Chapter Three

                                    

                                          
Michael
Chapter Three


"Michael!" Emily's voice pierces the quiet hallway of Evergreen Valley High School.
Evergreen Valley High is a college preparatory private school. I'm here on a sports scholarship for basketball, of course, I was also invited to attend here at little to almost no cost. It was almost an honor for me to attend here, or so I overheard from the principal when he was talking to a couple of school administrators during my first day here.
"You have a d-dog?" Ben's voice appears behind me. I take a second to pay attention to Max, who now is sitting quite close to my right leg.
"His name is Max," I open my locker and take out books for subjects I've already brushed up and perfected. I'm not necessarily a jack of all trades, but I do have hidden talents among random subjects.
"Why didn't you tell us that you were getting a service dog?" Emily bent down slightly with her palm out.
"Kushoto kwangu," I order, Max immediately stands up and slowly make his way to my left, ignoring Emily.
"You speak that Lion King thing?" Emily stands straight.
I turn my head over my shoulder and in my clear peripheral, I can see Ben with his eyebrows knitted together.
"Swahili, Em, he's speaking Swahili," Ben shakes his head and looks back at me, I take the liberty to shut my locker once all my things are in order. 
"Whatever," she rolls her eyes, "why does he speak Swahili?"
I begin to walk off, "Njoo," being my only command before hearing his paws tap the ground as he follows behind me. Emily and Ben follow suit.
"So anyone who speaks English can't give him commands," I keep my eyes ahead.
I've been told repeatedly that it's apparently creepy when I don't move my eyes. Most of the time, they are in a constant static state. Only cases where I move my eyes is when others look directly into them, due to poor eye contact skills.
But as I walk down the hallway, I can't help but notice each and every face of students and teachers just as I pass them. Faces that mean absolutely nothing to me, faces of people that know me but I couldn't care about. 
Based on notes I've mentally taken, I've noticed that I am looked up to. The other boys on the basketball look to me for guidance with many situations, both personal and academic. I am the captain of the basketball team, but I've seen how they constantly flow through me.
"Hey, Cap," Robin, a member of the team, passes by me in the hallway. At the last second, I see that he looks down at Max.
"Yo, Captain, you got a dog?" Dean, another member, walks up to me alongside Oliver, who has been disappointing me during practice.
No shit, I have a dog.
"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow.
"No shit, he's got a dog, Dean," Emily walks in front of me and Max, blocking Max from Dean's view.
"Got a problem with that?" she asks and she flinches her fist forward at him. He flinches back a bit before scoffing at her.
"Emily, chill," Ben looks around the hallway. His olive cheeks merging into a crimson red. 
"People are looking," Ben mumbles. 
Two people were looking at her and it was just a quick glance over at Max. That's all it was.
"Chill it, Blondie," Dean and Oliver walk away and I roll my eyes. 
Emily's erratic behavior annoys me on a low level, but nonetheless. I'd prefer someone quieter, someone, like Ben. But she's my friend.