Chapter 15: Staslek
Chapter 10. Chapter 11. Chapter 12. Chapter 13. Chapter 14.
Staslek Gaff joined the wave of students milling into the hallways of Calvin Middle on Monday morning.
He was not impressed. Why did they send him to this dilapidated wreck of a building? What was the purpose? What could he accomplish here?
Students jostled past each other on their way to their lockers, trying to find friends, etc. The vast majority of them ignored Staslek entirely, which didn’t bother him in the slightest.
A boy about his age saw Staslek across the hallway and started walking toward him to say hello. The boy (his name was Kevin) had thick wavy brown hair that stuck up and flopped down at the same time, the result of a losing battle between his hair and his styling gel.
Kevin’s thick boxy glasses enlarged his eyes to an absurd size. He was a nerd through and through, but the kind of nerd who craved friendships and who knew what it was like to be the new kid at a strange school.
Kevin got within a few feet of the new student and then stopped in his tracks when Staslek turned to face him.
Staslek pushed thick black hair out of his face and regarded Kevin impatiently with eyes that were nearly as black as his hair.
Kevin hesitated and blinked. All of a sudden, he felt sick and needed to be ANYWHERE but this spot trying to talk to this kid. Right now. Kevin turned on his heel and walked back across the hall as quickly as he could without running.
Other students in the hallway saw this exchange and learned the lesson Kevin just discovered the hard way: leave the new kid alone.
A thin smile spread across Staslek’s face as he turned to the left and walked toward the principal’s office. That was fun, he thought. Maybe this place had potential after all.