CHAPTER ONE

FREAK

Shane stared out of the window as Diane pulled into the parking lot. The school building was very square, and plain. Shane liked it right away. It was very symmetrical. It had said in the pamphlet that the dorms, cafeterias and common rooms made up one side, while the classrooms, offices and counselor’s dorms made up the other.

“Get out of the car,” Diane said impatiently. She was already on the other side of Shane’s door, tapping her foot. Shane got out of the car and closed the door. Then he opened it and closed it again.

“Just come on,” said Diane, grabbing Shane by the arm and pulling him. Shane broke from her grasp and opened and closed the door one more time.

“You happy now? Come on, let’s go.”

Shane followed Diane into the school building. There was a man inside the front doors, apparently waiting for them. “Shane Heaney?” the man asked.

Shane gave a nod.

“Great, welcome to Ledger. I’m going to show you and your aunt around and then we’ll get your things out of the car and show you your room, okay?”

Shane was quiet as the man led them around. But he started to think that maybe the place wasn’t so bad after all.

“Well, let’s go get your things,” the man said when the tour was over.

“What’s your name?” They were the first words Shane had said all day.

“Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? Sorry, I do that a lot. I’m so used to everyone knowing me. I’m Walker. I’ll be your counselor.”

Shane nodded, and the three of them went out to the car. They gathered Shane’s things. Shane closed the trunk three times, and then they headed back to the school. Walker led them to Shane’s room. He unlocked the door and he and Diane went in. But Shane stayed outside. He had seen something he didn’t like. He backed up a few steps.

“Come on in,” said Walker. “What’s wrong?”

Shane looked at Diane, and she looked around the room for whatever it was that wasn’t allowing Shane to enter. It was easy to find. “I told you no red!” Diane said, pointing to the red comforter on one of the beds. “He doesn’t like the color red! I was clear on that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. We had another newcomer move in today, and he didn’t own any bedding so we let him pick it out from our stock. He must have picked the red. I’ll get it out of here.” Walker picked up the comforter and took it out of the room.

Shane backed up against the wall. He didn’t want the red to touch him. It didn’t, but he still felt the need to wash his hands. He went into the room and into the bathroom, closing the door behind him so that Diane wouldn’t yell at him. When he was satisfied, he came back into the room. Walker was back, and there was now a green comforter on the bed.

“You like green, right?” Walker asked.

Shane nodded. He didn’t know if he was going to like Walker or not. He seemed nice enough, but it was hard to tell at this point.

“Well, I’ll let you two say goodbye,” said Walker. “Dinner’s at six. School starts tomorrow at eight. I’ll send someone to help you find your classroom, okay?”

Shane nodded again, and Walker left. Diane turned to him. “I guess this is goodbye for now,” she said. “I’ll come to visit you, and Sarah will too, okay?”

Shane gave another nod. That was his usual response to people. Diane moved in for a hug, but Shane backed away. He didn’t want to touch her; he had just cleaned his hands.

“Fine. I hope this place helps you, Shane. I really do think this is for the best. Call me if you need anything, all right? Bye.” Diane left the room, and Shane was alone. He began unpacking his things.

Shane had just finished unpacking when the door opened, and someone came in. Shane figured this was his roommate, and he immediately disliked him. He was wearing a red shirt. Shane wished he had his sunglasses on. Now it was too late. He had already seen it.

“Hey, man, you must be my roommate,” said the other boy. “I’m Jordan.” He held out his hand to shake, but Shane waved a hello instead. Jordan let his hand drop. “Okay. Hey, what happened to my comforter?”

“Walker took it away.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like the color red,” Shane said simply. He tried his best to be honest with people.

“So?”

“So Walker took the comforter away.”

“Well, I don’t like the color pink but whenever a girl wears a pink shirt I don’t make her take it off…although it would be entertaining.”

“Its different,” Shane said.

“I’m wearing red,” said Jordan, pulling on his shirt. “You want me to change?”

“If its not a problem.”

“Well, tough, because it is. I don’t change for nobody so you’re just going to have to get used to it okay?”

Yep, Shane definitely didn’t like this kid.

Dinner was dull. Shane sat by himself and picked at his food without really eating it. He had a feeling that this place was going to be boring. He went back to his room and spent the rest of the evening laying on his bed, listening to music with his eyes closed.

Jordan didn’t come back into the room until ten thirty. Shane had seen him already talking to people and making friends at dinner. He guessed Jordan had been socializing the whole time Shane was in the room.

Shane figured this was a good time to go to sleep. He didn’t want Jordan to try and talk to him or something. Apparently, Jordan agreed. He crawled into his bed without even changing his clothes.

Shane got the light. Then he got into bed, got comfortable, and reached over to the nightstand. He pulled his clock to him and set the alarm for seven in the morning. Then he turned the ringer on. He checked the set time again, and then he checked that the ringer was still on. Then he checked both again, and again, and again.

After about ten minutes of this, Jordan sat up. Apparently he had seen Shane with his alarm clock. “What are you doing?”

“Checking my alarm.”

“You’ve checked it, like, over two hundred times already. You’re good, man.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Fine. Do what you want, Freak.” Jordan turned to face the other direction.

Shane was used to be called a freak, and much worse, so he didn’t mind it too much. He kept checking his alarm until, finally, he fell asleep.