Dear journal,
today is our new start as a family. We have successfully moved into our new house in a small town called Arlington, Texas. Stephanie and my dad let me choose the room I wanted, but I felt bad so I took the small room anyway. I'm not sure how much I'll write once school starts again, but hopefully I'll make time for it.
-M

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I liked waffles, not pancakes. She couldn't seem to get that through her head. Everyday she asked me which ones I preferred, and everyday I answered with "waffles", not damn pancakes. I picked at the soggy pancake with a fork, watching it squish into the fork. I shook my head. I wanted to start my first day back to school with waffles. Now I have to settle with pancakes. I silently groaned.

"What's wrong, honey?" Stephanie asks. I looked to her, annoyed. Honey. What gave her the right to call me that? She was not my mother, and she never will be. She should only call me by my name. "Do you not like your breakfast? I can make some eggs instead-"

"It's fine," I interrupt. I stand up, pushing the plate away. I swing my backpack across my back and grab my phone. "Can I take the keys to school?" Stephanie nods slowly. I grabbed the keys and headed out, hopping in the car and driving to the school that was only five minutes away.

I arrived shortly, the school was very small. I wasn't shocked, since the town was so simple and tiny, it made sense that the school would also be limited. I found a parking spot, and I forced myself out of the car. The Dean had sent me a schedule on my email, and the teachers were expecting me. The only problem is that I would have to find the rooms myself.

I walked into the halls, looking on the email where it told me my locker number and combination. Luckily, the lockers were simple to find. I found the number 338 easily, entering the combination and emptying my backpack, only leaving the things I needed for my first period, History.

I had Ms. Eller in room 8-204. The email said that the first number was the building, the second was the floor, and the last two were the actual room number. My locker was in building 8, so all I had to do was go upstairs and find room four, which shouldn't be so hard.

As I thought, I found the room quickly and waited outside, waiting for the bell. I was getting looks from all sorts of people. The school was so small, everyone must've knew everyone. I was the new kid that nobody knew about, of course I'd be stared down.

The bell rang only a few minutes later, and I waited a few minutes to enter so I wouldn't be the first one. I awkwardly stood at the front of the room as students took seats where they were supposed to. Ms. Eller walked up and put a hand on my shoulder, the other reaching out to shake my hand.

"Hi!" She says happily. "I'm Ms. Eller, and you're Mitchell?" She asks. I nod. "Okay, there is a seat right over there by Alex Kirk," she says and points to a boy. "Alex, raise your hand!" She calls out. A blonde boy, gorgeous too, flicked his hand into the air. I put my stuff on the ground and took the seat right by the boy, Alex.

I felt his eyes on me. They scanned over my body and I could tell he was intrigued at the concept of a new kid being here. I tried to avoid eye contact and stay focused on what the teacher was doing, but she hadn't started her lesson.

"Why is someone like you in such a small town?" He asks when he finally spoke. His southern accent was pure, innocent sounding. A lot of people had a southern accent. It wasn't  extreme or anything, but it was there.

"Huh?" I mumble, looking over at his taller frame. He smirked at me and than pointed at my shirt.

"Look at those clothes on ya'," he says. "That looks expensive, where'd you come from?" He asks. I felt awkward, it was my first day here and a hot guy was already questioning me.

"West Hollywood," I answer. "I just moved here," I explain. He nods.

"I could tell, your northern accent gave it away," he says. I had an accent? I couldn't tell. "What brings a family of city people down to the south suburbs?" I shrug.

"My dad wanted to leave. He wanted a change, I guess," I answer.

"A change?" He questions. "With them clothes, it looks like y'all were high in the money department," he says with a chuckle. "Whatever, it's none of my business. Welcome to Arlington." I smile.

"Thank you," I blushed slightly. "Is everyone as welcoming as you?" I ask. He snorted a laugh.

"Absolutely not," he says with a chuckle. "Most people are accepting at Martin High, but in Arlington, there's a lot of judgement and such," he explains. "Unless you're straight, white, and a male, you're judged," he shakes his head. "You've filled two of the three slots, so what about the third?"

"The third?" I thought about it for a second. White? Check. Male? Check. Straight? Oh. Was I that obvious, did everyone's gaydar go off when they saw me. "Oh, yeah, uh-"

"Don't stress, I could tell the second I started talking to you," he chuckles, and I felt relieved. "Your parents know?" I tensed a little.

"My mom does, not my dad." I answer. "I won't tell my dad," I finish.

"I understand," he says. "Gay ain't accepted that much in our area, I wouldn't be shocked if it was the same in yours."

"They were accepted in Hollywood, I just don't know how my dad would react," I answer. He nods and looks at Ms. Eller when she began speaking. She started spewing off about a topic that I had already learned at my old school. Thank god they were behind or I'd be so lost.

"Well," Alex whispers. "I hope you like Arlington," he smiles before we both started to pay attention to the lesson.

I was extremely grateful that Alex was so nice to me. I was scared he'd be mean, or ignorant, or judgmental, but I found myself being able to talk to him easily. It took only a five minute conversation for him to know that I'm gay, that I'm not out to my dad, and that moved from Hollywood. At this rate, he'd know everything about me in a week! That's if we keep talking, and I hope we do. He seems like a good person to be friends with, a good influence.

I could really get used to the little southern charm around this area. So far, living down south wasn't a bad experience, and I hoped it never was.