Junkyard of Heroes

Chapter 2

The next day was a Monday, the worst day in Brynn's opinion. She dragged herself out of bed at 7am and into the shower, washing away the remnants of a dream. After yawning her way through breakfast it was almost 8 by the time she grabbed her bag and yelled a goodbye to her dad.

      "Wait!! Wait a minute!!" he yelled back down at her. He ran down the stairs with his shirt collar up, his boxers on display and a tie in each hand- one purple with cats on, one yellow with stripes. Both were hideous.

      Brynn sighed. No doubt it was time for another instalment of 'Benny Carson's Cautious Walking Tips'. She slowly turned away from the door, her hand reluctantly sliding off the handle to her freedom, and offered the man a smile. "Yes Dad?" she said in a sweet voice.

      He beamed at her, and she ignored his lack of trousers. "Just, stay safe, ok? Don't talk to strangers, stay away from back alleyways, keep your phone in your hand ready to call 999.....be careful." He leaned a hand out to ruffle her hair, which she expertly dodged. "You know I love you Brynn."

      "Love you too, dad. Buuuut-" She stretched out the word and snuck her hand over to the door handle once more. "My teachers won't love it if I'm late for school..." She trailed off and hoped he would let her go.

      Ben sighed. "Ok. I get the point, you're sick of your old dad." He gave another sigh, long and dramatic, and bowed his head in defeat. "Go. Leave me."

      Brynn grinned at him and yanked the door open with a loud "Love you!" Just before she pulled it closed again, she yelled in "Oh, and Dad? You're not wearing trousers."

      Old Mrs O' Hara next door gave Brynn a haughty look and a "Hmph" at her loud announcement, and a very loud swear word was heard from inside the Carson house before she closed off the entrance.

-

      School, as it is commonly known, is in fact a prison where children of all ages are locked in and forced to go through hours of uninteresting work to learn things they will never need in real life. The punishment is then continued outside of school through homework, leaving the children little time to go out and experience the real world.

      This was how Brynn saw it anyway, and after getting quite a large pile of history homework she expressed this analysis to her friends. They were surrounding a circle of desks, random lunchboxes carelessly strewn around the place. A very freckly blonde took some popcorn from a box that was not hers.

      "Yeah, we get it, you're mad at the system," she said, pouring the stolen goods into her mouth. "But what I'd rather talk about is the news last night. Did anyone see? Darcy Becker is missing."

      The group suddenly spoke in hushed tones, as if it were a taboo subject. There were many exclamations of how shocking it was, how scared their mothers were, how the police should be working harder. No one wondered what was happening to Darcy. They were mostly just caught up in their own lives.

      Brynn, however, did not partake in this particular discussion. She had been up late the previous night worrying about Darcy, and did not want to think about it more. Luckily for her the freckled popcorn thief, otherwise known as Lyn, came to an abrupt stop in her talking when a familiar, brown eyed, 5"9, adorable, shy nerd came in.

      "Jakey!!" she shrieked, and ran over to hug him like she would never see him again. He looked rather startled at this and let out a loud 'unfh' noise when her body came in contact with his, but nevertheless he hugged her back.

      Ok, so he did whisper his concern about her mental health to the others when she couldn't see, but all in good fun.

      Lyn backed away from him and returned to the group, though her position beside Jake was soon filled by Brynn.