A Week of Death

Chapter 1

      It was around 7 in the morning when I woke up. I had barely gotten any sleep, since I stayed up playing games until 3 last night. My alarm was blasting at me up until I shut it off, and I wish that I could keep it from doing that every morning, but it helped me even so. I got up finally, and slowly put on my clothes. "I shoulda done that friday..." I said to myself, rubbing my eyes as I checked the date. January 9th, Monday. Surprisingly, it was my birthday. I went downstairs, and ran towards the fridge, quickly snatching a banana from inside and closing its door. I put on my jacket, then slung my backpack over my shoulder. My mom was already at work by this time, so I had to run to the bus before it drove by. I finally got down the driveway, and watched for the bus intently. The yellow behemoth finally made it to my stop, and I got on at 7: 23. I was greeted by an onslaught of little kids, and as I went further and further back, I ran into older and older kids, soon finding myself at the back with my friend, Gayll, a strong, yet kind man a grade below me. He's actually a year older than me, but he flunked two years due to his grades. Once I finally came into earshot, he yelled out, "Yates! Happy 18th Birthday, man!" I looked at him with a disappointed stare, because I knew he was trying to be a good friend, but I had been trying to keep my birthday quiet from everybody on the bus. I looked around, and only one or two people had actually even taken care of it, but I still didn't like the thought of it settling in anyone's mind. I slowly sit down next to him, and quietly say, "hey, what's up, man?'' I don't mean to be rude to him, he is my friend after all, but I still don't understand how he could be so open about some stuff like that. He shrugged his shoulders, then pulled out his switch, "nothing much, ready for me to finally beat you?" I looked over at him, and chuckled as I pulled out my own. "Oh you're on, buddy." we synced up, and I started beating him as I did every day before. Today his excuse was that it was my birthday, and so he went easy on me, but I knew he just couldn't find a way against my defense.

     The day at school was the same as the rest, with math as my starting class, music was second, and then Art. It takes an extra five minutes in the third period due to something in the schedule, but afterwards, we moved on to lunch. Today's lunch was chicken alfredo with peas and carrots, but i really didn't care much for the peas or carrots. The chicken alfredo, on the other hand, was always delicious, because it was made with true alfredo, and the schools' homegrown chickens from our farm. I quickly scarfed it down at my table before running off to where my friends and I usually hung out. I saw Terry, a shorter, but faster kid in my grade, and Natalie, or Nats, my childhood best friend, but no sign of Dewey, our comedian of the group. When they saw me approaching, they jumped from off the curb, and jogged towards me. "Have you seen Dew?" Terry asked. I shrugged my shoulders and looked over at Natalie. She shook her head, and we all just shrugged it off as a virus. We then went on with our day, and played until 4th period. I had science, and so went to the left while Terry and Nats went to the right. Today there was a test in english, which I hadn't studied for, as I usually didn't, but I still somehow have one of the top percentages in each class I go to. Next up was study hall, which I asked instead to head for my next class, P.E. Finally, the bell chimed 3, and I left the school building behind. Mrs. Caple was already in the bus, so we headed off in the front of the line. My stop was later in the day, so I grabbed my notebook and started drawing.

     I finally made it back home at around 3:50, and went straight into my dad's old shop behind the house. I started putting the final pieces to my truck, where I heard something scuttle outside. I grabbed my homemade short sword, and opened the door. It was dark out, and I could see my mom's car parked by the house. I grabbed a light before heading out, and started searching around for whatever crashed around. I checked the back of the shop, the front of the house then the dumpster, before giving up. I put my sword back inside the shop, and went inside. My mom got up and hugged me, before bringing me into the kitchen, where I saw a little cake on the counter. "Happy birthday, son! I know it's not a lot, though I hope you like it." she said as she passed me a box. It was small, and had a note inside it, containing a picture of me and my dad. "He would be so proud to see what you've turned into in the past few years." she said, with a tear going down her eye. I set the picture down to my side, and opened up the gift as carefully as I could. I opened it up, and found it was an old game for my console. "I knew you had been wanting a new game for your console, and I'd heard you talk about how you liked the sequels of this one, so I thought I would get you the original! I know it's a little off, but I feel like it would be something you could play any time and have fun on." I looked at the game, then at my mom. I set the game back down, and hugged her, while saying, "Thanks, mom. It really means a lot to me."