The Transfer Student- Chapter 1

[Wixern]

Warning: Some parts of thos story may be PG-13 or worse. You have been warned.

The transfer student

Chapter 1: The Social Chameleon

As the bus pulled closer to the school building, the people inside began to shift and stand up, preparing to leave. Among them was a young man, his black hair peaking out from underneath a strange top hat. He waited for the bus to stop and, in a strange and inexplicable way, managed to be the first out of the bus. Somewhere along the line, he must’ve moved through the mass of people and stepped out before the rush of people came by. He produced a piece of paper from the pocket of his leather jacket and stared at the building before him.

“Trueworth academy: We know what you’re worth.”

‘We’ll see about that.’ The man whispered to himself, as he walked slowly but deliberately towards the headmaster’s office. It didn’t take long for him to get there, though a distraction brought by a couple of fair ladies caused him to be a few minutes later than they had agreed upon. As he stood in the waiting room (because headmasters are always too busy to see someone, regardless of what they’re doing), he smiled at the female receptionist. She blushed, and even forgot to ask him to remove his hat.

‘I’m here to see headmaster Willinson. The name’s van Izen. Joneth van Izen. We had an appointment for four o’clock, but I was slightly delayed.’ The young man’s voice was as smooth as silk and as fluid as water. The receptionist couldn’t help but blush, even as she called the headmaster out of his office.
‘I just called him. He’ll be waiting for you, mister Izen.’
‘Call me Joneth. It’s probably not uncommon around these parts to call each other by their first names.’
‘I- I see. Well, Joneth, uhh, just walk a bit further and then turn left at the end. You’ll notice it immediately.’
‘Thank you, ma’am.’

A few seconds later, Joneth knocked on the door. It was real oak, and it shined even in the cheap lights that covered the hall. A voice rumbled from behind it, calling him in.
As Joneth entered the room, he noticed that it was quite small. There was a desk, of real oak wood of course, and there were the compulsory bookshelves filled with heavy volumes. Other than that, the headmaster’s diplomas hung behind him, covering the wall. Probably a way of reassuring anyone who enters here that He is the master of teaching.

‘So, you would be the Izen kid, ey?’
Joneth looked at the headmaster. He looked as though he was once a football coach and never wanted that to be forgotten. He was short, but his stature made him look much taller, and his loud voice implied a strong sense of leadership. Joneth found himself looking for the whistle around the man’s neck.
‘Indeed, sir. And you would be headmaster Willinson, correct?’
‘Quite so. Come over here and give me a shake, young lad.’
Joneth walked forward and extended a hand. Willinson’s grip was strong, but his own grip was firm and steady; the sign of an honest man.
As they released each other, Willinson pointed the chair before his desk, gesturing Joneth to sit down. Joneth shook, instead walking to the side of the desk and leaning against one of the bookshelves. Dust rained down around him.

‘I prefer to stand, if it’s all right. If I sit, I get bored easily.’ Joneth explained.
‘I see. And what’s with the, uh, peculiar head ornament?’
Joneth tapped his top hat, shifting some of the dust from it.
‘This? It’s a family heirloom, sir. Kinda like a good luck charm, or a religious symbol of kinds. Plus, it doesn’t look too bad on me, either.’
‘Hah! Plucky! I like that in a kid! I’ll warn you, however, that not all the teachers here are as loose as I am in that respect. I trust you can come up with an excuse, should it be necessary?’
‘It’s in the files, right? I gathered that I have a reputation of some magnitude.’

Willinson patted a stack of paper on his desk, and retrieved a particularly heavy map from the stack. It was green, and gold letters spelled out Joneth’s name.
‘Let’s see… Joneth Kilajo van Izen. Previous school: “Homestead Academy.” Excellent grades, top student, affectionate, charismatic and a born troublemaker. Eventually expelled for stalking female students and suspicion of student revolution planning. Other crimes all seem minor, such as wall paintings, school paper editing, and smoking in the toilets. Also noted is the web of lies you once spun in order to escape the accusations against you…?’
Joneth turned around, now overlooking the school campus, as every headmaster’s office should. He didn’t turn to Willinson as he spoke, but remained his gaze fixed on the outside world.

‘I was falsely accused. I certainly didn’t plan for the students to overthrow their teachers, and I specifically requested them not to hit the headmaster with a folding chair. I was only suspected because I knew the leaders of each social group within that school. The web of lies, as you say, was spun around me, rather than by me. I was simply caught up in the unfortunate affairs.’
Joneth turned around, beaming at the headmaster, as though what he’d just said had never escaped his mouth.
‘But now I’m here for a fresh start! So, what can Trueworth academy offer me?’
‘That’s ma boy! Here at Trueworth academy, we view people not for who they are or what they’ve done, but for who they can become. Potential is everything, lad! We don’t care if you can’t complete a single test here, as long as we know that you can!’

Willinson continued explaining, going on about the great people Trueworth created and shaped. Joneth didn’t need to hear it; he’d heard it over five times already, each time from a different headmaster, and each time it amounted to the same things. As Willinson came to the inevitable conclusion of his speech, Joneth requested to be shown to his dormitory. Willinson arranged it so that the receptionist would guide him around the school area and show him to his dorm room. She, herself, was more than happy to volunteer for this.

As Joneth walked over the school site, he made sure to memorize the places were different people hung out. He was a social animal, more so than anything individual. He was charming, intelligent, personal and kind. However, he was also extremely socially aware and cunning. He was the human equivalent of a chameleon, changing his behaviour, his “Colours”, as it were, every time he needed to be socially accepted. That had been the problem on his last school: too many people knew him, which inevitable led to the great revolution being discovered. Still, he had different plans for this school. Oh yes, this time, he’d be far more than just a social animal. He’d be the alpha male of every group in the school. But there were more important things to handle, first.

As they reached the dormitories, the receptionist, who had introduced herself as Helen, pointed to the left side first.
‘That’s the girl dormitories. Boys aren’t allowed in there for obvious reasons, and no exceptions.’
No exceptions, ey? We’ll see about that, Joneth thought.
‘Really? I’d really like to take a look in there, you know? To get to know the girls a bit?’
The receptionist was about to give a really stern look when she caught Joneth’s eyes. Another one of his skills was to be an amazing charmer, especially with the ladies. His eyes expressed a hopeful sadness, like a puppy hoping not to get punished for doing something bad.
‘Oh, I- I guess it… it wouldn’t matter now, really. I’d be there to guide you and it’s not like they’ll be doing anything special or secret.’ She looked around nervously. ‘Just don’t tell anyone, okay? I’d be sacked immediately if this were to leak out.’
‘You have my word of honour for it, Helen.’

[Wixern]

Helen knocked on the door, softly. Then, she opened, revealing a rather large living area, with a fireplace, and several kitchen appliances. A T.V. stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by couches. On those couches were the girls, looking bored or doing homework, or sometimes both. Helen cleared her throat, but Joneth beat her to it.
‘Hello girls. My name’s Joneth, and I’m the new transfer student. Who’d be in charge of these lovely ladies?’
A blonde girl, probably a cheerleader or photo model, walked up to Joneth and looked at him, suspiciously eyeing him.
‘Don’t ogle me like that. Helen’s with me, and she’s here to make sure I don’t molest you right away.’
The girl smiled, and extended her hand. Joneth took it, making sure to stare deeply into her eyes.
‘My name’s Tiffany. Tiffany Menning. I’m the prefect in charge of the girls’ dorm rooms. You’re looking at Lacey, Jenna, Alia and Mirna. Why did you come here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the boys’ dorm, talking about baseball and football?’
‘I thought I’d have a sensitive talk about my feelings first, and that doesn’t really guarantee a good start with the guys, I reckon. Anyway, I can’t help but feel that you missed out on introducing me to someone.’

Joneth pointed to a girl in the far back of the room, seated alone in a comfortable chair, a book covering most of her face. She hadn’t even looked up when Joneth had entered the room. The only thing visible was her black hair, falling loosely around her like a curtain.
‘Oh. That’s Jesse. You’d probably best steer clear of her, she- hey!’
Joneth walked up to Jesse and managed to draw her attention. She looked up, and caught his eyes. Nothing happened, and she returned to her book.
‘Reading War and Peace, huh? Or is there another reason for your cold attitude?’
‘Leave me, unless you want to eat your hat.’ Jesse replied, cool as ice.
‘Ouch. That hurts me right where I live.’
‘Not exactly. I’d have to aim quite a bit lower.’
‘Are you sure you don’t wanna talk to me? I’m a nice guy once you get to know me.’
‘I don’t want to know you. I’m leaving.’

And with that, Jesse placed a bookmark in her book and got up, leaving for the bedrooms. Joneth smiled as he returned to Tiffany, who was standing in slight shock.
‘I was going to tell you that she’s, like, a super-*****. Way mental, too. Spent a few years locked in the rubber wall clinic.’
‘I dunno. She seemed nice to me. Is she always this cold, or is that just because I’m wearing my pride and joy?’ Joneth said, once again tapping the hat.
‘She’d be able to freeze a forest fire. You got lucky. The first guy who spoke to her here got a heel through his foot. Had to be taken to the hospital and everything. Nobody knows who she really is, or why she acts like this, and no one wants to.’
‘Really, hm?’ Joneth hummed quietly for a second, lost in thought, before he spoke again. ‘I’d best be going. I’ve got some baseball and football talk to catch up on. Nice meeting you all, girls.’
With a wave of his hat, Joneth left the room, followed by Helen. A short walk took them to the boys’ dormitory, were Joneth immediately entered, telling Helen to get back to her work before anyone would find out.

This dorm wasn’t much different from the girls’ place. A large room, kitchen appliances and a few guys lined around the T.V., although here there were several game consoles near the T.V. and it wasn’t as clean as the girls’ was. Joneth immediately recognized the prefect in charge: a football jock, standing and chatting with his buddies. Joneth walked over and went into “Popular” mode.
‘Yo guys, how’s life treating y’all? My name’s Izen. Joneth van Izen. I’m new here, and I’m looking for the coolest guys around.’
The jocks smiled and one stepped forward, grinning widely.
‘Well, you came to the right place, Izen. I’m Harry, the prefect here. I’m in charge of the chaos that you see here. And my buds here are O’conner, Mac, Henner and Big O’.’
Joneth looked at the guys. They were your average herd animals, walking behind the big lion out of fear of getting eaten. Mac and Big O’ were the only African Americans, and compensated for it by being twice a big as the other guys. They’d be easy to string along later on, but there was some need for information first.

After a short round of introductions, Joneth took place on the couch and cracked open a cold beer. He then started off the investigations among the guys.
‘I just came back from the girls’ dorm.’
‘How’d you pull that one off? Disappeared underneath your hat and smuggled yourself in?’ Harry commented, genuinely surprised.
‘Almost, but that doesn’t matter. I spoke with Tiffany.’
‘Aw man, she spoke to ya? ***** won’t even look at me.’ Big O’ rumbled.
‘What’d you mean, Big O’? She CAN’T look around ya!’ Harry said.
The dorm exploded in laughter, until Harry calmed down and let Joneth continue.
‘Anyway, I also spoke to Jesse.’
A silence enveloped the room. No one said anything, and Joneth used the time to take a swig of his beer. He was a fast drinker, and he liked his silences to be useful to him. Finally, after a few more seconds of silence, Harry was the first to speak.
‘And you’re still alive? Last guy tried that and got himself a ticket to glass-shard ville. That broad’s crazy, and I don’t care what anyone says.’
‘Yeah man. She once showed up to class with a knife strapped to her arm.’ Mac said.

Joneth could see that this wouldn’t be easy. He was intrigued by Jesse, but he needed more than this. He tried a different approach.
‘Doesn’t she hang out with anyone?’
‘Man, not even the Goths and the Emo crew hang out with her. You a Goth, right Dave? What’ya say?’
‘We tried, but we didn’t realize she was REALLY that disturbed until it was too late. She was planning to ritually sacrifice a chicken and move up to humans in the end. **** was crazy man, I swear. She’s a cold-hearted monster with a love for death.’
‘Well, don’t she fit right into your taste, then?’ Mac commented. Laughter ensued once again.
‘She’s alone. Always. Even goes to the bathroom alone. Won’t even hang out with the other loners.’
‘But she’s pretty cute, right? Got a nice set of curves, too.’ Joneth said, hoping to provoke a more positive reaction.
‘Maybe. She got it going on, but she ain’t telling anyone. Besides, it’d be like playing Russian Roulette with a .45. You’d better be off dating a meat grinder.’ Big O’ said.
‘Yeah. She’s got some beauty, but it ain’t worth it. You’d best find yourself another girl, Jon. ‘Cause there’s no reason in going for the tough catch when the easiest catches are practically biting at your ankles.’ Harry said.

Joneth let the conversation derail from there. It was always good to watch what they were talking about and who reacted to what. Pretty soon, his hat was on the conversation list.
‘What’ya wearing that for, anyway?’ Harry asked. ‘You some sort of magician?’
‘I can put a spell on the ladies, but I don’t need the hat for that.’ Joneth said, and an outburst of laughter followed: with alcohol, you didn’t have to be funny.
‘Anyway, it’s a mystery, and I’m keeping it like that. Suffice to say that it’s got more surprises than a raffle contest, and that goes for the rest of me, as well.’
‘Aw come on, man. You got some sorta hideous skin disease underneath there?’
‘No, I bet that’s where he keeps his porn hidden. Eight magazines of-‘
‘- Close call, but no. I keep my alien breeding process in it. Take it off and it’ll snap your head off quicker than you can blink.’ Joneth finished.

The rest of the evening went normal, and pretty soon they started going to bed. Joneth laid down on a comfortable mattress and waited for the rest to finish their evening rituals. After a while, the lights went out, which meant that, for Joneth, the time to start assessing the situation began.

“Okay, so I’ve found the interesting girl I wanna date, but I’d have to break some psychological barriers to get through. No problem there, right? Nothing I’ve never done before. I also made friends with the popular crowd, which is the most important. I think I’ll meet up with the nerd crew tomorrow. They’ve got an excellent eye for social stratification, even though they’re low on the ladder. They also get some girls in once in a while, which means closer interaction with the female crowd. Speaking of which, the Emo and Gothic groups would need some attention as well. They’re pretty easy, though. Still, I feel that there’s some things they can tell me about Jesse that would come in very useful. Very useful indeed.”

And with that, he drifted off to sleep, his mind comfortably wrapped around the situation, knowing exactly what he would be doing tomorrow.

[(3)Hinata]

Holy Wall`o Textz

[Sarcor]

Awesome!!

That is Brilliant

=D.

[terence775]

Reminds me of the game 'Bully'
Nice story though . Read it all.

[Wixern]

I'll admit that the original idea came from that game (called Canis Canem Edit over here, I believe), but I'm going for a different twist in the storyline. Glad you liked it so far, though.

[Sigh]

Was absolutely alright. The story moves a bit too fast in my opinion and could be rendered to a somewhat slower pace.

[revenge103]

i like it wonder whats gonna happen next