Chapter Text
Magnus
There’s nothing better for a 16-year-old than waking up early on September 1st and going to that place called school. Right? Oh wait, there is something even better! Starting a new class in 10th grade like this! Now that’s the jackpot!
Putting the sarcasm aside: my foster father-Blitz-literally shook me awake that morning with a disgustingly happy grin on his face and said:
“Kid, today’s the big day! The best period of your life is about to begin!”
Yeah. The thing is, I didn’t go to 9th grade. The last class I officially completed was 7th, and the first half of 8th. I won’t go into detail about exactly what happened, but let’s just say I didn’t go to school at all for about two years.
Lucky for me I inherited the family genes and I learn fast, so I managed to catch up on everything in about half a year.
Bad news: Blitz and my other foster parent, Hearth, insisted that I go back to the usual school routine now, because I need to “socialize” or something like that.
I don’t think they realize that for someone like me, a natural-born nerd, high school is already hard enough—even without being a “new kid”.
Anyway, I got dressed, ate breakfast, and tried to make myself at least somewhat presentable. (Result: I successfully turned terrible into mildly awful. A very lucky day for me.)
Good luck, Magnus. Hearth signed when he saw me for the first time that day.
No good morning, no “did you sleep well?” Nope. Just that. I guess Hearth must know how much of a pain high school is, and that I’ll need all the luck I can get.
Good news: the school bus stops about two houses away from us, so I didn’t have to walk far.
Bad news: based on my elementary school experience, I might have a better chance of surviving if I walk instead of taking the school bus. But I promised Blitz I’d give the bus a chance.
As soon as I got on, I was greeted by absolute chaos. The entire bus was buzzing with shouting, talking, arguing, or people loudly on phone calls. No one even noticed me getting on. Better this way, I thought. At least no one will pay too much attention to me.
I saw five free seats. One was next to a blonde girl with an athletic build, who was listening to a podcast. For a moment I considered sitting next to her, but then she turned to me and —probably realizing what I was about to do—shot me such a rude look that I immediately abandoned that idea.
Two seats were at the back, with a group of degenerate boys who were laughing at full volume and bothering the girls sitting in front of them. Yeah, not exactly future friends material.
That left two empty seats next to each other. Perfect.
I sat by the window and stared outside as the bus started moving. Maybe some people would’ve felt awkward not talking to anyone, just sitting alone. Maybe if someone noticed me (which was unlikely), they’d think something like:
“Aww, poor guy, he must be so lonely! Someone should really go talk to him!” Or: “Haha, loser.”
But the truth was, I actually preferred reading a book or listening to music alone, or just staring out the window over talking to people I don’t like, who don’t like me, and who would only talk to me out of politeness anyway. No thanks.
So I enjoyed the peace of solitude for about… ten minutes. When someone suddenly dropped down right next to me.
At first, I didn’t even dare turn to see who it was. Maybe it could even be TJ, my friend. Although, he usually gets driven to school by car and doesn’t take the bus.
Curiosity won, and I glanced over.
A Latina-looking, green-haired girl (or boy? It was hard to tell) sat there wearing a pink jacket and green skinny jeans, with a ridiculous number of necklaces around their neck. The appearance wasn’t exactly ordinary. Then they looked at me and I forgot how to breathe.
Their eyes didn’t match. One was a pale amber, the other a dark brown. Their features were sharp and beautiful at the same time. So androgynous that I still had no idea what gender they were. For a moment, they seemed like a genuinely interesting person, and I briefly thought I’d actually like to know more about them, maybe even befriend them—when this attractive stranger opened their mouth.
“Has anyone ever told you that when you stare like that you look like a blobfish? Very disgusting animal. I’d change that habit if I were you.”
So abrupt, so blunt, from a complete stranger, that for a second I couldn’t even respond.
“Are you mentally slow or something?” they continued. “Don’t stare. Oh, and if you’re wondering whether I’m a boy or a girl… I’m she/her today. Don’t question it. And don’t talk to me.”
With that, she turned away.
Well… if first impressions meant anything, then I could confidently say this person was a total jerk. Compared to her, the blonde athletic girl in the front suddenly seemed warm and welcoming.
Not that I usually judge people based on one interaction, of course. Maybe she was just having a bad day or something. It was the first day of school, after all.
Yeah… well, bad day or not, the girl spent the entire ride shifting, bumping into me, or making snide comments. We probably won’t be friends.
When we finally arrived, all the students poured off the bus at once. My mysterious seatmate accidentally (or maybe on purpose, who knows) stepped on my foot on the way out, then walked past without even a hint of an apology. I had no idea who she was, but I was already liking her less and less.
I headed toward the building like everyone else when I spotted TJ at the entrance.
“Hey Magnus!” he greeted me with a smile.
“Hey TJ. Good to see you,” I forced a smile back.
“I’m so glad you’re going to the same school as me! Oh, you have to meet my friends! Mallory and Halfborn are the coolest!”
“Yeah… wait, Halfborn?” I asked at the weird name.
“Ah, nobody actually knows his real name, but that’s what we call him. They’re great, you’ll see,” he said, grabbing my arm and dragging me inside the building.
Our first class? Math. Of course. What else would we start the year with?
The teacher was a serious-looking, middle-aged man. Despite his weird beard and an eyepatch (he reminded me of a pirate), he was actually kind of handsome. There was a wild, unsettling sparkle in his eye—like a kid who just got a brand-new toy.
“Welcome, old and new students,” he said, then suddenly burst out laughing. At what? Nobody knew. A few people awkwardly joined in or smiled anyway.
“My name is Odin Borrson, principal of this noble and ancient institution known as Valhalla High School. I will be teaching you mathematics and IT. I even prepared a PowerPoint presentation about what this school is and what we stand for! If we have time, we’ll watch a PowerPoint presentation about PowerPoint presentations and why they’re useful in education. Actually… now that I think about it, I might just start with that!”
No one dared to ask when we would actually do math.
After class, I quickly slipped out into the hallway. I tried to avoid TJ. Not because of him—he was my best (and only) friend—but I was a little worried about what would happen if he introduced me to his other friends.
So instead, I wandered through the corridors when I heard a voice cut through the noise.
“Well, well, Al-Abbas! Surprised to see you here! What’s wrong? Not so loud-mouthed anymore? Don’t think I forgot what you did last year on the last day, you pathetic snake!”
It was the blonde girl from the bus, backed up by two others, cornering a fourth girl.
The girl they were targeting—Al-Abbas—looked clearly of Middle Eastern descent, her hair tucked neatly under a hijab.
What stood out most were her sharp features and amber-brown eyes. She looked vaguely familiar, but I pushed that thought aside.
Because no matter how confident she seemed, I could see her hands shaking.
As someone who had always been the target of bullying myself (at least in my old school), I couldn’t just stand there.
“That’s enough!” I said. My voice came out much more firmly than I expected. “Three against one. Not exactly fair.”
The blonde raised an eyebrow. One of her friends spoke up.
“And who are you supposed to be? Why do you care? Get lost. Or go tell Mr. Odin on us. Like Samirah does,” she said, nodding toward the girl.
“I’m not going to report you. I just don’t like what you’re doing to her. I’d appreciate it if you stopped. Please.”
They seemed caught off guard. Probably not expecting a polite request. The third girl muttered something about “soft guys,” and all three of them eventually walked away.
Relieved, I turned to the girl—Samirah?—only for her to grab my throat and slam me at the lockers.
“Why did you do that, you idiot?” she hissed, tightening her grip.
“I-I just… h-helped,” I stammered.
“I didn’t need your help! Now Gunilla and her friends are going to think I’m weak and start up again! They were already getting bored of me. Thanks a lot!”
She snarled, then finally let go.
“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my throat. “I didn’t know. It just looked like they were bothering you and—”
“And what? You wanted to play hero?”
“No… you just reminded me of myself. Sorry, that probably sounded weird… forget it. I just wanted to help.”
I was about to turn away when she called after me.
“Wait! Thanks… for trying. And sorry for almost strangling you. My name’s Samirah al-Abbas, by the way. What’s yours?”
I smiled slightly and was just about to answer when TJ’s voice echoed from down the hall.
“Magnus! Where are you? Come on, Mack and Halfborn really want to meet you!”
I gave Samirah an apologetic look, then said a quick goodbye before heading toward TJ.