"Resurfacing" TH Fic
These are the first few chapters to my new Tokio Hotel fanfic called "Resurfacing". I am also working on a long-term novel, so this is not my very best writing, but I did try and am having fun with this story :D.
Summary: Bill moves to a new school, leaving his old reputation of "school freak" behind. He gets friends, even some popularity, until he starts defending losers, especially one in particular who does not seem like the rest: Tom, this school's social outcast.
Twincest!
CHAPTER ONE
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine,” Bill assured the frantic-looking woman.
“But... Bill, honey... you know what happened last year. Are you sure you don’t need anything? Some extra money or something?” she said, voice high in near-panic.
“What good would that do? Just go, you’ll be late for work,” Bill said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He stared into her worried brown eyes, much like his own, and sighed. “I’ll call you right after school, okay?” he promised.
Her face broke into a tiny smile. “Okay. Make sure you do, I’ll be waiting!” she said. She leaned over, intending to kiss her son in the cheek, then stopped herself, not wanting to embarrass him. Instead, she gave him a pat on the hand.
“‘Bye, honey,” he said sadly, giving him a short wave as she started up her car again. Bill returned the wave and watched as the simple, black car made its’ way down the street.
He sighed. He hated it when his mother got so worried over him. Even if it was with a good reason, it just made him feel even worse about starting a new school in the middle of the year.
He turned around and took a good look at his new high school. It was a very big building, it took up every spare inch of the block. It looked somewhat old, the new brown bricks standing out beside the older tiles that still lay in certain places. The windows were big, and he could see students walking around inside.
Bill knew he couldn’t put it off. He didn’t want to be late on his very first day of school, even if he’d probably be late every other day. He took a deep breath and made his way up the stairs and through the double doors.
Inside, the walls were a plain cream color, and every square inch seemed to be taken by a student, scribbling down last-minute homework or talking with friends. Bill searched the hall until he saw what he was looking for: the office, a big room at the end of the hall, “Main Office” painted in big letters above the doors. Bill wove through the crowd, ignoring the occasional stare he was given.
He pulled open the doors and walked into the brightly-lit room. The old woman who was sitting at the front desk glanced up and took a double take.
Bill sighed. He didn’t look ‘that’ ridiculous, did he? He thought he looked more down-played than usual, in fact, his dyed black hair un-styled, falling to his shoulders, and only a smudge of eye makeup.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked, eyes and voice very suspicious as she eyed his eyebrow piercing and the tattoo that scrawled over his wrist.
“Yes, please,” Bill answered. “I’m a new student here, Bill Kaulitz, and I was wondering where to go for my first class,” he said.
The woman looked shocked to see such a polite, nice-sounding voice coming out of his mouth. Her expression immediatly softened. “Oh, sure. Let’s see here... Bill Kaulitz... Bill Kaulitz...” she murmured, typing on her computer.
“Ah! Bill Kaulitz. Ok. I’ll print out your schedule here,” she said, swinging around in her chair to the printer, that buzzed noisily. She grabbed the paper when it was done and handed it to Bill.
“Thanks a lot,” he thanked, smiling. The schedule stated each subject and room number. That made it a lot easier. He turned to leave when the woman stopped him.
“Wait!” she said. “Um...” she grabbed her glasses and looked at another sheet of paper. “Your History classroom has been changed to room 106, your Algebra teacher is Mrs. Fuertado, not Mrs. Reckhow, and for Elective you’ll go to room 320, instead of whatever is on there” she said.
Bill stared. “Um... okay. Thanks,” he said, although he had just forgotten everything by now.
“Good luck!” she said as he exited the office.
Bill chuckled and glanced at his schedule. His first class of the day was English, room 415. He looked around at the rooms next to him; 103 and 104.
‘Okay... if this is the first floor... then 415 must be on the fourth floor...’ he thought, pleased at his revelation. The crowd pushed him to a stairwell, which he took to the fourth floor. After walking around a bit, he found room 415.
The room inside was noisy and full of high school Juniors like himself. A few people glanced at him curiously, but most were too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice him.
“Alright, class, quiet!” the teacher said as he walked in, hands full of books and papers. He bumped into Bill and glanced up. “Oh, are you the new kid?” he asked, not even apologizing.
“Oh, um... yeah,” Bill answered. He realized the class had become much quieter now, all eyes on him.
“I’m Bill Kaulitz,” he said to the man, but loud enough for the others to hear.
“Yeah, that’s right, they told me you’d be here,” the teacher answered. “Have a seat anywhere.”
Bill looked at the full class. They were all staring, looking at his clothes, hair, and makeup, he guessed, from the surprised looks they gave him He tried not to look at any of their faces, and found an empty seat near the middle of the class.
The teacher began his lesson, talking about a new project they would be working on. Bill groaned. His first day of school, and already a project? What perfect timing to move into this town.
‘At least it’s on Shakespeare...’ he thought. ‘I’ve read some of him before in my old class...’
He felt a tap on his tattooed arm. He looked up to see a girl, face fringed by long black bangs, leaning over to him.
“Hi, I’m Rosalie,” she whispered, almost shyly. “Welcome to our school.”
Bill grinned. “Thanks, I’m Bill,” he answered. The girl smiled and pulled back to her own desk.
Bill felt a bit better. Already one person had talked to him.
His morning classes went by quickly, as he fought to concentrate on the foreign material. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to anyone else, although his Math teacher made him introduce himself in front of the whole class, which was a little pointless, in his opinion, as all of the students seemed to be staring at him rather than listening.
The next bell rang, and Bill glanced at his schedule. ‘Lunch’, it said. Bill nodded to himself. His stomach was already grumbling.
He followed the crowd to the cafeteria, which was a huge room full of tables and chairs where kids were already sitting. Bill walked around, settling for a small white table in the middle of the cafeteria. He sat down and unearthed a sandwich and soda from his bag that his mother had made him that morning, trying to be extra nice to him on his first day.
It wasn’t until he took his first bite that he realized he was alone. Well, of course he was alone, he had only been in the school for four hours, not much time to make new friends. But it was much different being alone in class than during lunch.
Almost in response to his thoughts, a voice chirped from behind him.
“Hi,”
It was that girl from English, Bill realized. Her black hair was now pulled up in a ponytail, different from first period. She was wearing all black, similar to him.
“Hey,” Bill answered, smiling. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” she answered. He noticed more kids come up behind her, all dressing similar to her. “Can we sit here?” she asked.
“Sure,” Bill answered, watching as they all filled up the table. There were mainly girls, all with heavy makeup and dark clothing. Some of them, like Rosalie, had piercings and strangely-colored hair.
“So, you’re new? “ one of the girls asked as she pulled out her lunch.
Bill nodded. “Yeah, I just moved from a small town not too far from here,” he answered, sipping his soda.
“That’s cool,” someone answered.
Bill laughed. “Not really, it was so boring!” he said as the others laughed too. The conversation then switched from small talk to friendly conversation.
The girls he had talked to - Nora, Sara, Zi, and Rosalie - were all very nice, but more on the quiet side, Bill noticed. He liked that. So many kids were loud and outspoken, and it was refreshing to talk to some people who were actually polite to their friends. There were two guys in the group, also, both with long bangs that covered half of their faces. One of them had an eyebrow piercing like Bill.
These kids seemed to be more alternative, Bill noticed. They had probably approached him based on his looks, which were similar to his in some aspects, but not in others. Bill thought their style was cool, but he liked to stand out in his own, personal way.
Soon the bell rang, and kids reluctantly started standing up and leaving the cafeteria.
“Hey, what afternoon classes do you have?” one of the girls, Nora, asked.
Bill glanced at his schedule. “Um... Biology and double-History,” he answered.
“Oh, cool, I have the same History class,” he said, smiling. “I’ll see you there, then.”
“Yeah, bye,” Bill answered with a smile and wave as everyone separated, looking for their next class. Bill smiled to himself. He had already made new friends, and he liked them. Bill wasn’t the dependent type, and he didn’t need people around him all the time like others, but it was nice to have some people to talk to.
‘Okay... room 311...’ he thought as he climbed up the stairs to the third floor.
---
After his last class, Bill waved goodbye to Nora, whom he had sat with, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed his mom’s number as he was swept by the crowd to the big double doors that were the exit to the school.
“Hello?” his mom’s voice said.
“Hi, Mom, it’s me,” Bill answered, a small smile forming on his lips at the sound of his mom’s voice. “I called, just like you said.”
“Oh, honey! How was your first day?” his mom asked worriedly.
“It was good, I told you not to worry,” he laughed as he stepped through the doors into the sunlight. He was on the stairs, looking happily at the nice sky and excited students.
“So you made some friends? How are your classes?” his mom asked, and Bill could imagine her at work, dropping whatever she had been doing and biting her nails nervously.
“My classes are fine, same as before. And, yeah, I made some friends,” he continued. “They’re cool.”
“Aw, honey, I’m so glad to hear that! I knew you would make friends, you’re such a sunny boy. You’ll have to tell me all about it when I get home, okay?” she said, voice suddenly happier. “I’ve got a lot of work to do here.”
Bill laughed. ‘Sunny boy...?’
“Don’t worry about it, Mom, I’ll talk to you later,” he said.
“Alright, bye, honey!” she said.
Bill hung up and tucked his phone back in his jeans pocket. He started walking down the pavement, taking the walk home.
It had been a good day, but he was tired, and couldn’t wait to lie down in his bed.
CHAPTER TWO
“Hey, this is actually really good, you were right,” Bill said as he nodded in approval.
“I told you so!” Rosalie laughed as she leafed through more CDs.
They were at the music shop, a place Rosalie and her friends had shown Bill within the week of his arrival. It was a favorite hangout spot of their’s, and it was soon becoming one of Bill’s, too. This was the second weekend Bill had lived in his small new town, and he was glad he had new friends to show him around.
“Are you going to buy it?” she asked as she found nothing of interest at her shelf.
“Hm... I don’t know. My mom’s been giving me more money recently, I guess to apologize about the move, but I don’t want to take advantage of her...” he said, trailing off. He probably sounded stupid, but it was true. He hated being called a mama’s boy, but he hated seeing her sad.
“Aw, that’s so nice,” Rosalie said, face breaking into a grin. “Most guys don’t think that much about their mom’s feelings.”
Bill blushed. ‘Yeah... well, most guys haven’t spent as much time with their moms as I had to...’ he thought sadly to himself.
“Well, whatever, you can always borrow my copy,” Rosalie suggested shyly, looking down slightly.
Bill smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yep!”
Bill couldn’t help but notice the blush that crept along Rosalie’s face. He wasn’t sure what else to say, and was glad when Nora and Zi interrupted them.
“Hey, guys. Find anything good?” Nora asked.
Bill nodded. “Yeah, Rosalie introduced me to that band of her’s...’
They laughed. “You mean, Tortured Souls or something? She’s obsessed with them!’ they giggled.
Rosalie threw flustered looks at them. “Shut up!” she said, though in a light-hearted manner.
They all laughed, and decided it was getting late. They exited the shop, where the sky was already getting dark.
“‘Bye, guys!’ Bill said, waving the three girls off at the little road leading to his house. They exchanged goodbyes, Rosalie even gave him a hug, and walked off into the distance.
Bill walked down the road, feeling good. He was really enjoying his new friends. He glanced at the time on his phone; six thirty. He quickened his pace, not wanting to be too late, or his mom would worry, like she always was about him.
“Mom, I’m home!” Bill announced, walking through the front door.
“Hi, sweetie!” she called from further inside. “Dinner’s ready!”
Bill pulled off his black coat and walked into the kitchen, where his mom was already sitting. “Am I late?” he asked, hoping she hadn’t been eating by herself.
“Nope, you’re right on time,” she said happily. “Did you have fun with your friends?” she asked, smile seeming to brighten around the word “friends”.
“Yeah, I did,” Bill answered, sitting down next to her.
“Any girls you might like?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “I heard one of them on the phone - she sounded like a girl.”
Bill blushed as he immediatly thought of Rosalie and how much she seemed to like him. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but there were moments where she blushed or became suddenly shy. Is that what girls did when they liked someone? Bill didn’t have much experience with girls.
“Um... I don’t know...” Bill answered vaguely, stuffing pasta in his mouth. He hoped she would drop it.
Bill was soon finished with his dinner, and rose to put his dish in the sink.
“I’m going to finish some homework, okay?” he said. It was Sunday night and he still had some math problems to do.
“Okay, honey. Don’t go to bed too late,” she answered.
“Don’t worry,” Bill said with a smile. He seemed to be saying that a lot lately.
He entered his room and collapsed on his bed, which was covered by a black blanket, CDs and homework. He sighed and picked up his math book.
He had been going to his new school for only two weeks, and he was already falling behind in Algebra. Like usual.
---
Bill arrived for English, his first class of the day, on time for once. He slipped into his usual seat, pulling out a notebook and pencil he doubted he’d use. He glanced at the desk next to him - empty. Rosalie usually sat there.
“Hey!” a girl greeted as she slid into Rosalie’s seat. “I’m Erica. What’s up?” she said energetically.
Bill smiled at her, hoping Rosalie wouldn’t be mad if she decided to stay in that seat. “Hey, not much,’ he answered. “I’m Bill.”
“I know that,” she giggled. “We rarely get new students, so lots of people know you.’
“Oh, really?” he said, suddenly self-conscious.
She laughed at his reaction. “Don’t worry - no one’s saying anything bad,” she said.
He joined in her laughing, but was hushed as the teacher began the lesson. The girl, Erica pulled out her school work and started taking notes. Out of the corner of his eye, Bill could see Rosalie standing in the doorway, late, and staring for a moment at the seat Erica was currently occupying. She shrugged, although her expression was suspicious, and searched for another seat.
Bill felt a little bad, although it occurred to him that he shouldn’t be so vain. It wasn’t like Rosalie would be upset if she didn’t get to sit next to him for one class...
His bad thoughts were all cleared by the time he sat nest to Rosalie during lunch, chatting like normal.
“I’ll see you in History!” Nora said as she departed into the crowd. Bill waved and made his way to his own class.
‘Nora must be the nice one’, Bill thought. ‘She’s always so smiley and happy... she reminds me of my own mother’. Bill smiled and chuckled slightly at the thought.
“What’re you smiling at, fag?”
Bill stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to the person who had spoken, a burly looking guy around his age, leaning against the lockers. Bill had seen this type before in his old school: big, athletic, and a jerk.
“What’d you say?” Bill said, making sure there was some venom in his voice.
“Where’d you get your nails, done, girly boy? With your sister?” he continued, laughing.
“...Just shut the fuck up,” Bill responded, turning back towards the crowd, intending to walk past him.
“And what if I don’t?” the guy said dangerously. Bill stopped and looked at him.
‘This guy...’, he thought. ‘He’s just messing around with me, he doesn’t really care.”
Bill threw one hand in front of him and pushed roughly at the guy’s chest so that he slammed into the lockers behind him. “That’ll happen,” he muttered, glaring.
The guy looked so shocked, he didn’t say anything. He clearly had not been expecting that. Bill’s heart suddenly started racing, realizing what he’d just done. He backed away and walked down the hall, pace quicker than usual.
Bill looked straight ahead as he walked. He was, of course, used to people making fun of his appearance. However, that was back at his old school, where he had to face comments like that every day. He hadn’t been called a “fag” or anything since he’d moved to this town, so the boy had struck him by surprise.
‘I guess I had been reminded of last year...’, Bill thought sadly. ‘And I just reacted strongly. Last year was... rough...’
Bill forced the thought from his mind, the memory too sad, as he entered his Biology classroom. He busied himself in his work, concentrating as hard as he could to think of something else. He felt better during History, as he talked to Nora and doodled in his notebook.
‘Everything seems back to normal...’ Bill thought as he packed his stuff back into his bag at the end of class. He and Nora walked to the front doors and stepped outside into the fresh air.
He instantly regretted that thought as he glanced over to see the same guy who had given him a hard time sitting on the stairs with his gang, glaring at him.
‘Shit... Maybe I should - ‘
His thought was interrupted as he felt something grab onto his tattooed arm.
“Bill! I heard what happened!’ Erica exclaimed as she held his arm. “That Jackson is such a jerk, don’t pay any attention to him,” she said.
“Oh.. Okay..” Bill muttered, surprised.
Nora frowned. “Bill, what happened?” she asked.
“Um, it’s nothing. I don’t know what the big deal is, really,” Bill answered, daring to glance over at the guy who was called Jackson.
“Bill stood up to Jackson! No one ever does that. Bill is officially badass!” Erica laughed, although he could tell that she meant it.
Nora looked up at Bill with admiration.
He felt like laughing bitterly. It wasn’t like Bill had known that Jackson was feared. If it had been anyone else, no one would have given a damn.
‘I guess I’m just lucky like that...’ he thought with a smirk.
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone staring at him. But as he tried to look closer, all he saw was a bundle of dreadlocks turning the corner.
CHAPTER THREE
Ever since his encounter with Jackson, Bill had succumbed to Erica’s constant cheering of how “badass” he was.
‘Even if it really isn’t true...’ Bill thought with a sigh.
“Phew, that math test was hard, huh?” Erica asked as she leaned over from her desk to see Bill’s grade.
Bill sighed at his test, covered in red marks, and showed it to Erica.
“A D+? Oh, um... well, don’t worry about it, it’s your first test here, they’ll let you off easy,” Erica said reassuringly, thought Bill just laughed. He wasn’t exactly a straight A student.
The class was dismissed as the lunch bell rang, and everyone stood up hastily, stuffing their tests in their bags. Bill was an exception, however, as he crumbled his paper up and threw it in the trash bin.
“You must get that signed, Mr. Kaulitz!” his teacher said with a fierce gaze. Bill rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. He didn’t really care.
Erica seemed to think that made him even more “badass”, and she said so as they made their way to the cafeteria.
“Hey, Bill, want to sit with me and my friends today?” she asked him with a friendly smile.
“Oh, um...” Bill glanced at his usual table, where Rosalie and Nora were already sitting.
‘Well, it can’t hurt to sit next to somebody else for once’, Bill thought. ‘And Erica’s being really nice to me, I shouldn’t say no.’
“Sure,” he answered Erica, smiling his slightly crooked smile.
She beamed and led him to another, bigger table, where lots of people were already sitting. She sat down next to a boy with cropped brown hair, pulling Bill down into the seat beside her. She kissed the boy on the cheek, and Bill guessed that she was his girlfriend.
“Hey, guys! Bill is going to be sitting with us today,” she announced.
Bill blushed slightly as everyone turned their eyes on him, but kept his head high. “Hey...” he said.
They returned his greeting, some people even smiled, and pulled out their lunches. Bill pulled out a sandwich and a can of juice. He had made his own lunch today, not wanting to make his mom late for work. He took a bite, and with a wrinkled nose, inwardly agreed that his mom made much better turkey sandwiches.
He swallowed and heard someone giggle.
“You eat really cute,” one of the girls noticed.
Bill laughed, a small blush creeping along his sharp features. “Really? That’s interesting...,” he responded.
Everyone laughed, but something caught Bill’s eye. A few tables away, Rosalie was looking at him questioningly. Bill mouthed the words “sorry” and “I’ll eat with you tomorrow, I promise!” to her. She gave him a smile, although it was the smallest she’d given him yet, and went back to her lunch.
Bill felt a little bad about that, but he was distracted by the laughing people he was sitting with. They were a lot different from his other friends, very loud and joking, unafraid to say anything.
“Hey... why are those kids all alone?” Bill asked Erica as he gazed across the room. There were several small tables, spread across the cafeteria, each with one kid eating alone, never looking up from their food.
“Um... I don’t know... maybe they’re losers,” Erica answered him, no apology in her voice.
Bill was surprised at her tone. “But they look so lonely,” he continued. He could only remember the times he had to eat all alone, and he shuddered. “Let’s go say hi to them.”
Erica looked at him, surprised. “What good would that do? If anything, they’ll just be embarrassed,” she said.
“No, I doubt that. I think they’d be happy,” he said, standing up. “There are only five minutes left of lunch. Please?” he asked her, giving her the most sincere look he could muster.
Erica sighed and gave in. “Okay, okay,” he said, standing up. “Guys, we’ll be right back!” she told the others.
She and Bill wove through the tables, finally stopping at one kid who was all alone.
“Hey,” Bill said. The kid, a boy with huge glasses slipping down his nose, looked up in surprise.
“Um... hi...” he murmured, face suddenly red as he looked at Erica in her short miniskirt.
“Can we sit here?” Erica asked, though with not much enthusiasm.
“Oh, um... sure,” the boy responded, sitting up straight and fixing his glasses. Bill and Erica sat down across from him, putting on friendly faces.
“So... what’s up?” Bill asked the kid.
“N-nothing...” he answered, looking down at his lap.
“What’s your name?” Bill prodded further, guessing this boy was not very good at conversing.
“Adam,” he answered simply. Bill saw him take a deep breath, mustering up courage. “I’m Adam Reese, class 11A5, pleased to meet you.’
Erica raised an eyebrow, but Bill just chuckled. “Pleased to meet you,” Bill answered. “I’m Bill, and this is Erica,” he said, gesturing to the two.
“H-h-hi, Erica...” Adam mumbled, blushing harder.
“Hi, Adam,” Erica answered, gritting her teeth.
Bill could tell this Adam was loosening up, and he wanted to talk further with him, but the bell rang, signaling their next class.
“Oh, well, bye, Adam,” Bill said, standing up with Erica. “Maybe we’ll see you later.’
“Yeah,” Adam answered with a huge grin. “Yeah, later.’
Erica waved as she left with Bill to get their stuff and move on to the next class of the day, suppressing huge amounts of laughter.
“Aw, c’mon, Erica, it wasn’t that bad,” Bill joked, elbowing her gently.
The two giggled as they made their way through the crowd.
---
Bill had a smile on his face as he stepped out of his school and onto the stairs. He bid Nora goodbye and turned to walk his way down the block when a hand stopped him.
“Hey, Bill!” a girl, Anne, said. She was one of Erica’s friends, the one who had called his eating cute.
“Hey, Anne,” Bill said with a bigger smile. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Me and everyone are going to go hang out at the park. You want to come?” she asked, pointing to the group Bill had eaten lunch with, standing on the stairs.
“Sure, that sounds fun,” Bill said. Anne smiled and led him to the rest of her group. They all chatted about their days, excited that school was finally out.
“Hey, you’re Bill, right?” one of the guys asked him as he approached.
“Yeah,” Bill answered.
The guy chuckled. “Congrats on facing off Jackson,” he said, clapping Bill on the back. Bill hunched down a bit at the force, realizing this guy was much more muscular than him.
“Heh, it was nothing...” Bill said.
“Sure, sure,” the guy grinned. “I’m Brent,” he said. “Welcome to our group.”
“Thanks,” Bill answered, smiling big.
Summary: Bill moves to a new school, leaving his old reputation of "school freak" behind. He gets friends, even some popularity, until he starts defending losers, especially one in particular who does not seem like the rest: Tom, this school's social outcast.
Twincest!
CHAPTER ONE
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine,” Bill assured the frantic-looking woman.
“But... Bill, honey... you know what happened last year. Are you sure you don’t need anything? Some extra money or something?” she said, voice high in near-panic.
“What good would that do? Just go, you’ll be late for work,” Bill said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He stared into her worried brown eyes, much like his own, and sighed. “I’ll call you right after school, okay?” he promised.
Her face broke into a tiny smile. “Okay. Make sure you do, I’ll be waiting!” she said. She leaned over, intending to kiss her son in the cheek, then stopped herself, not wanting to embarrass him. Instead, she gave him a pat on the hand.
“‘Bye, honey,” he said sadly, giving him a short wave as she started up her car again. Bill returned the wave and watched as the simple, black car made its’ way down the street.
He sighed. He hated it when his mother got so worried over him. Even if it was with a good reason, it just made him feel even worse about starting a new school in the middle of the year.
He turned around and took a good look at his new high school. It was a very big building, it took up every spare inch of the block. It looked somewhat old, the new brown bricks standing out beside the older tiles that still lay in certain places. The windows were big, and he could see students walking around inside.
Bill knew he couldn’t put it off. He didn’t want to be late on his very first day of school, even if he’d probably be late every other day. He took a deep breath and made his way up the stairs and through the double doors.
Inside, the walls were a plain cream color, and every square inch seemed to be taken by a student, scribbling down last-minute homework or talking with friends. Bill searched the hall until he saw what he was looking for: the office, a big room at the end of the hall, “Main Office” painted in big letters above the doors. Bill wove through the crowd, ignoring the occasional stare he was given.
He pulled open the doors and walked into the brightly-lit room. The old woman who was sitting at the front desk glanced up and took a double take.
Bill sighed. He didn’t look ‘that’ ridiculous, did he? He thought he looked more down-played than usual, in fact, his dyed black hair un-styled, falling to his shoulders, and only a smudge of eye makeup.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked, eyes and voice very suspicious as she eyed his eyebrow piercing and the tattoo that scrawled over his wrist.
“Yes, please,” Bill answered. “I’m a new student here, Bill Kaulitz, and I was wondering where to go for my first class,” he said.
The woman looked shocked to see such a polite, nice-sounding voice coming out of his mouth. Her expression immediatly softened. “Oh, sure. Let’s see here... Bill Kaulitz... Bill Kaulitz...” she murmured, typing on her computer.
“Ah! Bill Kaulitz. Ok. I’ll print out your schedule here,” she said, swinging around in her chair to the printer, that buzzed noisily. She grabbed the paper when it was done and handed it to Bill.
“Thanks a lot,” he thanked, smiling. The schedule stated each subject and room number. That made it a lot easier. He turned to leave when the woman stopped him.
“Wait!” she said. “Um...” she grabbed her glasses and looked at another sheet of paper. “Your History classroom has been changed to room 106, your Algebra teacher is Mrs. Fuertado, not Mrs. Reckhow, and for Elective you’ll go to room 320, instead of whatever is on there” she said.
Bill stared. “Um... okay. Thanks,” he said, although he had just forgotten everything by now.
“Good luck!” she said as he exited the office.
Bill chuckled and glanced at his schedule. His first class of the day was English, room 415. He looked around at the rooms next to him; 103 and 104.
‘Okay... if this is the first floor... then 415 must be on the fourth floor...’ he thought, pleased at his revelation. The crowd pushed him to a stairwell, which he took to the fourth floor. After walking around a bit, he found room 415.
The room inside was noisy and full of high school Juniors like himself. A few people glanced at him curiously, but most were too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice him.
“Alright, class, quiet!” the teacher said as he walked in, hands full of books and papers. He bumped into Bill and glanced up. “Oh, are you the new kid?” he asked, not even apologizing.
“Oh, um... yeah,” Bill answered. He realized the class had become much quieter now, all eyes on him.
“I’m Bill Kaulitz,” he said to the man, but loud enough for the others to hear.
“Yeah, that’s right, they told me you’d be here,” the teacher answered. “Have a seat anywhere.”
Bill looked at the full class. They were all staring, looking at his clothes, hair, and makeup, he guessed, from the surprised looks they gave him He tried not to look at any of their faces, and found an empty seat near the middle of the class.
The teacher began his lesson, talking about a new project they would be working on. Bill groaned. His first day of school, and already a project? What perfect timing to move into this town.
‘At least it’s on Shakespeare...’ he thought. ‘I’ve read some of him before in my old class...’
He felt a tap on his tattooed arm. He looked up to see a girl, face fringed by long black bangs, leaning over to him.
“Hi, I’m Rosalie,” she whispered, almost shyly. “Welcome to our school.”
Bill grinned. “Thanks, I’m Bill,” he answered. The girl smiled and pulled back to her own desk.
Bill felt a bit better. Already one person had talked to him.
His morning classes went by quickly, as he fought to concentrate on the foreign material. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to anyone else, although his Math teacher made him introduce himself in front of the whole class, which was a little pointless, in his opinion, as all of the students seemed to be staring at him rather than listening.
The next bell rang, and Bill glanced at his schedule. ‘Lunch’, it said. Bill nodded to himself. His stomach was already grumbling.
He followed the crowd to the cafeteria, which was a huge room full of tables and chairs where kids were already sitting. Bill walked around, settling for a small white table in the middle of the cafeteria. He sat down and unearthed a sandwich and soda from his bag that his mother had made him that morning, trying to be extra nice to him on his first day.
It wasn’t until he took his first bite that he realized he was alone. Well, of course he was alone, he had only been in the school for four hours, not much time to make new friends. But it was much different being alone in class than during lunch.
Almost in response to his thoughts, a voice chirped from behind him.
“Hi,”
It was that girl from English, Bill realized. Her black hair was now pulled up in a ponytail, different from first period. She was wearing all black, similar to him.
“Hey,” Bill answered, smiling. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” she answered. He noticed more kids come up behind her, all dressing similar to her. “Can we sit here?” she asked.
“Sure,” Bill answered, watching as they all filled up the table. There were mainly girls, all with heavy makeup and dark clothing. Some of them, like Rosalie, had piercings and strangely-colored hair.
“So, you’re new? “ one of the girls asked as she pulled out her lunch.
Bill nodded. “Yeah, I just moved from a small town not too far from here,” he answered, sipping his soda.
“That’s cool,” someone answered.
Bill laughed. “Not really, it was so boring!” he said as the others laughed too. The conversation then switched from small talk to friendly conversation.
The girls he had talked to - Nora, Sara, Zi, and Rosalie - were all very nice, but more on the quiet side, Bill noticed. He liked that. So many kids were loud and outspoken, and it was refreshing to talk to some people who were actually polite to their friends. There were two guys in the group, also, both with long bangs that covered half of their faces. One of them had an eyebrow piercing like Bill.
These kids seemed to be more alternative, Bill noticed. They had probably approached him based on his looks, which were similar to his in some aspects, but not in others. Bill thought their style was cool, but he liked to stand out in his own, personal way.
Soon the bell rang, and kids reluctantly started standing up and leaving the cafeteria.
“Hey, what afternoon classes do you have?” one of the girls, Nora, asked.
Bill glanced at his schedule. “Um... Biology and double-History,” he answered.
“Oh, cool, I have the same History class,” he said, smiling. “I’ll see you there, then.”
“Yeah, bye,” Bill answered with a smile and wave as everyone separated, looking for their next class. Bill smiled to himself. He had already made new friends, and he liked them. Bill wasn’t the dependent type, and he didn’t need people around him all the time like others, but it was nice to have some people to talk to.
‘Okay... room 311...’ he thought as he climbed up the stairs to the third floor.
---
After his last class, Bill waved goodbye to Nora, whom he had sat with, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed his mom’s number as he was swept by the crowd to the big double doors that were the exit to the school.
“Hello?” his mom’s voice said.
“Hi, Mom, it’s me,” Bill answered, a small smile forming on his lips at the sound of his mom’s voice. “I called, just like you said.”
“Oh, honey! How was your first day?” his mom asked worriedly.
“It was good, I told you not to worry,” he laughed as he stepped through the doors into the sunlight. He was on the stairs, looking happily at the nice sky and excited students.
“So you made some friends? How are your classes?” his mom asked, and Bill could imagine her at work, dropping whatever she had been doing and biting her nails nervously.
“My classes are fine, same as before. And, yeah, I made some friends,” he continued. “They’re cool.”
“Aw, honey, I’m so glad to hear that! I knew you would make friends, you’re such a sunny boy. You’ll have to tell me all about it when I get home, okay?” she said, voice suddenly happier. “I’ve got a lot of work to do here.”
Bill laughed. ‘Sunny boy...?’
“Don’t worry about it, Mom, I’ll talk to you later,” he said.
“Alright, bye, honey!” she said.
Bill hung up and tucked his phone back in his jeans pocket. He started walking down the pavement, taking the walk home.
It had been a good day, but he was tired, and couldn’t wait to lie down in his bed.
CHAPTER TWO
“Hey, this is actually really good, you were right,” Bill said as he nodded in approval.
“I told you so!” Rosalie laughed as she leafed through more CDs.
They were at the music shop, a place Rosalie and her friends had shown Bill within the week of his arrival. It was a favorite hangout spot of their’s, and it was soon becoming one of Bill’s, too. This was the second weekend Bill had lived in his small new town, and he was glad he had new friends to show him around.
“Are you going to buy it?” she asked as she found nothing of interest at her shelf.
“Hm... I don’t know. My mom’s been giving me more money recently, I guess to apologize about the move, but I don’t want to take advantage of her...” he said, trailing off. He probably sounded stupid, but it was true. He hated being called a mama’s boy, but he hated seeing her sad.
“Aw, that’s so nice,” Rosalie said, face breaking into a grin. “Most guys don’t think that much about their mom’s feelings.”
Bill blushed. ‘Yeah... well, most guys haven’t spent as much time with their moms as I had to...’ he thought sadly to himself.
“Well, whatever, you can always borrow my copy,” Rosalie suggested shyly, looking down slightly.
Bill smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yep!”
Bill couldn’t help but notice the blush that crept along Rosalie’s face. He wasn’t sure what else to say, and was glad when Nora and Zi interrupted them.
“Hey, guys. Find anything good?” Nora asked.
Bill nodded. “Yeah, Rosalie introduced me to that band of her’s...’
They laughed. “You mean, Tortured Souls or something? She’s obsessed with them!’ they giggled.
Rosalie threw flustered looks at them. “Shut up!” she said, though in a light-hearted manner.
They all laughed, and decided it was getting late. They exited the shop, where the sky was already getting dark.
“‘Bye, guys!’ Bill said, waving the three girls off at the little road leading to his house. They exchanged goodbyes, Rosalie even gave him a hug, and walked off into the distance.
Bill walked down the road, feeling good. He was really enjoying his new friends. He glanced at the time on his phone; six thirty. He quickened his pace, not wanting to be too late, or his mom would worry, like she always was about him.
“Mom, I’m home!” Bill announced, walking through the front door.
“Hi, sweetie!” she called from further inside. “Dinner’s ready!”
Bill pulled off his black coat and walked into the kitchen, where his mom was already sitting. “Am I late?” he asked, hoping she hadn’t been eating by herself.
“Nope, you’re right on time,” she said happily. “Did you have fun with your friends?” she asked, smile seeming to brighten around the word “friends”.
“Yeah, I did,” Bill answered, sitting down next to her.
“Any girls you might like?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “I heard one of them on the phone - she sounded like a girl.”
Bill blushed as he immediatly thought of Rosalie and how much she seemed to like him. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but there were moments where she blushed or became suddenly shy. Is that what girls did when they liked someone? Bill didn’t have much experience with girls.
“Um... I don’t know...” Bill answered vaguely, stuffing pasta in his mouth. He hoped she would drop it.
Bill was soon finished with his dinner, and rose to put his dish in the sink.
“I’m going to finish some homework, okay?” he said. It was Sunday night and he still had some math problems to do.
“Okay, honey. Don’t go to bed too late,” she answered.
“Don’t worry,” Bill said with a smile. He seemed to be saying that a lot lately.
He entered his room and collapsed on his bed, which was covered by a black blanket, CDs and homework. He sighed and picked up his math book.
He had been going to his new school for only two weeks, and he was already falling behind in Algebra. Like usual.
---
Bill arrived for English, his first class of the day, on time for once. He slipped into his usual seat, pulling out a notebook and pencil he doubted he’d use. He glanced at the desk next to him - empty. Rosalie usually sat there.
“Hey!” a girl greeted as she slid into Rosalie’s seat. “I’m Erica. What’s up?” she said energetically.
Bill smiled at her, hoping Rosalie wouldn’t be mad if she decided to stay in that seat. “Hey, not much,’ he answered. “I’m Bill.”
“I know that,” she giggled. “We rarely get new students, so lots of people know you.’
“Oh, really?” he said, suddenly self-conscious.
She laughed at his reaction. “Don’t worry - no one’s saying anything bad,” she said.
He joined in her laughing, but was hushed as the teacher began the lesson. The girl, Erica pulled out her school work and started taking notes. Out of the corner of his eye, Bill could see Rosalie standing in the doorway, late, and staring for a moment at the seat Erica was currently occupying. She shrugged, although her expression was suspicious, and searched for another seat.
Bill felt a little bad, although it occurred to him that he shouldn’t be so vain. It wasn’t like Rosalie would be upset if she didn’t get to sit next to him for one class...
His bad thoughts were all cleared by the time he sat nest to Rosalie during lunch, chatting like normal.
“I’ll see you in History!” Nora said as she departed into the crowd. Bill waved and made his way to his own class.
‘Nora must be the nice one’, Bill thought. ‘She’s always so smiley and happy... she reminds me of my own mother’. Bill smiled and chuckled slightly at the thought.
“What’re you smiling at, fag?”
Bill stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to the person who had spoken, a burly looking guy around his age, leaning against the lockers. Bill had seen this type before in his old school: big, athletic, and a jerk.
“What’d you say?” Bill said, making sure there was some venom in his voice.
“Where’d you get your nails, done, girly boy? With your sister?” he continued, laughing.
“...Just shut the fuck up,” Bill responded, turning back towards the crowd, intending to walk past him.
“And what if I don’t?” the guy said dangerously. Bill stopped and looked at him.
‘This guy...’, he thought. ‘He’s just messing around with me, he doesn’t really care.”
Bill threw one hand in front of him and pushed roughly at the guy’s chest so that he slammed into the lockers behind him. “That’ll happen,” he muttered, glaring.
The guy looked so shocked, he didn’t say anything. He clearly had not been expecting that. Bill’s heart suddenly started racing, realizing what he’d just done. He backed away and walked down the hall, pace quicker than usual.
Bill looked straight ahead as he walked. He was, of course, used to people making fun of his appearance. However, that was back at his old school, where he had to face comments like that every day. He hadn’t been called a “fag” or anything since he’d moved to this town, so the boy had struck him by surprise.
‘I guess I had been reminded of last year...’, Bill thought sadly. ‘And I just reacted strongly. Last year was... rough...’
Bill forced the thought from his mind, the memory too sad, as he entered his Biology classroom. He busied himself in his work, concentrating as hard as he could to think of something else. He felt better during History, as he talked to Nora and doodled in his notebook.
‘Everything seems back to normal...’ Bill thought as he packed his stuff back into his bag at the end of class. He and Nora walked to the front doors and stepped outside into the fresh air.
He instantly regretted that thought as he glanced over to see the same guy who had given him a hard time sitting on the stairs with his gang, glaring at him.
‘Shit... Maybe I should - ‘
His thought was interrupted as he felt something grab onto his tattooed arm.
“Bill! I heard what happened!’ Erica exclaimed as she held his arm. “That Jackson is such a jerk, don’t pay any attention to him,” she said.
“Oh.. Okay..” Bill muttered, surprised.
Nora frowned. “Bill, what happened?” she asked.
“Um, it’s nothing. I don’t know what the big deal is, really,” Bill answered, daring to glance over at the guy who was called Jackson.
“Bill stood up to Jackson! No one ever does that. Bill is officially badass!” Erica laughed, although he could tell that she meant it.
Nora looked up at Bill with admiration.
He felt like laughing bitterly. It wasn’t like Bill had known that Jackson was feared. If it had been anyone else, no one would have given a damn.
‘I guess I’m just lucky like that...’ he thought with a smirk.
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone staring at him. But as he tried to look closer, all he saw was a bundle of dreadlocks turning the corner.
CHAPTER THREE
Ever since his encounter with Jackson, Bill had succumbed to Erica’s constant cheering of how “badass” he was.
‘Even if it really isn’t true...’ Bill thought with a sigh.
“Phew, that math test was hard, huh?” Erica asked as she leaned over from her desk to see Bill’s grade.
Bill sighed at his test, covered in red marks, and showed it to Erica.
“A D+? Oh, um... well, don’t worry about it, it’s your first test here, they’ll let you off easy,” Erica said reassuringly, thought Bill just laughed. He wasn’t exactly a straight A student.
The class was dismissed as the lunch bell rang, and everyone stood up hastily, stuffing their tests in their bags. Bill was an exception, however, as he crumbled his paper up and threw it in the trash bin.
“You must get that signed, Mr. Kaulitz!” his teacher said with a fierce gaze. Bill rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. He didn’t really care.
Erica seemed to think that made him even more “badass”, and she said so as they made their way to the cafeteria.
“Hey, Bill, want to sit with me and my friends today?” she asked him with a friendly smile.
“Oh, um...” Bill glanced at his usual table, where Rosalie and Nora were already sitting.
‘Well, it can’t hurt to sit next to somebody else for once’, Bill thought. ‘And Erica’s being really nice to me, I shouldn’t say no.’
“Sure,” he answered Erica, smiling his slightly crooked smile.
She beamed and led him to another, bigger table, where lots of people were already sitting. She sat down next to a boy with cropped brown hair, pulling Bill down into the seat beside her. She kissed the boy on the cheek, and Bill guessed that she was his girlfriend.
“Hey, guys! Bill is going to be sitting with us today,” she announced.
Bill blushed slightly as everyone turned their eyes on him, but kept his head high. “Hey...” he said.
They returned his greeting, some people even smiled, and pulled out their lunches. Bill pulled out a sandwich and a can of juice. He had made his own lunch today, not wanting to make his mom late for work. He took a bite, and with a wrinkled nose, inwardly agreed that his mom made much better turkey sandwiches.
He swallowed and heard someone giggle.
“You eat really cute,” one of the girls noticed.
Bill laughed, a small blush creeping along his sharp features. “Really? That’s interesting...,” he responded.
Everyone laughed, but something caught Bill’s eye. A few tables away, Rosalie was looking at him questioningly. Bill mouthed the words “sorry” and “I’ll eat with you tomorrow, I promise!” to her. She gave him a smile, although it was the smallest she’d given him yet, and went back to her lunch.
Bill felt a little bad about that, but he was distracted by the laughing people he was sitting with. They were a lot different from his other friends, very loud and joking, unafraid to say anything.
“Hey... why are those kids all alone?” Bill asked Erica as he gazed across the room. There were several small tables, spread across the cafeteria, each with one kid eating alone, never looking up from their food.
“Um... I don’t know... maybe they’re losers,” Erica answered him, no apology in her voice.
Bill was surprised at her tone. “But they look so lonely,” he continued. He could only remember the times he had to eat all alone, and he shuddered. “Let’s go say hi to them.”
Erica looked at him, surprised. “What good would that do? If anything, they’ll just be embarrassed,” she said.
“No, I doubt that. I think they’d be happy,” he said, standing up. “There are only five minutes left of lunch. Please?” he asked her, giving her the most sincere look he could muster.
Erica sighed and gave in. “Okay, okay,” he said, standing up. “Guys, we’ll be right back!” she told the others.
She and Bill wove through the tables, finally stopping at one kid who was all alone.
“Hey,” Bill said. The kid, a boy with huge glasses slipping down his nose, looked up in surprise.
“Um... hi...” he murmured, face suddenly red as he looked at Erica in her short miniskirt.
“Can we sit here?” Erica asked, though with not much enthusiasm.
“Oh, um... sure,” the boy responded, sitting up straight and fixing his glasses. Bill and Erica sat down across from him, putting on friendly faces.
“So... what’s up?” Bill asked the kid.
“N-nothing...” he answered, looking down at his lap.
“What’s your name?” Bill prodded further, guessing this boy was not very good at conversing.
“Adam,” he answered simply. Bill saw him take a deep breath, mustering up courage. “I’m Adam Reese, class 11A5, pleased to meet you.’
Erica raised an eyebrow, but Bill just chuckled. “Pleased to meet you,” Bill answered. “I’m Bill, and this is Erica,” he said, gesturing to the two.
“H-h-hi, Erica...” Adam mumbled, blushing harder.
“Hi, Adam,” Erica answered, gritting her teeth.
Bill could tell this Adam was loosening up, and he wanted to talk further with him, but the bell rang, signaling their next class.
“Oh, well, bye, Adam,” Bill said, standing up with Erica. “Maybe we’ll see you later.’
“Yeah,” Adam answered with a huge grin. “Yeah, later.’
Erica waved as she left with Bill to get their stuff and move on to the next class of the day, suppressing huge amounts of laughter.
“Aw, c’mon, Erica, it wasn’t that bad,” Bill joked, elbowing her gently.
The two giggled as they made their way through the crowd.
---
Bill had a smile on his face as he stepped out of his school and onto the stairs. He bid Nora goodbye and turned to walk his way down the block when a hand stopped him.
“Hey, Bill!” a girl, Anne, said. She was one of Erica’s friends, the one who had called his eating cute.
“Hey, Anne,” Bill said with a bigger smile. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. Me and everyone are going to go hang out at the park. You want to come?” she asked, pointing to the group Bill had eaten lunch with, standing on the stairs.
“Sure, that sounds fun,” Bill said. Anne smiled and led him to the rest of her group. They all chatted about their days, excited that school was finally out.
“Hey, you’re Bill, right?” one of the guys asked him as he approached.
“Yeah,” Bill answered.
The guy chuckled. “Congrats on facing off Jackson,” he said, clapping Bill on the back. Bill hunched down a bit at the force, realizing this guy was much more muscular than him.
“Heh, it was nothing...” Bill said.
“Sure, sure,” the guy grinned. “I’m Brent,” he said. “Welcome to our group.”
“Thanks,” Bill answered, smiling big.