Chapter Text
Wilson Gray climbed onto the bus. It was the middle of March, so it was pleasantly warm, like a gentle hello before summer came swooping in, blazing everyone and everything in it’s path. He was nervous. It was his first day in Georgetown, Texas, and he didn’t know anyone. He pleaded with his mother to let him skip the rest of the year, it was practically over anyway, but she firmly said no, so here he was. He glanced around quickly, before his eyes landed on a boy probably his age, and walked over.
“Is this seat taken?”
The boy looked a bit surprised, but shook his head and moved over. Wilson felt a bit awkward for the first 5 minutes, but the boy then cleared his throat.
“My name’s Brando” he told Wilson. “Your name?”
“Wilson” he said. “But my friends call me Wil. Not that we have to be friends or anything” he added quickly. The boy smiled crookedly.
“Okay..” he said, glancing at him sideways. Wil’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment. Why did he have to say that? He almost had a friend for a minute.
The bus stopped, and the kids flooded out onto the sidewalk in front of the school. Wil just stood there, looking around, nervous. The first bell rung, and he didn’t want to be late, but he had no idea where to go. Most all of the kids were gone now, but the doors were still propped open with a doorstop. He walked over to the door, but just stood in the doorframe. Then he backed out and turned around, already ready to leave this place. But he looked back and realized that he couldn’t skip on his first day. Not sure what to do, he walked back over to the building, and slid down the wall. The cool brick felt good against his back, and the morning breeze felt nice. He took a few deep breaths.
“I’m never gonna make friends, ever” he muttered to himself.
“Wil!” Came a voice from behind him.
Wilson stood up fast, too fast, and fell right back down. He got back up and turned around sheepishly. It was Brando.
“Oh. Hey!” He said, trying to be nonchalant.
“You good?” Brando asked, one eyebrow raised. “You looked like you were having a stroke”
Wil chuckled and looked down. “Yeah, sorry. Just had no idea where to go, no one told me anything”
“Well, doesn’t mean you should sit out here on the ground feeling sorry for yourself” Brando replied, beckoning for Wilson to follow him inside. So he did. They got his schedule from the office, and Brando walked him to his first class so he wouldn’t get lost.
“Here ya go: english” he said, gesturing towards the door of the english room. He then waved goodbye and started to walk away. Wil got halfway through the door before he turned around.
“Hey!” He called after him. “Thanks Brando”
Brando turned around and smiled. “You’re welcome” he paused. “But my friends call be Bran” Then he turned and walked away for real. Wil shook his head slightly and walked into english feeling like gold.