CHAPTER 3:
To my surprise, breakfast literally consisted of eggs and bacon. I shoved into my helping like I was starving, which I was a little. You got that way after practice with Coach Ketty.
Our group sat at our usual table next to the window, aside from Nico who seemed to hover too long next to the vending machine next to the tray counter.
“Why don’t you come sit down Nico?” called Jenna. She slurped away at the straw stuck inside a carton of chocolate milk.
Nico didn’t turn around, but instead started kicking at the bottom of the machine. Maybe he wasn’t hovering just to be away from me after all.
“Stupid piece of crap won’t give me my granola bar,” Nico muttered, his spiked, black hair seeming to stand further on end as he grew angry with the vending machine.
“I got it,” Lucas said, and he pushed himself away from our table and made his way over to the machine that was giving our teammate trouble.
“I can get it myself,” grumbled the spikey-haired teenager, but Lucas ignored him and bent down to examine the side of the machine. “Just watch for teachers, all right?” Luc retorted. Nico wasn’t too keen on being much of friends with Lucas either.
Luc produced a small screwdriver he kept inside the front pocket of his backpack, and began reeling out screws from a panel on the machine. Once he’d popped the panel out, he shoved his hands into the mess of colored wires and felt around for what he needed. A second later, the machine whirred and a clunk sounded inside the bin at the bottom of the machine. Quickly, Luc replaced the panel and screwed the screws back in place. With a smirk, he shoved his hand inside the bin and retrieved the granola bar.
“Here Nico,” he said to the boy, holding the bar out towards him. “You’re welcome.”
Nico muttered something resembling a “thank you” and crossed over to our table. Lucas followed.
“I think you hacked the machine in record time bro,” I whispered to my best friend as he took his seat. “That was like under ten seconds.” Lucas grinned and returned to his breakfast.
Lucas kind of had a knack for the electronic and mechanical. He wasn’t a hacker by any means, software not being his forte, but anything with wires and hardware he could tackle like it was the easiest thing in the world. I couldn’t tell you how many times I came over to his house to find him at work on his car. Not his truck, but the one he was building himself. He’d come pretty far, and everything down to the wiring was a cinch for Lucas.
After breakfast it was time for the team to go our separate ways to our classes. I had biology with Mrs. Nell first, and so did Lucas and Carlos, but the others had different classes to go to.
“Ready for bio?” I asked Luc as we walked to our lockers. “I gotta feeling Mrs. Nell is gonna pop-quiz the heck out of us this period.”
Lucas groaned. “Dude I didn’t study. Can I sneak a peek at your notes during class? I get one more strike with that old hag and I’ll get detention for a week.”
“You know dude, if you studied you wouldn’t be in this mess. It’s like my room. It’s messy, and so is your brain.”
He snorted and punched me in the shoulder again. “Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”
To Lucas’ dismay, Mrs. Nell did bomb the heck out of us with pop-quizzes. It seemed that the sixty-something old woman was particularly evil today, as she hounded us with complex trivia and critical thinking exercises. Poor Luc didn’t stand a chance.
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THE GAMES OF POWER
Novela JuvenilJet has always felt a connection with the ocean. After years since his father disappeared and his sister kidnapped, the water seems like the only safe place for him. But when he is kidnapped himself, he has to come to terms with why strangers have t...
