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EpicCh33se
12-09-2012, 04:44 PM
Hello, all. As you can see, I'm writing a story. (not a fanfic) It's about a carefree boy who enters middle school and throughout the year, many things happen that causes him to mature more and realize how hard life is. The title is supposed to be ironic because with all these unfortunate things happening, the main character can't help BUT care. I've chosen middle school because that is the point when most kids start to mature. A lot of care, precision, and effort is put into this story so your feedback is appreciated. Based on what I've written/rewritten so far, I can say that the common route will be at least 150 book pages, and with the addition of all the other routes, at least 400 pages. Maybe more.

The story will mostly consist of people talking. And talking. And talking. Kind of like a visual novel. Speaking of visual novels, I'm going to write 4 separate routes to this story, and one other route. In each route, the main character matures/changes in a different way, and that will show, as the writing style actually changes. This will be the common route, the Zero Path. The Zero Path is where the main character doesn't choose a route and winds up dying or he can choose and branch off onto another route. Don't worry, this isn't too big of a spoiler. To get a better idea, look at this poorly made chart:
http://oi44.tinypic.com/261jgid.jpg

For those who want to be spoiled:
Seriously, there are some major spoilers.Timeline: V1.0 http://i49.tinypic.com/292sg9i.png
Timeline: V1.1 http://i49.tinypic.com/ek3pqu.png

UPDATES
--------------------------
(2011) Project started
(7-24-2012) AUGUST in progress
(8-10-2012) AUGUST finished and released
(8-14-2012) SEPTEMBER in progress
(11-19-2012) Restarted
(11-19-2012) AUGUST in progress
(6-16-2013) AUGUST finished
(6-17-2013) SEPTEMBER in progress

Special thanks to Flubbs for helping me out with some story progression, and LuXAeterna for helping me with grammar correction.

EpicCh33se
12-09-2012, 04:44 PM
This post is reserved for the table of contents.

This story will progress in Months. Starting with August and ending with June.

Zero Path's Writing Style: Explaining by Sight (Oblivious)

Latest post: September (Post 2) (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=153473&viewfull=1#post153473)

AUGUST (Post 1) (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=82320&viewfull=1#post82320)
Post 2 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=84700&viewfull=1#post84700)
Post 3 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=92239&viewfull=1#post92239)
Post 4 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=92240&viewfull=1#post92240)
Post 5 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=108281#post108281)
Post 6 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=113021#post113021)
Post 7 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=116430#post116430)
Post 8 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=118691#post118691)
Post 9 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=120049#post120049)
Post 10 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=123553#post123553)
Post 11 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=126086#post126086)
Post 12 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=130301#post130301)

September's Table of Contents (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=148747#post148747)

EpicCh33se
12-09-2012, 04:45 PM
ZERO PATH
--------------------

AUGUST

Chapter 1: August 24 – 6:33 A.M.

A bright light aches my eyes. Light? Already? But I was just starting... to... sleep................
“OW!”
I slowly open my eyes. Ground. I'm on the ground. That's not right. I get up and rub the spots where I had gotten hurt. Apparently, I've left the curtains open last night, so the light blinded me. I plop down on my bed and look around my room. It is a little eerie, but the little light shining through the window breaks away the dark. Besides that, everything looks the same as it did last night, which is to be expected. Two towering bookshelves shoved with things that aren't books, and a computer that really needs to be cleaned. A closet full of clothes that I don't wear and a trashcan that needs to be taken out. I'll do that later. It's too early anyway. Early... What time is it? I peek over at the alarm clock.
It's 6:35 A.M.
Hmm... why didn't the alarm ring? I turn the clock, looking all over it until I see the alarm switch turned off. How forgetful of me. I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Isn't today supposed to be important? I'm sure it is, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. I look over at the calender, which was pinned on the wall next to my bed. It's the 24th. Wait.... 24th? Today's the first day of school!
I'm really excited to be starting school at Harmell Junior High, Middle School, whatever. It's going to be a lot more different than elementary. I get a locker, different classes, and there's open campus! I get to see my friends, meet new teachers, and I get to see Mindy Roseveldt again. I'll admit, Mindy's been my crush since 4th grade. At least, I think it's 4th grade. She's a nice, smart girl, and she's also very energetic. She has a pretty smile, beautiful brown eyes, and gorgeous brown hair, so you can tell why I like her. We've known each other for a while now, and have sometimes spoken in conversations, but I don't think it's enough.
I look at the alarm again. It's 6:40. Thinking about things can pass the time very quickly. I decide to pick up the pace and get ready for school.
I open my closet and look at my new school uniform. The district requires that everyone wears these during school. They sold them at registration and are selling them at the school shop down on Main Street. There are two variations; the normal uniform, and the winter uniform. I have three pairs of each, so I don't have to wear the same pair every day. The boy's normal uniform consists of a black button up, a white collared shirt, a red tie, and black pants. The black button up has a badge of the school mascot sewn on the left chest pocket. The tie also has the mascot printed all over it, repeating up and down. The pants feel a lot like dress pants, loose and free. I personally like dress pants quite a bit. I change in my room and head to the bathroom. I look in the mirror and question whether I really look like what I see or not for the hundredth time. Grabbing my toothbrush, I add some mint toothpaste and brush like crazy. Then, I did some of your average bathroom stuff, like washing my face, mouth wash, hair combing, you know. About the hair, I can't ever seem to comb it down right. It would always look exactly the same as it did before I started combing. But I comb it anyway. Because combing doesn't work, I wash my hair instead. It's a pain, really. I get everything done and walk downstairs. Mom and Retah were already up. Mom is cooking breakfast, while Retah is reading a book at the dining table. I sit down as well, and greeted both with a “Good morning”.
Retah is my 7 year old sister. She has brown hair that's always in a ponytail. She's incredibly smart too. Much smarter than I am, of course. She has won many awards for her mathematics skills. Mom would get excited and hang them up above the fireplace, even though Retah pleads her not to. She's a great writer and is really good at solving social problems. I almost look up to her. Ironic, isn't it?
Mom sets two plates of pancakes on the table. She watches us as we eat our breakfast.
“Ready for school?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“I can tell it's going to be a long year, so put in your best effort.”
Mom looks at me. “Especially you since you're starting middle school. It's going to be hard, dear.”
“I'll do my best.”
“You better do. Make sure to greet your old friends and make lots of new ones, both of you.”
“Right.”
“Don't forget to write down your homework.”
“I don't think there's any homework on the first day of school, Mom.” I say.
“You never know. But if you do, write it down. As for you Retah, make sure you show Mr. Johnson how smart you are!”
“Okay.”
Mom calms her face from a tense one to a more tranquil one. Although, her eyes are drooping a bit.
“There's no need to worry, Mom. It's not like this is the last time you'll see us. We're going to do fine.”
“I guess you're right. I'm sorry... But, that doesn't mean you should slack off.”
“Yes, Mom.”

I finish up breakfast and grab my bag from the sofa. Then, I walk to the front door and put on my shoes. I look at the living room clock. It reads 7:45. I should be able to get to school in 15 minutes. Retah gets picked up and dropped off. I'd rather walk and look at what's around me. Nature holds some wonderful things.
“Bye, Mom, Retah.”
“Goodbye. Have fun.”
I turn the knob and walk out the door into what may be my best year yet.

Chapter 2: August 24 – 7:46 A.M.

The breezy wind feels really nice, especially after having the hot summer sun shine down on you for the past few months. It's nowhere as dry as it was, so it's refreshing. I walk down the sidewalk and out of my neighborhood. The leaves aren't falling yet, so I can tell that Autumn has just barely started. Pretty soon, the ground will be littered with leaves. As the cars buzz by me, I wait until the coast is clear and cross the street into Kimare Park. From this entrance of the park to the front, it's a big uphill climb. Although it's not much, it still takes a bit of leg strength. I walk through the giant trees and the light posts, which are still on from the night before. A bunch of other kids are walking to school as well. Most of them are walking together...
Huh...
I shake my head and regain my senses. I walk out of the park onto the streets. In the distance, I can see Harmell. It was a pretty big school, really. Much bigger than my elementary school, anyway. As I look at the school, I can see Fraelot Bridge behind it. Fraelot Bridge is a sight to behold. I heard it took the construction workers around a year to build, so that would make sense. The suspension bridge is supported by big blue arches. Many, many, many cars and even people cross the bridge everyday. Surrounded by mountains, the Fraelot River and Bridge is the only real way to get out of this town. Which means that my school is near the edge of a cliff. At least the view will be nice.

I walk onto school grounds at 7:55. Making my way to the entrance, I see a big statue of a hawk next to the door. I must admit, it's very well carved. The hawk has a majestic, yet serious look in its eyes. Swooping down, showing its fierce claws. It seems real for a second, like I'm its prey. I turn and walk into the school. In front me is a staircase leading up. It looks like it's made out of cobblestone. I climb it, greeting whoever is sitting on the steps, chatting with their friends. I reach the top and immediately see a big mural on the left wall. Ignoring every other thing, I approach it quickly.
“Wow!”
The sheer size of this thing is amazing! The hawk on the mural is at least twice as big as me! The hawk looks very similar to the statue outside, but instead of being supported by a pole, this hawk is flying over mountains and a river below. I go up to the mural to feel it. It feels... kind of old. Then again, this school isn't exactly new. I heard it was repainted, but it looks like this mural was ignored. This same mural must have been touched thousands of times then. That's kind of hard to believe. Suddenly, I feel a nudge on my shoulder. I turn around to see a boy.
“Sorry, sorry. It's really crowded here.” says the boy.
“Oh, that's fine.”
I wave him goodbye as he trudges past the kids. Now that he mentioned it, it is really crowded, even with how wide this hall is.
In front of the mural is what I think is the office. There are two columns in front of the office wall, which forms a square. There are three counters. One on the left, right, and front. They connect the columns and the wall together. There's a ceiling above the desks. The wall branches to what I think is another part of the office. Inside the outer office, there are three staff members, each on one counter. The front counter has a long line of kids. It's like a blur of black and white, with the uniforms and all. The girl's uniform is reminiscent of a sailor uniform. A white blouse covers the white shirt underneath. The blouse has the school mascot sewn on the left chest pocket as well. Below the blouse is a white pleated skirt just a bit above knee level. A red tie with hawks printed on it rests below the sailor-style collar.
“Excuse me, what's this line for?” I ask a student who's waiting.
“I think this is where we get our Ids.
“Okay, thanks.”
I walk to the end of the line and wait. More and more students start to line up behind me. After what seemed like hours, I'm next at the desk.
“Hello, what is your name?”
“Uh... Aric Moray.”
“Nice to meet you. Are you here for your Id?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Please, call me Mrs. Alston. I'm a secretary.”
“Oh. Okay, Mrs. Alston.”
Mrs. Alston digs into a file cabinet. After a few seconds, she pulls out an Id.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you know where your advisory class is?”
“I think so.”
“Alright then. Good luck on your first day of school. Take care!”
“You too.”

EpicCh33se
12-16-2012, 04:40 PM
I speed away from the office and veer a right, down another hallway. I have to look for my locker, but which hall is it in? I should have asked for directions, but it's too late now. My locker is supposed to be in Hall 7. Thank goodness there are signs that tell you what hall you're in. I see a sign and walk up to it. Hall 4. Almost there. I turn left and walk past even more classrooms. Hall 5. Hall 6. I should be...
Stairs. A staircase is where I thought Hall 7 would be. Next to the stairs is a sign that reads “Halls 7, 8, 9, and 10.” More walking, huh? I climb the spiral stairs and end up on the second floor. Hall 7. Okay, I'm in the right hall, but where's my locker? I walk down the hall look for Locker #6-251. As I scan every locker, the numbers get closer and closer towards my own. As least I'm going the right way. Finally, I see a locker with 6-251 engraved onto a plate. There you are. I look at the piece of paper that had my locker combo written on it. Let's see... 20... 46... 44... There. I push up on the hook lock and open the locker. All of a sudden, a loud ringing sound comes from above. It must be the bell. It's not an electronic bell, like in elementary. It's a real bell. Either that, or it's an electronic bell that sounds a lot like a real bell. Either way, it means that I'm one step closer to being late, as that was the warning bell. I quickly unload my bag, hang it on the hook, and walk off looking for Mrs. Kaufman's room.

The bell rings again. I'm late. I see a teacher and hurry up to her.
“Um, Miss? Do you know how I can get to Mrs. Kaufman's room?”
“Yes, I do. Walk down this hall, and it should be near Mr. Jones' room. Mr. Jones' room should be next to the bathrooms.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks, Miss.....”
“You're welcome. Call me Mrs. Yates. What's your name?”
“Aric, Mrs. Yates.”
“Nice to meet you, but you'd better hurry to class now, you're late.”
“Okay. Bye, Mrs. Yates.”
Mrs. Yates seems like a nice lady. She has short, blond hair and blue eyes. Her voice had a calming tone to it. Not to be mean, but she is also kind of short.
Thanks to Mrs. Yates, I find the bathrooms, Mr. Jones' room, and further ahead, Mrs. Kaufman's room. I grasp the handle in my hand. I hate walking into class late. Everyone's stares at you, like you just did something horrible. As if they're going to hunt you down. Scary, really. I gulp and open the door.

Chapter 3 : August 24 - 8:15 A.M.

It turns out, you can't really be late on the first week of school. That's good, but all the eyes aren't. I'm getting stared down like some maniac on the loose.
“Sit down. You're lucky you're excused this time.”
They say you can't change first impressions. I say nothing and obey. Mrs. Kaufman is twice the size of Mrs. Yates. Very intimidating. That's... really all I can say about her. Intimidating. Her green eyes are that of a snake's, her ears are pointy, and her lips are very dry. However, her nose... is strange. No, it isn't strange. It's a perfectly normal nose, just like a nose on any other person. Mrs. Kaufman's genes are messed up.
The room is really tidy. The floor was vacuumed and the books on the shelves were gently stacked. The desks were also neatly organized into rows. They look like they're accurately spaced apart, every single one of them. Every desk has someone sitting behind it, except one. It is the last seat of the last row of the last column, right next to the window. I walk up to it. As I sit down, everyone loses their interest in the prey and again, pay attention to Mrs. Kaufman.
“Hopefully, with no more interruptions this time, I'll take attendance once more.”
Attendance... I look to my left. There's a girl sitting next to me. She's about my height. She has blonde silky hair that runs down her back and deep blue eyes. With her hands folded on the desk, she stares at Mrs. Kaufman. Or rather, now that I look more closely, she's staring off into nowhere. She must notice that I'm staring at her, because she turns her head to me.
“You are?”
“Huh? Oh... Aric.”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Aric.”
“Yeah, um, nice to meet you too.” I figured it would be polite to ask the same. “What's your name?”
“Maira.”
“Oh, well hello, Maira. How are you?”
“I am fine.”
I should probably note that I'm horrible at conversations, especially with girls. Maira must have caught on to this, because she goes back to gazing at nothing. I turn to my right and look at a tree outside. The morning light shines through the branches, but only a little bit.
“Fedele Acreman?”
“Here!”
“Louis Bradley?”
“Here!”
Is Mindy in my class? I would have noticed her by now if she was. I scan the room in hopes of finding her. I don't. I scan the room again, desperate. Nothing. Well, isn't this year turning out great?
“Bonnie Gonzalez?”
“Here!”
The leaves on the tree dance in the light breeze. Sometimes, the breeze turns into a wind, and some leaves even fell off. It's really Autumn now.
“Mairandia Innis?”
“Here.”
Mairandia, huh? What an interesting name...
“Jeffrey Klade?”
“Hey!”
“Medwin Kyle?”
“Here.”
Seriously, attendance shouldn't take this long. Mrs. Kaufman holds us all here, saying our names, while the tree's letting its students go in the wind.
“Aric Moray?”
They fly free, away from the tree, and out of my sight.
“Aric Moray??”
“What?” I say, nearly jumping.
Mrs. Kaufman glares at me intently.
“Here.”
“Thank you. Grant O'Neil?”
I have my head at Mrs. Kaufman, but I'm really looking back at Maira. She's as still as a rock. I wonder what she's thinking.
Attendance drags on for a while. The leaves are probably already across town.
“Aric, can you pass out these schedules?”
I get up from my seat and take the papers. There is a list of classes on every one. At the top, it shows the student's name, locker, combo, advisory, telephone, and other information.
“But, I don't know everyone's names yet.”
“Good luck then.”
So here I am, calling out names. If only I payed more attention during attendance.
“Freddie?
Um... Daiela?
Grant's... here.
Penelope?”
I then come across Maira's schedule. Before going to her desk and giving to her, I take a quick glance at the schedule. After seeing a good portion, I dart my eyes back up and don't look again. From what I saw, Maira has Art for first period and Math for third. The rest I've already forgotten.
“Here, Maira.”
“Thank you.”
My own schedule is next. I don't want to take up too much time, so I just put it on my desk. After every schedule was passed out, I go over to mine and look at it. The first thing I notice is that my name is spelled wrong. Instead of “Aric”, it's spelled “Eric”. I'll have to tell Mrs. Alston later.
For first period, I have Art. I'm not too good at drawing or painting, really. I always have a good image in my mind, but I can't seem to sketch it out right. I have Band for second period. I love music. It can make you forget about everything else that's happening around you. Making music in a room full of people who think the same is even better. I play clarinet and guitar. The guitar, I'm pretty good at, but I'm not too good at the clarient. There is a break period after Band. For third period, I have Math. I'm pretty decent at mathematics, if I do say so myself. Not the star of the class, though, and never will be. I mean, I don't ace every test. Sometimes, I get a 90% or something. Lunch is next. Nothing special. After lunch is another break. Language Arts is for fourth period. I like reading and writing. Both are enjoyable pastimes. Reading is like looking into another person's brain, while writing is doing the opposite. You get to see what others think. It also feels great to pour out your emotions in writing once in a while. The last period I have is Social Studies. In school, during Social Studies, they usually teach history, geography, and other stuff. I hate history. It's not one of my favorite subjects. It pains me to read what stupid choices people in the past made, and I don't want anyone reading any one of my stupid mistakes. Now, what's confusing, is why they call it “Social Studies”. Shouldn't social skills be taught? Like how to publicly speak better. That would help so much more than learning how Kennedy was assassinated or something.

Chapter 4: August 24 – 8:30 A.M.

“One more thing. Next week is when you'll start getting homework. Also, make sure to check your papers to know where your next class is, as well as what to bring to it.”
The bell rings and everyone bustles out of the room. From the looks of it, Art is in Hall 5, which is on the first floor. I quickly walk over to my locker, as we only have three minutes of passing time. If you're late to a class, you get a detention. And having too many detentions piled up would not look good. Anyways, I only need a pencil and a binder for Art, so I open my locker to get them. I have a two locker neighbors. Maira has the locker to my left, and is busy twirling her combination in. To my right however, is a girl who seems to be having trouble with her locker. She inputs the combination, but the when she tries pulling on the hook, it doesn't budge.
“Hey, do you need any help?”
“No, I do not think I do.”
She tries again.
“Are you sure you don't need any help?”
“Yes.”
The girl tries one more time, but fails again.
“...”
“Here, let me help. What's your combination?”
“Thirty four, eleven, four.”
I carefully turn the lock and open the locker.
“Thank you, Aric.”
“You're welcome”.
I go back into my locker and take out the required supplies for Art. I close my locker, say goodbye to the girl, and walk off towards Hall 5.

Austin
12-16-2012, 04:53 PM
How do you know my last name (yates)?

EpicCh33se
01-04-2013, 05:20 PM
It's been like 2 minutes already. Where's the Art room? Or rather, where's Hall 5? I sprint off in all directions, looking. Every time I turn somewhere, the hall looks the same as the last. No one is around. Everyone is in their classes already. It's really quiet. Scary, even. When I turn another corner, I see Mrs. Yates at the end of the hall.
“Mrs. Yates!”
Mrs. Yates turns around with no apparent look of surprise on her face as I run towards her.
“Hello, Aric. Do you need something?”
“Yes, Mrs. Yates. Do you know where the Art room is? I've been looking over and over.”
“Why, yes, of course. The Art room is in Hall 5. Walk to the end of this hallway, turn left, walk down that hallway, then turn right. That's Hall 5. Stick right and you should see the Art room soon enough.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you very much, Mrs. Yates.”
I bow to show gratitude, then I speed from hallway to hallway. I do everything Mrs. Yates told me to do and see a sign hanging from the ceiling. It reads “Hall 5”. Alright. Stay on the right side of the hall, huh? Just then, I hear a loud, ringing sound coming from above. I'm late. Again. I walk faster, while keeping my eyes on the right side, and wind up in front of the Art room. When I enter the room, everyone stares at me with deathly eyes. Not again.
“Oh, there you are. Please, take a seat.” says the teacher.
I see an empty chair next to Maira and quickly sit down.
“Hello everyone. I am Mrs. Kalah, and I will be your Art teacher. It's the first day of school again, and that never works too well on my part.”
Mrs. Kalah awkwardly laughs.
“So... I'll take attendance now. Ehehehe.”
Attendance is a lot shorter this time, thankfully.
“Ignis Pratt?”
“Here!”
“Don Sheridan?”
“Here!”
Man, Mindy's not here, or she would've been called. I hope she's in some other class with me.
Mrs. Kalah finishes with attendance and passes out a syllabus to everyone. We review the rules once again. On the back side, there is a list of projects that we were going to be “inaugurating”, as Mrs. Kalah calls it. Reflective Paintings, Clay Inspirations, Beautiful Sunsets, and a few others. On the bottom, there is a cut-out strip with spaces where parents would sign their signature.
“Your parents need to sign this syllabus. It's due tomorrow, so don't forget.”
Mrs. Kalah is short, and although she seems to be in her 40s, she has the face of someone in their 20s. Her blonde hair is still bright, and her brown eyes are still deep. She apparently also likes to joke around a bit.
Mrs. Kalah waits for everyone to get a good look at the syllabus and hands out sheets of drawing paper.
“You all can spend the rest of the period drawing whatever you'd like.”
I'm horrible at this. I can never think of a good picture in a short time.
Ah... Alright, Aric. Think... Oh! Yeah! That's very good!
And so, I begin sketching. First, these scratches to indicate the hill. Then, I'll shade the background, leaving a white spot for the sun. After that, the trunk goes here, and... Huh. That doesn't look like what I imagined at all. It was supposed to be a tree sitting on a hill during a warm day, but something different is on the paper. I... can't explain it. It's so hideous, I'm lost for words. I look over at my neighbor, Maira. On her paper is a crescent shaped moon so detailed, I swear it could be real. Maira then draws stars of many, many colors. Red, blue, purple, you name it. I'm lost for words again, in a good way. I don't want to disturb Maira, so I turn my paper over and start a new drawing.
The bell rings for the end of the period. I have Band next, so I walk to the Band room, which is right across from the Art room. I step in an am greeted by a blast of cool air. What's even cooler is how big the room is. It's HUGE! Next to the door are cubbies, most likely for instruments and music. To the left, there are many doors branching off to smaller rooms. In the middle, there are chairs set up so that they are all facing the front of the room. I take a seat in one. There are already many kids here. I know most of them, fortunately. Some are from my old school, while some I know from Higher Capabilities class. I start an unlikely search for Mindy, even though I know she doesn't play an instrument. Does she? The ringing bell distracts me, and two men come out from one of the rooms. One of them is tall, broad, and lanky. His hair is neatly combed to the side. The other is a lot shorter, and a little fat. His growing, prickly mustache really fits his image. The taller one speaks first.
“Hello, everyone. I am Mr. Yaron, the choir director.”
“And I'm Mr. Ron, your band director.”
“I'd like for all of us to know each other better, so please introduce yourself. Tell us what instrument you play as well.”
Most kids are going to play the instrument they played last year.
“Hello. I'm Lucia Cavalier, and I play the snare.”
“My name is Fedele Acreman, and I play the bass.”
“I am Maira. I play the flute.”
“I'm Sunny Calder, and I play the saxophone.”
“M-M-Me??... I'm H-Hasegawa Narumi... I play the flute...”
“Name's Isaac Kief. I play the snare drum.”
“Um... Penelope Fay. Trumpet.”
“Hi, everyone! I'm Viviana Valerian, and I play clarinet!”
“I'm Cullen Garo, and I play the saxophone.”
“I am Aric Moray, and I play the clarinet.”

EpicCh33se
01-04-2013, 05:20 PM
Chapter 5: August 24 – 10:33 A.M.

Math with Ms. Kluge. The same students from our advisory class are in this one, so Mindy's still not here, unfortunately. Ms. Kluge gets out of her seat and hands out worksheets to everyone.
“You have fifteen minutes. Go.”
I grab my pencil and crack down on the worksheet. Let's see. Some simple multiplication. Nine times seven is sixty three. Eight times four is thirty two.
I look up. Maira and a few others are done already. I'd better get working.
Geometry. A polygon is a closed shape with three or more sides. A quadrilateral is one with four. Decimals and fractions. Three fourths into a decimal is seventy five hundredths. Forty two hundredths is twenty one over fifty. The square root of twenty five is five.
I finish the twenty problems only 6 minutes in. I look around the room. About half the class is done already, which means that I have some free time. I really don't have anything to do, so I sit back and stare at the ceiling. It's a white ceiling. Wooden boards painted white with specks of black dots that seem to pop out at you. One would get dizzy if they stared too long.
“Time's up.”
Ms. Kluge picks up everyone's worksheet. The bell rings for 11:18. It's time for lunch.
“You may go.”

I put everything in my locker and head down to the first floor. Finding the cafeteria is easy. Just go where everyone else is going... into that ridiculously long line that stretches from the cafeteria all the way to the library. Ah, well, you can't have everything in life instantly. Staying close to the wall, I slowly walk along with the line. The talking and laughing gets louder and louder with each seemingly unproductive step. When I finally reach the cafeteria, I notice that it is much larger than my elementary school's. There are eight tables set up. While some people ate at the tables, others eat elsewhere. There are some bleachers in the back and a stage at the front. Surprisingly, the cafeteria is a lot more quiet than I thought it would be. Unlike the crazy, uncontrollable behavior of the children back at elementary, this alternate universe is much more calm. Just regular ol' talking and enjoying lunch. After a little more waiting, I scan my Id under the scanner and pay the cashier my lunch money. Then, I pick up a sandwich and walk out of the kitchen. I don't feel like eating at the tables, so I'll find another spot.
I travel upstairs onto the second floor. Wait... what am I doing here? I don't think I'm allowed to eat in classrooms anyway. Maybe I should eat outside or something. I turn around, and as I start to walk down the stairs, something catches my eye. I stop and take a step back. There is a strip of space going into the wall behind the stairs. I didn't see something like this back downstairs. As strange as it is, the space looks incredibly narrow. Normally, I would think that there's nothing there, but considering the size of this school, my curiosity is getting the best of me. I try to walk into the space, but I have to turn sideways to be able to fit. Through more effort than I thought I would have needed to put in, I walk out of the space and into a very small room. There is a window in front of me. I try to look through it, but it's a little too dusty. No one must have been here for a while. There are some paintings pinned on the wall. Their frames are chipped and look very old. Some unused desks are piled up in the corner. I look to my left and see a staircase leading up. Where does this go? I climb up the stairs, hoping to find something interesting. A little while later, I see a door. I can tell that it used to be blue, but the coat of paint is nearly all faded out. Turning the knob, I push it open. The door makes a loud creaking sound. A bright flash of sunlight blinds me for a second. The smell of fresh air seems foreign after inhaling dried paint for the past few hours. Recovering from the sudden light, I shut the door behind me and look around. Am I on the roof? Sure looks like it. In front of me, there is a large bell tower. The ground is made up of large white tiles, and unlike the room below, it isn't dusty for some reason. On the opposite side of the roof, there is a small bench. I walk to it. On the bench, staring at the distance, is a girl. She's fairly tall. Her brown hair flows gently in the wind, like waves. Her brown eyes glistened behind her glasses. It's the same girl I helped with her locker. I must have a dangerously strong presence, because she notices me coming, and speaks.
“Oh! Hello, Aric.”
“Hi.”
What's she doing here? It looks like she knew about this place way before I did, and it's still the first day of school! On her lap is a lunch box. I suddenly have the urge to eat here as well. Will she let me sit by her? If not, I'll just sit on the ground. The latter sounds more lik-
“What are you doing standing around, silly? You can sit her if you'd like to.” She motions me to sit down next to her. I don't object.
We eat silently for a bit. Trying to break the silence, I decide to speak up.
“You know, I never really got your name.”
“My name? Karren Herrera.”
“Ah, Karren. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Aric.”
Karren's face is shadowed by the towering sun, but you can make out her grin perfectly; a smile that can outshine any star.
“Thanks for helping me out with my locker earlier.”
“What? Oh. You're welcome.”
We exchange a few more words while eating our lunches.
“How's your first day, Aric?”
“Just fine. Still getting used to the classes. How about you?”
“I'm doing the same. The school's really big, so it's not hard to get lost.”
“Yeah.”
“You know, this year's different.”
I look at Karren with a puzzled face. “What do you mean?”
“It just... feels different. The wind's singing a different song than before.”
“I... can't hear a difference.”
“You don't hear it, Aric. You feel it.”
I'm not sure if I should take her word as advice, or if I should just ignore it.
We have both finished our lunches by now, so we sit quietly, watching the cars whiz by Fraelot Bridge. The bell's ring seems a lot louder this time, as the bell tower is very close to our spot. Karren gets up first.
“See you, Aric. Good luck.”
“Um... bye, Karren.”
I can't help but wonder what she means by that. I stay seated and stare at the large, glistening river behind the school.

EpicCh33se
02-20-2013, 01:09 AM
The “you should be in class by now” bell rings. I must have stayed up here the entire break, so I'd better get going. I pick up my trash and throw it in a nearby trashcan. Then, I go downstairs, onto the second floor. Let's see, according to my schedule, I have Language Arts with Mrs. Kaufman. Well, darn.
I should be used to all these glares already, but that's not the case. The biggest one is from Mrs. Kaufman.
“Sit down.” she says, with an intimidating voice.
I do as she tells me to, and sit down at my seat in the last row of the last column. Mrs. K grabs a bunch of papers and hands them out. Another syllabus. How many of these do I need? She tells us about how we need to put in “as much effort as possible”, and to “be respectful to others”. And, of course, the slip is due tomorrow.
“Now, class. We are going to take a quiz.”
On the first day of school? This isn't right. The sudden remark leads me to believe that the quiz will be about ourselves. It turns out, I'm right.
“You may start.”
I swear I hear Mrs. K giggle a little.

Read through, then follow the directions for each problem.

1.What is your name?
A: Aric

2.Where are you now?
A: Harmell Middle School

3.How old are you?
A: 11

4.Are you a boy or a girl?
A: Boy

5.Draw a square on the top right corner of this page.

6.Yell “I'm halfway there!” if you are at this question.
“I'm halfway there!”

7. Are you liking Harmell Middle School so far?
A: Yes

8.Draw a triangle on the bottom left corner of this page.

9.What grade are you in?
A: 6th

10.Yell “I'm almost done!” if you are at this question.
“I'm almost done!”

11.Who is your advisory teacher?
A: Mrs. Kaufman

12.Now that you are done reading the questions, answer only number 5 and 8.
...........

Well, dang. For a minute, I ponder on whether I should go back and fix everything, since I finished early. However, being the hard writer I am, the writing will still be visible after erasing, even under the shavings.
“Time's up!”
Too late for that now.
Mrs. Kaufman picks up all the papers and looks over them. You can tell she's trying not to laugh. Maybe. I can't tell. Her endurance fails and she giggles.
“It seems like I tricked most of you. Remember to read the questions first before doing anything else.”

Social Studies is next in line. Thankfully, instead of history, the first unit is on geography. To spend the period, we have a “QA”. We take turns asking questions about Earth's geography. Most of the time, they go unanswered. There are some good questions, like “How was Pangaea split?” or “What causes tsunamis?”. In turn, there are those obvious ones, like “What hemisphere are we in?” or “How many continents are there?”. Before long, the bell rings. Mrs. K, who is surprised, quickly regains her senses and excuses us. The noise level begins to rise as everyone gets out of their seats. Out in the halls, it is much louder. I open my locker, stuff everything into my bag, close it, and walk towards the entrance. Before going out, I remember something.
“Mrs. Alston?”
“Hello..... Aric?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you need?”
I dig out my schedule and show it to Mrs. Alston.
“On my schedule, my name is spelled wrong. It's an “A”, not an “E”.
“Hold on.”
Mrs. Alston turns away and types my name into the computer. She raises her eyebrow.
“You're right. Your name is “Eric” on your profile. I'd better change that.... There.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Alston.”
“You're quite welcome, Aric. If you need anything else, be sure to come on by.”
“Okay. Bye, Mrs. Alston.”
“Goodbye.”
I walk down the stairs and through the doors. Outside, there are a lot of kids right next to the entrance, waiting for a ride. I stall around the entrance even though I'm going to walk. As cars come into the driveway, one less student is gone. Sometimes, more than that. I'm almost the last one here. There's another kid on his phone, probably texting. I stand up from my lean against the wall and start walking towards home. The Autumn breeze is much more definite now. Usually, the wind is blowing straight at my face, which can get annoying at times. I have to keep adjusting my bangs back to their proper spot, only to have them blown away again. Now, the wind is gently flying in from my left side. Although short, it's still long enough to flow in the direction the wind is blowing. It feels quite nice. I've only ever walked on this path once, and that was this morning. It's kind of hard retracing my steps after hours of not thinking about retracing steps, but I do my best anyway.
I fumble my way through my bag in search of my house key. When I finally find it, I unlock the front door and walk in. No one's home. Mom's probably still at work, and Retah is probably with her. I gobble down a sandwich, go up to my room, change into my casual clothes, and turn on the computer. I look over to my other possessions. Wait, I told myself that I would take out the trash this morning. I take the trash bag along with its contents, into the big garbage can outside. I climb back into the big, comfy chair in my room and browse the internet.
I'm listening to a song that a friend recommended to me over the summer, when I hear the doorbell ring. I pause the song and go see who it is. I didn't expect the person to be so short, but it is my sister, Retah.
“I'm home.”
“Hi, Retah.”
I look past the door to see if there is anybody else.
“Mom's not with you?”
“Mom has some things to do at work.”
“Oh, alright.”
Retah puts her backpack on the floor before re-familiarizing herself with her home and making herself comfortable on the couch.
“How's school, Retah?”
“Fun! I saw some of my old friends.”
“Really? That's nice.”
“During recess, Marissa and I played tag!”
“That sounds fun.”
“What did you do at school, Aric?”
“I just made some new friends.”

Pokemon73
02-20-2013, 01:26 AM
Omg this is great! Why didn't I see this before?

Krauersaut
02-20-2013, 02:43 AM
Zomg ch33sy this is epic,

9.99999/10 :)

EpicCh33se
03-15-2013, 11:57 PM
Chapter 6: August 25 – 6:35 A.M.

“S-S-Shut up!”
It doesn't stop, so I slam my fist on the snooze button.
“OW!”
A sharp pain lingers on my hand. The alarm still rings. I had punched the edge of my desk, and now my hand is hurting.
“SHUT UP ALREADY!”
This time, I make sure to break it.
I open my eyes wearily, trying my best to lift the weights off of my eyelids. Everything's a blur, but the world focuses again after a few seconds. I guess I'm still not used to waking up this early for school. I yawn the entire time while I get dressed. The walk to the bathroom is a long one. I'm literally dragging my foot across the floor as if it was chained to a big, steel ball. It kind of hurts. It feels as if the weight of the steel ball is pulling my leg right off. Slowly and painfully, of course. The ball slides much easier when I enter the bathroom, as the floor is patched together with smooth, polished, slick vinyl tiles. Looking up at the mirror, I say to myself that my hair is messier than yesterday. I do all that bathroom stuff, then I turn on the shower faucet.

“Mom, I need you to sign these.” I say, as I hand over the syllabus'.
Mom reads over and signs every one with her favorite pen. It is blue, very shiny, and smooth. It almost feels like glass, really. Mom's name is neatly sculpted on the top half of the pen in cursive writing. It was a present from Dad during their anniversary. Mom gives the papers back to me. We dig into our breakfast of omelet sandwiches, savoring every bite. I could live off of these.
“So, how was school?” Mom asks.
“Gfhhreafth!” Retah replies almost instantly with her mouth still full of food.
“Don't rush, Retah. You'll choke.”
Retah swallows before trying to speak again. Unfortunately, she rushes and almost chokes anyway. Looking at our worried faces, Retah desperately tries to reassure us that she's safe by trying to swallow, but we're not so convinced. With the food, having successfully evaded lodging her throat and now, into her stomach, Retah attempts to speak again.
“Great!”
Mom pats on Retah's back. For some reason, people do that when others are choking or coughing wildly. I really don't see how that could help. It can worsen the problem if the food is knocked into a more dangerous spot.... if that's even possible.
“Be careful, Retah. It's not safe to rush when eating.”
“Yes, Mom.”
We don't talk while we finish our sandwiches.

I walk in the door to Ms. Kluge's class. Unlike yesterday, the desks were paired up in fours. It doesn't take long for me to figure out which desk is mine. They're really at the same spots, but in different positions. I take a seat and Ms. Kluge starts attendance.
“You'll all work in fours to complete this worksheet, front and back. Any questions?”
No one answered.
I look at the two desks in front of mine. Both of the students aren't here today, which means I'll be working with... Medwin, was it? The desk next to mine belonged to Medwin. I've only heard his name in class and have yet to actually talk to him. Medwin has curly red hair and brown eyes. Although freckles dot his face under his glasses, he hardly looks like what people call “nerds”. He has a calm face that looks loose and not uptight. Calm, but he looks ready to do the assignment as well. Two sheets of paper land on my desk and I pass one of them to Medwin. We both start right away. Everything on the worksheet is review, so the problems aren't too hard.
“Hey... can you slow down a bit?”
I look up to see Medwin peering at my paper, then looking back at his own.
“Sure.” I respond.
I do the problems at a slower pace.
“How... How did you get that?”
“What?”
“Number 12.”
“The one with the triangular prism?”
“Yeah, I forgot how to find the volume of those.”
“Volume? Well, the formula is B times H, or in this case, base times height divided by two multiplied by the Length.”
“Um......”
“Here, to find the volume of a 3D shape, you have to find the area of the base and multiply it by the height.”
I show him how to solve the problem, step by step.
“And so, the answer is 973 cubic inches.”
“I... kind of understand.”
“Think you can do one by yourself now?”
“I'll try.”
I leave him be and work on my own paper. Once in a while, Medwin would ask for my help, but we finish the worksheets without much hassle. I hand the worksheets to Ms. Kluge for her to check.
“All correct. Nice work, you two.”
Medwin turns to me with a smile on his face. “Thanks, Aric.”

I sidestep through the narrow space and into the tiny room past the stairs. This place really needs to be cleaned. It's started to get a little eerie, actually. I walk up the stairs. This part of the school is so different from the rest. While everywhere else was repainted and reorganized, it seems as if this hidden area was forgotten. I turn the knob and push open the creaky door. In front of me is the bell tower. It is a hollow pillar that houses the bell. Attached to the clapper is a rope that descends down to the school, where it is swung back and forth whenever the bell needed to be sounded. A gust of wind blows by.
Bang.
What was that? I turn around to find out that the door was closed by the wind. To my right, I notice a girl on the other side of the roof. She's sitting on the bench again, staring at the river with her lunch on her lap. I walk up to her.
“Hey, Karren.”
Karren slowly turns her head to me. Her glasses reflects the glint of the sun for a moment. Behind those glasses, her deep brown eyes seem as if she is looking right past me.
“Hello, Aric.”
“May I sit here?”
“Sure.”
She turns her head back to the river and stares again. I take a seat and unpack my lunch. I too, gaze into the river beyond the school. It is a beautiful sight. The water glistens with each light wave and casts a reflection on everything above it; the clouds, the sun, even Fraelot Bridge. I dig into my lunch while Karren finishes hers. She gets up and throws her trash away. Soon after, I throw mine away as well. I sit down, and notice the bell in the tower rocking back and forth.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The second break begins.
We stare at the river again. It certainly is entrancing and doesn't get boring.
“It feels really nice up here.” I say.
“I'm glad.”
“Hmm?”
“I'm glad a place like this exists.”
I can see a half-smile on Karren's face. She seems happy that she's here. Yet, at the same time, she seems sad. Something else must be bothering her. Hmm... It seems too personal, I'd better not ask.
“What do you like about this place, Karren?”
She's sad about something, but I can tell she likes it here. This might be a place where she can relax when stressed.
“I... don't know.” she replies. “I'm just glad that I can be here.”
She pauses.
“Do you like this place?”
I feel at ease here. The sound of the waves hitting the cliff, the gentle wind constantly blowing, and the overall relaxing atmosphere.
“Of course.”
“Truly?” asks Karren, without changing her tone.
“Yeah.”
Silence.
“Is that why you are here?”
“I... guess.”
Not once does she change her expression. I don't think she's satisfied with my answer.
Silence.
I say nothing, in case I blurt out something unnecessary again. Not once does Karren take her eyes off the river either. She's not carefully watching it like an alert dog, but rather, looking into it. I catch her pupils move towards me.
“Wah!” I stumble backwards, fall off the bench, and land on my back. “Ow...” How embarrassing... Oh, right. Quickly putting my senses back together, I sit up and apologize.
“I-I'm sorry!”
I must have been staring at her.
A light smile appears on Karren's face. It's like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel, or finding a needle in a haystack. I feel as if this is a rare sight, but I know Karren is capable. I laugh, enjoying the moment.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The bell stops swaying seconds after the chiming stops, and I don't realize until seconds after that.
“Oh...” I say, disappointed. “It's time.”
I stand up.
“I'd better get going. See you again, Karren.”
“Goodbye.”
I dash down the stairs, hoping to break the habit of being late.

Pokemon73
03-16-2013, 01:23 AM
Why can't I have good RP ideas like you cheese?

Clairvoya
03-16-2013, 01:28 AM
Karren slowly turns her head to me. Her glasses reflects the glint of the sun for a moment. Behind those glasses, her deep brown eyes seem as if she is looking right past me.

Good job Ch33se. I just found one mistake. I believe in the part I bolded, it should be just reflect. But ignoring that one minor mistake, it's really good!

BreeZaps
03-16-2013, 01:33 AM
Ch33se's writing <33333333
Love it <3 :3

EpicCh33se
04-04-2013, 02:53 AM
Chapter 7: August 26 – 8:35 A.M.

Art class.
Mrs. Kalah finishes with attendance and goes up to the projector.
“We'll be starting our first project today.”
She turns the projector on and places a painting under it.
“Reflective paintings.”
On the painting is a beach. A lonely beach without anyone on it. The sand is red, instead of yellow, white, or brown. There's a palm tree up close with beach chairs underneath it. The water isn't blue, but a dark shade of red. Over the horizon, a bright, yellow sun beams over the water. I'm not sure if the painting was meant to be eerie or playful, but the former definitely wins.
“In this project, you paint whatever comes to mind that best describes you. You have to reflect on yourself.”
I wonder what that painting says about the painter. A red world...
“We're going to be using watercolor this time. The more water you add, the lighter the hue will be. If done right, each painting can express different emotions. Of course, don't add too much water. It'll wash the color away. You can paint how you feel, what you like, your hobbies, anything that involves you!”
Mrs. Kalah seems excited. It looks like she's about to jump up and down or something. She slowly exhales.
“The canvases, paint, brushes, and water cups are over there on that counter. Make sure to clean up your area after you're done. If you need any help, I'll be right here.”
We all line up behind the counter. Gathering my tools, I make my way back to my seat. What should I paint? Something that describes me... What describes me? Well, I guess I should start by painting myself. I dip the paintbrush into the water, then into the brown color palette. I paint the hair first. Switching to another color palette, I paint the rest of me. I survey what I have done so far. It's funny how even though I'm me, I can't seem to replicate myself onto another surface. If I can even come close, I'd be glad. I mean, I know how I look like, right? Do I? As I question myself about myself, I notice Maira painting. She's painting a field of bright sunflowers. It looks really light and dream-like even though she's only halfway done with it. She washes the paint from her brush with her water cup, dips the brush into a new color, and continues to paint. I can't help but notice how delicately she's painting. The brush doesn't even look like it's touching the canvas, yet it creates deep and visible marks.
“That looks amazing, Maira.”
She turns her head to me.
“Thank you.”
“You're really good this.”
“Am I?”
“Yeah. Do you paint often?”
“Yes. It's my favorite pastime.”
“You must enjoy it a lot then.”
Maira nods.
“Hmm... Do you keep all your paintings? Seems like you'd have quite a lot by now.”
Maira shakes her head. “I throw most of them away. If one is good enough, I frame it.”
It's hard to believe that Maira throws most of her paintings away. If those paintings were bad, then what does she consider good? Looking at the painting she's working on now, it hardly looks bad. In fact, it looks quite... beautiful.
“Surely, the others couldn't have been that bad.”
“Not bad. I painted them wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“Yes, wrong. Different than what I thought they would be.”
“I'm... not sure I understand.”
“My apologies. My paintings sometimes do not end up the way I had intended them to.”
“Oh, I see.”
Maira glances at the clock.
“If you may excuse me, I must get back to work.”
I look up at the clock as well. Yikes, it's 8:53. I grab my paintbrush and...
What am I going to paint? I already have myself on the canvas, but I'm going to need something else. Something... something... Well, I love music. I guess should paint some music notes. I dip the brush in black and do just that. I also love to read, so some books would work. Video games and food too.
I spend the rest of the class period coming up with things to put on the canvas.
I put the brush down and stare at my painting. A collage of my hobbies and interests. Although not the most original idea, I suppose it'll be enough to get me credit for the project. I look over at Maira's painting.
Wow.
The painting is complete now. The sunflower field looks even more dreamy and unreal. White clouds dot the blue sky in many shapes and sizes. The windmills in the background look like they're actually being blown by the wind. In fact, I can almost feel it. So much... that the painting is starting to seem... familiar...
My head jerks up as the painting moves out of my sight. Maira sets it on the drying rack. Oh, right. I'd better do that too. I grab my painting and set it on the opposite side of the rack from Maira's painting. I don't want her to see it when she picks hers up later.

“Please open your notebooks and turn your math books to page 5.”
The first chapter is on how to find the volume of a cylinder. No sweat. It should be like finding the volume of a prism, right?

(Author's Note*
In the last chapter, the class was reviewing on the volume of cylinders. If you are wondering why they are learning it now, it is because I have edited the last chapter so that the class was reviewing on the volume of prisms instead. Sorry for the inconvenience)

“Here's how we'll do this. Everyday, besides test days, we'll be working on a different lesson. After recording the lesson in the table of contents, we start a new page and take notes there. On the back of that page is where you'll do your homework. Does everyone understand?”
The class replies “yes” with the exception of a few students.
I write “1-1 Volume of Cylinders” in the table of contents and flip to the next page.
“For the first term, we will be working on geometry. Today, we're going to be learning how to find the volume of a cylinder. I'm sure all of you are familiar with prisms, so we are going one step up this time. In fact, why don't we warm up with some prisms?”
The class finishes the problems fairly easily.
“Okay, time for the actual lesson.”
A cylinder comes up on the projector screen. Using a baton, Mrs. Kluge points to it.
“As you may know, the formula to find the volume is base times height. The same rules apply here. First, you're going to need to find the area of the base, which is this circle. The formula for the area of a circle is pi times radius squared. This circle's diameter is ten, so we have to divide it by two to get the radius... which is five. After that, we multiply it by pi, and then by five again since it's squared.”
With each step, Mrs. Kluge writes it down on the board with a marker. As do I in my notebook.
“Of course, you can multiply these in any order you like. Now that we have the base, we multiply it by the height of the whole cylinder.”
Mrs. Kluge finishes the problem. It seems simple enough. I look around the classroom. Everyone seems relieved that the lesson is nothing entirely new.
“Let's see this next example here.”
The slide changes and a new problem comes up.
“What's the first step?”
Someone raises their hand.
“Freddie?”
“The area of the base.”
“Correct. Then? Bonnie?”
“Um... you multiply that by the height?”
“Correct. Now, please finish the problem in your notebooks.”

“Seems like we finished early today. How about we start on our homework?”
Mrs. Kluge writes the homework assignment on the board. We all turn our books to the page written, except for some people who would rather do their homework at home. After heading my paper, I start right away.
Halfway done and with plenty of time left. I feel quite accomplished. I look around the room. Everyone's doing fine as well. However, Medwin's paper catches my eye. There's nothing on it. I would have thought that Medwin was going to do his homework at home, had I not noticed that the paper was already headed and that Medwin looks to be in deep thought. No, he looks frustrated.
“Is something wrong, Medwin?”
“Huh? Oh, it's nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Uh... I didn't understand the lesson.”
Medwin hangs his head low. He looks ashamed. I have to do something, so I decide to help him.
“Alright, then we'll just have to go through the lesson again.”
“What?”
“We're going to redo the lesson. Start a new page for your notes, Medwin.”
“You're going to help me?”
“What does it look like I'm doing?”
“Ha ha. Thanks.”
I turn his math book back to the lesson's page. A confident Medwin springs up and replaces the frustrated one. Quietly, so that I don't disturb the whole class, I go through all the steps with Medwin. I do it slowly enough for him to absorb everything into his brain.
“And that's how you do it. Understand?”
“...Yes, I think. Thanks, Aric. You've helped me a lot.”
“No problem. If you need any help on the homework, you can ask me.”
“Okay.”

EpicCh33se
04-18-2013, 01:33 AM
Chapter 8: August 27 – 10:20 A.M.

Huh...? I... I feel horrible. I force my eyelids open. The blue ceiling looks back at my sluggish, stinging eyes. We stare at each other. All the while, the drool stains on the side of my mouth become more and more noticeable and annoying. I try to lift myself up, but my body feels as if it's three times heavier than normal. At last, I sit on my bed, hunching over. I feel like some kind of zombie rising from the grave or something. The light shining through the curtains remind me that it's morning. What time is it? I look over to the side at my clock.
...
10:24?! I'm late for school! VERY late! Oh man, why didn't my alarm clock ring?

(Author's Note: I have changed it so that every student must wear a school uniform. The previous posts have been updated regarding this as well. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

I quickly jump out of bed and slip into my uniform. I try to put on my tie really fast, but I fail again and again. I decide to slow down. After my tie is perfectly in place, I resume to speed through my morning procedures. I dash out the door and into the bathroom. I brush my teeth and everything at such a fast pace, that I don't think it has much of an effect. Going back to my room, I grab my bag and hop down the stairs. Oh no, I forgot my book. I run upstairs and stuff the book into my bag and try to remember if I'm missing anything else. I rush down the stairs, almost tripping on them this time. Thank goodness that there is a railing. I look around the living room and the kitchen. No one's home. Mom must be at work and Retah must be at school already. Ah, I have to hurry. I decide to skip breakfast and head out the door. There's no time to enjoy my surroundings today, so I run as fast as I can out of the neighborhood. The wind blowing in my direction and the fact that I'm running towards it makes my eyes tear up. My bag bounces up and down which kind of distracts me. Trying to ignore both, I run through Kimare Park and out onto 7th street. There it is, Harmell. I have to hurry. I speed towards the giant building in the distance. As it gets closer and closer, I feel as if I need to pick up the pace. I run faster, sweating more and more. I run until the parking lot comes into view. Huh? Why are there only a few cars? The parking lot had many cars the past few days. Maybe it was because those were the first few days of school. I go up to the front door and grasp the handle.
.
..
...
What...
What day is it today...?

I walk away from school grounds and towards home. Agh, how can I be so stupid? I should have known just from the parking lot. It's not like it wasn't obvious. I mean, my alarm didn't ring, Mom would have woken me up if I overslept, Retah's probably with Mom, and I also have a big calender on the wall and everything, geez!
Deep breath, Aric. Ah well, I suppose it could be worse...
I trudge away from the baseball field that is outside my school, sweating just as much as I did back there a few minutes ago. Combined with the warm weather today, it makes my uniform stick to my back, which is really uncomfortable. I cross the street into Kimare Park. I don't feel like walking home just yet, so I plop down onto a bench. It's a nice day. The sun is shining through the leaves and branches of the trees, and the grass feels cold, even through my shoes. The birds overhead chirp one after the other in different pitches. It's entertains me, but only for so long. I open my bag and pull out the book that I almost forgot earlier.

Why... why is it so cold...?
I open my eyes, blinking twice to reassure that I opened them successfully. A light breeze blows by, sending shivers down my spine.
“Ohh...” I groan.
I sit up and look down at where I had been resting my head. I must have fallen asleep on the bench. Doubting myself for some reason, I look around to confirm my whereabouts. I'm... still in Kimare Park. Why am I acting like I'm expecting something else? I sit on the bench, thoughtless, like in a trance. Eh... I'd better get home soon. What time is it? I look around for something that can tell the time, even though I know I won't find anything like that around here. Accidentally proving myself wrong, I see a pole clock nearby. How come I didn't see that before? I get up and approach the clock.
It's 11:26.
I guess I should get going. I walk back to the bench and pick up my bag. It's... open? Oh, right. I was reading a book.
The book...
Where's the book?
I desperately look around the bench, where it most likely is. No sign of the book. I then check around the pole clock. Not there. Where can it possibly be? It couldn't have just rolled off somewhere by itself. Did somebody take it? I look for anybody nearby. Maybe not...
“Today's just not my day, isn't it?”
I close my bag and sigh. I guess I'll go to the bookstore to get another copy sometime... I drag myself towards the rear entrance of Kimare Park, which seems miles away. I look up and see the birds from before fly away, rustling the branches slightly. Although they only move slightly, red, orange, and yellow leaves fall from them.
Autumn, huh? Time flies.
The leaves float by in front of me, blocking my view. As they settle down, I make out a figure near the entrance. A child? The child is wearing a kindergarten uniform, which is blue and frilly. They are different depending on the gender. Boys have a darker tint of blue, while girls have a lighter tint. This child, who I can tell is a boy, is looking in my direction. He grins and jumps up and down cheerfully, waving his arms around. In his hand is... my book!
“Hey!”
I run towards him. Having noticed that I'm coming, he grins even more and runs off.
“Wait!”
He turns the corner behind some bushes. I run faster and turn the corner myself, skidding to a halt.
...
I stare straight ahead, the boy nowhere in sight. Where is he? Don't tell me he ran off into the streets! I run up to the bend and look both ways. He really is gone. What... what happened? Where did he go? In front of me on the rough, black, concrete is my book. I pick it up.
Once in a Lifetime by Jary Mayes.
One of my favorite books. I can't remember how many times I've read it, but I know that it's quite a lot of times. I open my bag and place the book inside. I'm glad my book is back, but.... I'm just not happy.
Why? Why do I feel horrible?
I make sure the child actually vanished and is not hiding behind the bushes or anything. He's not. I was hoping to be able to talk to him. Why did he take my book? Where did he go? Who is he? Questions pop out one after the other. Questions that probably won't be answered.
...
I should stop thinking about this and just head home. I walk off, feeling very heavy for the rest of the day.

EpicCh33se
04-28-2013, 08:37 PM
Chapter 9: August 29 – 9:18 A.M.

The bell rings for the first break of the day. People bustle about, feeling refreshed after the weekend. Everyone seems so energetic and happy. But of course, there are also those people were caught off guard by the coming and going of the weekend, and I'm one of them. Scratch that, I'm the only one. Now I need to get used to going to school again. Many people are crowded in the cafeteria, chatting with their friends until they lose track of time. Their voices fade into almost nothing as I walk away. I sigh and rub my eyes. Man, I am so tired. The thing is, I don't even know why. I'm sure I got enough sleep this weekend, as that was the only thing I had to do, but even then, my eyes are stinging. I rub my eyes again. I'll just get some more sleep then, I guess. I walk down the hallway aimlessly. I might as well be walking for the rest of the break period. Hmm? Something catches my eye. To my left is the entrance to the library. The library, huh? I've never been here before. In fact, I'm kind of curious. I push open the door and walk through the doorway. Immediately, I become aware of the entrancing smell of book pages that fills the room. It feels as if it's lifting my head, which is quite unpleasant, really. It makes me feel even dizzier than I already am. After recovering from the scent, I take a second to survey the library. It's very big and it has a high roof. You'd expect the library to be spacious because of the size, but it really isn't. The walls are lined with bookshelves filled with books ordering from A to Z depending on the author's name. The shelves are very tall, so there's are big step ladders used to climb them. There are some other shelves parallel to each other near the back. To my left is the check-out desk. The librarian doesn't seem to be here. Maybe he or she is just filing some books away or something. Near the entrance and the check-out desk are six tables. Some of them are occupied by students studying. A bulletin board covers a small portion of the right wall where the bookshelf ends. The rectangle roof has a smaller rectangle in the center made of glass, which is bordered by hanging lights. The back wall is completely glass though, like a giant window. I'm actually very impressed with the design. It's so neat and everything is so organized. There are not many people here. I guess this place isn't very popular. I walk around, gazing at everything with fascination. Why don't I check out a book while I'm here? It's only natural to do that at a library. I face the bookshelf and sidestep, skimming through the titles to see if anything interests me. A little while later, I come across a good-looking book. I take it out of the shelf and read the description on the back. It appeals to me, so I grab it and look through the pages while walking back to the check-out desk. Let's see... There are three hundred fifty pages and th-
I bump into something.
“Eek!!”
I look up to see a girl falling down from a ladder, landing on her side. The books her arms were cradling fly out in every direction. Oh no.
“Ah! I'm terribly sorry!”
I drop my book and rush over to her, but before I can help, she gets up herself. A frantic look crosses her face as she scurries along the ground, gathering the books back up. The first thought that comes to my mind is to help gather the books too, so I pick up the ones that are on the opposite side of the girl. I hold them out to her.
“I'm so sorry about that. Are you okay?”
She looks up and stares at me intently. It's not a stare of anger or sadness, but rather, a stare of bewilderment. I can see her eyes glisten. Is this the proper reaction to an apology? It makes me feel worthless, somewhat. All of a sudden, she jerks up with a scared look on her face. Quickly grabbing the books from my hand and stacking it on top of the ones that she picked up, she runs off.
“Ah...” I reach my hand out to her, but stop halfway.
I feel a mixture of guilt and confusion. One, I chased her away. Two, just what was that about? I look up at the ladder where the girl fell down from. Aw dang, it's awfully high. Now I feel even worse. It was my fault that she fell and got hurt. I'll have to apologize the next time I see her. I pick up the book I wanted to check out off the floor and walk towards the check-out desk. Huh? In front of me, I see another book on the ground. I pick it up. This is one of the many books that I returned to the girl. Speaking of which, that was quite a lot of books. She must read a lot. Oh! If she's checking those books out, she may still be here! I walk faster towards the check-out desk. The desk comes into view and...
...
To my surprise, the girl is behind the counter, not in front of it. I can tell she's trying to stand up straight, but she looks a bit flushed. I approach the desk. Seeing me, she whelps and quickly hides behind the counter.
“Um... I'm sorry about earlier.”
No reply.
“I really am. I just want to know if you're alright. That fall looked like it hurt.”
She slowly pokes her head out until the bottom of her eyes level with the countertop. Eventually, she stands up. She tries to avoid eye contact by looking down, but I can tell that she's still flushed. She opens her shaky mouth as if to speak, but she hesitates her words.
“I... I-I-I-I'm fine!”
What an outburst.
“Ah, I'm glad you're okay. That was a nasty fall though. Sorry...”
Her body trembles. I can see her hands tightening on her skirt.
“H-Hey! Don't cry!”
I really screwed up this time... Uh... What do I do?
She quietly sniffles, but a great deal of tears come out. I decide to give her some tissues from the tissue box on the counter.
“Here.”
She slowly lifts her head up and looks at my outreached hand. Still sniffling, she takes the tissue and wipes her eyes.
“Thanks...” she whispers. She says this so quietly, I can barely hear her.
I turn around, leaning on the counter, and look around the library. The kids studying are still deep in their textbooks. Either they were completely oblivious to what happened, or they were just ignoring us. Whatever they're doing, I'm impressed with their ability to concentrate.
“E-E-E-Excuse me!”
I turn around. The girl is trying to act with a decorous manner again, but her beet red face kind of ruins it.
“I-I-Is there something I can h-h-help you with?!”
I think she's trying a bit too hard on the volume...
“Um... I guess I just wanted to apologize.”
“I-I-I'm fine, b-b-b-but if you need anything else, I-I-I-I'll be right here!”
It seems like she wants to derive from the subject. I don't want to somehow hurt her feelings again, so I might as well act along.
“On second thought, I'd like to check out a book.”
I figured she was the librarian or something by now. I had thought that she was just older than she looks, but her student uniform proved me wrong. Although, it's not everyday you see someone so young doing this kind of job.
I hand the book to her and hold up my Id. She scans both of them with the scanner.
“Done.”
She smiles satisfyingly as if she's saying to herself, “Another day, another check-out.”.
I take a closer look at her. She looks foreign. Asian, I'm pretty sure. Her charcoal-black hair reaches down to her shoulders. A purple hair clip supports her side-swept bangs, which covers most of her forehead. A big, purple ribbon is tied at the bottom of her hair. Her lanyard is not the standard black fabric, but a series of colorful patterns. Clipped onto it is her Id. I squint my eyes to make out the name.
“...Narumi Hase-gawa?”
“Ah... It's Narumi Ha-se-ga-wa.” she says each syllable slowly.
Looks like I was right about her being foreign. Hmm... her name is Japanese, I'm think... So, I guess I should call her by her last name for now.
“So, Hasegawa, you're the librarian, right?”
“E-Eh? N-No, I'm the librarian's assistant.”
Oh.
“Then, is the librarian busy?”
“Y-Yes, she's copying papers in the office.”
“I see. Uh... Oh, right. You dropped this on the way here.”
I place the book that I found on the counter. Hasegawa looks at it closely, and then looks over at the stack of books that she was carrying earlier, which is placed against the wall behind her. She looks back at the book on the counter.
“Oh no!!! I forgot!”
She takes the book and puts it on top of the stack. Then, she grabs the stack and rushes to the shelves. What's she doing?
I follow her.
She's on top of the ladder again, sliding the books into the shelves.
“Hey, be careful!”
I stand next to ladder, just in case she falls. Remembering that I was the one who bumped into the ladder, I take a step back so that I'm just close enough to catch her and far enough to avoid contact. After putting away some books, Hasegawa climbs down the ladder and pushes it farther along the shelf. She climbs it again and continues. Fortunately, she doesn't fall and successfully files away every book. She descends the ladder, pulls it back to its original spot, and turns around. Upon seeing me, she whelps and jumps back.
“Eep!”
Seems she forgot I was here.
“G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G” she stutters greatly. “G-G-G-G-Hello, is th-there something I can h-help you with?”
Her sudden change of behavior surprised me. She must be trying very hard to keep her composure.
“No, not really.”
“Oh-O-O-Okayyy!” she replies, slurring her words. “I'll be at th-the check-out d-desk if you need me!”
And with that, she darts away.
Hasegawa is really shy, huh? It kind of makes me wonder how she got this job.
I walk back to the check-out desk. What time is it?
It's... 10:28. There's still two minutes left.
“I'm going to get ready for class, Hasegawa. See you later.”
I walk off, but stop in my tracks when I hear her voice.
“E-E-E-E-E-Excuse me!”
“What is it?”
“U-Um... Y-Y-You don't have to call me by my family name...”
“Oh. So... just Narumi is fine?”
“Yes.” she answers, smiling.
“Well, I'll see you again, Narumi.”
“Goodbye.”

EpicCh33se
05-19-2013, 06:09 PM
(Author's Note: I have gone back and edited the first day of the story. I fixed some tense problems and have added a few things.
1. It describes both the boy's and girl's uniforms.
2. It describes the office a little better.
3. Changed it so that the stairway to the rooftop is hidden instead of being out in the open
4. Slightly reduces the amount of enthusiasm from Aric for the first day.
5. Lockers are now full-size lockers. No more top or bottom. Aric's locker neighbors are Maira and Karren.
Sorry for the inconvenience.)

I write “1-2 Volume of Pyramids” in the table of contents. Mrs. Kluge holds up a rectangular prism and a pyramid. They are both hollow.
“Does everyone see this?”
“Yes.” the class replies.
“We're going to learn about the volume of pyramids today. Look at these two shapes.” Mrs Kluge holds them up higher. “Which one do you think holds more?”
A bunch of kids shout out mixed answers.
“The rectangular prism!”
“The pyramid!”
Mrs. Kluge laughs. “How many of you would believe that three pyramids can fit inside this one rectangular prism?”
Disbelief rises above the class. I don't blame them. The shapes do look about the same size.
Mrs. Kluge grabs a water jug sitting nearby and fills the pyramid with it. Then, she dumps the contents into the rectangular prism. Strangely, it only fills about a third of it. Looks like Mrs. Kluge was right. She continues to do this another two times until the prism is full.
“So... what does that say about the volume of pyramids?”
The class goes silent. Nobody could come up with anything.
“It means that the volume of a pyramid is three times less than the volume of a rectangular prism that have the same dimensions.”
Mrs. Kluge writes the formula for the volume of a rectangular prism on the board. She waits a bit, so the class can see it, and then writes “divided by 3” at the end.
As if coming to a realization, many kids exclaim “Ohhh”.

“Hey, Aric, I need a little help.”
“Uh... hold on a sec.”
I finish the problem I was working and look up. “Hmm?”
“So, I just find the volume as if it were a prism, and then divide?”
“Yeah, by three.”
“But... I forgot how to find the volume of a prism.”
Looks like Medwin needs a bit more help than I thought...
“Okay, let's do that first. The formula is length times width times height, all three dimensions.”
I guide him through this bonus lesson.
“Oh, so I just divide that by three to get the pyramid?”
I nod.
“Okay. Thanks, Aric”
“No problem.”
I continue to do my homework. It looks I'm going to have to get used to this since we've finished the lesson early twice in a row already. It's as if everybody automatically understands what to do after a short explanation. Everybody but Medwin, that is.
Right as I finish my homework, Medwin speaks up.
“Hey, Aric.”
“What?”
“I need some help again.”
I peer over at his paper. He's on the review problems that are on the bottom of the book page.
“How do you multiply fractions again?”
“You just multiply them straight across, no need to find the least common denominator or anything.”
“Oh, I was wondering about that, thanks.”
Hmm... did Medwin pay any attention in class last year? He seems to be working pretty hard, so I don't think so. Maybe he just has a hard time understanding or, maybe he just forgot most of the things he learned.
“Hey, Medwin.”
“Huh?”
“Are you free the next break?”
“What? Um, yes. Why?”
“Let's meet at the library. You're going to need a bit more practice.”
“Practice?” Medwin looks at his paper. “You mean this?” he says, pointing at it.
“Yeah”
“Uh... sure.” answers Medwin, looking uncertain.
“Oh, and bring your notebook along too.”

I open my locker and pull out my math book and two pencils. I close it and walk away. The halls sure are quiet during the break periods. Usually, during passing time, the halls would be crowded with people putting things away in their lockers. It now dawns to me that I could never hear my footsteps during passing time, but now I can. I try to mark time to a tune I was listening to the other day, which only slows my walking speed tremendously. Oh well.
I walk into the library. Once again, the gusting smell of book pages flies towards me. I need to get used to this...
I look to the counter. Narumi must be on librarian duty again. Just where is the real librarian?
“Hey, Narumi.” I say as I wave.
“Oh? H-Hi...”
I turn my head to the tables. Medwin is already waiting for me.
He waves. I wave back.
“Hi, Aric.” he greets me as I sit down next to him.
“Hey. Did you bring your notebook?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
I plop my math book down on the table.
“So... we're just going over some stuff?” asks Medwin.
“Yep. More specifically, today's lesson. We need to make sure you understand it before you go on to the next lesson tomorrow.”
“Alright... Say, thanks for doing this for me, Aric.”
“No need to thank me.”
“Why not? I'm taking time out of your life.”
“Time? It's not like I have anything else to do.”
“You don't? Weren't you going to hang out with your friends or something?”
Friends? I try to dig up some people who I can call “friends”. Well, the only person who I've been talking to a bit is Karren, but I only ever see her during and after lunch.
“No, not really.”
“Oh.”
I flip open the book and turn the page to the practice section of today's lesson.
“Do you still remember how to find the volume of a pyramid?”
“Uh... I... think so?”
“Why does your answer sound like a question?”
I review the steps with Medwin.
“So you divide that by three.”
“Okay, I got it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure.”
“Then do these three problems.”
I wait for Medwin to complete them.
“Done.”
I take the notebook and look at his work.
“You didn't multiply all three dimensions on all of the problems.”
“All three? Isn't it just the base and the height?”
I sigh. “No, it's the area of the base multiplied with the height. The area of the base is the length times the width.”
“Huh?”
I review all the steps again.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you surely sure?”
“Yes.”
“Are you surely sure that you're s-”
“Yes, yes I am, Aric.” he retorts, obviously annoyed.
“Alright then, do the next three problems.”
I sit back and look up through the glass roof as I wait for Medwin to finish.

BreeZaps
05-21-2013, 12:13 AM
Ch33se why are you so good at writing? Keep it up ^_^ :3

Kitty
05-24-2013, 04:27 AM
Absolutely marvelous. I must say. One question. What's an Id? I believe ID is spelled ID. ^_^

EpicCh33se
05-27-2013, 07:11 PM
Chapter 10: August 30 – 11:25 A.M.

I hug my lunch a little tighter to my body, just in case it falls onto the dusty floor. This place definitely needs to be cleaned. A vacuum cleaner would do this room some good, but how would a vacuum cleaner fit through the narrow passage? I walk up the stairs while trying to think of tools that could work. Maybe a feather duster, or a mop. But with a mop, I'd have to walk back and forth through the passage, wouldn't I? The mop bucket definitely wouldn't be able to fit through. As I continue up the stairs, I hear a splash sound with each step. I look down. The steps are wet? What happened here? It seems to be coming from the rooftop, whatever it is. I carefully and slowly trudge up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, I notice that the liquid is seeping through the gap under the door. I hesitate before turning the knob. I open the door, hop through, and slam it behind me as fast as I can. I breathe a sigh of relief and look around. Wow, the rooftop looks like a little pool. There is water sloshing around everywhere. So much water, that it goes up to my ankle. Oh, I know. It must be from the rain last night. It started raining at around nine o'clock, when Mom got home. It rained so hard, that instead of putting me to sleep, it kept me from it. The rooftop's low wall must be keeping the rain water from pouring off.
“Well, this is a problem.” I say out loud.
I hear the sound of moving water, but it's not from me. I look towards the bench. Karren is here again, but her lunch sits on the bench and not her lap. Her socks and shoes are on the bench too. Instead of eating, Karren is bent over, scooping up the rainwater in a bucket. I approach her, but she doesn't notice as she dumps the contents down into the river below.
“Hey, Karren.”
“Oh?” she exclaims, turning around. “Hello, Aric.”
“You trying to clear out the roof?”
“Yes. Back-breaking, it is.”
She resumes her work.
“Do you mind if I help you?”
“Not at all. Thank you.”
“Hmm... Do you know where I can get another bucket or something?”
“There are some tools downstairs.”
“Alright.”
I set my lunch on the bench next to Karren's and walk to the door. Again, I swiftly open and close it. Cautiously, I walk down stairs, trying not to slip on the water and hurt myself. With no working lights around, this only becomes harder, so I find myself supporting my body by pressing my hands against both walls as I make my way down. When I finally reach the bottom, I realize that the lack of lights will make looking for tools harder as well. I feel around, trying to find a bucket, or rather, anything that resembles a bucket because I can't see much in this darkness. Maybe even some towels. In the corner, I see some stick-like things. They must be mops or brooms. I reach for them, but my foot stumbles on something.
“Whoa!”
My hands grab onto the windowsill just in time.
I relax and sigh. That was close.
I push myself back up and look down at what I tripped over. A cardboard box? I crouch down so I can get a better look. Opening the flaps, I find an assortment of cleaning supplies. Sponges, feather dusters, brushes, towels, and some other things. Most are them are stuffed inside... a bucket! Turning my head away just in case dust flies out, I flip the bucket over to empty it. Turning my head back, I realize that there isn't as much dust as I thought there would be. Looks like these things have been used recently. By Karren, perhaps? I grab a few towels, two stick-like things, which are brooms, and walk up the stairs with all four items in hand. Since I don't have a free hand, I set the brooms down to open the door. Quickly, I grab the brooms and shut the door behind me. Setting everything down this time, I roll a towel up and slide it in the gap under the door to block any water from flowing inside.
“That should do it.”
I look over to Karren. She's still using the bucket to toss water off the roof. I walk to her.
“I got brooms and some towels too, if we need them.”
“Okay.”
I take off my socks and shoes, which are already soaking wet, and place them next to my lunch on the bench. Then, I grab the bucket and start tossing.

The water level doesn't seem to drop at all each time rainwater is cast off the roof and into the river. Even though we must have been doing this for a while, it looks exactly the same as it did when I came up here. Karren was right, this is back-breaking. I stand up straight and stretch by bending backwards.
“I don't think we're going to get all the water off in time.” I say.
“I guess you're right.”
“What do you suppose we do?”
“I don't know.” She says this, but she continues to throw water off.
I get back to work as well. Somehow, this feels very unproductive...
“Hmm... Oh! Shouldn't the rooftop have some kind of drain?” I ask.
“I have already checked. There is no drain.”
“No drain? There's no gutter or hole of any kind?"
“No.”
“Are you sure?” I can tell from my voice that I'm getting desperate.
“No. You can go look for yourself if you'd like.”
“Uh... alright.”
I place the bucket down and walk around looking for some kind of drain. There's no drain hole on the roof, so I poke my head off the edge to see if there is a gutter. Nope. Maybe on this side. No. That's strange. Usually, there is some sort of drain or gutter on a roof. I sigh. I guess we'll have to stick with the buckets. Behind me, I hear the bell ringing for the end of lunch. Man, we didn't even eat yet. Persistent, I take one more look off the edge again. I guess not. As I back up, I see a little latch on the low wall. I look at it more closely and see the outline of a door.
“H-H-Hey! Karren! Come here for a bit!”
I wait for Karren to walk over. When she arrives, I point at the door.
“Do you see that?”
“Yes. I didn't know this was here before though.”
“What do you think it's for?”
“...I think it's for ladders.”
“Ladders?”
“So people could climb onto the rooftop. They'd open the door so there wouldn't be a wall to block them.”
“Ah, right.”
Suddenly, an idea sparks in my head. I crouch down and unhook the latch. The hook dangles stiffly as I try to push the door open.
“It's not budging.” I say.
I pull my leg back and push it out into a kick as hard as I can. Sure enough, the door flies open. Nearby water flows off the roof.
“It works! Okay Karren, grab a broom. We're going to sweep the water off.”

“I don't think we can get any more off.”
“Yeah.”
We both set the brooms down, put on our socks and shoes, and sit on the bench.
“How much time did we spend doing that?” I ask.
“I don't know, but it was quite a lot of time.”
I look down at my lunch. “Better eat this quickly then.”
We both dig in like we spent the entire day working our butts off. The food feels like it's packed with extra flavor today, but maybe that's because I worked hard. I want to savor the taste, but I know I can't because there's not much time left for the break period. Unintentionally, I finish in no time flat.
“Uwah! That was delicious!” I proclaim as I stretch my arms by flinging them up.
Karren finishes her lunch right after. She nods as I look at her.
“Thank you for helping me, Aric.”
“You're welcome.”
I then hear Karren breathe out some words softly, but I can't make them out.
“Huh? Did you say something?”
“No, no, it's nothing.”
“Oh...”
She stands up. “Let's go put the tools away before we're late for class.”
“Good idea.”
We both grab our lunches and the tools and make our way to the door. The towel in the gap is now soaked, and since there is no use for it anymore, I grab it. As we walk down the stairs, I can't help but wonder what Karren said before...
“Careful.” She stops me from walking any further.
“Huh?”
“This step is very wet. You'll surely slip if you step on it.”
“Oh... Thanks.”
At the bottom, we start putting the supplies away. I walk to the corner to put the brooms back where they were before, but I take note that there is a box nearby so I don't trip over it again. Fortunately, I don't. At the time we finish, the bell rings overhead. It sounds very muffled compared to when we were out on the rooftop.
“Just in time.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks again, Aric.”
“Don't mention it.”
We both step out of the room and into the hallway.
“See you again.”
“You too.”

SuperEgenahnnee
05-28-2013, 01:55 AM
Just amazing... Just amazing... This is marvelous, Ch33se! I LOVE it!!

EpicCh33se
06-16-2013, 08:26 PM
Chapter 11: August 31 – 11:58 A.M.

“Hey, Aric.”
“Yes?”
“Are we going to be doing this often?” says Medwin as he slides the paper to me for me to check.
I start correcting his work. “Uh... maybe. Why? Is this a problem?”
“No, no, no. It's just... wouldn't this get boring after some time?”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I mean, I'm glad you're helping me out with this, really, I am, and not to sound rude, but shouldn't we use our break period for something like... well, an actual break sometimes?”
“I guess so. I don't like sitting around in class all day either.”
“Yeah, so let's go do something!” shouts Medwin as he suddenly stands up with a clenched fist in front of him.
I raise an eyebrow. Where did this motivation come from? Has he been thinking of this for a while?
“But uh... what do we do?”
Medwin's face dies down. “I... don't know.” His fist settles and falls back down to his side.
So much for that. Looks like he didn't think long enough.
I close the math book and grab the pencils. “How about we put away our things first.”
“Okay.”

Medwin's locker isn't too far away from mine. I hear his locker close as I put my math book away.
“Wow, your locker is very tidy.” he says, behind me.
I toss my pencil in and close the locker. We both walk down the stairs.
“It's not that tidy, really.”
“Sure it is. There aren't any papers or food or anything shoved in there.”
Food? His standards must be pretty low.
“So, uh... where are we going to go?” I ask.
“I... still don't know.”
“But you're the one who suggested we go and do something.”
“I was, huh? Um... hey, let's go outside!”
“Outside? It rained a lot yesterday. Are you sure?”
“Of course! We could go jump around in puddles or something!”
He's still a child, isn't he? But it's true, it did rain again last night. Not as much as the night before, but still a lot.
“Sure...”
We both walk down the hall. When we get to the end of it, I turn left towards the main entrance. I hear Medwin's footsteps stop as I keep walking.
“Hey, where are you going?” he asks.
“Outside?”
“That way? No, we're going this way.”
“Where does that way go?”
“Outside.”
“...I get that, but why that way?”
“Because it takes us outside.”
I sigh. “Fine, let's go.”
I turn around and follow Medwin as he walks the opposite direction I was walking. He makes his way to the cafeteria. However, although I've been here many times before, he walks up to a pair of doors that I've never seen before. They're really big too, so how did I miss them?
“Where does this go?” I ask.
“The field.”
“Field?”
“Don't tell me you didn't know this was here.”
“Honestly, I didn't.”
“A ton of people go out onto the field every break. Where have you been?”
I frown my eyebrows at him.
“Oh... right. The library... sorry.”
I laugh. “Let's go.”
I push open the door and immediately, the breeze carries the scent of rain into my nose. It's unlike the scent of books in the library, but it's the same in the way that it feels dense. The rain however, feels dense and refreshing. Complete opposites, but strangely, it works out fine.
I close my eyes and inhale deeply.
“Feels nice, doesn't it, Aric?”
“Yeah.”
As I exhale, I open my eyes. In front of me is a short, mini walkway. Up ahead, it leads to the field. It's basically a soccer field. There are some kids running around, playing a game right now. There are some other kids walking around the concrete track that borders the field. It's black, but there are white lines that separate the track into different lanes.
We walk across the walkway and onto a stretch of dirt road between it and the field. Sure enough, there are puddles littered around the place. Pretty big ones too.
...Oh, Karren. The roof again. Aw man. Looks like I can't help her out today. Sorry Karren, you'll have to sweep the rain off by yourself this time.
“What's wrong?” Medwin asks.
“Huh?”
“You were looking down and stuff.”
“I was? It's nothing.”
I look at everyone playing soccer again.
“So... what are we going to do out here?” I ask.
“I dunno.”
Medwin walks over to a puddle on the dirt a few feet away and jumps in it. A splash of dirty rainwater hits his pants. He jumps again.
“You know, Aric. Even though I'm eleven years old, this is still as fun as it was back then.”
Yeah, looks like I was right, he is still a child. I really don't want to get my pants dirty, so I stand where I am and watch Medwin.
“C'mon, Aric! Join in!”
“Um... I'll pass, thanks.”
Medwin hops into another puddle and jumps up and down again. He jumps so fast, he looks like a jackhammer. I laugh. I look at the puddle he's jumping in. It's a big one, about twice the size of the other puddle.
.
..
...Huh? The water's moving...?
“Hey... Medwin...”
The water seeps into the ground where Medwin is jumping. Oh no.
“Medwin!” I run towards him.
He stops running and looks down. Trying to flee, he lifts a leg up, but it's too late. There is now a big hole beneath him.
“Medwin!” I peer into the hole. “Are you okay???”
...
“Medwin?! What happened?!”
...
Oh no. What happened to him? The sinkhole looks to be about a few feet deep. Surely, he can hear me if he is conscious. Is he not able to talk? Did he faint? Is he... dead? No, he can't be. It's not big enough of a fall to cause death. At least, I hope not. Oh God, why did this happen?
“Medwin! Can you hear me?!”
I look around. Dammit, why are there no supervising teachers?
“Hang in there, Medwin. I'm going to get help.”
I run back through the door and into the cafeteria. Steering a right, I take off down the halls as fast as I can. I have to hurry, Medwin's in trouble! I turn the corner and run even faster. Almost there... Finally, the office. There are already a bunch of kids waiting in line here, but I'm not going to be waiting around while my friend is probably in pain. I run up beside the first person in line.
“Mrs. Alston, Mrs. Alston!”
“Wh-Wh-What is it?”
“Hey, the end of the line is over there.”
I ignore the kid.
“I need help, no, my friend needs help! He's stuck! And he's-"
“Calm down. Where is he?”
“Out by the field.”
“What happened to him?”
“There was this big sinkhole, and he fell in...”
“A sinkhole? Who is your friend?”
“Medwin... K something. His last name starts with a K.”
Mrs. Alston clicks a few things on her computer.
“Medwin Kyle?”
“Yes, that's him.”
“Okay, I'll call his parents. Debbie?”
A tall woman comes over. “What is it?”
“A student has fallen into a sinkhole. Are there any other things we should do besides calling his parents?”
“A sinkhole? How big is it?”
“Um... a few feet deep...” I answer.
“A few feet...” repeats the woman. “Is the student hurt?”
“Probably. He's not answering to me though...”
“Not answering? I think we'll have to call an ambulance, his condition sounds pretty serious."
“An ambulance? Isn't that taking it too far?” retorts Mrs. Alston.
“What if he's badly hurt? You're not going to just wait around until his parents get here, are you??”
Oh no, an argument. Can't they see that they're wasting time?
“Hey, my friend may or may not be dead right now, and I want him to be safe if he isn't! An ambulance might be the best choice. Why don't you both come with me to the sinkhole, so you can know more about what happened??”
“I'm sorry, Aric. I can't go and leave these kids in line unattended. Why not have Mrs. Houben, the nurse here go?”
“Okay. Do you have a cell phone with you, Mrs. Houben?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“You can call an ambulance right away if needed. Let's go, hurry!”
Mrs. Houben walks out the office door.
“Let's run, Mrs. Houben, I really want to make sure Medwin is alright.”
“Okay, since this is a dire situation.”
I run as fast as I can down the hall. Surprisingly, Mrs. Houben doesn't look to be falling behind.
“The field, right?”
“Yeah.”
We run through the door and onto the walkway. There are a lot of kids around the hole. Some looking inside, others talking, and some other people... throwing rocks inside?! We both run up to the hole, pushing apart the crowd. Mrs. Houben looks inside.
“Hey, stop throwing stuff! There's a person inside there!” I yell.
“A person?”
“Is Medwin hurt???” I ask.
“I can't tell. It's too dark.” says Mrs. Houben as she stands up. “Everyone! Step off of the dirt now! More holes may open up with this many people!”
Everyone backs away.
“I'm going to call an ambulance.”
...
“Hello? I'm at Harmell Middle School right now. There is a student stuck in a sinkhole and they don't appear to be conscious.”
My heart races. I really hope Medwin is going to be okay. Is it my fault that he's down there? I should have told him about the water beforehand. I should have stopped him from jumping in puddles because it's a stupid and childish thing to do. I should have been a better friend...

The echoing of sirens vibrate in my ears as an ambulance drives onto the dirt road. As soon as the driver sees the hole, the car turns left and parks on the track instead. Two paramedics come out from the back and run up to us.
“Is this the hole?”
“Yes.”
Because the hole is too dark, the paramedic takes a flashlight out and shines it down the hole. I try to look as well, but the he blocks me with his arm.
“I'm sorry, kid, but you're going to have to stay away. You too, Miss.”
Mrs. Houben backs away, and so do I. The other paramedic grabs a ladder from the back and extends it. They both set the ladder down into the hole. As the first paramedic climbs down, I prepare myself for what I'm about to see. The paramedic climbs back up with a boy in his arms. The boy is severely bruised in many spots, the biggest one being on his forehead. His left leg is bent in an awkward angle, obviously broken. His eyes are closed, like he's sleeping. As he is being laid onto a stretcher and wheeled into the ambulance, he doesn't stir in his sleep. The ambulance's engine whirs again as it drives off the track and to the hospital, with the siren still echoing into my head.

EpicCh33se
09-13-2013, 06:34 AM
This post is reserved for the table of contents.

This story will progress in Months. Starting with August and ending with June.

Zero Path's Writing Style: Explaining by Sight (Oblivious)

This is the month of September...

September (Post 1) (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=150632&viewfull=1#post150632)
Post 2 (http://superskarmory.net/forum/showthread.php?2852-Not-a-Care-in-the-World-ZERO&p=153473&viewfull=1#post153473)

EpicCh33se
10-06-2013, 09:40 PM
(Author's Note: The file for this story was found corrupted a few days ago. The posts on this forum are my only backup as of now, so I have copied the posts and pasted them into a new file. Since I had to chop off a lot of things in order for it into the posts, a lot of detail has been lost and I am going over the file, rewriting some extra things. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Chapter 12: September 14 – 8:07 A.M.

It's already been half a month. It seems time has flied by without me noticing.
“Time flies by when you're having fun”?
Like I'm having fun. Only a maniac would find this fun. There's nothing fun about this...
I don't remember how many people were there. I don't remember how many people saw what happened. Did they witness someone getting hurt, or did they witness someone die? Did I witness someone die? Is Medwin dead? My heart beats faster as I question myself more. It doesn't help that I don't try to stop thinking about it. I dig my head deeper into my arms. Maybe if I do this, everyone would just leave me alone. People do stuff like this all the time, right?
“Did you hear their new single that came out yesterday?”
“You mean the one with the weird music video?”
“Yeah, and the lyrics are so weird!”
Shut up, just shut up...
“What? How do you beat that guy?”
“You just have to wait for him to show his weak point.”
So noisy... Everyone's talking about their own thing. It makes me feel alone in a way.
A loud ringing sound echoes through my ears. I don't react. Am I used to it already? I poke my head up just as Mrs. K walks in with a coffee mug in one hand and a binder in the other. I wish I had some coffee in front of me. It's not like I've ever had coffee before, but just the talk that it wakes you up is tempting.
“Everyone stand up for uniform checks.”
Ugh... please, not now...
I focus all my energy into my arms and push myself up from my seat. It takes a lot more work than it should. Mrs. K walks by and looks me in the eye.
“Didn't get enough sleep last night, Aric?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Well try not to fall asleep in class, you'll miss the lessons.”
“Yes, Miss.”
I don't bother to feel embarrassed from the sudden remark. I probably can't even if I wanted to.
“Looking sharp, Jeffrey.”
Why must she comment on everything?

I use too much of my energy trying to keep awake that I miss everything Mrs. K says in class.

The bell rings again for first period. Everybody stands up and walks out the door. I can't bring myself to get up.
“Aric? It's time for your next class.”
I don't answer. Mrs. K doesn't ask another question, thankfully. She must understand. Maybe just a little.
The sound of footsteps in the hall get louder and louder as more students walk to their next class. To some, their next class is this one. The door opens and some students come in. I figure that it's my time to go. I stand up, grab my stuff, and walk out the door. Turning a left. I head down the hall. I skip my locker because I already have my supplies with me. Stepping down the stairs, I enter Hall 5. The hall is vacant and quiet because the franticness of passing time has driven everybody to class already.
The bell rings right when I step through the doorway of the Art room. Mrs. Kalah looks at me. Then, she turns to her computer and types something in, probably because everyone is already here and attendance was already over. Sitting down in my seat, I turn to Maira and wave.
She smiles and waves back.
Mrs. Kalah walks up to the front of the room, looking very happy. “Good morning, class. How is everyone?”
Some kids shout back a “good” or a “great”.
“That's good. Today, we're going to work on our Beautiful Sunsets paintings. They're over there on the drying racks, so remember where you put it yesterday. You may start.”
Everyone gets up out of their seats and walk to the drying racks in an unorderly fashion. I guess everyone has a different route to the racks. I pick up my painting and walk back to my desk. Setting it down, I look at it. It's nothing special, really. There's a bright, reflective ocean and over the horizon, is a setting sun. It radiates a whole spectrum of warm colors in the sky. Actually, I'm already done with my painting. Having that thought come up now makes me wonder why I retrieved it from the drying rack in the first place. Well, I guess I can turn it in. I stand up, walk over to the turn-in box, and set my painting on it. Then, I walk back to the table and sit down. Resting my head on my hand, I stare at the whiteboard at the front of the room. On it, are the lesson plans for today. The sixth graders have to work on their Sunset paintings today. The seventh graders have to work with clay, and the eighth graders are painting with acrylic paint. Every grade level has a different project. What a mess. I wonder how Mrs. Kalah can handle all that. She must be suffering.
...
Like Medwin... Medwin's suffering much more than I am. He must be feeling horrible right now. I haven't even brought myself to visit him in the hospital yet. I'm a horrible friend who can't even visit his friend in a situation like this. Maybe it's because I'm scared. I'm scared to see what he'll look like. I'm scared that he'll be mad at me. I'm scared that we won't be friends before. I'll never forget that moment. That moment when the paramedics pulled him out of the hole. He was covered with bruises and dirt. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping. It still makes me wince to this day. As much as I want to forget it, as much as I want to kick it out of my head, I can't. It's haunting me in my mind.
...
Do you ever get the feeling that somebody's looking at you? That's how I feel right now. I look to my right. Maira is staring at me with her mouth slightly open. In her hand is a paintbrush that is about to be dumped into the water cup but has stopped midway. Her eyes are fixated on mine.
...I'm starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Um... Maira?”
She blinks once and her head jerks back a little bit.
“I'm sorry.” she says as she turns her head back and resumes to paint, probably to avoid further questioning.
“Oh, no problem.” I turn back too. What was that about? Was there something on my face? I feel the areas around my cheeks and nose. No, there's nothing unusual there...
“Aric?”
I look over at Maira. The paintbrush is now lying over the water cup. Both her hands are on her lap.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Is there something bothering you?”
“Bothering me? Uh... n-no.” I lie.
Her eyes lower as if she doesn't believe me. She doesn't look mad though. She grabs her chair from under her and rotates it towards me. “Turn to me, Aric.”
“Huh? Why?” I ask, but I turn anyway.
“Hold out your right hand.”
I hold out my right hand with my palm up. Maira holds my hand below hers and with her free hand, uses her index finger to trace something on my palm. What is she doing? I look up at her. She seems to be in deep concentration, humming something.
My fingers twitch. Her finger is brushing my palm so delicately that it tickles. Her finger is like a feather.
...It's so soft.
I hear some mumbling and I notice some people staring at us.
“Maira?”
“Oh!”
“Oh?”
“I'm sorry about that.”
“It's fine, but what were you doing?”
She thinks for a bit. “I was trying to test something I saw on the television last night.”
“The television?”
“They were having people hold out their hand and when they traced their palm, they could tell what mood that person was in.”
“And you were trying to test to see if it works?”
“Yes.”
Isn't it common sense to know that something like that isn't real? Especially since it was on TV. You never know what they show on the TV. But... why me? Why did Maira want to test it out on me at this time? Why not anybody else?
“Well, uh... did it work?” I ask.
“No.”
“It didn't, huh?”
“But, that wasn't the only thing I was testing.”
“What else were you testing?”
“My curiosity.”
“Your... curiosity?”
“Yes.”
“I'm... not sure I understand.”
“Are you curious too, Aric?”
“Me?” I ask, but she stares at me, waiting for an answer. What does she mean? Curious? Curious towards what? Whether or not mood reading works? Of course not. I don't think it works, but... she doesn't know that. She also doesn't know... about Medwin's condition. I'm not curious, I'm scared. But is that curiosity?
“I guess.” I tell her, even though I was probably thinking about something entirely different than what she asked.
She smiles. “That's great.”
All the while I'm more confused.
“You should go out there and find out then, Aric.”
“Huh?”
“That's what I'm doing. I still don't know many things and I'm a little curious. Even though I know that I won't be able to know everything I want to know, I want to try.”
Her words ring in my mind. I won't be able to know everything. I will never be able to know everything I want to know, but if I try to, the experience itself is worthwhile, huh?
“Thanks, Maira.”
She smiles again, and that's all I need to know.
Somehow, just now, I don't think we were talking about mood reading anymore.

EpicCh33se
11-17-2013, 07:06 PM
Chapter 13: September 14 – 2:49 P.M.

I run.
I don't care that my hair is waving around like it's nobody's business. I don't care that cars are zooming down the street. I don't care that I probably look like a hyperactive maniac.
I run as fast as I can downtown. I'm going to find out.
I'm curious.
To be honest, I've been looking forward to this moment all day. I don't know why I never did this before, but today, I feel a surge of motivation. I feel like I'm fully charged up. I need to do this.
I run onto the street. I notice a car coming at me to my right. Quickly dodging it, I keep running, laughing at the honks from the driver.
“Haha! Sucker!”
What's gotten into me? I don't think I've ever felt like this before. Have I gone crazy? I might believe that sooner or later if this keeps up. I'd turn mentally deranged. Incapable of rational thought. The madman with even madder legs. Insanity as it flashes down the street.
I run through alleys, lawns, as many shortcuts as I can remember from my treks through the town. My legs, strangely, don't feel tired. I feel like I can keep running forever. But I know forever is too long, because I'm almost there...
I run across another street. If a cop or someone chases after me, then I'll just keep running. At this rate, I'm sure I can even outrun a car.
I turn a sharp corner and cross the street onto the parking lot of the hospital. I bolt through the door and bend down, grasping my knees for support and heavily breathing like there's no tomorrow. My legs do hurt. A lot, actually. I can feel them shaking, like they can barely hold my own weight. My chest feels like it's about to pop. I'm disappointed in my body's limits. I might have arrived even sooner if I ran faster.
I walk up to the front counter. The lady has this very surprised look on her face. The other people in the entrance probably do too.
“I-I....”
Words don't come out of my mouth. I take a deep breathe through my wheezing, or at least, try to.
“I need to visit someone.”

Medwin's room is Room 344, which is on the third floor. I don't run this time, mostly because I'm not allowed to and partly because I'm exhausted. I look in every direction for a way to get onto the third floor. Now that I'm here, I realize that I don't know the hospital's layout very well. I've only ever been here for the occasional checkup and stuff, but those were on the first floor. Even then, I don't know where the stairs are either. I enter a big room with many green chairs. Potted plants also decorate the room in every spot that the chairs can't fit in. This must be the waiting room. There are quite a few people sitting the in the chairs. Mostly adults, reading through some of the magazines that are stacked messily on a desk. Kids and toddlers are on the carpet playing with the... well, playthings. Just a bit back is a counter, probably used to call people who have scheduled appointments. I suppose I can get directions here.
As I walk up to the counter, I notice that right next to it, there is an elevator. So much for asking. I turn and walk towards that instead. I press the button and wait for the doors to open. When they finally open, a... large woman comes out and stares at me as she walks away. She's wearing a dress with a floral pattern with a purse strapped around her. She's not staring at my eyes, I notice. She's staring at my face. My sweaty face. I follow her gaze, even as she walks behind me. She turns her head back, but I keep staring. I wonder if everybody else who saw me looked at me the same way. I never thought any of it as I was running, but now I feel different. She was disgusted. Not just at my sweat, but it was as if she was disgusted that I was waiting outside the elevator doors in the first place. I look into the elevator to make sure nobody else is there even though I know that if there was, they'd have left already. I step inside and press the third floor's button.

I knock on and open Room 344's door. To my amusement, it makes no creaky sound and glides as if it was on ice. I have to hold it still so that it doesn't hit the wall behind it. I gently close the door and turn around. There is a curtain that flows down onto the floor in front of me. I can see sunlight, so I guess that the curtains on the windows are pulled aside, allowing light to pour in. I lift the curtain out of the way. Walking closer, I see the rest of the room. The room is painted white, but the sunlight is dyeing it with different streaks of red, orange, or yellow. There's a small counter to my left. To my right is a bed.
“Medwin!”
He's looking at me with his mouth slightly open. Surprised, no doubt. Medwin is sitting up on his bed. He's wearing one of those light blue, one piece robes. He was probably reading the book that is on his lap, on top of the covers that are hiding the bottom half of his body. I run up to him with the intention of hugging him, but I stop once I remember his broken leg.
“How are you doing, Medwin?” I ask him.
He closes his book as he speaks. “I'm doing well.”
I smile widely. He's okay after all.
“What brings you here, Aric?”
“Oh... nothing. I just wanted to visit.”
“Is that right?” He sits up straighter.
“I guess.”
We both chuckle a little bit. I take a seat on a chair next to the bed.
“So, how is it here?”
“Here? It's been okay. After I woke up from the concussion, they had already taken a bunch of x-rays of my leg. I had to stay in this bed for a long time before I could go anywhere.”
“That sucks. It must have been lonely.”
“Yeah. My parents would come in from time to time, but no one else, really. You're the first person other than them who came here, Aric.”
Somehow, I feel happy and sad at the same time. It must have been very, very lonely for him.
“After I was allowed to leave this room, I still couldn't leave the hospital. There's not much to do here. Just a library and a cafeteria.” He points to a small stack of books on a nearby table. “I've found some interesting books, and the food here is actually better than the food we have at school. I think so, anyway.”
“How much better?”
“Hmm... you know the chicken we have at school?”
“I wish I didn't.”
Medwin ducks his head and whispers behind his hand. “The chicken here actually tastes like chicken.”
We both laugh our heads off. After we calm down, I decide to finally ask the obvious question.
“So, how's your leg doing?”
“It's getting better. It doesn't hurt as much anymore, but I still can't walk with it.”
“Oh.”
“Doctor says it should be fully healed in a few more weeks. Then I can start walking again.”
“That's great.”
“Yeah. Can't wait to get this darn cast off my leg. Oh, right. Sorry that this may be sudden, but do you want to sign my cast?”
“Uh... sure.”
There's no marker around, so I pick up a pen on the same table as the books. Medwin uncovers his left leg from the blanket. There are no other signatures on it. Trying my best not to hurt him, I gently sign my name.
“You know, Aric, I'm very happy that you came to visit. Thank you.”
“Don't mention it.”
I've built up my courage to face my friend in the hospital. I was scared that I wouldn't be accepted. I was scared about what I had caused and what sights I was going to see because of it. I was scared that our friendship would be broken. Only now do I realize that our friendship would be more endangered if I didn't come here today. All I need to know is that Medwin is smiling. Getting to see that is worth it.

I step into the elevator. Just as I hover my finger in front of the first floor's button, a lady and a little girl walk in. I push the button, shutting the door behind them. The lady looks fairly young, maybe in her mid-twenties. The girl looks about five.
“Mama! Is Grannpa going to be okay?”
She doesn't answer. She just stares at the elevator's walls. Her face is dark. Not with makeup or anything, but heavy. Even from my distance, I can see the bags under her eyes. She slowly turns her head to return my stare, so I quickly look away.
“Mama? Mama!”
The lady speaks up this time. “...He's going to be okay, honey. He's going to be okay.”
As if a fortune teller just told her an amazing fortune, the girl's face brightens up tremendously.
“Yay!” she yells and hugs her mother's legs.
The lady sighs and ruffles her daughter's hair. I can still see the sorrow on her face.
The elevator arrives on the first floor and the doors open. I walk out first. What have I just witnessed? I shake off the experience and walk out of the hospital.
I guess I'll visit Medwin again tomorrow.