Multiverse: by Nick Venomz (13 inch ebook reader .TXT) 📖

him. The guard noticed him, tipping his hat. “Morning, Kota. Make sure you get to your first class on time.”

Kota, the blue-haired boy, turned around and nodded his head, a large grin on his face. “Thank you, sir!” He shouted, louder than he should’ve, catching the attention of students and teachers around him. However, the stares didn’t affect Kota as he turned around and headed into the right line where the freshmen and sophomore were in. He slid one arm off his bag and double-checked that he zipped up all of the pockets before waiting for his turn at the metal detector and baggage scanner. 

Once it was his turn, he handed his bag off to the conveyer that brought it into the baggager scanner before walking through the metal detector, his arms at his sides. He came out of the other side, glancing at the security guard.

“Morning, Kota.” The security guard told him. 

“Morning, sir,” Kota responded as he grabbed his bag from the conveyer belt, equipping it. He then headed deeper into the school, traversing through the main hallway that ran nearly the entire length of the “7” shaped building. Though before he could arrive at his first class, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, away from the traffic where other people had parked themselves. Lockers lined one side of the main hallway in rows, giving students breathing space and an escape from the heavy traffic. 

“Sorry about pulling you away from class, Kota.” An energetic voice told him. “You nearly ran past us.”

Kota turned to the person who grabbed him, realizing it to be Joey, one of his friends - a fellow sophomore. Joey held his chin high, staring into Kota’s black eyes with his same colored eyes. He was dressed in the school’s uniform of a gray polo over a white tee. His latter body wore a sand-colored pair of trousers, ankle white socks, and uniform shoes. The perfect attire for a normal student. Kota, in contrast, wore black sneakers, crew socks (socks that reached his calf), a pink blazer over a graphic tee depicting his favorite television character, and black shorts. A strange combination of clothes; many people thought as they passed by him.

“It’s okay, Joey,” Kota responded.

Joey smiled, motioning with his head for Kota to follow him, which he did willingly. He was led farther into the row of lockers, meeting up with two other students, both females. The first student, a brunette donned in a similar outfit to Joey, picked her head up and noticed their presence. 

“Morning Kota!” She exclaimed with a smile.

“Morning Alyssa!” Kota exclaimed, louder than Alyssa had been. “How have you been?”

“Good, how about you?” She stared at Kota with her bluish eyes, observing his every movement. Kota smiled at her, nodding her head. “Oh, you’ve been good?”

Kota nodded his head again, responding “Mom let me go to the park all by myself. I’m a man now.”

Alyssa and the others nodded their head, smiling at him. “Yes, you are, Kota.” She told him.

The other student rose from her spot on the floor by a locker, approaching Kota. She opened her arms and embraced him. “It’s been a while, Kota, you haven’t messaged me.” She told him, laying her head on the smaller in height Kota. “Are you excited to be a sophomore?”

Kora nodded, his motions limited by the girl’s hug. However, he was still able to speak while being embraced. “Yes, I’m excited.”

“Good,” She said as she broke away from him. “What’s your first class?”

“Trignometry.” He answered her. 

The girl nodded. “Ooooh, trigonometry? Is our smart boy bragging on us?”

He shook his head defiantly. “I would never, Charlie.”

Charlie cracked a big grin. “I know you wouldn’t Kota. Oh, I’ve been meaning to give you this.” She said before she crouched down, her bare leg colliding with the floor. Unlike Alyssa and most of the female population in the school, she wore a skirt while they wore trousers like the males. She took out a pink pen from her bag, handing it to him. “I thought you would like it.”

“Ooooh, it’s pink!” He exclaimed, his eyes shining at the gift. “Thank you so much, Charlie!” He said before embracing her. She embraced him back, squeezing him as the others watched with smiles. 

Unfortunately for them, the warning bell echoed throughout the building, informing the students not in class that they had two minutes to head to class. Joey glanced at the other end of the row of lockers, noticing that the traffic had increased as students rushed to class before a hallway sweep would round them up into the principal’s office. 

“It’s time to go guys.” He told them. The others nodded, grabbing their bags and approaching the open end of the row. Joey looked around, waiting for a gap in the traffic to proceed. “What lunch do you guys have?”

“The West one. 5th Period.” Charlie said. Alyssa and Kota nodded their heads in agreement.

“Good, then we can meet up there,” Joey told them before finding a gap and entering it. The others followed him but quickly split up as they headed to their appropriate class. Kota, whose trigonometry class was at the end of the main hallway, watched as his friends went to their classes and disappeared from his side. Temporarily…

Kota headed to his trigonometry class, hitting the end of the main hallway and following the second hallway, this one not being a straight line but shaped like a rectangle. He searched the multiple rooms in the rectangular loop until reaching the classroom holding his first period. The door to his class was opened and students waited patiently in the classroom for the teacher to start, sitting in pairs. Kota made his way into the classroom, drawing attention to himself through his clothing, though he doesn’t seem to notice the stares. Instead, he headed to the first open seat he could find and sat down, sitting down next to a girl his age, with black hair and blue highlights, the same outfit as Alyssa, and a darker skin tone. The girl glanced at him, taking in his appearance, before looking down at her notebook. She continued to scribble into it, sketching the image of a family. A mother, father, child… and then another child some distance away, separated into a world of their own. Lonely, devoid of attention and affection, lacking in self-confidence and criticized for every action---correct or incorrect. Albeit, this was simply a drawing. Nothing more, nothing less…

Kota opened his bag, reaching in and pulling out something fluffy, sitting it down in front of him. It was a teddy bear with a caramel fur, black nose, two beady black eyes, and a set of ears a few shades lighter than its body. Kota began playing with the teddy bear, moving its limbs around and giving it a voice.

“Hey Kota, how are you?” The teddy bear asked, its voice a lighter version of Kota’s normal voice. “Have you been a good boy, Kota?”

Kota nodded, responding to the bear. “I have been a good boy. Have you been a good bear, Teddy?”

The girl glanced at Kota, raising an eyebrow at the strange situation. Nearby classmates overheard him, glancing at him with raised eyebrows and disgusted expressions, causing a large enough scene that the teacher noticed him. He opened his mouth to call out Kodi but was interrupted by the bell ringing, signaling the beginning of the hall sweep and the start of classes. 

Once the piercing sound of the bell stopped ringing, the teacher cleared his throat before opening his mouth again, this time to no disruptions. “Excuse me, sir, put away that stuffed animal.” He calmly told Kota who looked up at him, tilting his head.

“Teddy bad?” 

The teacher shook his head. “It’s not appropriate, sir. And what you’re wearing isn’t appropriate either. It goes against the Evergreen code of conduct. You need to come in tomorrow wearing what you’re supposed to.” He told him. “Otherwise, I will write you up.”

Kota stared at the teacher strangely before nodding his head, picking his bag up, and putting Teddy back. He then zipped it closed before looking at the teacher who was waiting for him to finish before officially starting class. He grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing his name on the chalkboard before going into a lengthy monologue about the class and the plan for the year. Unbeknownst to him, Kota was staring at the teacher’s name written in chalk. Jordan Hatcher. Mr. Hatcher, his trigonometry teacher. His ears tuned out Hatcher’s lecture and his eyes refused to leave the chalkboard.

The girl sitting beside him glanced in his direction, noticing his stare, and tracked it to their teacher’s name. She tilted her head, staring at him strangely before looking away. What’s up with him? Is he just crazy or… is he just weird? She thought to herself. Why did I get a weirdo sitting next to me? That’s just my luck isn’t it? I stole one cupcake from my sister and karma is here to settle debts with me. Well, whatever, let’s hope that this class doesn’t draw on more than usual.

The class continued as normal, ending fifty minutes from the starting bell. Hatcher dismissed his students, sitting at his desk and watching as they funneled out of his room, his eyes lingering on Kota. As soon as his Kota disappeared from his sight, heading into the traffic-heavy rectangular loop hallway, he turned away and prepared for his next class. Damn, I hoped to get all normal kids this year, but I already got a weirdo in my class. He’s going to be a real pain I can tell. He thought to himself as his next class funneled inside. Second period was starting as the bell rang, alerting the students to the next round of hall sweeps. 

Fortunately, Kota reached his next class. He entered his United States History class, utilizing the same tactic that he used in his first class. He found the first open seat he could find and sat down. This time, however, he didn’t have a classmate that sat at the desk next to him.

As soon as he settled in, he took out Teddy, placing him on his desk. He then tilted his head, staring at the stuffed animal intensely. “What did I do wrong, Teddy? Why was… Hatcher mad at me?”

“I don’t know Koda, I don’t think he liked us,” Teddy responded.

“You’re right Teddy, I don’t think so either. Maybe he doesn’t like my shoes.”

“You’re right Koda, it must be that. He doesn’t like your shoes, that’s why he’s mad at you. You did nothing wrong. You-”

“Excuse me, son.” A cold voice muttered to him. Kota looked up at the origin of the voice, finding it to belong to a middle-aged woman who was a bit overweight with short brownish-black hair wearing a striped tee-shirt, black khakis, and a pair of flats. She stared directly into Kota’s eyes with a disappointed expression. Kota lowered his gaze, staring at her desk some distance away, avoiding eye contact. 

“Put the toy away.” She told him, her voice lacking warmth. “Before I send you to the principal’s office on the first day of school.”

Kota shrunk under the woman’s glare, nodding his head softly. He grabbed Teddy and carefully placed him in his bag before glancing at the woman, finding her to still be glaring at him. He then looked away, cowering in front of the woman who finally smirked and walked away.

“Welcome to US History, I will be your teacher, Ms. Elaine Johnson. Before we start, there are to be no food, drinks, or toys-” She glanced at Kota. “-is that clear?” The class nodded, some mocking Kota, verbally and/or mentally. He quickly became the punching bag of the class within the first ten minutes of class, but this didn’t matter to him. He, instead, was zoned out, in a world of his own creation. He was sleeping on top of a cloud and not sitting at a desk being lectured about