Needless to say Allen had a very hard time adjusting at Woodbridge High. He was impatient, nervous and in short felt completely out of place. Allen knew what freedom of expression was, but up-until now he did not know its true meaning. Allen called up his old pals to see what they were doing and how they were coping. Allen’s old pals were nearly all brilliant students and he knew that each one of them was destined for greatness. He was proud of his pals. Maybe they were a bit uncouth and lacked the sophistication; but what they lacked in their outwardly appearance they more than made up that with their combined geniuses. Allen wasn’t ready to let go. He was still mentally not at Woodbridge high. His weekend plans still consisted of meeting up with his old pals and reliving their now glorious intellectual past.
Torn as Allen was between his past and the present, there was no denying that he found life at Woodbridge strangely fascinating. He knew well that these were the last years of his life at school and was determined to make the most of the time he had left. He had made it a point to regain his lost teenage life in just 2 years. In order to execute this plan he befriended a guy named Robin Brandon. Robin was from his previous school, but Allen was sure that he had not spoken to Robin not more than twice in the last four years. Robin and Allen stuck instant friendship and shared a good rapport. Both of them despised of the Woodbridge High traditions and way of life. But there was a difference, Robin considered himself to be liberated when he came to Woodbridge, whereas Allen viewed this freedom with disdain and suspicion.
Robin in essence was your typical nice guy. He was an above average student with a strong sense of morality and values. But, as much as he was a great guy Robin lacked self-esteem and the belief in his own self. This worked out for Allen since Robin was the sidekick he was looking for. Initially Robin did associate himself with the Sam Gianni gang and was at a point of time very close to his minions. This was in direct conflict with Allen, who left no opportunity to remind Robin that this was undesirable and often asked proof of his allegiance to Allen’s crusade against the world.
Teenage hormones are a tricky thing it’s like driving a new car with the Accelerator acting up now and then. As mature as Allen was he was not immune to these unpredictable surges. He’d generally oscillate from the depths of the darkest depression to the incredible highs of ecstasy. One might be lead to think all these mind boggling mood swings would cause anyone to lead a confused and tormented life. But to an average teenager this is what life means at a High School. No wonder so-many teenagers listen to sad songs and crooners are millionaires. While we are dwelling on the subject of music; it would be fair point out that Allen was a novice and just as every novice he did not know what good music was. He’d hum songs from the boy bands and then embarrass himself with some cheesy folk song at every party he opted to DJ.
Allen was settling into life at Woodbridge, he now had a close circle of friends in his class. He had also met a great guy- Viktor Alan. Now Viktor was a class act. To say he was intelligent would be an understatement. His brain was like the “Venus flytrap”, he had the uncanny ability to reproduce exactly the same text from any of the books he read- complete with punctuation, alignment and page numbers. To Allen, Viktor seemed like a credible threat to his ambitions of becoming the class resident Geek. But unlike Allen, Viktor had an active social life. He was even involved with a petite brunette called Kylee. Viktor had it all, he was a brilliant student was the darling of the teachers and never said or did anything which was politically incorrect. Allen always believed that Viktor could do well as an International Diplomat and could get Bush and Osama to discuss peace.
Viktor and Neal were best friends; they went on double dates and supported each other through their respective teenage romantic upheavals. Rachael was like a sister to Viktor, they had known each other before Neal and Rachael were an item. Viktor had helped both of them through their tiffs and issues.
Part of Woodbridge’s charm was its club like atmosphere. Everyone knew everyone and everyone was a member of a clique. These cliques were often amicable with each other but often fought with each other too.
Allen was in no clique. He did have links to the Sam Gianni’s group, but he was not one of his minions or the groupies. He liked to think of his life as the Green Day song ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams”- he walked alone. But in reality he was in a clique- a clique in which everyone who did not belong anywhere belonged to.
Over the course of the first few days Neal and Allen had become best of pals. They shared the same passions- Technology and Computers. Neal was a veteran when it came to computers; he had some technical skills too. Allen on the other hand was just a newbie. Both of them could discuss at length the merits of the latest OS from Microsoft and shared a very good rapport.
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