The raindrops hit the windshield with a steady pace, and the blue dragon watched with a dismal expression as the wipers of his father's car cleared the view over and over again. He watched the multitude of trees pass by along the road, every so often interrupted by a clearing with a home or some other type of building. Giving a sigh, he rested his head against his hand, which was rested against the passenger door.

"So, son, are you, umm, excited for your first day at Cedarwood High?"

The blue dragon turned to his crimson-scaled father and gave a sigh before answering, "I just wanna get it over with, really."

The older dragon understood his son's frustration, and reached over to give the younger blue dragon's shoulder a reassuring pat, "I know it sucks, Michael. I feel bad that it's your senior year, too, and if I could have helped moving, I would have."

Michael turned to his dad and gave a half-smile, "I know Dad, I know. I'm not blaming you, it's just, everything seems to have gone cruddy since the divorce."

The crimson dragon nodded, "I wish things would have worked out better with your mother--"

The blue dragon stopped his father, "Dad, I promise, I'm not upset. I know things weren't going to work out with her, don't beat yourself up."

His father took a deep breath, "I know son, there were just a lot of things she said that really upset me. Especially the stuff about you."

Shaking his head with a smile, Michael replied, "Oh Dad, people like her will never understand, it's sad to say."

Reaching over to give his son another reassuring pat on the shoulder, the blue dragon's father smiled and continued their conversation, "Well son, I want to make sure you always know that you being gay doesn't bother me one bit, and I'll always support you."

Michael gave another grin in return, "Thanks Dad." He looked out of the window as his father pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the high school, "Well, let's hope this goes well." He grabbed his backpack from the back seat and stepped out of the car.

"Good luck son, and I'll see you after I get off of work."

"Have a good day Dad, and thanks."

Turning around and taking a deep breath, Michael looked up to see the worn metal letters across a section of the front of the building that read "Cedarwood Area High School." He looked down to the ground for a moment or two to mentally prepare himself, and then he made the walk to the front door. Upon entering, the transition from suburban to mountain life was apparent; the building looked like it belonged in the 1960s. The walls were half brick and half plaster, and he could see a few arbitrary cracks strewn about. The bricks were coated wit a glossy, faded-brown paint, and the plaster was a cotton-white. The only reminders that he did indeed live in the twenty-first century were the clothes the other dragons were wearing and the fact that many of them were using their smartphones.

He reached into his pocket to find his class schedule so that he knew where his homeroom was, but was met with only his wallet.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered to himself, and gave a disgusted sigh as he turned to walk toward the office to obtain another copy.

He was met with the secretary on the phone, so he turned away to roll his eyes, and took a seat in between a potted fern and a red-scaled dragon that did not appear to be much younger than him. Michael yawned, and rested his head back against the wall to relax for the few moments he had before the beginning of the school year. He reached into his other pocket to pull out his smartphone and began to look at pictures of he and his friends from his previous high school.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before."

Michael shook his head and looked up, surprised, and found that the source of that statement was the red dragon sitting beside him.

"Oh, uh, no, you haven't. I just moved here from Centervale."

The red nodded and smiled, "New guy huh? What are you, a junior?"

Michael shook his head, "Nah, I'm a senior, actually."

"Damn, moving senior year? That's gotta suck."

The blue chuckled and yawned, "Yeah, it's a long story, actually. Parents got divorced and I decided to go with dad. Mom's a bit nuts."

The red nodded, "Sorry to hear that, man. My aunt and uncle got divorced last year and it really took a toll on my cousins." He reached his hand out to shake, "My name's Kris, by the way."

Michael nodded and shook his hand in return, "Nice to meet you, I'm Michael. By the way, what year are you?"

Kris stretched in his seat, "I'm a senior too. I'm here 'cause I forgot my schedule. Probably not the best way to start out the new year," he chuckled.

Michael grinned, "That's why I'm here, too. Hell, I move to a new town, go to a new school and forget my schedule. That can't be a good sign."

The two laughed lightly before the secretary finally ended her phone call and called them up to the desk.

"Sorry to call you both up at the same time, but classes start in a few minutes. I assume you've forgotten your schedules?"

Kris gave her a nod, "Yeah, we did. I'm Kris Ortega and this is Michael--sorry, what's your last name?"

Michael chuckled and looked to the secretary, "I'm Michael Everett."

The green-scaled secretary at the desk quickly looked up their profiles and printed each of them a copy of their respective schedules, and the two dragons expressed their gratitude and stepped back outside into the hallway. Upon looking to see what homerooms they had been assigned to, they discovered that they were headed to the same place.

"So, you don't know anyone at all in Cedarwood? If you don't mind my asking, why did you and your dad move here? Cedarwood, I'm not gonna lie, kinda sucks." Kris continued their conversation as they walked to homeroom together.

Michael nodded and replied, "Well, my dad works for an oil extraction company. They're the ones that own the rig out on the lake about ten miles down the road, and a few weeks after the divorce, they transferred him there."

"Wait, your dad works for Sierra Resources? Ha, go figure, my dad does too. He doesn't work on any rigs, though. He's at the headquarters in Clearfield City--it's about an hour south of here. I really don't know what he does, accounts receivable or something."

Just then Michael wittnessed a black-scaled dragon laughing at a clearly-embarrassed, younger-looking orange one. The intimidated student reached down to pick up some of his belongings that appeared to have been knocked on the ground, and he took off quickly, in the opposite direction of the domineering black dragon.

He yelled out to the orange dragon, "Still into that weird anime crap, huh Jackson?" The black chuckled along with some other dragons, and they started walking down the hallway.

Michael shook his head, "What a jackass."

Kris nodded, "That would be Paul. He's a senior like us, and also one of the biggest dicks in the school. Unfortunately, he's part of the popular crowd, but us typical dragons really don't like him. He is and always will be your classic, stereotypical judgemental jock asshole." Kris watched as Paul and his friends walked into one of the classrooms down the hall, and gave a disgruntled sigh, "And it looks like he's part of our homeroom too."

Giving a shrug, Michael looked to Kris, "Eh, I've had to deal with assholes like him before, back at Centervale High. What I've found is that it's best not to say anything and keep walking. You gotta be comfortable with who you are, and when you do that, jerks like him don't bother you anymore. Believe me, I've been harassed many times."

Kris gave him a quizzical look, "Really? I know we haven't known each other that long, but you seem like a pretty nice guy. What could people have harassed you for? I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

Michael shook his head, "Nah, I don't mind. I'll just come right out and say it--I'm gay."

The red dragon's eyes widened and he smiled lightly, but then he cleared his throat and continued their conversation, "Well, nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't tell Paul that, though. Cedarwood isn't exactly known for being LGBT-friendly."

The blue dragon gave a light chuckle, and they were nearly to the classroom door, "I'm sure you're not gonna be surprised when I say this, but as soon as Dad and I got here two weeks ago, I figured that out pretty fast."

"Heh, no surprise there," Kris glanced into the classroom and found that the only two seats left were far apart from each other, and, stopping Michael before they entered, he asked him one more question, "Uh, Michael, I know we just met and all, but do you wanna sit with my friends and I at lunch today?"

Surprised by the offer, Michael slowly nodded, and a smile took over his snout, "Yeah, yeah I think I will Kris. Thank you!"

A satisfied smile on his snout now, Kris appeared quite delighted with his response, "Great, I don't know if we have any classes together until lunch or not, but if not, meet me in the lobby after fifth."

"Sounds good!"

The two dragons entered their homeroom, and took their seats as the seven-forty bell rang in the start of their senior year.