The One in the MIDDLE

Chapter 1

Hey! My name is Emma McCarthy, and this is my last year in middle school. It all started on the 6th of August 2015, the first day back at school.

*RING*

My head snapped back up as the shrilling sound of the bell awoke me from my sleep. Only one class in the whole world could make me fall asleep. Maths. I walked out of class and turned right, towards my locker. Thankfully, Maths was at the end of the day and I was, then, free to waste all my time watching That 70s show re-runs and reading on Wattpad. As I climbed on my bike, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"Hello," I spoke into the phone.

"Emma, where are you?" asked my best friend, James.

"Outside the gate, riding home."

"Wait for me," he told me.

In a few short minutes, he had rode out on his bike and we were off towards home. Did I forget to mention? James was my neighbor. In fact, that was the reason we ended up being friends in the first place. One night, 2 years ago, I saw him sitting alone on top of his roof; it looked like he was crying. So, I jumped from my balcony's staircase onto his and asked what was wrong. He almost fell of the roof in shock, not to mention the shriek he let out. It could put, even the most stereotypical girl scream, to shame. That night, he told me so many things, the most important being the reason for his tears. His mother and father were getting a divorce. Anyways, that was the first late night out of many more to come. We have been best friends ever since.

"Emma! Are you even listening?" James asked.

"Um..." I let out, as James let out an exasperated sigh. "What's wrong?"

"She's back again, and this time she's staying for good." James whined.

"Janice?"

He nodded his head. 'Oh no' I thought. Janice was Mr. Carpenter's new girlfriend. After the split, Mr. Carpenter had completely shut off from the world. Those were dark times, all he did was go to work, come home, drink and go to sleep. He reminded me of a zombie. In fact, it was so obvious; my parents usually let James and Rachel, his older sister, over for meals. Anyways, he got slightly better after a while but his girlfriend was a whole other problem.

She was so obviously dating James' father for his money. Mr. Carpenter is the global head of iTech industry. He created all of the high-tech digital technology used nowadays so he was filthy rich but none of it mattered anymore. James' mother, Rhonda left to go and explore other opportunities. Whatever that meant. Jack Carpenter had been broken ever since, to say the least. He had given up all hope of a happy family and had really rubbed off on James. I mean, James didn't want to be like his father, at all, but he really couldn't help it, what with spending so much time together in awkward silence.

Janice was out to get James and Rachel. Rachel was slightly luckier, what with having exams to study for and parties to attend with her friends. James really got the short end of the stick when it came to most things. It was quite heart breaking really. Nobody could see the damage done, nobody except for me. He had friends, sure, but what could a bunch of spoiled thirteen-year-old guys do?

"Hey, can I come over later?" James asked.

"Yeah! Are we watching High School Musical again?"

"Of course we are," he replied in a tone that stated it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Every Monday."

"See you in a few," I bid goodbye to him, as we reached our houses.

I rode up until the fifth set of houses and then turned right while he rode up until the sixth and then did the same. I reached my porch and climbed up the stairs, bending over to retrieve the house key from under the doormat. Honestly, could our "hiding place" be any more obvious. 'That is like the first place anybody looks for a spare key' I thought, as I entered the house and strode into the kitchen.

"Mom?" I called.

"Mom's gone out," said a voice from above me.

I spun around and looked up towards the stairs leading upstairs. There, I saw I saw my sister, Jessica. She was older than me but only by three years. I was surprised to see her. And even more surprised at the fact that she was even talking to me. She was usually out with her wild and outgoing friends and whenever she was home, she was locked in her bedroom ignoring everything and everyone around her. God knows what she did in there.

"Where's mom?" I questioned.

"Out. With Luce."

Lucy was my other sister. She, however, was three years younger than me. All she ever did was ask for gifts and presents; then throw tantrums when she didn't get them. She was still in the fifth grade; you'd think that by the time kids turn ten, they would mature slightly and learn manners but NO! 'Great' I thought to myself. Mom was out, there was no food in the house, and Dad wouldn't be home until late at night.

I decided to head upstairs and change out of my stinking uniform. I washed my face, and put on nice pair of sweats with an oversized hoodie to match. I grabbed my HSM disc from its case on my movie shelf and walked across the room to where my T.V was hung. I slipped the disc into the DVD player and waited for the movie to load. As I waited, I had texted James to bring over some microwavable popcorn.

Ten minutes later, James arrived with two packs of popcorn and two cokes. After microwaving the popcorn, we sat down and began our movie. I can't even count the number of times I have watched this movie. Most of the times James was here. He wouldn't ever admit it to anyone but he loved High School Musical. I don't know why but he had some deep connection to the movie. One I have never been able to figure out. It used to frustrate me to no end; I even asked him about it once or twice but I realized that sometimes people just had to deal with things themselves. So, I finally gave up my pestering.

The ending really got to James. As the credits rolled, he turned to me and asked, "How come life can't be like that"

"Like what? A movie?" I snorted. "I don't know James, maybe because movies are made up stories meant to help and entertain bored human beings. Like you and me, right?"

"Yeah...But can you think of how much easier life would be if we didn't have status quo's and groups. All it does is create hell for kids. Look at every bully in our school; a jock, stupid, and dating a popular girl. Whereas, if you look at nerds, you see smart kids, with passions and dreams of achieving things bigger than just going to college, getting a job and starting a family."

"What's your point?" I asked. "Everybody already knows that stereotypes suck. And that people behave the way they do for a reason."

"Well, I can't imagine how any of the kids in our school face hard times at home, or whatever. I mean, they are all so...disgusting and pathetic," he said popping the p. "I wish we could do something about it."

"Like What?"

"I don't know, something bigger-

But his phone ringing interrupted him. It was his father; yelling at him for not being home to see Janice. He sighed, after he hung up the phone. "There goes my day," he muttered. He stood, turned towards me and smiled. I gave a sympathetic look but he just shook his head and climbed onto my balcony, and jumped back into his. I finally looked away, as I heard the thump of his door shutting. Before I could think too much about what had happened, I heard my own front door open and close, signaling the arrival of my father.

"Emma? Jess? I brought dinner!" yelled my father.

"Coming," I yelled back.

I heard my sister yell the same as I walked out of my room and headed downstairs. As I reached the ground floor, I saw my sister's Furby lying there, making weird noises. 'Ugh,' I thought. 'I hate that stupid toy. Why can't Lucy just grow up already?' I sighed, kicked it out of the way, and continued on. The table was set and mom and dad were seated. I sat down, opposite my mother, and reached for the food; Kung Pao chicken with stir-fried garlic noodles.

After dinner, I headed back upstairs and got ready for bed. As I was brushing my teeth, I couldn't help but think about what James had said. How could I do something that would help or change the way the kids in school behaved? I couldn't change all of them, that was for sure but there had to be something I could do to help even one of them.