"Clar: Chapter 1" by Brian ´Dulcet´ Bergstrom

 
     Mike heard the incredibly annoying sound of the buzzer on his alarm clock go off. As much as he didn't want to get up, it was time to get up and face another Monday morning.
     He rolled over the covers and sat up, rubbing his eyes while the sunshine flew into his room. His room was of course a mess. The boy hadn't seen the coke stained carpeting in quite a few months. His mother would surely bitch to him about it. He didn't really care. He just wanted to get back in bed.
     He walked out, took off his clothes, and stepped into the shower. He then brushed his teeth and combed his hair, looking all nice for school. His clothes he found lying on the floor. He dressed in baggy jeans and a nice polo shirt.
     Breakfast was waiting in the kitchen. He could smell it from his room. The family always had a nice breakfast before each went off to work and school. His father would always want his eggs sunny side up while he and his brother would always want scrambled eggs with three strips of bacon with orange juice on the side.
     Mike made his way down there, still half asleep, and took a seat. The rest of the family was the same way. Not a word was spoken until his mother served breakfast.
     "Here you are, boys. Enjoy." she said, handing them their usual breakfasts. She was just satisfied with a bagel and cream cheese. She only like making breakfast, not eating it. Then she sat down.
     "So," Mike's father said, "You ready for that test today, Mike? I hope you studied."
     "Dad, I don't need to study for that stupid math test. It's just algebra. You know it or you don't know it. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna pass the class anyway."
     "If you don't pass," his mother butted in, "you won't get those keys this summer. And I know you won't like that."
     Greg smirked at the thought. Mike was taking driver's ed and he was really exciting about a new car he saved his money up for. He had been waiting for weeks for his parents to hand him he keys. He wanted to see if he could impress Andrea with it. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a try.
     Mike finished his breakfast and dashed out for school, grabbing his usual five dollars for lunch of the kitchen counter. "Bye, Mom, Dad," he grimaced. "And Greg."
     He headed out the door in a hurry. He went into the garage and took out his skateboard and his backpack. He hadn't had any major homework to do so he decided just to leave his backpack in the garage so his parents wouldn't notice. He always did that. He took his skateboard and started down the block. School was only about a few blocks down. Never took him long, but today he wanted to go early to meet Andrea by the bike rack.
     As he rode down the street, he waved to a couple friends that were walking to school. He knew basically every kid in his neighborhood. The only thing was he never had the patience to actually carry on a conversation with them. They were all punks.
     The school came into view. It was very small. No one ever had any school spirit as his school. They only had school de-spirit. No games of any sort were ever won by the school. They were known as Suck Ass Senior High School. The real name was Tillmore Senior High, but no one really cared. With a school mascot as a giant fire flower, you really couldn't get much respect from anyone.
     He rode up to the bike rack and found Andrea waiting there. She was the most beautiful sight Mike had ever seen. She had the body of an angel and the personality of a sweet tart. She was truly Mike's dream girl.
     "Hey!" she said, seeing him skate up to her. "I've been waiting for ten minutes. You said seven o'clock. Where've you been?"
     "Sorry. I kinda woke up late and my mom made me eat breakfast. I dashed out as soon as I could. Please don't get mad at me."
     "I can never be mad at you. After all, you are the guy who saved my ass tons of times from Duke and his gang. I'm grateful."
     He smiled and blushed. "Well, it was really nuthin'. They had it coming anyway."
     "We'd better get going. I need your science notes from yesterday."
     "Okay." He pulled out his science notebook and went inside with her. They sat on a table located in the commons. Not many people were there yet. School wouldn't actually start for another hour.
     "Ok, now show me how good of notes you took for me. Cuz you know I hate it when I miss something that's on the test."
     "Chill. I actually copied off Trina. She writes neat as hell. I was sleeping the entire time. She actually offered to give me her notes."
     "Good." Andrea copied down the notes quickly but neatly into her note book. Her handwriting wasn't that different from Trina's.
     "So what's going on Saturday night? Are you gonna go to to Lily's party or not?"
     "I'll have to think about it. None of my friends like her. She's so damn bitchy to everyone. But I guess I have to go in order to keep my status up. If I don't go, I'll feel like a total loser. Because you know her parents don't give a sh*t what she does."
     Mike nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think you should go. Unsupervised parties are very fun, but I heard there's gonna be alcohol there. And we both know what alcohol and Lily make."
     "Trouble!" they both said together.
     "Besides," Andrea said, "I think I'll spend the night at your place. Your parent's won't mind, would they?"
     "Nah, they won't be home. I can get my little brother to do something with his friends. It's all good."
     "Good. Then what time should I be over?"
     "I dunno. I'll have to arrange the times out with my bro. Cuz I don't wanna tell you a time then change it five times."
     "I understand." she said, smiling.
     They both continued their conversation about various things. Like what their plans were for the rest of the week and who acted like a total bitch this year. There were a lot of things he wanted to tell her, but there just wasn't enough time.
     The five minute warning bell rang and they both carried the bags to their lockers, splitting off for first period.
     "Yo Parker!" Duke called out from across the hall. "Got that money you promised me?"
     "Yeah. It's up your ass and around the corner."
     "Oh,  how original." Duke said. "How 'bout something more original?"
     "Ok, how about you just walk away and take it like a man. I don't have your money and never will. Besides, you walk over to the junior high and pick on kids for their money too. So why do you bitch at me about it?"
     "Cuz. The junior high had the day off."
     "I don't care! Get the hell outta my face. You reek ass."
     Mike walked off avoiding a further fight. He hated Duke's ass. He'd been like that ever since he was in junior high. The cr*ppy thing about it was he had his posse of friends that supported him one hundred percent. So did all the sluts. He absolutely hated it. The only people who ever stuck up for him was Andrea and his friend Steve. They were true friends.
     Mike strolled into class fifteen seconds after the bell rang.  Mr. Kilroy marked him tardy. The whole class was talking then finally Mr. Kilroy decided to get the class attention. He simply walked up and started teaching.
     "Today, class, we will be talking about that lovely story we like to call Romeo & Juliet. Now I know all of you are moaning and groaning, but I hope you read the first couple scenes. Because guess what? There's a pop quiz!" He smiled in delight. He absolutely loved p*ssing students off.
     Mike had no idea what the section was about. He needed to find out quick or he would fail the test. He leaned over the girl in front of him, Kim, and whispered in her ear if she knew what happened. She handed him a big packet of cliff notes she got off the internet and said, "Bless you! How much do I owe ya?"
     "Depends. How much do you have?"
     "I got about five dollars for lunch. Lunch costs about two fifty. I'll give ya a dollar. Ok?"
     "Ok, but you gotta gimme the answers to the science review."
     Mike smiled. "I gotta get them next period from Ralph. He always does that stuff for me."
     "Cool." Kim said as she turned back to facing the front of the room.
     Mike quickly read over the summary Kim had written. There was a lot he didn't know. He skimmed it over and gave it back to her. Fortunatly her handwriting was legible and he remembered every word that was on the paper. He passed the test with flying colors.

    After school he waited for Andrea by the bike rack. They always met by the bike rack after school so they could walk home together. Andrea lived only a block or two closer to the school than Mike did. They both enjoyed their walks together. They'd talk about all sorts of things. But this time he knew she had something to tell him just by the look in her eyes.
    "Did you hear what happened in gym today?" she asked, smirking.
    "No," Mike said. "What?"
    "Tiffany Ferden got suspended for a week for punching the living daylights out of Ms. Shawnk. It was so funny."
    Mike sighed. "Yeah, musta been great."
    "What's wrong?"
    "Nothing's wrong."
    "You seem down."
    "Oh, it's nothing. I just had a long day." He put his backpack around his shoulders and started walking down the path with her. It was nice. They both really liked each other a lot, but were to chicken to ask each other out.
    "Here's my house." she said as she walked with him to her doorstep. "Cya tomorrow. Ok?"
    "Yeah, no prob." He smiled at her as she closed the door. Then he continued down the path way home.
    He continued down the path until he approached the junior high. The soccer field was always empty. No one played on it cuz the town's soccer team never won a game. But this time he saw an old man standing in the middle of it, looking at him. Mike was puzzled. What would an old geezer want with him?
    He walked closer to the man. The man was dressed in a brown robe. His head was almost completely bold. Only the white hair at his sides remained. A book was in his arms. He then motioned for Mike to come ever closer. Mike did so.
    "You are Mike Parker, correct?" the man asked.
    "Yeah. What do you want?"
    "Merely a word with you."
    "What kind of word? Cuz I'm really in a hurry."
    "Come with me." Soon, the man stepped into an invisible doorway. Then he poked his head out. "Come, don't be afraid."
    Mike stepped in. It was a hut. A small one at that. It had stacks of books all around it. In the center was a table and two chairs. The old man sat in one and gestured for Mike to sit in the other.
    "What the hell is this place?" Mike asked, looking around, confused.
    "It's my hut. What do you think?" said the man, smiling.
    "Weird, I guess. Why have you brought me here?"
    The man grinned. "What would you say if I gave you the chance of a lifetime?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "What if I could take you somewhere, different from anything you'd ever seen?"
    "I won't wanna do anything until you tell me why I'm here."
    "Give me your most valuable possesion and I will show you."
    Mike's face turned beat red. "What kind of scam is this? What the hell are you trying to run?"
    "I need your help."
    "What kind of help?"
    "I cannot say. Just pay me. You won't regret it. Believe me."
    Mike started his way out of the hut, but was interrupted by the old man. "You could get out of this hell hole you live in forever. I promise."
    Mike turned back around and sat back down. "What do you mean?"
    "I could take you out of this world."