The Pluto Project

Chapter 1

     Rex woke up, in the middle of the night, thinking about all that had happened in just a small amount of time. Before he was taken,he thought, he was just a boy, blinded from the truth of the Armageddon that was to be unfolded to the rest of the world. The relentless marching of time that eventually leads everyone to the end. Oh, how he thought, 'If only we could've done something sooner, maybe this never would've happened.' He stared ominously at the ceiling, recollecting the story that had just earlier unfolded.

      Rex was an average upbeat teen with an exhilarating thirst for creativity, becoming friends with just about everyone. He wasn't too tall, or too short, or too skinny, or too fat, but one thing he did lack was courage. Sure ,he could talk to anyone no problem, but to his crush? No, never. Rex walked over to his closet and dressed with a nice polo shirt and some jean pants. He looked in the mirror at his reflection and tried to find the perfect hair style for his brown-ish hair that day. It could never just stay one color. During the summer it lightened up to more of a dirty blonde, but in the dark it could get pretty dark. Once he was done with the rest of his morning rituals, he skipped to the stairs, climbed down and slipped on the third step, twisting his ankle in the process. The house shook with a thud. Rex immediately rubbed his ankle, now swollen and in pain. He wobbled and hobbled all the way to the kitchen to get some ice from the fridge.
'Ugh, this is just great' Rex thought to himself. 'Now my putrid Dad is going to wake up and annoy me with chores. He's gonna make me late again'. Forgetting his train of thought, Rex limped into the kitchen to get himself some ice. After that he decided he would eat breakfast at home that morning. 'I can't eat school breakfast today, it's breakfast pizza today.' He shuddered at the thought of eating eat and almost lost his appetite. Almost. But he thought 'I can't skip the most important meal of the day!' "What should I eat? An omelet? Some Cereal? Perhaps a smidgen of grits to help kick start the day!". Rex almost busted out with laughter'A smidgen?Who am I, the queen of England?'

     He slithered over to the oven and carefully opened up the cabinet where his parents kept all their snacks and things in. He pulled out some honey buns and donut sticks. 'Mom wouldn't notice just one of these thing missing, would she?' He then continued to grab one and ate it. Thinking that she wouldn't miss two of them, he grabbed another. When he finished with that, he really wanted another but wasn't sure if it was the brightest idea. So he grabbed a third anyways.

 
     After his delectable breakfast, he grabbed his school bag from the closet on the hallway, and walked outside to the bus stop. On his way there, he started limping because his ankle had begun to swell even further. He thought about turning back to go home, but he wanted to be able to go to the end of the year class party with his friends. His teacher promised there would be cake and ice cream if they don't miss a day of school, so he was hooked. He's never missed a day since. So, once he got to the stop sign, he tried to occupy himself until the bus came by looking around. Rex's wandering gaze turned toward his crush. 'I wonder if I should say something to her' but decided to forget about it. In that very moment, she turned around and looked at him. 'Oh no, now she thinks I was staring at her the whole time.' So Rex looked a different direction and made a weird face. 'Dang it Rex, now she thinks your trying to cover it up, but now it looks completely obvious."

     Rex then started to wander what everyone else at the bus stop  and the lives they lived outside of school. He started imagining what his life would be like if he went out with Susan. He also started thinking about how life would've turned out if he hadn't eaten that chili burrito during the State Fair last year that had him on the toilet for a week and a half. He also started to think he was weird because he was thinking to himself so much. So he continued this cycle of random thoughts until the bus came to a screeching halt while almost popping the curb.
"All aboard" the buss driver exclaimed with a cheerful smile. "She sounds like the conductor of the Polar express", Rex whispered to his best friend Cameron beside him. They both chuckled silently until Rex started to picture their faces together and almost laughed up a lung. That's when everybody stared. You know, that type of stare like 'What's wrong with you, nobody said anything funny, but your laughing at nothing' type of look.They all got onto the bus and continued on their journey to school. Of course Rex and Cameron sat next to each other, and played lame games the whole ride, but to them, they weren't lame, just something they enjoyed doing together. When they arrived at the school, there was a foldable table outside with flyers sprinkled everywhere. Since it was mid- November, the school started it's annoying annual fundraisers. Throughout the day, it had been practicing sales pitches, mission statements, goals, and profit budgeting classes to prepare them to sell,sell,sell. Cameron always talked about how corporations used fundraisers to get free labor and advertise the kids into buying their own product. But Rex could hardly think. All he COULD think about it recess. The school board allowed all district schools to have recess time during the middle of the day, including high schools.

 
     After his 3rd period, he and Cameron bolted toward the door, racing as if their lives depended on it. Once they reached the play ground on the school campus, Rex immediately noticed a black Lincoln with tinted windows parked in the street. But he didn't think much of it as his friend Cameron called him over to get on top of the monkey bars. When Rex got on top, he took a glance over unto the place where he saw the Lincoln, but it wasn't there anymore. Rex felt a cold shiver go down his spine.'It was just there a minute ago, I never heard it move, and it was gone in an instant.' Rex started to slowly calm down himself, 'I could just be imagining things, it's not that big of a deal anyways.' But little did he know, that car would hold his fate in the balance.