《A Quiet New》 Chapter 1 (Tobias Frost) Hello there! My name is Tobias. Most people call me Tobi. I am 15 years old and going into sophomore year in a month. I just moved into this area ¨C er ¨C well, town, I guess? There aren''t many houses around here. It''s mostly just forest and roads. There are some barns and houses around. There are a lot of horses, which I love. I moved over here because my father got a new job. He gave me the option to stay with my mom, so I could stay in the same school, but I didn''t want to stay. Let''s just say I was bullied in the other school for reasons I don''t want to say. Of course, I would love to live with my mom, but that school is just not worth it. Unfortunately, moving in with my father means that I''m not going to be able to see my mother as much as before. My schedule is currently: I''m fine with it, though, it''s doable. There is one thing that is not doable, though, and that is not being able to see my only friend. My best friend, also known as Quince. Man, how do I love his name, it''s the absolute best, like having Quince as his first name and Titus as their second ¨C ugh ¨C it''s too good. Anyway, Quince and I have been friends since we were both 2, we did everything together. When I say everything, I mean. Every. Little. Thing. We used to take baths together¡­ with swimsuits. What were you thinking? He would help me out when things were tough, and trust me, they were tough, real tough. I also helped her with anything they needed. When I told him that I was moving, things got emotional. Both of us were crying, not being able to get a single word out. We spent the whole day at his house cuddling on their bed. Don''t ask any questions. For the rest of the week, we spent every day and night with each other. Mostly at his house, because it was a bit complicated going to mine. We would go to movie theaters and just walk around the neighborhood. When it came to the day that I actually had to leave, it was way worse than when I announced it. Quince broke down crying, begging for me to stay. Of course, I wanted to stay a bit, but at the same time it''s for my well-being. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Tobi, I don''t want you to go!¡± between each word, Quince took a deep breath. She clung tight to me, not wanting to let go. I felt so bad having to leave them behind. It felt like a way of leaving a huge part of me behind, and I know that she could feel the same way. They have some other friends that will help them with everything. ¡°I''m sorry, Quince.¡± I hugged back, not wanting to let go either. I''ve got to remember that we''ll be able to meet up every weekend. This is all for my health, so I cannot go back on it. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too¡­¡± Don''t get me wrong, I know that he''s just saying that because I''m his best friend, but them saying this to me feels¡­ special¡­ I think that''s the right word. I hope that we¡¯ll be able to stay together till we both leave from this world. ¡°Come on, Tobi, we need to go now.¡± My father called out. I really don''t want to leave anymore. Not being able to see Quince for an entire week. ¡°Alright.¡± I called out as a response, not wanting to be rude. We already packed everything in the car, so now it''s just time for the drive there. ¡°I''m sorry, Quince, but I have to go now.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± Quince definitely sounded disappointed. Like he wanted me to change my mind, but didn''t want to say anything. ¡°See you in a week.¡± I said to try and give myself and them some hope. ¡°See you in a week.¡± We gave each other one last tight hug, then waved goodbye. I got into the car and cried for half the ride. I could tell my dad felt bad about separating both of us, but didn''t want to bother me. I''m kinda glad that he didn''t because I kinda wanted to be by myself. The drive to where we were going was about 2 and a half hours, and I slept most of the way. Chapter 2 (Quince Titus) When I was 2, I moved to this place. The place I would be spending the rest of my young life. My parents became friends with the parents of my first best friend. My childhood friend. His parents were together for most of our friendship. They got divorced when we were 13. Things got a little complicated after that. I hung out with him basically everyday so that his parents could figure stuff out. Sometimes he would even stay at my house for a few days, but after everything got figured out, and they both had different houses, I wasn''t able to see him every day. Of course, I still saw them a lot. They were at their father''s for 3 and a half days and at his mother''s for 3 and a half days. It was split equally. We also went to the same school every day, so I got to see him there. I tried to help him make friends so that he wouldn''t be so lonely when I wasn''t there with him, but he didn''t want to make any friends. Every time I tried to introduce him to someone, they would just look down with their hands in front of him. Of course, all my friends loved him. They thought that he was adorable. An innocent kid, which he was, but he just didn''t want to talk to himself. He definitely just wanted to be by himself all the time. Even when he hung out with just me, he looked a bit annoyed sometimes. Although, I must admit that I was a bit annoying sometimes. The reason why I''m saying all of this is that I''m scared for him. I''m scared that when he finally leaves for that new town with his father, he¡¯ll be lonely. I know that he won''t want to make any friends, and that any person that goes up to him will give up on talking to him. Not only that, but I want him to be happy, and I know that he wants to be alone forever. I really hope that everything will go well and that he won''t get bullied. In the school that we both went to, he got bullied for being openly homosexual. I hated that only he got bullied for it. I was also openly homosexual, but I never got bullied for it. It was probably only because he was a quiet person that didn''t have friends. In their point of view, but of course, he had me as a friend. I helped him out with him, but he didn''t want me to confront them because then he would ¡°become popular¡± as he said. So I respected his decision, but I absolutely hated it. Just standing on the sideline¡­ watching what was happening¡­ without being able to do anything. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Quince!¡± my mother yelled. ¡°Come outside. It''s time for Tobi to go!¡± Tobias and I live next door to each other, so I''m able to say goodbye to him before he goes. The goodbye was really emotional. I was crying, and he was on the verge of crying. He was also an emotional person, although he never liked showing it. He never wanted anyone to worry about him, but here I am, worrying about him. I could tell that he didn''t want to leave me. ¡°Come on, Tobi, we need to go now.¡± His father called out. His facial expressions said that he didn''t want to separate us. He was also like Tobi: quiet, reserved, lovable. He tried to make sure everyone was happy, but didn''t want to talk unless necessary. Like Tobi. ¡°Alright.¡± Tobi said in response. I could hear his voice wavering, like he didn''t want to say goodbye. It made me feel so sad hearing him sad. I was clinging to him, not wanting to let go. He was also clinging onto me, tears starting to come out of his eyes. ¡°See you in a week.¡± I didn''t want to accept the fact that he was leaving now, and I wouldn''t be able to see him everyday like before. But at last, things must come to an end at some point in life. I must accept what is happening and not hold him back. We have each other''s phone numbers, so we¡¯ll be able to talk to each other. ¡°See you in a week.¡± He could definitely hear that I was disappointed in a way. Of course, I don''t want to hold him back, but I can''t help but feel like he''s going to move on without me. When he let go of me and I walked away, he got into the car. I could see that he started to cry right away. It pained me so much to see him cry, but I was also crying. Being separated from your childhood friend hurts really bad. More than it should. Chapter 3 (Tobias Frost) Brrring! Brrring! I wake up to the sound of my alarm. ¡°It''s too early for this.¡± It''s the first day of school and I don''t want to go. Don''t get me wrong, I''m fine with learning new stuff. It''s the people part that I don''t like. A few days ago, we went to the school to get the extra stuff that we needed, such as: In this school, you need to wear a pretty formal uniform, and I don''t mind it. It means I don''t have to wake up every morning and try to find clothes to wear for the day. Doing that for my other school was pretty bothersome. I get up from my bed and head downstairs to eat. I didn''t eat much because I don''t have a huge appetite in the morning. After I was done eating, I went to the bathroom and got washed up. I then put on my clothes and headed downstairs. I had a few more minutes left before I had to leave for school. My father already left for work. Since he teaches at the same school that I''m going to, he has to wake up earlier than me and head out earlier. I''d hate being a teacher, I don''t get how he does it. He is a quiet and reserved person like me, he hates talking to people when he doesn''t have to, so I don''t know why he decided to become a teacher, it involves too much talking. But of course, adults are weird. After a few minutes, I go out the door and towards my bus stop. There weren''t many people at this bus stop, with how many houses are around here I thought it would be a bit more, yes, the houses are spread far apart, but there are a lot of houses. I guess they didn''t want to have people walking that far. Although, with how few people there were, it was still really loud. How come people are so energetic in the morning, I don''t get it. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Bro! Long time no see!¡± Some dude calls out to someone else. Everyone seems really close. I guess that''s what happens if you live in the same neighborhood for a long time. You develop friends. ¡°How have you been?¡± A girl asked another girl. ¡°I''ve been good!¡± The other girl responded. I walked past everyone and went to a quieter space with fewer people. There were 2 other people standing, they appeared to be listening to music or listening to something. They both had headphones in and were leaning up against a wall. I joined in, leaning against the wall, and put my headphones on. The rest of the trip to the school was pretty quiet. For how loud they were outside, I thought it was going to be louder on the bus, but the people here have pretty good manners. The drive to the school was around 20 minutes since we had a few more stops to go to. The school was pretty big, it was 2 stories tall and really wide. Luckily there was only one campus and not 2. At my other school, there were 2, and it was a pain to go from one to the other with the 6-minute passing time we had. In this school, there''s only a 5-minute passing time, but it''s going to be easier to get to my classes. People tried to talk to me while in class, it was annoying not being able to have my personal space. All I did was brush them off, not pay attention to them, I don''t know why they kept on trying. Although they stopped when I turned away from them. Chapter 4 (Kai Glass) Let''s just say, not everyone is cut out for ¡°life,¡± or what we call life. I''ve tried living how people have told me to. I''ve gone to therapy to ¡°live the life I should¡± at least that''s what they said. Before we go there first, I think I should introduce myself, my name is Kai, Kai Glass. I am an aroace non-binary person. I live in a quiet neighborhood with a loving family, although, my dad is normally out on business trips and my mom is pretty busy. The reason I ended up here, like this, is that I was shut out of people''s lives, people acted like I wasn''t near them and when I did try to talk to them, they gave me a disgusted look and told me to go off myself. Ever since 2nd grade, I''ve given up on trying to become people''s friends. When I do try to become someone''s friend, it''s already too late. The yearly rumor went around, and no one wanted to be my friend. If you''re wondering what the rumor is, I couldn''t tell you, I have no idea myself. Every year it changes to something different. The only reason everyone believes the rumors is that they are friends with the popular kids and don''t want to get associated with an outsider. Due to this, I was bullied from a young age, and it''s never let up to this day. The bullying got to a point where I just wanted to die. I wanted to die no matter what the costs. My parents got me to start therapy because they were worried about me. I went to say therapy sessions because I didn''t want them to worry about them. It didn''t stop me from wanting to kill myself. I decided this year on October 23rd I''d finally do it. It was only a few days after my 17th birthday and both of my parents would be gone. I have already ripped off the last 2 months of my calendar and was just waiting for the day to hit. I started to work because I didn''t want to leave my parents with nothing in the end. Not only that, but I wanted to give them something that would help them out with anything they needed, not like they needed money, but it was the only thing that I could offer. I was set on this being the end, and I didn''t want anyone or anything to change that. And so, I made everyone hate me even more, so they wouldn''t want to talk to me. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Buzzzz! Buzzzzz! My phone started buzzing on the other side of my bed. I hadn''t gotten up at all today. It was 2:30 in the afternoon at this point. My mother was calling to check in on me. I eventually found my phone somewhere on my bed and answered it. ¡°Hey Honey, how are you?¡± My mother asked as I picked up the phone. ¡°I''m good,¡± I answer. ¡°Your father and I are going to come back home today, make sure to eat.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Have a good day!¡± ¡°You too mom.¡± Our conversations may seem a bit dry, but I don''t quite like talking on the phone. The reason my parents are coming home tonight is that I''m starting my first day of school tomorrow. First day of junior year. Luckily because everyone has friends now no one will bother me. Well, except the people that just moved to this school, but there aren''t many of those. Hopefully, this will be one year that I will actually have peace and quiet. Chapter 5 (Quince Titus) It''s been 3 days since Tobi left. It''s been as quiet as before he left. I forced him to call me about 10 times over these 3 days. He is still not talkative. I asked about how school was; he hates it. I''ve tried to tell him to make friends with other people, but he refuses. He hates talking to other people, even if he''s forced to. The most he will do is acknowledge them. I''ve got to school again. It''s boring without Tobi. Yes, I do have other friends, and yes, I do hang out with them. But it''s different, Tobi would always be there with me while I was talking to my friends because he hated leaving my side. Whenever I''m talking with my friends now, I always ask ¡°Tobi¡± to come with me when I leave, but when I turn around, I realize that he''s not actually here. I hate not having him here, but I can''t admit that to him. Not now, not ever. I don''t want to guilt-trip him into coming back and living with his mom, only for him to get bullied again. I guess ill just have to live with him not being here every school day. I walk out the door and wait at my bus stop. I know the people at my bus stop, but I''ve grown a habit to wear my headphones now. I used to wait for Tobi at his door, and we would walk to the bus, but since he left, I would just listen to music. Whenever anyone tried to talk to me while I was on the bus, I would just ignore them. After a while, they figured out that I didn''t want to talk to anyone in the mornings. I mean it''s normal for me to ignore people when Tobias was here but back then I would acknowledge them, now I just look at the ground until the bus gets here. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. At 8:15 my bus gets here. About time, it''s 5 minutes late. I wait for everyone else to get on the bus, then I get on the bus. I hate fighting through the crowd, so, I just wait for everybody to get on. I pick seat 4 cause that''s where Tobi and I would always sit. It feels like hours until I''m finally at school. I walk straight to my class because the class is about to begin. ¡°Yoooo, Titus is finally here!¡± One of my classmates says loudly. I cover my ears, not ready for someone screaming. Most of my classmates have grown to call me Titus; my last name; because Tobi used to call me that in front of people when we were younger. He''s always said Titus up until we were 12. I told him that he could call me Quince. He hated the idea, but went with it. Even now, he sometimes calls me Titus. He normally calls me Titus when we haven''t seen each other, and he''s missing me, or when he''s jealous. He doesn''t realize he does it, but I do. I think it''s cute that he doesn''t know he does it. ¡°Everyone, sit down, class is starting!¡± My teacher calls out. I head over to my seat and get ready for the lesson.