|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:42 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:46 am
 |
|
|
|
Part I
The morning winter breeze wasn’t cold but it was strong enough for Shaun to pull his hood over his short brown hair. He walked past a group of kids talking, one of them, a girl with long, brown hair, straight, looked at Shaun momentarily before turning back to the group. First hour normally feels like the longest part of school. Maybe it’s just because the world is waking up or something else but time feels slower, especially at Jessup High located in southern Florida. Everyone normally goofed off with friends during the school day, Shaun however, liked to spend his time reading and listening to music. He often sat in the back of the class to be as far away from everyone else as possible but that doesn’t always happen. The teachers knew that he was smart from reviewing his test scores, but they also knew he wouldn’t speak out in discussions during class-time as they thought he was “shy”. It’s true, Shaun is a little shy but there’s more to it than that. He grew up in a small apartment complex. It wasn’t the prettiest but he didn’t venture out very often so it didn’t matter to him. This is probably when Shaun’s addiction to anime started. They often told stories of people on grand adventures in a fantasy-style setting, or a more modern approach with details added in, such as magic or monsters. He would watch these animes and dream that he could go on an adventure like that but he knew reality would not allow it. Shaun sighed as he walked into class to find his normal seat, the one farthest from the door and most of the other students, taken by a group of the school’s football players, identifiable by their jerseys. Shaun looked around in a slight panic to find another seat similar, but had no luck. His options were to sit by the two class clowns, or… Shaun looked over to the one other empty seat and noticed the girl from earlier with the long, brown hair, sitting in the desk next to it. Normally, all the seats by her would be taken up as guys flocked towards her but something about today was different since there wasn’t a single male trying to flirt with her. He thought over his two options, the two class clowns or the girl…
Shaun decided on what would be the best course of action and picked the class clowns. He had to pass by her on his way to the seat, so he hoped she didn’t notice him. The desks were pushed together far too much for his liking so it would be hard for her to not notice him pass right by her. He almost got through when he heard his name being called from beside him. “Shaun?” a feminine voice called his name and felt like his heart stopped for a few seconds. “Shaun? Shaun…” He felt a tug on the hoodie he wore to school, while trying not to turn around, “Shaun, sit by me today!” Shaun turned his head to see the girl pointing to the desk next to her. “Umm… I appreciate the offer, but…” Shaun couldn’t finish his sentence before the football players across the room started telling Shaun to “accept her offer” and “be a man”. One of the men in the football jerseys gave Shaun a thumbs up with a toothy grin. Shaun was about to try to politely refuse her offer again, when the bell rang to indicate the start of class. Abandoning hope of another seat, he succumbed to the girl’s offer and took the seat next to her. Shaun liked to keep things organized as he quickly put away his phone, while pulling out mechanical pencils and a notebook for the subject, in this case, math. The teacher stood up and looked around the room before asking, “Has anyone seen Shaun? He isn’t in his usual spot so has anyone seen him today?” Suddenly the whole room erupted with laughter as the teacher didn’t recognize Shaun if he wasn’t in the normal spot. Shaun pulled the hood part of his jacket over his head, pulled the strings to close the entrance more and just replied “Can I die in my room now?”, not expecting an answer. Someone finally pointed out Shaun’s location in the class and the teacher went back to her computer to finish taking attendance. “Why do you want to die?” The voice that started all these problems whispered into his ear.
Shaun’s natural response was to move away but he was limited in mobility thanks to the location of the desk. He didn’t respond to her question so she gave up and looked at what the teacher was doing on the board. Shaun noticed the gaze disappearing and took off the hood to begin working on the math equations his teacher had put up for everyone to finish. He looked through the three equations a few times and then started jotting down the steps. He could easily do it in his mind but the teacher demanded the steps to be shown on paper. About four minutes passed from when he began. As normal, he was finished first. Normally it would take an average of 2 more minutes for the majority of the class to finish as well. He decided to pass the time with the newest light novel of his favorite anime. The books were always better than the series and the author was publishing light novels faster so it was obvious to read the light novels. He pulled the crisp copy of the novel from a pouch in his bag and flipped it open to a page with a bookmark featuring a quote from the series written down on the thin paper. Shaun set the bookmark on his desk and started to read.
After his expected 2 minutes, the teacher stood up and started talking about the problems she put on the board. Shaun instinctively reached for his bookmark but hit the desktop in place of the bookmark. In a sudden panic, Shaun started looking around the area for it but it wasn’t anywhere he could see. “I wonder what those weird symbols mean…” A low voice came from behind him. “I think they say something in Chinese or some stupid s**t language like that. They’re supposedly famous for cartoons”, another voice different but with a similar muscularity to it. Shaun slowly turned his head to see who the voices were coming from and should’ve guessed it would’ve been the class bullies. Shaun didn’t want to make a scene of this and the bullies knew that fact but they wouldn’t give him the bookmark back if he didn’t do something. Watching Shaun’s reaction, knowing he was too afraid to say anything, the two bullies couldn’t help but chuckle at Shaun’s desperation. The girl must’ve noticed Shaun’s distress because she leaned back, “Give me that bookmark and behave yourself. Okay boys?” She winked at them but there was also clearly a different emotion in her eyes. The bullies handed her the bookmark grumbling. “Here. This is yours, isn’t it?” The girl next to him extended the bookmark to Shaun. “Umm… Uh… Tha… Thank you…” Shaun barely managed to get that much out before carefully taking the bookmark and putting in the crevice of the pages he was currently on. “Oh! I completely forgot you don’t know anyone here! My name is Kai…” She was almost finished when Shaun cut her off saying, “I appreciate your help but I’d rather keep it like it is already. I don’t see an advantage of having friends.” Hoping that would immediately stop her, he turned his attention away from the puzzled girl and returned to his work.
Hope you enjoy part 1! It probably won't actually be a full chapter as it's short but I will do this for now. Have an awesome day! -Guild helper, Dark
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 3:26 am
|
|
|
 |
Part 2
Lunch was normally time to eat and talk with your friends but Shaun sat under an old pine tree and read silently as people gathered in the cafeteria and socialized. His headphones were in and was playing the soundtrack to the same anime as the novel so he didn’t notice someone kneeling down to his right. Suddenly, Shaun felt a hand on his right shoulder and jumped, almost knocking the book out of his hand, onto the mulch covered ground He recomposed himself and gathered his things as he normally did when people wanted him to move but then the hand, again, grabbed his shoulder. Again, startled, he jerked away, only to have his hand slip as the mulch move when he put his hand down. The headphones in his ears left his ears from this sudden jolt of movement. Embarrassed by the thought of people mocking him for falling over and getting covered in mulch and dirt, he put the headphones back in and grabbed his stuff in a hurry without his normal organization. Left behind was the girl who he’d sat next to in first hour, staring in complete confusion, and the copy of the light novel that he was reading. Without checking through his things, he made a break for his fourth hour class, music. He wasn’t very good but he really wanted to play the piano as that type of music has been a favorite of his since he was little. He felt like it helped him stay calm in situations that would’ve normally caused a panic attack. Halfway to his next class, a slight group of kids in his path made him jump out of their path to avoid running into them. That’s when he realized his backpack isn’t the normal weight. Is it because it’s not organized or did I forget something? Suddenly remembering what happened in under the pine tree, his mind flashed the image of him grabbing his things, except for his book… “No. I need my book. But I can’t go back there, I’ll just get humiliated.” As if his brain went into shut-down, he slumped to the floor with a wall replacing his spine. The thought of the kids laughing almost drove him to tears. “Shaun?” A familiar voice came from his side. “Wha…” Dumbfounded, Shaun was staring directly into the girl’s blue-gray eyes as she knelt down to meet at face level. A flashback ran through his mind, like a video clip that was only a second long. It was of the girl… No. The memory is of another girl. The girl broke Shaun back into reality as she snapped her fingers to get his attention. “I think you left this on the ground by the tree you were sitting under.” She held out the novel copy he’d misplaced earlier.
“Umm… Thanks.” Shaun wasn’t too keen on talking to people so his response probably sounded awkward. “Sure.” Shaun helped her back onto her two legs, “I wanted to talk to you but you were so involved in your reading and had headphones in, so that when I tried getting your attention, you got scared and ran away.” She gave a slight smile. “Sorry.” Was all Shaun could mutter at the moment.
“How about we make a deal.” The girl exclaimed gleeful.
“A deal?” Shaun stood in confusion as the girl started talking.
“I gave you back your book you forgot, so I want you to do something for me.” The girl smiled, wider this time. Finally understanding what she meant, Shaun felt shivers run down his spine. Is she going to make me embarrass myself in front of people? She doesn’t seem that mean but then again, the look in her eyes during the bookmark incident did have a slight evil in them. Shaun gulped. “Fine. What do you want?” Shaun finally managed to ask. “I want you to text me after school!” She was now grinning ear-to-ear.
“What..?” Shaun squeaked.
“Here’s my number, text me after school, any time works.” She pulled up her phone number on her cell phone and showed it to Shaun.
“Umm… Okay, I need a name entry.” Shaun was already nervous about what she really wanted.
“It’s Kaitlyn.” Shaun finished putting in her number right as the bell to class rang. “I’ll talk to you later, Shaun!”
Still dumbfounded and scared about what just happened, Shaun stood in silence reading the name over and over in his head. Kaitlyn…
Hope you enjoy part 2! If anyone finds an error, let me know! I want to make this an awesome story! Thanks everyone! -Crew member, Dark
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
