The day Dennis first appeared began like any other. Having arrived at my form room early, I had taken the opportunity to immerse myself in a novel while waiting for the teacher. By no means would I consider myself punctual however; I merely did not wish to bother myself with finding somewhere else to spend the pre-registration period. Anyhow, this was a habit which had become part of my morning routine over the past few days, and one which I enjoyed. Evidently, I must have been deeply engrossed in the book, for I failed to hear the extra pair of footsteps, trailing behind the tread of my form tutor’s as we exchanged a simple “Good morning” in passing. After reaching the bottom of the page, my eyes darted to check the number on which I would suspend the text, before closing it. I reopen the book and check once again, just to make sure, then close it, then place it into my bag, and walk through the classroom door.

By this time, many other students were already filing into their respective rooms. However as usual, I was a few seconds earlier than anyone else, and was therefore mildly surprised when I noticed an student that had preceded me. The likelihood however, of someone slipping into the form room before me was not at all slim. There was a delay between the form room door opening, and my entering it, after all, and perhaps this student had recently decided on improving their punctuality. Stranger things have, and will, happen. Additionally, the mentioned student was unfamiliar to me, yet although I did not recognise them, It was not something that I thought should concern me much. Indeed, at that early in the term, a large portion of my peers would not have been recognisable to me, and visa versa.

The rest of form Twelve-S appeared to share the same sentiment, because the usual crowd filled the spaces that they had become accustomed to without taking much notice of the anomaly, who, during this time stayed seated, unmoving, and staring towards the front of the class.
“All-right Twelve-S!” Mrs Sneed chimed, after the hubbub had simmered down slightly. “We’ll just do the register, and then I’ll have a few announcements for us all.”
A few students quietly exchanged speculation about the announcements for a moment, and it was not before long that the register had been completed, and the announcements were imminent.
“O.K!” announced Mrs Sneed cheerily, standing up from her desk.
“Firstly, I’d like to introduce everyone to Dennis”
The hubbub remitted.
“Dennis, why don’t you stand up here and just introduce yourself?”
Dennis stood. The hubbub had been snuffed out.

Dennis, to put it candidly, was strange. It had risen with an inexactable oddity to it's movements. Not that of a pained back, nor the infamous slouch of teenage apathy, but something altogether alien. And it didn't stop there; Dennis's face possessed that same thin film of weirdness. Eyesockets just a small few millimetres shallower than anyone in the room had observed in a person, before; cheekbones just a hair's width wider, nose just a fraction flatter. The discrepancies were minuscule: invisible without concentrated inspection; yet, they were myriad enough to elicit an observable air of unnerved-ness in the room when combined upon the same entity. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Dennis.

After what seemed like a number of minutes, yet was likely in reality barely two seconds, Dennis spoke. "Hello Twelve-S, I'm Dennis. Dennis Westgate."
Dennis paused momentarily. It's pronunciation sounded like every english speech synthesiser you've ever heard.
"It's a pleasure to be here at this college. I look forward to meeting you all."
With that, Dennis sat down again, in the same faintly uncanny manner that it had stood up. During the remaining announcements, there hung a hot, sticky residue of unease in the air, which did not dissipate until form was dismissed. Even then, Dennis's words, of all things, haunted my mind; they were so simple, so generic. I'm not sure quite what I expected from Dennis, but it most certainly was not normalcy. However, in the coming days, that was exactly what we witnessed from It. Dennis, without a doubt was the most diligent student i had ever witnessed