Final Departure

Chapter One

Introduction:

Final Departure was my first novel.  I completed it in 1998 when I was in eighth grade.

Over the years, it has gathered dust while I have tried to decide what to do with it.  Give it a modern spin? Turn it into a rock and roll musical? I'm still undecided, but it deserves to at least see the light of day.  I'm throwing it up here on WattPad, chapter by chapter, for your enjoyment.  It has only been very lightly edited from its original version.

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Chapter One

Mr. Morris knew that explaining the intricacies of a fetal pigs anatomy was nowhere near exciting enough to hold the attention of a room full of seventh graders on the last day of school, but he had to at least try.  He ran a hand through his rapidly thinning hair and sighed deeply before returning to the chalkboard.

The classroom was buzzing with the kind of excited energy that only made itself known before a big event.  Proms, holidays, birthdays.  Sometimes even on days they were serving pizza in the school cafeteria.  Usually attentive students suddenly morphed into fidgeting, clock-checking slackers.  Anyone could recognize the far-away look in their eyes and sometimes, if you peered in close enough, you could even catch a glimpse of their daydreams.

A knock sounded at the classroom door and Mr. Morris and the students were all grateful for the interruption.   Mr. Morris answered the door quickly to find a student of slight build struggling under the weight of a large box.

A girl seated in the front row gasped and others whipped their heads around, craning their necks to look.  Yearbooks! 

Mr. Morris barely had time to carry the box in to a table before the throng of students converged on him, chattering and clawing for their books.  Defeated by a hundred pieces of brightly colored paper more exciting than any textbook, Mr. Morris shuffled back to the blackboard and began to slowly erase his handiwork. 

In the far corner of the classroom, a yearbook went whizzing through the air and landed with a thud on the table. 

        "Hey, Jamie, sign my yearbook!" Jamie Monroe's best friend Amy called.

Jamie pulled off her headphones and looked up.  She had been so intent in her own scribbling, she hadn't even noticed the special delivery. 

        "Okay." Jamie answered, pushing her hair absently behind one ear and scribbling a signature that could have arguably read just about anything.  Slamming the book shut triumphantly, she retrieved her own book from the box at the front of the classroom.  She handed it to Amy, who grabbed for it excitedly and offered up her own sprawling signature, the last name dotted with hearts.

Nick Roberts had been making the rounds of the room and came to them next.  He smiled easily at Jamie and skipped over her, offering to sign the yearbooks of her friends first.  He ignored the way that Amy's gaze was filled (as it usually was) with longing beyond her years, and instead of speaking to her he deliberately focused on signing her yearbook as quickly and platonically as possible.  Jamie peeked over his shoulder. 

            "Oh Nick," she giggled. "You're still writing paragraphs? That's so last year.”

Nick rolled is eyes and shook his head. 

            "I guess that makes me one old fashioned dude."  He said with a grin.  "I'll see you tonight?"

Jamie nodded as inconspicously as possible, knowing full well that such an exchange had the potential of driving Amy mad with jealousy.   Satisfied, Nick moved on to collect more signatures.