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Slowly a shabby-looking car rolled up to the drive of the Chesapeake high school, its dark blue color already flaking off and mixing with the rust coming through. Students aged between 15 to 18 were bustling out of cars and school buses, skipping over the drive towards the school yard without bothering to look left and right. The driver had to slow down her car even more.
“Jesus Christ, can't they be a little more careful when running over a street?” she cursed lowly and flicked a strand of her brown hair out of her eyes. Sighing in defeat she at last halted her car right behind a school bus and turned to her son sitting next to her. The 15 year old teen with curly brown hair frowned at the students passing by.
“Hey, don't worry. You'll mingle with them just fine, Will,” his mother assured and he couldn't deny witnessing the slight worry resounding in her voice. He looked at her, shifting his black-framed glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. He couldn't even force himself to smile. “I'm not as confident about that as you are,” he mumbled, dropping his gaze. The brown haired woman smiled softly in understanding and ruffled his brown curls. She felt a little guilty, sending Will to an entirely new high school in the middle of a new school year. All because of her new job at the John Hopkins Hospital and her divorce. He wasn't really mad about the new situation, she knew. He just felt awkward with it, as he always did when something changed. She knew well enough that his high level of empathy made him feel awkward in his own skin.
Will gulped a deep breath he had been holding down and grabbed his shoulder bag. “I better get going. Don't want you to be late,” he mumbled and a faint smile scurried over his lips. His mother smiled back. “Always looking out for others. I sure have the kindest son in the world,” she announced and ruffled his brown locks once more when a faint hue of red crossed his cheeks. Will got out of the car soon after and waved his mother goodbye when she drove off to the hospital on the other side of the town.
Will looked after the car for a while before he drifted his gaze back towards his new high school. He sighed. 'Here we go,' he mused and took his first step towards the quite impressive building. In the midst of the bunch of students hurrying towards the building, he felt his nerves tingling and he had to clutch the strap of his bag to calm down his shaking hands. His gaze shifted over the school yard, towards the building coming nearer with every step he took, over the school yard again and the students running past him or mingling in a corner before entering. Will halted his steps when he stood in front of the stairs leading him inside and raised his eyes at the golden colored letters of the high school's name. He inhaled deeply, eyes closing as he braced himself for the day lying ahead of him.
Not really confident, he walked up the stairs, past the massive wooden doors, and into the entry hall. Students were filling any hallway enfolding before his eyes left and right, shuffling into their classrooms and readying themselves for the first lesson of the day. A little lost, Will tried to find a map of the school building in hopes to find the headmaster's office without causing much of attention. He really didn't want to ask other students. Not that he felt embarrassed to ask, no, he just really didn't want to attract attention to himself, being a new student he was already being subjected to scrutiny.
“You seem to be lost,” a deep voice with a heavy accent said, startling Will who gulped and slowly turned to the source of the voice. He came face to face with a taller student, probably a senior by the looks of it, whom he registered to be of non-American nationality. Probably European, he assumed. He averted his eyes on catching the gaze of the other's maroon eyes. He didn't know why, but somehow the glint in them crept him out.
“I, er, am looking for the headmaster's office,” he answered quickly when he realised he had been silent for a while. The older hummed and eyed Will curiously. Will shivered in his own skin. He never liked being under the scrutinizing eyes of any person, but this senior made him feel uneasy on a whole new level.
“I can show you the way,” said senior offered, and when Will had the nerve to raise his eyes at the older, he gulped at the faint smile that was lingering over the thin pair of lips. Albeit wishing that he wouldn't have to be accompanied by the rather intimidating senior, he was still sane enough to know that he probably would never reach his destination without help. He agreed despite the uneasy feeling bubbling in his guts, and followed the older along a hallway leading from the entry hall to the left. When the bell chimed, he knew he would be late for his first lesson on his first day at the new school, as would be the senior because of him, and he really didn't like that fact at all.
“You're new, aren't you?” the senior inquired when they passed half of the hallway. Will didn't really feel like answering, he was so not in the mood of small talk, but he rather not be uncharacteristically rude by ignoring him.
He nodded and chided himself inwardly because, sure enough, the older couldn't be able to see his nod with him trudging after the taller student. He added a meek “Yes” to his nod and clutched the strap of his bag tighter. He didn't even know the other student and yet something totally didn't sit right with him. He couldn't even explain it. The uneasiness was just there.
“I figured as much,” the older declared and Will scowled at the taller back when he registered the notch of a chuckle. Pushing his glasses back a little, he quickly gave the tall figure a look over. He took in the broad shoulders and wondered if the well-brushed hair was of brown or blond hue. He figured it was a mixture of both and felt confirmed in his former assumption of the older to be of European nationality.
He was glad when the remaining way towards the headmaster's office was spent in silence, and felt a little nervous when they rounded a corner and entered a hallway he assumed to lead towards the teacher's lounge as well as the desired office. The older student motioned for Will to wait when he knocked at the door and a muffled reply of “Come in” could be heard. The taller slipped inside and left the door ajar.
“Sorry for intruding, Mr. Crawford,” Will heard the senior student say and registered the sound of shuffling papers.
“Why, Hannibal Lecter. Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?” The voice he heard was of a much deeper timber compared to the one belonging to the senior he now knew to be named Hannibal Lecter, but compared to Hannibal it had a notch of warmth in it.
“Most certainly, but I brought a new student with me who was lost on his way to your office,” Hannibal explained and Will took it as a hint to rap softly on the door and enter the office himself. He excused himself for intruding and shuffled over the floor to where Hannibal stood and came face to face with the headmaster. He was of well-fed stature and darkened skin, and if his slight wrinkles were anything to go by, a few years older than his mother. And the name tag on his desk identified him as Jack Crawford, headmaster.
“Ah, Will Graham. I was waiting for your arrival,” Jack Crawford declared when he rose from his chair and welcomed Will with a soft pat on the shoulder. “You're a bit late for your first lesson, but that is not the end of the world,” he said with a smile and gestured for Will and Hannibal to follow him outside. “I see you have met one of your seniors by coincidence. If you have questions, you can direct them to Hannibal as well, not just me or the other teachers. Your class will be the one of Miss Bloom,” the older man continued and Will tried his best to not frown at the suggestion of him asking Hannibal Lecter for advice if needed. Whilst the headmaster rambled on, he furrowed his eyebrows and couldn't suppress the feeling that someone was watching him. Well, not really someone but Hannibal and he chided himself being paranoid because the older was following after them because the headmaster had asked him to.
The introduction to his new class and class teacher didn't take long, and once Will was seated on a vacant chair, Jack Crawford and Hannibal Lecter left the 15 year old teen to his new surroundings. He noticed curious eyes glancing at him every now and then whenever Miss Bloom was not watching, and whispered words of the others wondering about his origin and musing over his dishevelled brown curls and the state of his clothes. He had barely started his first day at the new school and already felt set back into his old high school where he had felt just as uneasy and scrutinized and awkward. When the bell chimed to herald the end of the lesson, Will felt no relief. Nor was he happy about the bunch of fellow class mates who surrounded him and bombarded him with questions. He managed to give answers, at least a few, but he was aware that the others were already labelling him as weird and unsocial. It wasn't new to him at all and he honestly didn't mind.
Upon entering the hall swarmed with other students when he finally decided to leave the class room and make his way to the next lesson, Will felt a chill running down his spine. He looked left and right and left again only to find that no one was watching him more than they probably should a new kid at school who appeared to be a little different. With eyebrows furrowed he made his way to his next class, pushing his glasses a little back on his nose whilst always having the feeling that someone was still watching him. He frowned. Now that he thought a little more about it, he had this feeling of someone's eyes on him before. Ever since the headmaster had brought him to his class and before he had introduced him to the other students; always with this senior Hannibal Lecter around. He halted in his steps. More than once someone almost ran him over, but he didn't register them nor their voiced complaints. He was too caught up in his thoughts to notice anything else.
He had pushed that weird feeling aside before, had reminded himself that the feeling had just been a part of his paranoia, but here it was again. The feeling of a pair of eyes following him wherever he went. He braced himself and looked around him. He searched every angle with his eyes, but the senior he had expected to see, was nowhere near in sight. He frowned and shook his head. Maybe it was just an illusion after all.
“Ow,” he voiced when he turned around to resume his way towards the next lesson, and bumped nose first into another person. Rubbing over his nose and straightening his glasses he muttered a soft apology and tried to compose himself.
“Be careful of your steps, Will. Spacing out is not very healthy.” Will's head shot up at the voice. By now he knew whom it belonged to, the heavy unique accent was impossible to go unnoticed. He gulped when he indeed found Hannibal right in front of him and he couldn't help but shiver. He had the feeling that Hannibal's maroon eyes were piercing his very soul, were able to see to the depths of his inner core when he looked right into them. He literally felt exposed, and that scared him.
Muttering a quick apology he hurried past the older student and couldn't suppress the shiver from wrecking his body. He neither could suppress to turn his head back, only to find Hannibal staring after him. He shook his head, forced himself to look straight and forget the piercing eyes. His mind failed him miserably though. He wasn't able to forget the glint in Hannibal's eyes, nor the feeling of them seeing everything of him. When he reached his next lesson, he was flustered to say the least and a shimmer of red lay on his cheeks.
He was crept out. And he didn't know whether he was crept out by Hannibal and his quite intimidating character, the glimpse of it that he had been able to witness that is, or whether he was crept out by himself, for he just couldn't bring himself to forget Hannibal's maroon eyes. Somehow he wasn't eager to end his high school days at the Chesapeake high school, on the other hand Hannibal was a senior and would probably graduate soon, but he neither wanted to go back to his old high school or think about Hannibal's eyes not following him around school anymore. He frowned at the thought. Something in Hannibal Lecter's eyes had intrigued and scared him at the same time, and maybe he was the creepier one of the two for that he wanted to find out more about the story hidden behind those maroon colored eyes.