Normal Colored Bread/PartOne/BlurbTwo

By the time we reached Subpar, Sarah and I were, more or less, friends (as I need someone to talk to). Somehow, we actually found stuff in common - mostly because I still could not fight the boss of level 17 of Ninja Pirate Robot Assault 4 - who so happens to be Mecha Captain Pie himself, King of the Ninja Pirate Robots. So, during the long 2 hour bus ride, I needed someone to talk to, although it was kinda weird because I'm an escaped prince who likes video games and she... well, I don't know what's up with her.

"So, anyway," Sarah rambled on, "my sixth boyfriend cheated on me with some other girl last year, and that was the end of yet another fulfilling relationship. You do not want to know what happened to the first five. Want to become my seventh?" She took out Rich People and Them magazines from her pink backpack, which was adorned with jewelry and heart symbols, and opened them up.

"Uhm... STFU?" I could not control my blushing face. I was right - I'd need everything the Knights who say Meh had taught me during my stay at Meh Castle - which wasn't a lot, mind you. I looked around at all the other people in the courtyard. They were all dressed formally, with matching white shirts, ties, brown pants, and black shoes. I admit it - Subpar gave me the creeps.

Sarah lowered her hand from her ear. Cupped within the hand was a cellular phone. "I was on the phone, ding-dong!" she squealed at me. "Anyway, I hope we have some classes together! Wouldn't that be great?!" Her phone was in her pocket.

"Mmhm," I mumbled. I could care more or less, actually. I signed up to take the stuff everyone else takes anyway - Advanced Maths I, World History II, Language Arts II, and Video Game Design I. Well, except for the last one. I was also in Air Force Junior ROTC for some reason. Well, it beats gym anyway.

"Tanmuk," a voice on the intercom announced. "Nathan Tanmuk, come up to get your supplies." I went up to a desk situated in the far left of the courtyard with Sarah following me and obtained my schedule and room key.

"So, what classes are you taking?" Sarah grabbed my schedule and analyzed it. "ZOMG! We have maths, history, and English together!!1 W00t!" I could care less.

"So what building did they put you in?" She grabbed my key too and read. "Aw," She made a sad face. "You're in that building over there, the Pirate House. I'm in the Ninja House, completely opposite to you."

I took my stuff back from the crazy girl and read. "Pirate House, floor two, room four," read the inscription on my key.

So, having rid myself of that annoying girl, I set off to find Pirate House. There was an inscription of a Jolly Roger on the front. I entered Pirate House and made my way to room four.

Leo made a noise and turned his head towards some dude. As I had guessed, I did in fact have a roommate.

A tall, dark-skinned dude stood at the window. His dark hair was styled in a mohawk. Various gold chains and necklaces lay on the desk next to him - of course, such stuff is not allowed on the body at Subpar. A badge clipped to his shirt identified him as a junior. There was something about him, though - he looked exactly like an obnoxious punk, and probably was one.

"Who the hell are you, foo?" the spiky-haired guy asked me as I entered the room.

"I'm your roommate, I guess. My name's Nathan Tanmuk. I'm the new kid. And you are...?"

"Mah name is Keith Hanson," the spiky-haired guy responded. "Everything to the left of this line-" he pointed to a red line on the floor "- is mine. Everything to the right is yours." The design of the room was perfectly symmetrical - I had a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a chair, as did he.

"Thanks, man," I replied to Hanson as I laid my backpack on my desk and let Leo down from my shoulder. "Say, this is my cat Leonardo. He prefers to be called Leo, though."

"Hey, hey!" cried Hanson. "They didn't let me bring my cat when I enrolled! Since when did those foos allow cats?"

"Technically, they don't," I said. "But who the hell cares? It's not like Leo makes noise or anything. He's totally quiet." He had not made one noise since I entered the room.

"He's not one of them freaky talking cats, is he? Or a Neopet or something? 'Cause Neopets is teh kiddie," Hanson said.

Before I had the chance to answer, Sarah hopped into the room, all smiles as usual. "Hey, foo! Who the fuck are you and what're you doing here, sucka? This is Pirate House!" I could tell by Hanson's tone that there were tensions between the two Houses. She stared at the mohawked junior and whipped out her ID card, adding that she was my friend.

"Another freshman, huh? So you people're, what, from another school or something? You foos are weird..." Hanson murmured.

"Actually, I was home-schooled," I replied. "Nasty tutors I had. Of course, I didn't do my work like I was supposed to."

A bell blared throughout the complex. "Ugh," groaned Hanson. "It's another damn orientation. Those things are downright stupid. What's the point of them? I mean, for you guys it might be somewhat informative, but I got the same exact crap speeches twice in the past."

So we went to the auditorium. Subpar Preparatory had a somewhat big auditorium. "I don't want to know why our auditorium is so big," groaned Hanson. "It's not like we have that many students." When we got to the auditorium, 1/13th of the seats were filled. Hanson was right - it was extremely stupid. The good news, though, is that I finally beat level 17.

After the orientation the three of us went to the cafeteria, where we ate. After eating, we went back up to the Pirate House. I did manage to sneak in some food for Leo, but he refused it. I couldn't blame him - school food was hardly good for humans, so why would a cat want any?

I pulled out my Epsilon and played more Ninja Pirate Robot Assault 4 while Hanson took his shower. On level 18, the robots were clever - they were able to combine themselves, Voltron-style, to form miniboss-like Bigger Ninja Pirate Robots. After an hour of dodging blasts from combined Bigger Robots, I barely advanced in level 18.

"Hey, Tanmuk," said a voice from behind. It was Hanson, coming back from his shower.

"'lo Hanson," I replied. "Say... I wonder, do you have any friends? I mean real friends, not newbies like us."

Hanson shrugged. "Nah, people prefer to avoid me. They probably think that I'm gonna steal their bikes or something. Meh, I don't care. I like being lonely. Of course, during my freshman and sophomore years they spread all kinds of rumors about me. One of which, of course, being that I like to steal bikes."

"So why the hell do people treat you like that?" I asked. His mannerisms and attitude, along with his looks, reminded me of a certain person who pitied foos and who was revered back at Meh Castle. Therefore, I found it strange that they avoided and taunted him so. If the Knights of Meh could meet him, he'd worry no more about isolation. But whatever.

"I've never bothered to ask," he replied. "They're too busy hiding their bikes from me anyway, so they wouldn't answer me. Good night." He hopped onto the bed.

I turned the light out.