. Now than Stan lived with him, he could only imagine his weekly beatings would become more frequent. Stan walked up the sidewalk of his new school, Riverdale High. He didn't have a car yet, said he enjoyed walking places. The school looked old, but pretty nonetheless, Stan thought. He opened the huge doors, revealing a long hallway, many classrooms and offices off of the wall. The hallway was still relatively empty, seeing as it was 7:15 and school didn't start until 8. A small brunette boy stood in the hallway, a bag slung across his shoulder. He was holding a folder.

"Are you Stanley Uris?" Stan made eye contact with the boy as he mentioned his name. He changed his direction and was now walking towards the short boy.

Yes, that's me."

"Great! Well, I'm Eddie Kaspbrak, you're student mentor and tour guide. Here's your schedule and a list of extracurriculars." Stan took the folder of papers from him, pulling out his schedule. Eddie looked at it and showed him where his first period class would be. Eddie went on about some of the schools bragging rights, and special things about the school and the town as he continued to show him around the school.

"Do you want to sit with me and my friends until school starts? We sit in the library." Eddie offered him. Stan agreed and followed him into the library.

"Mike, Ben! This is the new student I'm showing around today, Stanley Uris. Stanley, these are my friends, Mike Hanlon and Ben Hanscom." He motioned to them. Both boys were smiling. The boy Eddie had introduced as Mike stood and stuck his hand out to Stanley. Stanley gladly accepted it, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you Stanley." Mike offered, a genuine smile towards him.

"Nice to meet you as well. Also I prefer to go by Stan, if you don't mind." He stuck his hand out to shake Ben's as well. Ben returned it and shyly said "Nice to meet you, Stan." The bell rang then, Ben trying to put things back in his bag quickly, Mike neatly stacking the papers for him. Eddie spoke up.

"Stan? Are you ready? I have to get you to your class and also get to mine on time so we need to go." Stan picked up his messenger bag from the floor and followed Eddie into the hallways again, waving a quick goodbye at the other two boys.

"Ben is quite the book worm isn't he?" Stan asked, and Eddie broke into a smile.

"Yes, he loves to learn and to read and to write. He always has his nose deep into some type of book." They had reached Stan's class, and Stan bid a goodbye to Eddie and told him he would see him after class. Stan walked into his class. A loud buzz of voices surrounded Stan as he entered into the class. He chose a seat on the far side, three seats back. No one sat in front of him. The bell rang and the rowdiness of the class calmed. A teacher, stood up, a bleach blonde haired woman who was rather skinny.

"Settle down, settle down. Alright this is Junior English, anyone not supposed to be in this class right now should go. I'm Ms. Criss." She continued talking about the class, and talked about the new assignment, which annoyed Stan. First day back and they already would have homework. The class went on and on. Stan finished his work early on, and then plugged his headphones in and listened to music. Finally the bell rang, and he collected his bag again. As he walked out, his eyes on his feet, zoned out. With Stan's luck, he ran into someone. He looked up, apologizing profusely. He looked up at who he ran into. It was a girl, a girl who he looked like he didn't want to mess with. She had red hair, but not like the traditional ginger hair. It was maroon. Bright, bright red, fiery, like the heroine from Aquaman. She was wearing a black tight shirt that cut off right above her belly button. She wore shorts that went to her mid thigh, and fishnet tights. She had combat boots on that were studded on the toe. She had black nail polish decorating her fingers, and dark lipstick on as well. To top off her outfit, she had a leather jacket on. A large snake sprawled across the back of it, the words 'Southside Serpents' around it.