The Night Wolf

Chapter 1

      "I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I would like to help everyone if possible. We all want to help one another -- human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: more than machinery we need humanity; more than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost..." ~ Charlie Chaplin, The Great Emperor Speech

     

Voices all around me, lightly fading in volume. Usually, you can only make out a few words or in some cases, full sentences. So many conversations that I'm not a part of, so many different people with different stories. So many. And here I am with my head down, trying to desperately catch up on some long-lost sleep. I'm waiting for it to happen. That loud, obnoxious bell blares throughout the school to let everyone know that the day is over. For some people though, the day was just beginning.

*RING* RING* RING!* there it was. I slowly lifted my head as the light nearly blinded me. I rose to my feet and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Everyone else had already rushed out of the classroom, fleeing to their buses.

"Mr. Okori, may I speak to you for a moment?" My teacher asked just before I walked out into the hallway. I nodded my head silently and walked over to his desk.

"Now, Marcus, I know that you have been sleeping in my class more often than usual," he said, "Your grades are beginning to slip." A blanket of sadness ran over my body.

"This is not just in my class either, I contacted your other teachers and they said the same thing." He continued for about ten minutes explaining how I could get my grades up. His voice started to slowly fade out, I began focusing on other things. I had been overwhelmed with school and grades and many other problems in my life. A lie that is told often in school is that you are there to learn. I hate when people say that to me. You are at school to make good grades, nothing else. People think that grades determine who you are.

I left the classroom feeling no better than I did before. Nothing was accomplished. I often daydream while I'm walking. Most of the time I just think, think about the day. I just replay it in my head over and over again. I walked down the hallway for a while, just thinking. Then, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I almost jumped, but I immediately knew who it was. My girlfriend, Marco, was standing behind me.

Her eyes were bright. full of life and excitement. She has always been like that, ever since she was little. I and Marco met when we were kids at a playground. Once our mothers saw that we were playing together often, they began talking to each other, and the rest was history.

"Hi Marcus!" she said cheerfully, "Are you excited about the movie tonight?"

I panicked, I had completely forgotten about the movie that I and my girlfriend were supposed to go see after school.

"Y-yeah! What time does it start again?" I asked. She looked at me confused.

"It's at Seven. You were the one who bought the tickets!" She snickered. "Wait a second, did you forget?" she asked me. I couldn't let her know, then she would think something was wrong.