New again...

"New again..." Kayla thought bitterly, as she timidly walked into the crouded class room, and headed to the back were she spotted an empty seat.
Eyes followed her, but the conversation continued.

The day had been long, with endless class's, and hords of new people to meet and polite questions to endure.
But it was the last class, math.

The teacher entered the room carrying an arm full of books and papers. On notising Kayla, a new face, he dropped the papers to the desk, and, after hushing the class, walked towards her.

"Ah, we have a new girl!" He said in his feminine voice "Now whats your name love?" She felt her checks burn, but managed to wisper a replie.

"Karl?" He asked loudly when his hearing failed to decode her soft answer. The class laughed. She was about to correct him when another voice entered the room.

"Hey sir, leave the new girl alone. She's proble shitin' her self on her first day, and you bum her out!" In the door way a boy around fifteen, her age, leaned against the frame, arms crossed, smiling at her as he begane walking through the desks towards her.

"Hey..." He said as he sat down next to her "First day?" Kayla nodded.

"Yeah, unfortunatly" She laughed, relaxing as the class's attention went back to their conversations, ignouring the teacher as he attempted to start the lesson.

"Aw, Im Daymond by the way" He said, holding out his hand.

"Kayla..." She returned. He grined.

"Thought it was Karl!"

"Oh, god, that was so embarrising!" Kayla admitted. They continued to talk, and as they did Kayla studdied the boy in frount of her.
He was very handsom. Broad sholders, long dark hair which he had pulled back into a pony tail, and a killer smile. But the main thing was his eyes. They were a deep brown, almost black, but still, they seemed so warm.

"God...he's gorgouse..." She thought wistfully as he continued to talk.
It seemed only minutes before the bell interupted her dream.
And, Like the rest of the students, he jumped to his feet and began running towards the door, eager to get out of the school. He only tunred quickly to wave goodbye to her.

Shocked by the sudden emptyness she felt by his hasty departure, Kayla sat mosionless for a moment in her seat, only moving after the teacher sternly told her to leave, eager himself to get home to his family.

****************************************************************************

There was some thing about him, some weird forse that made her heart race. Maybe it was that he was so kind. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was some thing more. In one class she had opened up more to him than she had to many people. He drew her to him.

With thoughts confusing her usualy sensable mind, Kayla began the slow walk towards her home.

"Kayla?" Damond called from behind a tree. Startled, Kayla spunn around, then on seeing him, stepped behind the tree were he stood with a cigeret between his fingers.

"you live round here?" He asked, seemingly obliviouse to her serprise.

"Yeah a few blocks that way..." She gestured behind her as he offered her the ciggeret. smiling she shook her head.

"Nah, cant stand that shit"

"sweet as. Well, I live that way to, comon, Ill walk wif yah.." He said as he dropped the the ciggeret to the ground and stamped it out.

"Okay, cool..." Was her replie.
She could think of nothing to say, all she new was she wanted to scream, her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, and he was walking beside her towards her home, which seemed to be the same direction as his.

"How far do you go to get to your place?" He asked after a while.

"not far why?" He shrugged.

"Looks like we live close to each other is all...Im just up here" Pointing to a house sitting in a over grown looking section, Daymond stopped walking and turned to her.

"Yah want to come in for a while?" He asked kindly, housting his bag over his sholder.

"Sure, what are nabours for? I live in that house next to you..." She said, meaning the tall white house, standing proudly with an air of English elagence..

"You live there? Its like a mantion!"

"It was were my grandfather was born, and my mother was brought up. Its special to her so we moved from auckland to Hamilton, just because it went back on the market" He nodded, still looking at the house that seemed so out of place among the goverment house's dotted around it.

"Fuck man...you guys must be rich..." For the first time since she had meet him, Kayla felt uncomfotable around him. She felt like she was now seen as 'higher' than him, till then, they were equals. Now, it seemed different.

"well...it was going pretty cheep..."Again he nodded, this time looking back at her.

"yeah...um...I guess you wont want to come in then..." He asked quitly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nah ill come in...unless you dont want me to..." Serprisingly he smiled.

"Yeah I want you to come in, if you havn't got a problem with mad kids, and a run down dump I like to call home"

"No problem at all!" Kayla laughed, as they began walking up the foot path towards the door.

"Keora Awhina!" (For those of you who have never seen 'once were warriors, 'Keora' means Hello in Maori) Damond said as he picked up the little girl who came running to the door on seeing her brothers arivel.

"Keora D, Guess wha'?"

"What?"

"Im going to camp next week, mama said so!"

"Cool, Awhi. Hey, were is mum?" Putting his sister down, he lead Kayla down the hall, and into the living room.

"Mum?" The living rooms curtains were drawn, making the room vertualy pitch black, but from the darkness came a husky voice.

"You home eh boy?"

"Yeah ma, just now. Hey, is it alright if my mate stays for a little while? She's new, and she lives next door, so..."

"She? Your mates a she? Crist boy, for gods sake dont go fucking her and getting her pregnent!" With those words, the small woman stood up, and came towards them.

"You got a boyfriend girl?" His mother asked her.

"No..." She replied slowly.

"Good..." Was all she said, before turning back into the dark room. Picking up her bottle of jin as she went.

"Man, Im sorry about that. She's been real fucked up since dad left... she diddn't mean it though, so dont take it personal or nothing..." Daymond wispered as they walked into the kitchen. Kayla nodded.

"Sorry about your dad...when did he leave...?" She asked as they sat at the table in the middle of the room.

"5 years ago..." As he said that a little boy, about 2 or 3, came in, followed by the little girl she had meet earlyer.

"Um...so what about them...do you have a stepdad or some thing?"

"Nah, like I said, she's fucked up, literaly. They all have differnt fathers, but they never stick around long, and mum cant look after them 'cause, well yah know, you'v seen her. So Im kinda their dad in way..." He was being so honest with her and he never flinched while he told her his story, which she though was tragic and lonley.

"This must suck for you..." She said after a short silence. He shurged.

"Not realy, it only sucks that I have to work to look after this lot, but realy I dont mind yah know? Iv been doing it since as long ago as I can think, and its kinda cool in a way. Mum dosn't hassle me like most mothers do, and most of the time, my sister looks after the family, so I have heeps of freedom..." Kayla enveid that, she wanted freedom. Her perents were the pitcher of perfection in alot of ways, happily married, wealthy, with bright kids. A brady bunch existance. That was the problem. Kayla lived with rules of appropriat behaviour, and daily lessons of how to live in her high standing class. But living in New Zealand, were it was easyer to be poor socialy, than it was to be rich, Kayla had to re-invent her self to fit in with her pairs. Daymond was the perfect example. He would be accepted any were he went because he lived like they did, and he new the way they thought. Unlike Kayla, who could only imagine their sufferings from her finley furnished house, among the richness of wealth. But at the same time she enveid him, she realised how lucky she was, lucky because he lived with so many burdens, while her only burdin was to fit in.

"Man, your a much better person than I am..." Kayla said finely.

"Why? 'cause I live is a shity hole while you live in a palace?" He smiled.

"A palace? Yeah right. And no, cause you live with all This. I could never handel it, yah know..."

"You would if you had to I recon..." He replied honestly. It was true in a way, she would handel it, but not the way he did, she would never be able to except it as her life. Never...

"Well, if I diddn't handel it, I would be in foster cear alone with the rest of this family, and there aint no way they are gunna send me to live with a family who only want the weekly check they get for looking after me. Nah, fuck that to hell man, Id never let that happen..."

For hours they talked, about them selfs and their lives, the things they wanted to do, be and see. But it had to come to and end, and this night came to and end abruptly when there was a loud knock on the front door.

"Is my daughter here?" Kayla heard her mother ask.

"Mum? What are you doing here?" She asked when she saw her standing at the door in her black over coat.

"Come on dear, we best be going now..." She said with out answering her question.

"But mum I..."

"Kayla, I said now..." She turned to Daymond "Thank you so much for your hospitality dear, but we realy must be going, its dark out..." He nodded and smiled politly at Kaylas mother as she stepped out the door, basicaly dragging her daughter with her.

"Im sorry Daymond... Ill see you tomorrow!" She called, she saw him wave, then slowly shut the door.

"Kayla Kingsly, I am very disapointed at you!" Her mother yelled as they walked thorugh the door.

"Me? Why! I diddn't do any thing!"

"Oh yes you did young lady, we are all new here and you have already ruined our reputation, by hanging around with that black boy! They are after white meat Kayla, thats all, they only think of sex!" Kayla steared at her mother as she continued to rant and rave about maori's mixing blood with pukihas (White people) It was weird, all her mother was saying was that because Daymond was black, he was a sex driven murderour, after her body. It was all wrong, all her mother was saying diddn't fit with the image of him she had in her mind...

And more strange... It was the first time that she had even notised he was black... and it had never occured to her that it mattered...

Email: hansonforyou@angelfire.com