Chapter 3
After training as a pickpocket for 6 months under a friend of his Madre's, Bailey was ready for the ultimate challenge. He and his mentor Douglas thought of everything, covering every possible illogical statement with forged papers and system hacks. Bailey repeated his cover story over and over in his head as he got ready. Because this was probably going to be the hardest thing he had done in a while. No, he wasn't about to rob someone blind. No, no breaking and entering. Not spray painting the side of a building either.
Bailey was enrolling in an American public school. And not just any public school. Midtown. The high school for genius rich kids. Bailey had jokingly entered a contest be get into the school... And he won.
He never expected to win. Bailey wouldn't have done it if he thought he would win. He was perfectly content sleeping in a 'borrowed' apartment with Douglas and stealing like no tomorrow. But of course, he had to enter that stupid essay contest. Oh well. Bailey would still be doing those things, just on a different schedule.
"Hey Bullshit, you ready for school? Don't wanna be late on your first day," Doug called from the kitchen. Bailey smiled fondly at the stupid nickname. His initials were 'B.S', and ever since Doug had figured that out, their friendly bickering had intensified. Truth be told, Bailey didn't think of Doug as very much older than him, even though he was almost twice his age.
"Yeah, I'm ready Dogface. Don't get us arrested while I'm gone, yeah?" A strange noise that Bailey took as an affirmation sounded, and Bailey shrugged on his backpack. "Bye, bitch!" He laughed as Doug made a wounded sound, then climbed out the window. Dropping to the ground, he emerged from the alleyway with a huge smile on his face. Even if he had a new annoying schedule, he was still excited. In Mexico, he had always been a loud, outgoing dude. Living as a pickpocket, he had to control the urge to bring attention to himself. He would finally be able to make friends his age.
Getting to the school on time was easy. In fact, he was early because of a couple shortcuts he chose to take. Bailey walked into the Administration office, a smile still stuck on his face, though more subdued and nervous.
"Um, excuse me? I'm new and I need a schedule. My name's Bailey." He said to the man at the front desk. Bailey read the plaque on his desk: Mr. Zwolinsky. Wow, was that a mouthful. Mr. Zwolinsky typed something into his computer.
"Ah yes. Mr. Sanchez. Here you go. I would suggest getting someone to show you all your classrooms before you start your day. Hope you enjoy your first day." Bailey smiled warmly. Though Mr. Zwolinsky was direct, he wasn't as cold and uncaring as most people he knew.
Bailey left the office, heading to Chemistry. He had never really liked any type of science, but he wasn't bad at it. What he was more worried about was first impressions.
"Mr. Sanchez! Our new student! I'm Ms. Kinley. Once everyone arrives, would you like to introduce yourself?" Bailey nodded slightly. Ms. Kinley was very enthusiastic, and attentive, and talked very, very fast. He had just walked through the door, for Pete's sake! "While you wait, why don't sit right there, next to Ned?" He nodded again, then sat down next to the boy, who was drawing and not paying attention to his surroundings.
"Hi. I'm Bailey." Ned looked up and smiled.
"I'm Ned. Are you new?" Bailey nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Cool. Did you get in through the essay contest that was on the news?"
"Yeah. But wanna know something? I actually entered it as a joke."
"No way dude! You must be as smart as Peter or something. Peter's my friend, and he got in through a big science fair about a year ago. He has this class after us though. You can meet him at lunch." Suddenly Ned looked a little nervous. "I mean, only if you want to sit with us of course, you probably don't, it's okay-"
"Dude! Of course I'll sit with you guys." Ned's whole face brightened. The bell rang, and Bailey realized that the rest of the class had sat down. Ms. Kinley gestured for him to come up, and he did, a smile on his face.
"Hi, my name is Bailey Sanchez, I'm 16, and I've been homeschooled my whole life up until now." The class seemed very disinterested, which made Bailey feel a lot less nervous. He took his seat next to Ned again. When Ms. Kinley started talking, however, his smile slipped. This was going to be a long day.
After Chemistry, English, and Algebra, Bailey was definitely ready for lunch with Ned and his friends. Ned was in none of his other classes, and even though English wasn't bad, Algebra made him want to bang his head against a wall.
"Bailey!" Ned called out to him. Bailey walked over and sat across from Ned and a brown haired boy who was pretty cute. "Bailey, meet Peter. Peter, Bailey."
"I like your hoodie," Peter said, his face a bit red. Bailey beamed at him.
"Thank you." His hoodie was black with red roses all over, and he was glad to see that the only comments on his 'feminine' style were positive. "So... Has anyone seen the new Star Wars movie yet?"