CHERUB: SILVER

Chapter 1: SILVER

Rain drops fell from the dark evening sky. Dan walked slowly down the gloomy street, a few cars passed now and again but it wasn't exactly the busiest town in the world. He sauntered on listening to one of his favourite bands. His music tastes were the only thing he had in common with the other boys at school. Dan was different, he wasn't exactly the sportiest or the most intelligent, he didn't play the most video games, and neither did he get much girl attention. He was quiet, sat in the corner and just gazed out the window. Ever since he came into year 7 he hadn't been popular, he got bullied a tiny bit at the start of the year, but that's fine. The only thing he had which the other boys didn't was his family's business. His older brother Phil, who was seven years older than him, had taught him everything he needed to know to help out. The only reason his Dad like Phil was that he helped the business. Phil was one of his only friends. His step-mum hated him; his dad didn't like him around. They never trusted Dan, his Mum had died 8 years earlier by a drug overdose, he couldn't remember her that well because he was three when she died. His Dad couldn't wait to get rid of her, he moved on to his new wife three months later. They had a child just as they got married, they called her Elizabeth. She was horrible to Dan, but she could sometimes be nice to Dan. He picked her up every day after school, and they would go to McDonalds and buy a McFlurry each. He wasn't great chums with his sister, but he could at least try to make better friends with her. But tonight his step-mum drove Elizabeth home.

As soon as he gets home he runs straight up to his room and plays Xbox or on his computer for an hour or so. Although their family lived on a council estate, they weren't exactly short on money. Although his parents preferred to spend money on Elizabeth. He hardly ever did homework; he switched on his Xbox and started playing Call of Duty. As soon as the menu screen came up his friend called him.

"Evening Dan, you wanna play tonight?" Brad asked.

Dan smiled, "I dunno, maybe give me a minute"

He took his headset off and removed his clothes. He put an old nirvana shirt on and some ripped jeans he'd worn for 5 days in a row now. He placed his headset back on his head.

"I' m back" Dan exclaimed.

Brad squealed, "Ow! Not that loud, Jesus! Anyway, change of plans; you want to come over to mine later. My mums out and she says you can sleep over."

"Cool, that's awesome." Dan bellowed, "The only person home is my step-mum and she doesn't care. She'd love to get rid of me. I'll pack my stuff up and come over."

"Alright" Brad replied "See you in a few minutes."

He hung up. He threw a random bundle of stuff and his school uniform for tomorrow in his bag and put his Nike trainers on. He walked down the stairs and went into the front room.

"I'm gonna be out for a bit" Dan mumbled; he didn't wait for a reply and marched out the door. He was breathing in the fresh evening air again. The rain had calmed down a tiny bit so there was no point in running to Brad's. The sound of the neighbourhood filled the air. The main road was on the other side of the estate, so you could constantly hear the sound of roaring engines. But tonight there was an extra sound, the sound of an ambulance, or a police car? He could never tell, they all sounded the same to Dan. There were quite a few sirens, maybe a teenage hothead letting off some steam by driving 120mph down the motorway? He found the idea amusing. He spent so long thinking about it he was at his friend's house. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell and his friend Brad appeared. He greeted his friend with a hug and dragged him up to his room. Brad wasn't the most attractive boy in the world, he was quite chubby, had spots all over his face and shaggy black hair. He spent his whole life in front of his Xbox, and the only friends he had were online. At school it was usually them versus the world. They sat in the library all lunch time and just talked about the latest games and girls they found fit. As soon as Brad said good bye to his mum he got out some food and played some FIFA. The only problem with Brad was he smoked, not just tobacco, he would occasionally get out some weed and smoke that. Dan had tried smoking at the start of the year as a release, but he was able to stop eventually when he nearly got nicked. They played and talked about life all night. At about 2 o'clock he drifted off and slept.