Young And Restless (Chapter 1)

[Blue-Wolf]

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                                                                  Five Days a Week

     A shrieking cry broke the silence, startling me from sleep. My hand reached from the covers, as my head buzzed with the sound. The clock hit the wall, silencing the room once more. I climbed from out of my sheets, yawning deeply.

     My name is Ben, and this is the story of how I made it through the school year. This was definitely one of the most difficult years I’ve ever faced, and the fact this was the first day of school did nothing to brighten the mood.

     Elmberry middle school was one of the worst schools in the state of Kansas, and it wasn’t because of all the lousy teachers. It was because we had bullies at our school, at least six or seven. If you were the new kid on the block, you'd better watch out. The bullies here were mean, and they didn’t pride themselves in hygiene. You could smell them from a mile away, I’ve often steered clear of them and their stench. Yep, Elmberry was a horrible school, but of course I’m of a brave sort. The only problem is that I don’t know how to handle bullies, but that’s for another day. I was in middle school, being thirteen years of age I was old enough to look after myself. My two friends Zack and Rachel were all I had to get through the days.

     I dug through my disorganized drawer, scattering clothes everywhere. Grabbing a pair of dirty pants from the hamper, I ran for the bathroom. My sister was rubbing sleep from her eyes, heading slowly in the same direction. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her sheets were still wrapped around her. I cut her off at the door, slamming it shut behind me.

     “Hey, I was here first!”

     She pouted, kicking the door wildly. I threw my clothes on and quickly brushed my teeth, throwing the door open wide, I slid down the banister. Racing into the kitchen I grabbed my backpack, stuffing my belongings inside. If I was late for school, I would most likely get detention. There had been a few occasions where I had played hooky, so the teachers didn’t trust me anymore. If you knew me you would probably agree with them. Leaping over the porch steps I raced across the driveway, stumbling over my bike in an effort to reach the sidewalk.

     The bus stop was about a mile up the road, and most of the kids walked there. There was the occasional bike ride but that was only if you were very risky. We had bullies at my school, and if you ever run into one you better not have your bike. You were lucky if they just took your lunch money, or you got thrown to the ground. Those who were unlucky got there bikes thrown into the street, right when a speeding car was coming. It was over in a few seconds, and the score was bully one, kid zero. When this happened to me a couple years ago, I had cried, and my mother had to pick me up. That had been a few years ago, and I had been only nine. Now that I was thirteen I was bigger, and I didn’t get put out so easily. The only problem is that the bullies were older too, and they had changed their tactics. Some of the kids had returned with black eyes, and some were missing their pants, some of them just didn’t say.

     Thankfully, me and my friends hadn’t had anything happen since then, we usually just ignored them. Zack was my age, having curly blond hair and set of blue eyes he was very helpful at times. When I had been the new kid at school pretty much everyone ignored me. Zack had sat next to me in class, and from then on we were friends. Rachel was a hard spoken fourteen year old tomboy, her long brown hair and hazel eyes gave her a gentle appearance. Those who were fooled soon regretted it. One kid had tried to steal her books, but Rachel had soon straightened her out. We haven’t seen that particular kid for three months.

     I caught sight of one of the male bullies and swiftly changed direction. I wasn’t afraid of him, I just didn’t take chances. And believe me, if you ever met him you would run. Any one who crossed him was usually shown the right way, by that I mean they usually were placed in a different school. I knew that all we had to do was tell the principle of his actions, but no one ever listened to me. Oh no, that can’t be right, we know him to be nice they would say, or, "I think you must be mistaken." So I mostly kept my mouth shut, and didn’t give eye contact.

     By this time, I had reached the bus stop, where many students were already waiting. Zack was crouched under the shade of a small tree, looking over something. I walked over to him; peering over his shoulder I noticed his paper was soaked.

     “What happened, did a dog eat your homework?” I asked.

     Zack looked up at me, a grim expression plastered on his face.

     “Very funny, actually we just got a dog, and it seems he didn’t like my history report very much.”

     He looked down at the sopping pages, wiping a drop of saliva from one of the corners.

     “Mrs. Brier isn’t going to be pleased, remember what happened last time?”

     I remarked, remembering the time when one of her students had been placed in detention just because of an overdue report. Zack’s expression deepened, as he too remembered.

     “Can’t you hand it in anyway?” I asked.                                                             

     Zack nodded, looking up at the sky. “Yeah, I'll just tell her I fell asleep.”

     I chuckled at that, “That must have been quite a night, no one drools like that!”

     Zack looked over my shoulder, gulping in a breath of air.

     “Don’t look now, but Jack Carter is coming over.”

     Sure enough, the big lug was striding over, his lip curling over his yellow teeth. I could tell by his face he was in an ugly mood. Jack snatched the papers from Zack’s hand, crushing them into a ball.

     “Hey, that’s mine!” shouted Zack, trying to reach them.

     Jack laughed, his Adam's apple bouncing up and down, reminding me of a yoyo.

     “If I’m not getting a good grade, why should you?”

     Jack asked, tossing the ball into the garbage can on the other side of the street.  Zack watched as the garbage men picked it up, tossing the contents into the truck. Jack laughed once more, grinning as he walked away from the scene. Zack shook his head in despair.

     “Now I’ll fail for sure!” he exclaimed, dropping his head.

     The bus pulled up in front of us, stopping within a few inches from the sidewalk. The brakes screeched as the driver pushed down hard, making my ears ring. One after another the kids piled into the bus, leaving only me and Zack to follow after them. I tugged him towards the bus, using all my strength just to keep a good grip.

     “Come on, we’ll be late!”

     My efforts seemed to be in vain, for Zack didn’t move. Finally, after many long seconds of deep wondering he seemed to snap back to the present. We hopped on the bus, just as the door closed behind us. I lurched as the bus rode forward, causing me to fall into one of the seats. Zack piled in after me, taking the window seat. I looked around, trying to catch sight of Rachel.

     “Where is she, she’s never late.”

     I muttered half to myself. Zack shrugged his shoulders in dismissal,

     “Don’t know, maybe she’s sitting in the back.”

     Zack seemed unmoved by this, but I was suspicious. Maybe she was mad, but I couldn’t remember what I had said that would make her unhappy. Turning around, I found she was sitting alone behind us. I cleared my throat, I didn’t want to seem concerned, but she was sure acting strange.

[Blue-Wolf]

Chapter 1, Part 2

“Is anything wrong?”

     I asked, studying her blank expression. She shook her head,

     “Everything’s fine.”

     She seemed spaced out, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. If she was unhappy, I was unhappy, isn’t that one of the things friendship does? Since I had never had friends before, and I had only known her for two years, I wasn’t so sure. I thought I had seen all of Rachel’s mood swings, but maybe I was wrong, maybe I was missing something. Was it her birthday? No that couldn’t be it; she had had a birthday party four months ago. Was it a special day? I can’t frankly remember anything on the calendar. It seemed to be any old Wednesday, so what was the big deal? I tried another approach, maybe I could persuade her.

     “You sure there’s nothing wrong?”

     I pressed, trying to sound casual. She turned her attention back on me,

     “I don’t want to talk about it Ben.”

     She replied, her voice as cool as ice.

Now I was sure something was wrong, whenever something was troubling her, Rachel would always spill the details. Sometimes she said too much, she would just go on and on until someone told her to shut up.

     “Did your cat die?”  I asked.

     Sure it wasn’t the best question, but I was running out of ideas. The question wasn’t meant to hurt her, just get her attention off of whatever it was she was thinking about.

As far as I knew her cat was mean, Rachel said it would hiss at anyone who came to the door. I referred to it as the door guard, which had always cheered her up.

     “Is the door guard still alive?” I joked.

     She shook her head but didn’t reply. That left me with only one choice; I would have to ask straight out what the deal was. I could only hope that she didn’t reject it, if she did, I didn’t know what I would do. At that precise moment the bus stopped suddenly, knocking me to the floor. I grunted as I hit the metal, sneezing from the dust that covered the floor. The driver turned to us, his face was grim.

     “We’ll have to go the other way, construction is blocking off the road.”

     The passengers cheered in delight, any delay made the school day more bearable. Some of the kids leaped from their seats, raising their hands in the air. The driver gave them a glare of steel, causing the joyous cries to die in their throats.

      “Settle down, this isn’t a field trip!”

     The driver turned back to the road, muttering under his breath. This cheered me for another reason; it gave me time to figure out what was wrong with Rachel. I turned my attention back to her.

     “What’s wrong, you’re not usually this unhappy. Whenever you’re unhappy it usually means I did something, and I can’t remember saying anything!”

     I exclaimed. Her eyes hardened, and it seemed as if the air itself was holding its breath.

     “My parents say I have to switch schools!”

     My heart slowed, and my jaw dropped. It was worse then I thought, if Rachel moved, I wouldn’t be safe in my own school! The bullies stayed clear from me because she was around, if she was gone I would be dead.

     “You can’t move, think what that will do to me!”

     Maybe I was a little overdoing it, but hey, this was big. When your best friend was going to move, wouldn’t you try and stop it?

     “Why, what’s wrong with here?”

     I asked, it didn’t make much sense to me. She shrugged, as if she didn’t really know.  

      “They said I need a little change.”

     I couldn’t believe my ears, change! There was change, change was everywhere, well just four months ago the school had changed their lunch menu. If Rachel’s parents didn’t think there was change, they were just overreacting.

     “They think I need a new set of friends, they say I should get to know some other girls.”

     At this I was offended, what was wrong with me or Zack? Sure we weren’t perfect, but no one is. Look around your local grocery store, do you see anyone perfect? But still, we were friends, you take that away and you take away our happiness. I had to do something, I couldn’t let Rachel leave!

     “You can’t go, what about us!”

     I exclaimed, my voice rising to a higher pitch.

     “I know but they don’t see it that way, they think it’ll be good for me.”

     I was totally speechless, good for her? I don’t even know what they mean by that. It’s outrageous, and the worst part is that there may not be anyway to stop it. I slumped back into the seat, lost in thought. I barely noticed when the bus came to a halt.

     Considering I was first I could have got off the bus first. But over the years I found that you’ll get shoved into the wall before you even move. No one waits for them, as soon as the particular kid is upright he or she is pounced on, knocked aside by the others as they stampede towards the door. I found that when I went to the zoo, the gazelles reacted in the same way. When something startled them, they climbed over each other, pushing and shoving their way to safety. I found that it’s not much different around here.

     None of us spoke as we stepped off the bus; we were all locked in our own thoughts. As we made our way towards the door, I noticed a shadow on the ground, caused by someone on the roof. I looked up into the glaring sun, trying to catch a glance of whatever was casting the shadow. When I looked closer it was gone. It’s probably nothing, I thought to myself as we reached the door. One of the hall monitors placed his hand on my chest,

     “Halt, where is your pass?”

     He asked his voice firm. I dug in my pocket for my pass, feeling around for the familiar plastic covered slip. I never understood what was so important about that, why did we need hall passes? The only thing I could think of is that it was another way for teachers to send someone to detention. I dug deeper, but there was nothing there. I started to panic, if I couldn’t find my pass, I would be late for school.

     I looked up into the boy’s eyes, trying to keep my own from straying towards the ground. I found hall monitors just a little bit intimidating.

     “I seemed to have forgotten my pass; I'll bring it tomorrow, okay?”

     I stepped forward, trying to push past the bulk that stood in my way. Did this guy work out? I thought, running smack dab into his arm.

     “If you don’t have your pass you can’t get through.”

     He said. I looked to the floor; I couldn’t meet his eyes as he said the words. How could forget I my hall pass? Forgetting my hall pass was like forgetting my backpack. If I couldn’t get to class in a couple of minutes, I would get detention for sure. Rachel stepped forward, keeping the boy’s cool gaze.

     “Just let him past,”

     She murmured. He shook his head. I was a little discouraged that she had spoken; I would surely lose face with this guy if I needed help from Rachel. The boy grinned as if he could read my thoughts.

     “I’m sorry but if you have forgotten your hall pass you must go get it.”

     The hall monitor's tone seemed to grow cold. Zack looked at me, we both knew that walking back to my house took a half hour at least, by then it would be too late. I had to think of something fast, time was running out. Maybe I could climb through the window, if I could just cause a distraction. Rachel seemed to be devising a plan of her own, for she stepped closer.

     “I think you're being totally unreasonable. We have to get to class. If you think you can keep us here you’ve got another thing coming…”

     She argued, her voice growing louder. I realized what she was trying to do, and I immediately knew my part. I stomped away, as if I was upset. But instead of going straight I walked across the grass, ducking behind a low window. Luckily for me, the window was already open; all I had to do was make my entrance. I wrapped my hands over the sill, hauling myself over the side. I underestimated the force of my pull, I fell face first to the floor. It was just my luck that at that moment the bell sounded, signaling for the classes to begin. The door opened wide, and the teacher stepped inside. She caught sight of me; we both stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

     “I think you should be getting to class.”

     She remarked, placing her hands on her hips. I nodded dumbly and scrambled to my feet, racing out the door with as much dignity as I could muster. The halls were empty, and the hall monitors had retired from their duty to join the classes. Only the janitor remained in the hall, wiping the floor with a water soaked mop. I ran through the hall, almost slipping on the floor because I missed a wet floor sign. I leaped over one of the back stragglers, dodging the look of pure annoyance. I turned abruptly, slipping on the perpendicular tiles arranged near perfect on the floor. I opened the door slowly, hoping that I was on time.

     Mrs. Brier stared at me; her hand lay motionless, the chalk hanging loosely in her fingers. She pointed towards my chair, glaring at me over her sweat stained glasses. For some reason she had always been sweating during class, I guess it was a physical condition she had.

     I took my seat quietly, Zack on my left side and Rachel on my right. In a hushed voice I whispered,

     “Sorry I’m late,”

     They shrugged, they knew the circumstances, we all did. I was surprised Mrs. Brier had said nothing on me being late; maybe I wouldn’t get detention after all. Sara, one of our top students raised her hand.

     “Yes Sara?”  Mrs. Brier asked.

     “Sorry for interrupting you Mrs. Brier, but shouldn’t you send Ben to detention?”

     She asked. I gritted my teeth at the words. Sara was always the teachers pet, and she most likely would stay that. Mrs. Brier nodded at the question, everyone knew what that meant. I slumped down in my chair, I was so close to escaping detention, but Sara had to open her mouth. Mrs. Brier wrote something on the chalkboard but I couldn’t make out what it said.

     “Okay class; open your books to page fifty one. If you remember…”

     After that Mrs. Brier’s voice faded from my mind. Mrs. Brier was the worst teacher you could ever have, believe me, I would know. I’ve had her for two years, and it hasn’t gotten any better. She wasn’t a bad teacher, she just was so boring. It seemed that anyway she could make history more boring she could. Even the time of the black plague was said to be really interesting, and it probably was until Mrs. Brier came along. She watered everything down; nothing had even a speck of enthusiasm. And she found a way to make each of the words painful; I could literally feel shocks of pain every time she spoke a word. And the way she wrote on the chalkboard was horrendous; every stroke left a screeching sound in the back of our minds. If you ever get the choice to skip middle school, take it.

     Mrs. Brier turned to us, placing the chalk on the table.

     “Please hand in your reports, class.”

     One by one we handed in our reports; there was no big shock when Sara leaped from her chair to do so. Everyone handed something in, everyone except for Zack. He sat in his chair gloomily, as if the sky was about to fall. Mrs. Brier noticed and shook her head in disappointment.

     “You can join your friend Ben in detention after word, Zack.”

     And what could you say to that? The class seemed to go on forever, but when it was finished, everyone raced out of the room. We were sent directly to detention, without another word. We dragged our feet as we crossed the hall to the principle's office, making it as slow as possible. This was my life, five days a week.

[Kat-NE]

Overall, I like it.

There are moments of repitition going on like (We had bullies at my school, and if you ever run into one you better not have your bike. You were lucky if they just took your lunch money, or you got thrown to the ground)  You already mentioned the bullies at teh beginning.  I'm not saying taking out this part, but tweak it a little. (If you ever run into a bully a my school...).

Also, I don't know if this is how you wrote it but the "he said/she said" parts are seperated from the quote they go with ("Where is she, she’s never late.”

     I muttered half to myself. Zack shrugged his shoulders in dismissal).

Other than that, I think that it's a good start.

[Kat-NE]

Also, I forgot something else.  It's been nagging at me.

I really liked the bus driver!

Upon reflection, it may not seem that important, but I'm putting it down anyway.