Author's Note: It suddenly occurred to me that I posted the last chapter of this story all the way back at the end of July, promising more but never delivering. I dragged my feet for a while about whether or not I was even going to bother posting this chapter. It was finished before I posted Ch.4 actually. The thing is, I didn't write anymore. I'll be honest, I don't plan too either. I know that's a dick thing to do but I've thought long and hard about this story and I know a lot of you really liked it. The truth is, I HATE it. Everything about writing it makes me sick to my stomach, so before it caused me anymore problems, I quit it. I just don't feel its fair knowing that there was another chapter out there that was never published.So here is the latest and probably last chapter of Wayward, enjoy.

-----

5.

I took a quick slug of the Jazz I was holding. It was a new energy drink, one of many that had been cropping up. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either. It was the type of morning jolt of caffeine I needed though. Sitting at the table across from me, Grandma was frowning. Allie gave me a look too, then took a sip from her mug of coffee. Mom was giving us both cross looks. She wasn’t thrilled with our morning drink habits. They were so routine now that there wasn’t much she could do to change them though. Before Dad got sick, things had been a lot different. For one, we never did this whole sit-down-at-a-table for breakfast thing,. Mom was usually up and out the door for work before either Allie or I got up. With Dad in the morning, he made us something light, like a bagel or a pop-tart. Then we usually ate going out the door.

Dad never cared what we drank either.

When Dad got sick, breakfast changed.

Mom started going to work later in the day and tried her hardest to make an effort. It wasn’t easy for any of us, but it was worse for her. She used to work a lot. The only time we saw her before Dad’s cancer was at dinner. Even then, it wasn’t much. Mom would usually order out, and trying to get us to sit together at a table was laughable. It was strange how cancer had destroyed our family but had also brought us together. After the first year, the year that Dad’s health declined for the worse, Mom took a leave of absence from work. When we weren’t in the hospital, Mom did her best to be there for us. It wasn’t easy, but eventually it started to feel semi-normal. After Dad was gone, Mom told us we needed to make some changes.

She officially quit her job, then started to make other arrangements.

That’s when cousin Maggie called her.

“That’s not a very healthy drink,” Grandma finally grumbled.

“I don’t like coffee,”. I said, after taking another sip.

“That’s not a healthy drink either,” said Grandma, shifting her focus to my sister.

Allie shrugged. “It wakes me up and keeps me going. I practically live at Starbucks these days.”

Grandma chuckled. “Not here you won’t, the nearest one is twenty miles away.”

I saw the color drain from my sister’s face.

She looked like she was going to die.

Whatever is she going to do?

Mom decided to butt in. “Do you both have everything you need?”

My sister groaned. “We’re not kids, Mom.”

Today was officially our first day back to school. As much as I was dreading it, I was happy too. It would be nice to have some normalcy again. Toward the end of Dad’s cancer battle, the school back home had excused Allie and me. They understood our need to spend what little time we had left with our father. It was the worst month of our lives. When Dad passed, and because it was so close to Winter Break, Mom decided to just keep us home. We didn’t know it at the time, but she was already making plans to move us out here. She felt it might be better for us to make a clean break, and start in a new place. Allie complained for days, but ultimately, it all fell on deaf ears. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Mom’s reasoning for it all. Home wasn’t home without Dad. Mom lost her life partner and best friend. They met in college, were married a year after that, and stayed in Quebec for a year before Allison was born. I came along two years later, and they moved back to the US. According to Mom, Dad was her first true love. You could see how heartbreaking it was for her.

“What time did you say school started?” asked Grandma, interrupting my train of thought.

I looked up at the wall clocked and cursed.

“Madison!” Mom scolded me before seeing said clock and giving her own curse.

I raised an eyebrow, which she of course ignored.

“We have to go!”

“I’m not finished with my coffee!” whined my sister.

“We don’t have time.”

My sister huffed, leaving her mug on the table. She then stormed out of the kitchen, no doubt to beat me to the front seat. Like I cared. Instead of rushing out myself, I took the time to clear my plate and put it in the sink. Grandma smiled at me and ruffled my hair. Then I went into the living room, grabbed my backpack and followed my sister’s attempt to flee out the front door. Just as I predicted, Allie was already in the front seat. Shrugging, I went to the back. As soon as I had my seatbelt secure, I took out a book.

“Do you ever not read?”

I scoffed. “It's required.”

“Says who?”

“Duncan High’s website.”

She rolled her eyes, and I smirked.

Her loss.

The school assigned a book for the students to read over break. In fact, their website had a list of books in their Winter Readers Program, this just happened to be the only one I hadn’t read before. I think it was their attempt to make sure their students were keeping busy over the month or so they had off. I didn’t mind the reading, but Allie did everything she could to avoid work. It's probably why she was only a B student. I not only finished all the work our old school gave us after we were excused, but I was also already caught up on most of everything that I would be studying here in Duncan. I was glad to see that our old school was a bit ahead of them curriculum-wise, so most of it was a review for me. Just as well though, I didn’t want to finish out the rest of my Sophomore year behind my new peers.

“I think it's a smart idea,” said Mom, getting into the car.

“Of course you would,” scoffed my annoyed sister.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be on par with everyone else.”

Mom and Allie argued for a bit, I tried to get lost in my book. Sadly, with their back and forth, I found that impossible. So instead, I took a look at the student handbook. It arrived in a large information packet on Saturday, but because of all the unpacking then and yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to look it over. Thumbing through it now, it all seemed to be pretty straightforward. I skimmed through the bits on Dress Code and Student Conduct; nothing about that was different, except they apparently allowed hats. The part about school security interested me though. Apparently, Duncan High was one of the first high schools in the country to implement facial recognition software as a security measure on top of the security they already had in place, i.e., security cameras and card readers.

The place was virtually Fort Knox.

I did remember reading something about that on the ride from Phoenix. It was big local news. A bunch of parents made a stink about the whole thing being unconstitutional last year when the software was installed. Personally, I thought it was a great idea. So did the state, because they ruled in favor of the school district. The district felt it was a better way to keep their students safe and secure, not just from domestic terrorism but also from child molesters and other unwanted sorts. All of that information was in a large database. It was all really cool. Most of the town hated the change. They called it another attempt of Carson’s. I didn’t really agree with the man buying up all the farms, but a lot of things he was trying to do for the town would only help it in the long run.

“He’s wearing my pants again, you know?” complained my sister.

The argument had reached a point where I was being dragged back in.

Most of it up to this point I ignored because my sister was one of those people who kept shifting her stance. If she couldn’t win one way, she’d change tactics mid-fight and try it another way.

Mom looked in the rear-view. “Maddie?”

I looked down at my pants. I couldn’t tell, so I shrugged.

Mom sighed.

I still couldn’t figure out why they were getting so worked up over it?

Maybe they were Allie’s pants, maybe they weren’t? Wearing them wasn’t going to make me less of a man.

I wasn’t about to let my sister’s smug look slide though.

“So are you mad that I’m wearing your pants, or are you mad that your ass is so flat that a boy can wear said pants?”

“Mom!”

Allie was whining, which meant I won.

“Madison!”

I shrugged again and went back to reading the handbook.

Oh look, I only had to take P.E. once before I graduated.

Win for me!

Thankfully, the argument died down after Allie ran out of “fuel” for it. That, and we pulled up to the school a few minutes later. The ride from the farm to the city took about ten minutes, and getting to the school from there was about two. We pulled up in front and Allie stormed out of the car as soon as we came to a stop. Mom sighed, clearly wanting to say more. That was Allie’s way though. She thought she was this great debater because she always “won”, but she only did so because she stormed away before the argument could finish. It was something that might have worked when we were kids, but it was starting to get old and childish now. Not that either Mom or I said anything to her; there was no point.

Mom turned to me. “You have everything?”

I opened my pack and took a look before returning the handbook. “I think so,” I said, zipping it up.

If I didn’t, they wouldn’t say anything.

It was the first day back from break after all.

We said our goodbyes, still no hug.

“I can pick you up after school?”

I shook my head. “Luke said he’d drop me off.”

He texted me last night. I think he was hoping to earn some brownie points with Allie. Fat chance that was ever happening. It was nice that he was at least including me though.

I left the vehicle after that. Mom pulled away with a tiny wave before I turned and looked at the large building before me. Duncan Central was actually three schools in one. The two story building in front of me was mainly for the high school and middle school. The elementary school was the smaller, one-story building next down, a chain link separating the two campuses. They were all the same sandy-colored brick, glass, and concrete. I read on the internet last night that the high school had some recent remodeling last summer. An anonymous donation allowed them to upgrade their auditorium, add some new music rooms, and get one of those digital signs out front. Frankly, all of it was new to me.

Leaving the roadside, I followed the path up to the front of the school. A balding man in a sharp charcoal suit stood at the doors, greeting everyone who entered. He smiled at each of the students as they passed by. When I got close, he gave me a look as if he’d never seen me before. That look was quickly followed by some kind of recognition.

“Madison DuBois, I presume?”

Way to be in the know.

“That’s right,” I said, surprised this man could tell I was new.

He chuckled. “I make it my business to know everyone in this school, new and old. I’m Mr. Chambers, Vice Principal here.”

He held out a hand, I suspect for me to shake. My father once told me it was important to make a good first impression. A lot of that came down to a strong handshake. Unfortunately for me, I never had one of those. I did my best though. If Mr. Chambers noticed or even cared after I was done shaking, he didn’t say a thing.

“Generally I would lead you to the office myself, but it's my job to meet and greet.”

I waved it off. “It's ok, sir.”

“Well, through these doors and straight down this main hall, on the right; you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you, sir,”I said, and excused myself and went inside.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the building was the large cartoon armadillo painted on the wall directly in front of me. It looked angry, waving a flag with the school colors of red and silver. I took my time on some research last night. I found the school newspaper quick enough, it was called The Armadillo Times. While there were a lot of fluff pieces in there, most of it was devoted to sports. Made a certain bit of sense. Their Winter season was filled with some good teams. The hockey team, for instance. From what I could tell, Luke was one of their star players before his injury. They also had decent indoor soccer teams and their basketball team made the playoffs last year.

Wandering away from the giant armored warrior on the wall, I made my way toward my destination. I passed rows of lockers, a couple of doors, and lots of kids my own age - most of whom ignored me. A couple looked my way, and one boy in particular looked longer than I wanted. I was used to that though. I was just hoping I’d get myself settled here a bit more before all of that started. Trying to keep my head down, I passed quickly into the main office.

“Can I help you, sweetie?” asked the little old lady behind the counter.

I smiled at her. “I’m new here. Madison DuBois, Mr. Chambers told me to come here.”

The old woman smiled and slowly typed away at the computer to her right. It took longer than I would have liked; she kept stopping and squinting at the screen. Finally, I heard the printer behind her. She slowly got out of her chair and retrieved the printouts, handing them to me gently.

“Usually we ask one of our Student Helpers to show new students around, but students vote on them at the beginning of the new semester, and that hasn’t happened yet.”

I smiled and nodded. “It’s ok. I have a map.”

I downloaded it onto my phone last night. For such a small school and district, they were surprisingly pretty tech-savvy with this kind of thing. They had an app and everything. I couldn’t help but wonder if some of that remodeling money went into other projects too.

I pulled out my phone, holding it in one hand and my schedule in the other. The schedule was pretty straigh=forward, no surprises. I got to sign up for classes last week. I was happy to see that I was able to get into every one that I wanted. All the core subjects were there, including lunch and study hall. There were even a couple of electives. The only one from that list I really wanted was Computers. I wasn’t that keen on them, but Mom said it was a smart idea to take a basic computer class so I would know what I was doing later in life. The school offered a wide variety of electives, and because I wasn’t taking PE this year, I was allowed three in total. The last two I left it up to the school to decide.

Hmmm.

Aerobics and Dance.

Interesting choices.

I suppose I could have turned around and complained. After all, most boys my age would HATE those types of classes. The thing was, I was always a limber person. Maybe that’s why I liked ice skating so much. I was always flexible, even now. I didn’t skate anymore, but that didn’t mean I failed to keep up with exercising. Being in both aerobics and dance might be just what I needed. Though I couldn’t help but wonder if they put me in those classes because they thought I was a girl?

Sighing, I took a step into the hall.

With my head down, I didn’t see where I was going and walked right into…

“Whoa, Maddie, dude.”

Luke apparently.

What were the odds?

“Sorry, wasn’t paying attention,” I said, looking up and waving my phone at him.

He laughed. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a typical teenage girl...”

I ignored the comment. “You’ve been here a while, right?”

“Couple of years.”

“You know where Mr. Clark’s classroom is?” I asked, waving my schedule toward his face.

Luke rolled his eyes and took it from me. He quickly scanned it then gave me a strange look.

“Dude, you pick these electives?”

“The school did,” I said with a shrug.

“These are chick classes.”

So I was right.

“You should go back there and get them to change these...”

“I don’t mind.”

We were walking down the hall side by side now, doing our best to not get smushed by the growing crowd. Well, I was doing my best, most of the people seemed to be avoiding him. One of the perks of being short, small, and insignificant I guess. I was getting a lot of stares though. I didn’t have to guess what they were about either. It was like this every first day of school for me. When we first moved from Duncan, my first day at my new school, a lot of kids whispered about the “new girl”. It took them a week to stop staring and even longer for me to convince them I wasn’t a girl. By the time I accomplished that task, it was summer. Then the same thing happened the next year and every year after. Even people who knew I was a boy forgot as soon as they saw me again.

It was frustrating at first, but I grew to ignore it.

After all, I was more or less happy with who I was.

Why should I let what others think bother me?

“This is Clark’s room. Homeroom and first period.”

I was lost in thought as we were walking, barely noticing he stopped at all.

There was no one in the classroom when I looked inside. It was a fairly average school room, there was one large desk up front and several student desks in rows. At first, I thought the room was empty, but I suddenly noticed a girl sitting in the far back corner, her head down, and her nose in a book. I couldn’t really get a good look at her, but she had dark hair and black framed glasses. I couldn’t help but smile. She seemed like the type of person I might be friends with.

“Most people don’t file into the first class of the day until right before the bell rings,” Luke explained as he shut the door, clearly ignoring the girl in there.

“What about her?” I asked, gesturing toward the closed door.

He shrugged. “C’mon, most of the normal people hang out in the Quad before classes.”

He gently steered me away from the classroom and back down the hall.

I couldn’t help but look back at the classroom as we moved further and further away.

Somehow I felt I belonged there too.

“Welcome to where the Cool Kids hang out.”

Luke opened his arms wide, I’m not sure if he expected me to gasp or clap or what. Instead, I looked past his outstretched arms to “The Quad”. It turned out to be nothing more than the large courtyard that separated the high school and the elementary school. There was a large, circular walkway with benches centered around a statue with some man in a suit I probably should have known something about. I didn’t. Beyond the circle and the fountain were picnic tables shaded under large maple trees. Once again, I’m not sure how he expected me to react, but I did my best to pretend.

“Not bad.” I lied.

He nudged my shoulder. “Hey, it may not be big city swanky school life like you’re used to, but it's the coolest thing we got.”

I wonder who told him about my school life before?

I decided to put a pin in it for later.

Instead, I allowed him to lead me over to a group of kids milling by a row of hedges. They were all wearing letterman jackets like him so I assumed they must be the jock crowd. Luke’s friends. It was clear what he was trying to do. I appreciated the effort, but I wasn’t really interested in being friends with people like that. Nothing against Luke, he was a cool guy. Me and jocks never mixed well. Before, it was because they used to bully me about looking like a “fag”, and then it was because they kept trying hitting on me because they thought I was a girl. Whenever I was able to convince one of them otherwise, there was a lot of laughing and strange looks. At least they never openly bullied me again.

“Guys,” said Luke, getting the attention of his friends who were laughing about something. “This is Madison, he’s an old childhood friend of mine. Our Dads used to play together back in the day.”

There was a round of introductions but I was never going to remember all their names. Luke found us a spot and as soon as my butt was on the pavement, I was bombarded with questions. They started innocent enough, but it quickly moved into a familiar territory. It didn’t matter that Luke introduced me as a “male” friend, using the proper pronouns. It NEVER worked. As soon as they started, it was impossible to convince them otherwise. I thought maybe I could avoid it this time, but it was already starting back up again and fast. It didn’t help that Luke thought I was cool and vouched for me.

I became the center of attention instantly.

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell.

As soon as it went off, everyone got up at once and started rushing toward the doors. I did my best to keep up, but I was nearly bowled over. Seeing me struggle, Luke made sure to help me into the hall. We parted shortly after. I promised him I’d meet him again at lunch. I made my way quickly back toward Mr. Clarke’s classroom, getting inside just before the bell. I found an empty seat near the door, in the front row. A moment later, a large, balding man in a sweater stomped into the room. I say stomped because there was no other way to truly describe his gait. He wasn’t angry; he had a nice smile, but he was large, not just in girth either. He had to be well over six feet.

“Good morning, class,” he said joyfully. “How was everyone’s break?”

There was a lot of grumbling.

The man looked like he wanted to say more about it but didn’t. Instead, he got right to business. This was technically Math class, but because it was the first class of the day, it also served as homeroom. Mr. Clarke started taking attendance. I only half paid attention because there were probably no names I was going to recognize. It was years ago when I was last here, and most of the kids I went to school with were people I wouldn’t remember even if they told me who they were.

Then…

“Charlie Carson.”

Wait, what.

I snapped around, I couldn’t help.

“Here.”

I found the source of the voice and my heart skipped a beat.

There was a boy in the back row, wearing one of those jackets like Luke. He had dirty blonde hair and a bored expression. I squinted a bit. He was older, but there was no mistaking it, this was my friend.

Charlie.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Anything critical you have to say, PLEASE do so in a PM. Pointing out people's flaws or mistakes in a comment is hurtful and NOT appreciated.Thanks in advance...EOF