The first thing he heard, when Daren woke up, was the chirping of birds."A very positive sign!!!" he happily thought to himself.
He jumped and sat up in bed, a broad smile plastered on his face. Today, after all, was a very important day, the most important of his life, yet.
He couldn't keep the spring out of his step, as he proceeded to the washroom, smiling broadly, all the way. He was halfway through getting dressedwhen his mobile buzzed loudly, a thing that deeply annoyed him. Who the hell was calling him at 5 in the morning??
Regardless, he was intent on not to let anything spoil his good mood, and so he went to it.
"Hello dear!!", his mom shrieked on the other side, so loud, he nearly dropped the phone.
Reigning his senses, he replied, "Hey, mum."
He could tell she was very happy about something, but couldn't imagine what the reason could be. He hadn't told her about today, but again he could never be sure. His mother had the uncanny ability to litreally read his mind. And she definitely had noticed his growing excitement the past few days. the main reason he hadn't told her was because he couldn't tolerate all the fuss. So he waited patiently for her to spill the beans.
"Listen honey, there is s.."
beep, beep, beep " Battery low" his phone said, "Please recharge"
Then it went dead. Blank.
Totally frustated by now, he threw his phone away. He HATED cliffhangers. He then thought about what he had been doing when his mother called.
"Oh yeah..." he thought dully, "Trying to keep my spirits up."
Shaking his head, he went to pick his phone, slightly apprehensive he might have broken it.
He was almost late by the time he reached the place. the caller had said the interviewer would await him at the beach, and he would be lifeguard no. 3. Daren had felt very wierd, and still he was 80% sure that it had bben a crank call, but the salary they offered had made his head spin. he had agreed to go, not really believing his luck but had thought a day at the beach would do him good, and in case he managed to get himself a job, that would only be the icing in the cake.
and so here he was, dresses in khakhi trousers and a casual t shirt, ( he couldn't make himself wear a formal t-shirt to the beach) trying to convince himself that he was NOT underdressed for such an important interview.
"If there is one at all.." he mentally corrected to himself.
Once on the beach, he scanned the horizon,"Where ae you mr Lifeguard?"
As he approached the lifeguard, Daren took a moment to study him. he was all big and burly, with broad wide shoulders, and a heavy build, and looked more like a bodyguard than a lifeguard. He sat very seriously, in a rigid posture, scanning the sea- he looked like a man on a mission to save the world.
when he was just a few steps away, Daren nervously tugged at the ends of his black t-shirt, trying to look professional(if that was even possible). He knew he could get selected from the interview, he was great at academics. He was a very nerdy personality and was always found with his books. His talks amazed his teachers they always found his logic and thinking skills extraordinary, and always told him that he was meant to make it big in life.
But what set his apart from other nerds was his devilishly good looks. With his sandy brown hair and light brown to golden eyes, he was very much the talk of the town in the looks department too. wannabe chicks threw themselves at him and there was hardly anybody in town in his age group who did not have a major crush on him. Sadly, the honing of his mental abilities took up all his time, leaving none for a social life, or a love life for that matter. Thus, the area in which he lacked was the social aspect of things. in school, his lack of interest was taken as attitude, but an interview was an entirely different matter altogether.
The only person he openly talked to was his mom.She was chirpy and had a great but twisted sense of humor. she was the one person who totally understood him. his father had died, or Left them or something along those lines, Daren did not know, his mother always either laughed it off or just brushed it away. But as long as he remembered, it was always her that nurtured him into who he was. She liked him for being himself, not for good looks or celebrity status, and he loved her for that.
He had colleagues but no real friends , because even in the nerd group, he was a league apart, so he usually relied on working alone. Sometimes he often wondered where he truly belonged, and deep within him the answer always came, not in this world.
By now he was 3 steps away from the man. He could tell that the guy had sensed him, but the lifeguard did absolutely nothing to acknowledge him or his presence, which made Daren more than a little nervous. The lifeguard wanted to know how he would introduce himself and the first impression was the last impression, and he was determined not to let be a bad one.
He settled for a cool, casual, confident approach.
"Good morning sir, I'm Daren" , he said, offering his hand.
The man looked at him with a steely blue gaze that was openly cold an harsh. Daren had an impulse to run away screaming. The man did not shake his hand and also did not change his posture, but his head turned, like a mechanical robot.
"Age?", he asked, his voice rough and venomous.
"Um.. 16?" Joe replied, unsure, even he couldn't guess why. He had given quite a few interviews before, but this one was definitely a league apart.
"What do you do?"
"I study. I have just-"
" Native place?"
"Umm... Texas.."
"High school?"
Joe was thoroughly bewildered. The man was interrogating him at a blindingly fast speed in a business- like, to the point manner and that too, about totally unimportant things. this resembled more like a rapid fire round in a quiz competition than an interview.
" Texas public School."
" Got a sweetheart?"
Daren almost snorted. "No."
" What is the reason the frequency of the sound wave heard by the listener is different from the actual one?"
Now this was something he could manage. Easy- peasy
"The Dopplers effect."
"Have siblings?"
"No."
" is quaternary hydrogen possible?"
"No"
"why?"
"Because the valency of-"
"Whats your age?"
"Huh?... 16"
"What car do you drive?'
"My old truck."
" Future plans?"
" Study further."
"How does an amoeba reproduce?"
" Binary fission."
"How old are you?"
"16!!"
"Quite Right."
The man then got up so fast Daren nearly missed it. The last thing he saw was the guy's face scrunched up and a large fist coming towards him. and then, blackness.
