Chapter Text
Chapter One, Chester
My day had already started off to a weird start, like my older sister, Lacy seemed kind of on edge, she kept on fiddling with her keys and twisting her hair which made it messy so she had to change it from a half up half down to a bun.She just seemed nervous, but I mean who wouldn’t be. We were technically going to a new school not really because we used to go to the school but we left for a bit, well if a bit means like 2 years. We left when I was in the middle of 6th grade and Lacy was in the middle of 8th grade and our life got uprooted and we moved to New York not for the best reason. My abuelo got lung cancer and my dad got offered a job at a hospital there as well. He's an orthopedic surgeon so he doesn't specialize in much or really anything to do with cancer unless it’s bone cancer if that's a thing which I'm pretty sure it is. But since we had to leave pretty much everyone who we were friends with before kind of just stopped talking to us, so we stopped talking to them, it was an accident though and I was still talking to this one girl I knew before I left. Her name is Viola.She's half Filipino half Egyptian, she's about a year older than me, she has dark cherry purple red hair and dark brown eyes, she's also British, and is definitely my closest friend.
Lacy was practically shaking when we got in the car, she was really nervous but when I asked”are you okay Lace?”she just waved me off and said”Yeah I’m fine, never better”she was lying, I could tell I mean we had been through a lot these past few weeks between moving from Manhattan, New York back to Houston, Texas and also other things that are sad enough and going back to school didn’t help with any of that but I could tell she didn’t want me to worry, she never wants me to worry about her but I do a lot.
When we got to school I immediately regretted my outfit choice because yes it was hot as hell because it’s august in Texas but I’m not a big fan of wearing short sleeves for really shity reasons so I had on black arm slevees, but I also looked like a bit of a nerd, I think, well I mean to me I looked like a nerd, I was wearing the black arm sleveeves but also a batman comic T-shirt and black semi-long shorts which were not good because black absorbs heat and its over 100 degrees, I really hoped no one saw the small pin with the gay flag on my backpack because I know that a few people from the school are really homophobic but I don’t really”look gay”I guess, but believe me I am. I’ve known probably since like the 4th grade when I saw”The Amazing Spider-Man”I saw Andrew Garfield and fell in love I don't think that I really knew what it was and didn't really fully process it until 7th grade, then I saw all the movies from his franchise and and same Tom Holland's I think Lacy could tell when I was a kid because there's videos of me talking her ear off about Spiderman and Batman when I was a kid.I don't know why I didn’t like Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man to much maybe it was because he was the only American one or something, British guys are kinda hot but I digress.
And since I’m going to a”New school”even though its not really a new school I probably still have to re-introduce myself to everyone but I’m not going to try to do that.I have people who are already my friends that I don't have to explain how my hearing aids work or the fact that I’m gay.The kids at this school I know can be homophobic and sometimes they can be racist.This is bad for me because first, I’m gay, and second, I’m mixed. Basically I’m half Russian half Dominican and I've experienced a bit of the racism a quite few times in middle school, and the homophobia like way more in my old school in New York so I was a bit worried.
I didn’t see kids that I hadn’t seen before, and then I heard it, the voice that I had been hoping to hear again in person running at full speed towards me shouting”Chessie!”and I barely had anytime to react before the infamous Viola almost knocked me down with a hug.She was a bit over the top and people were staring but she definitely didn’t care, I honestly think she doesn't ever care. Her friend Francois was right behind her with his younger sister Laura who seemed like she was begging him for something I heard her say Matcha I think before she saw me, waved and smiled
I don’t think that Vi remembered that I still had to go to the office to get a tour so I said”Hey Vi so um I still have to go to the office and get a tour so I gotta go”And she finally stops squeezing me and says”Oh well I'll walk you then, they've done a lot of renovations since you left so they moved and added a bunch of stuff including the office”That made me kind of feel dumb I don't really know why though like the school did look a bit bigger but I just thought it would stay the same and not really change, but I will admit I’m happy that she offered because I would get lost really fast probably im not the best with directions especially when I have my headphones at full volume like I’m already deaf its not like I can become more deaf, well that's more of a technicality because I can kind of hear I think like 60% in my right ear but my left ear is completely shot, and without my hearing aids I can’t hear anything out of that ear really I just feel vibrations and I can tell if somethings near it, kind of like blind people where they can’t see stuff but can kind make out like lines of peoples faces or buildings or their hand but can’t actually see but its also really different.
When Vi walked me farther into school it definitely felt surreal like I saw a bunch of people that I recognized, but also I lot that I didn’t.I mean a lot can change in a year and a half, besides I’m sure they all forgot about me by now which isn't the best because that means I'll have to re-explain the fact that I’m deaf, and ASL isn't really something most people are good at or know for that matter so that's another reason why it's annoying to explain that I’m deaf.
Once we made it to the office I was practically shaking.It was just me and Vi because Francois and his sister had to go to class, so did Vi but I had no idea where to go really so she had to come with me its not like she wouldn’t have came even if I knew my way there but I’m still thankful that she did because I get really anxious usually talking to strangers I know my dad probably should’ve come to do this but he got pulled into emergency surgery so that was a no go.
The office lady was really nice though, she introduced herself by saying”Hello I’m Ms. Lisa, what do you need help with?” Vi did most of the talking and said”Hello Ms. Lisa, I actually don’t need help but my friend Chester here does, he just transferred here from New York”She was smiling, she's always smiling and happy like a ball of sunshine and rainbows emphasis on the rainbow part because she's Pan(We love our Pansexuals especially Vi).
I was kind of embarrassed because there was a little stretch of silence before Ms. Lisa said”Well what is your full name sweetheart?”And I noticed she had a country accent, it was pretty noticeable but I don’t really notice things.I told her”Oh um Emiliano Chester Vadim Diaz Vasquez”I know its a mouth full but blame my dad for that, my other parent well I guess my mom I would call her I mean she gave birth to me after all and only has one last name and didn't want to give me a middle name but my dad wanted me to have one and they originally were just gonna name me Chester but chose to name me Emiliano which most people can't pronounce and to that I would like to day say how the fuck can some people not pronounce Emiliano it is so easy to pronounce, I never really liked that name anyways I prefer Chester because when people call me Emi others a lot of the time think they're talking about a girl named Emilia which is a great name but not my name and I also just don't think Emiliano fits me to well.At least Ms. Lisa could pronounce but she couldn’t spell really any of my name and I’m pretty sure no one else in the school had the name Emiliano so I just told her how to spell that and what grade I’m in and she found it pretty quickly because surprise surprise I’m the only one in my grade with the name Emiliano and she said”oh here it is”she looked like she was reading through it and said”You have accommodations for disabilities is that correct”and I obviously said yes and she went back to clicking on her computer, printed out my schedule and said”Here is your schedule, I will get a student to give you a tour and before you ask Viola you cannot give him a tour because you are a highschooler and aren’t on the student committee”Vi looked a bit sad but she said”It was worth a shot, at least I got to miss a bit of first period”And then Ms. Lisa went to go get a student to help me and Vi gave me a hug and left to her first period and luckily got a late pass from Ms. Lisa.
Ms. Lisa came back a few minutes later with a guy who looked to be about my age. He kind of looked like James Potter. He had glasses, and his hair was curly and dark brown, he was also wearing a Star Wars T-Shirt and baggy jeans, he was kind of cute and then I realized I knew him. Ms Lisa introduced him by saying”Emiliano this is Jake, he will be the one showing you around school today”I saw the look on his face when she said my name like something had clicked in his mind but he kept his composure and held put out his hand to shake mine and said”Hello, it’s nice to meet you again Chester”I wanted to die. First I had thought he was cute, second I knew him but hadn't talked to him since the 6th grade. Ms. Lisa looked a bit confused by the again part so I explained that I used to go to the school a few years ago but I left to live in New York for a bit for personal reasons, and she looked like she understood it better.And she said”Oh ok well I have some paper work to get done so you two better get going”
The first few minutes of us walking was in silence before Jake broke it by saying”So you’re back now, and sorry if this is a weird question I know we weren't really friends, but why did you leave?”Him asking that kind of defeated the”Personal Reasons”thing but at least he was nice about it and apologized didn't mean I was going to tell him though so I was vague about it and said”Well um some stuff happened with my Abuelito so we had to move to New York for a bit because that's where he lived but we moved back to Texas because he um he died and some other stuff happened with my mom too so we had to move back”I guess I looked kind of sad or something because Jake stopped and said”Oh sorry I probably shouldn't have asked”I told him it was fine and we kept on with the tour.
He asked for my schedule so I gave it to him we stopped for a second and he said”oh we have 4th, and 7th period together so and you have 2nd, 5th, 3rd, and 7th with Ethan”I was glad that me and Jake had a few classes together but I didn't know who Ethan was so I asked”Um who’s Ethan?”Jake looked a bit confused but then it seemed like he realized something and said”Oh yeah that’s right you left before he could tell you, um ok do you remember a girl named Moon?”I did remember a girl named Moon. She was a good friend of mine before I left but we lost contact.I said that I did and that she was a good friend of mine and Jake said”Oh well the thing is Moon is not Moon anymore I guess”that confused me a lot because how could someone not be themselves anymore, and I guess he could see the confusion on my face and said”Oh well the thing is Moon is not Moon anymore I guess”He was just confusing me more but he explained farther by saying”Sorry, that was not a good description of what I meant to say which is basically Moon is trans and his new name is Ethan, I thought he would've told you it’s been like a year and a half maybe since he came out"I was pretty sure that he had came out after we lost contact and just stopped talking.It wasn't like we hated each other or didn't want to be friends anymore when we stopped talking, we kind of just did and he never told me about him being trans.
We continued with the tour talking every few minutes, he showed me where my classes were, it was definitely a bit awkward and I was also hungry as shit because I forgot to eat breakfast so I was a bit mad and my cat was also screaming in my ear all night so I got barely any sleep as well.We finished the tour pretty quickly only like 25 minutes maybe, but there was only about 5 minutes left of class when we were done so we just waited around near my 2nd period until class started so we were just waiting in the science wing in silence I put on my headphones to watch a show and the first thing that popped into my mind was Victorious which was my favorite show as a kid because me and my sister used to watch it all the time, so I put it on and out of the corner of my eye I saw him finishing a lego set and I was so confused but it was small at least.From what I remembered about Jake he was a huge nerd but he was really popular I guess because he's nice and I remember him liking football a lot, I can definitely tell he's a nerd and he's nice but the football thing is something I’m not sure about really, maybe its the glasses.
When the bell rang I didn't hear it because I was too focused on my phone and Jake had to tap me on the shoulder and he signed”The bell rang”I guess it hadn’t occurred to me that he knew sign but I was happy he did because I cant read lips to well and I didnt take off my headphones till after he was done signing and I realized how many kids were in the hallway trying to get to class, Jake included so he said”Well if you want I could give you my number incase you need help finding your class”That made me feel better about being able to find my classes because if I can’t I could just call Jake, so I said sure and he put his number in my phone and then left to go to his class.
When I got into class I heard someone behind me say”Oh please I put the gay in dyslexic”I almost started laughing but I knew it would be stupid to laugh at a joke made by someone I don’t know. After I got to my seat which was in the back the teacher thought it would be a great idea to introduce me to everyone in class by saying”Good morning everyone we have a new student here today his name is Emiliano and be mindful because he is deaf”I wanted to punch a wall, like what the hell I think they could figure that out themselves and it not like it impacts them, and plus I have hearing aids.And then he made it worse by telling me to come to the front of the class and introduce myself properly, so I did very reluctantly and I said”Um hi I just transferd here from New York but I went here for 6th grade and all the grades before that and well I’m fully deaf in one of my ears and only like 60% in the other but I have hearing aids so i can hear and um I like to be called Chester and not Emiliano. It's usually easier to pronounce than Emiliano”And then I went and sat down at my chair feeling like I said to much and I noticed that the kid next to me looked familiar and it clicked that was Ethan he looked really different, his hair was way shorter, it also looked more curly but still the same dark brown and he was wearing more darker clothes, he kind of looked alternative or well I know people hate it when the term”emo”is used but he kind of looked emo, I mean don’t get me wrong so do I and I know that but he looked like he would listen to Peirce The Veil but like specifically their song ”Match Into Water”it is a great song though.
The teacher was drowning on about Molecular structures. I love science but Molecular structures arent really the part that I like. I prefer marine biology and all of that stuff about genealogy. It's really interesting to me and I want to go to college for marine biology. And then he looked at me and asked me”Chester Choose the molecule that is incorrectly matched with the electronic geometry about the central atom.”To be honest I wasn’t really paying attention but I knew the answer because it’s a sample question from the Texas A&M college website and I went there a few times for and science/math stuff and my dad used to do cancer reaserch there when he was in college, I said”the answer is E, pyramidal”I expected him not to ask me a question on my first day in class but I think it was because I wasnt paying attention because I was thinking about”Avatar The Last Air Bender”and Zuko after he got his new haircut when he joined the gaang, I had a crush in him as a kid maybe I still do, but hey atleast I got the question right.
The rest of class was boring and so were my next two I just had to keep on introducing myself it was getting old fast but then it was lunch, I was so hungry but then I remembered that I had no one to sit with because my only friend is a year older than me, and then out of nowhere someone tapped me on the shoulder I looked behind me and saw Jake he said”Hi Chester I was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch with me and my friends because you said you were probably going to be alone at lunch”and he was all smiles, how could I say no when he's smiling like that I can’t so I said”Sure, I would love to”because I couldn’t pass that, I definitely didnt want to be alone it would make me seem even more of a loser than I already am.
When we got to where they ate at it was crowded with kids , and when me and Jake got there and he said hi to everyone he introduced me by saying”This is Chester, he jsut transferred from New York”A guy who was sitting at the end said”Oh yeah I know your sister her name is Lacy right I’ve seen her drum covers on tiktok.” he seemd pretty straight forward I didnt remember him though but then he stood up and said”Hi I’m Mikey, nice meet you”I of course said”Nice to meet you too”And then I sat down next to Jake. Lunch was fun a bunch of it was just laughing because this girl who I found out is Nestia kept on dancing with this other girl Angelica.And then Nate, Barty, and Harvey joined them as well and I found out that they were all younger than the rest of us because they’re in 7th grade and the rest of us are in 8th grade so it’s only a year difference but you could definitely tell that there was a difference, they were a lot more chaotic I guess like more childish but in a good way, they also looked younger with how they dressed and talked, but they were really funny and nice.
It was very overwhelming, because there was so much going on at once but I didn’t mind it was better than eating lunch alone.Then my day kind of got ruined because I saw the bain of my existence, Stephanie.She used to bully me before I left but everyone loved her and no one believed me when I said she would bully me so I was tormented for like 4 years and she made me have panic attacks and not want to go to school by her, so yeah she's not a good person and to make things worse she was holding Jake’s hand and they were laughing a lot, so I thought maybe they were just close friends like me and Vi, but then Ethan came and sat next to me and said”They’re dating”I looked at him and asked”Why the fuck are those two of all people dating?arent they like complete opposites”And Ethan said”Because Jake is absolutely blinded by her charm and is kind of a dumbass when it comes to who he likes”And I will say I did kind of get mad because how the hell could anyone like her, and then I remembered that she has pretty privilege and is also one of those wealthy fake Texas whites so it made sense I mean I’ve seen a lot more racism in Texas than New York.I guess Ethan could see my face kind of having a confused expression and he said”Well he also won’t accept the fact that she's really rude to him so there's no going back for him”I wanted to talk more but then the bell rang and Ethan said”oh shit I gotta go my class is like all the way across school, I'll see you later Chess”I didnt really expect a nickname on the first day of school but I wasnt really pressed about it.
I finally made it to 7th period which was study hall so basically we sat in the library for 45 minutes either on our computers or reading a book but the teacher luckily let us talk as long as we weren’t really loud so I was kind of happy because I remembered Jake saying me him and Ethan have this class together but they were late and walked in with arms full of snacks and looking like they were trying so hard to hold in their laughs and there was a shorter girl behind them who I didnt really recognize, she had dirty blonde hair and her eyes were two different colors, I think its called heterochromia but it looked so cool like one of them was grey and they other was light brown sort of hazel.And she by far had the most snacks and she was even carrying a few with her teeth and there was one on her head and it was definitely impressive.
When the teacher, Ms. Collins saw them she just had a tired look on her face and said”Again”and sighed then told them to get to their seats and Ethan kind of bowed and they walked over to me, put the snacks down and then their stuff and busted out in silent giggles which made me laugh because the girl was snorting silently while laughing.Once that was over they started opening the snacks and eating them, hell I didnt even know we could eat in this class.And then I saw that the girl had a dog next to her that was laying on the floor sitting over her feet and I realized it was a service dog of some sort because it had a vest on that said”Service Dog, Do Not Pet”And Jake saw me looking at her and the dog so he explained that she has POTS and diabetes so she has a service dog to alert her if her blood suger is too low or high or her heart beat was too fast and she was about to pass out or something and then he said that her name is Stacy and that she's really quiet sometimes but that she's really sweet and funny, so I had high hopes.