The Uprisen

Chapter 2

Jake oversleeps the next day, but he wakes up refreshed, as if all of the energy he'd drained himself of last night had never left.

He rolls over hoping to find Riley back from work, but the bunk is empty. Jake stands up and begins to change into his clothes from yesterday, but a voice from the bunk above him stops him.

"Woah, there's still a person in here. Someone who would not like to see you undress, thanks."

Jake spins around quickly and finds a teenage boy shielding his eyes from Jake.

"Sorry man," Jake says.

"Call me Matt. Were you here yesterday?"

"I'm Jake, and yeah I was."

Matt eyes Jake curiously. "Guess I missed you... Hey how old are you?"

"Uh, how old do you think I am?"

"Eighteen, at least. Old enough to buy cigarettes."

Jake chuckles. "With what money? Besides, I don't smoke."

"Well, you could get some for me."

Jake stares at Matt, who is no older than fifteen. "Yeah, and what are you gonna do with cigarettes? You're a kid."

Matt rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

Jake looks for his clothes so he can get out, but he can't find them. "Hey Matt, do you know where my clothes are?"

He doesn't answer.

"Matt, come on. Please?"

He sighs. "Waverly took it to do laundry."

"Who's Waverly?"

"A volunteer. She comes around a lot, don't know why. I mean, she has a mansion. If she wants to help, she'd donate money."

Jake stares at Matt, then asks, "Hey, why are you in here? You're like fifteen."
"Sixteen," Matt corrects. "Parents kicked me out. They couldn't 'handle' me any more. It's whatever," Matt's tone suggests that it's more than 'whatever', but Jake doesn't say anything.

"Oh... Um, could you tell me where the laundry room is?"

Matt shrugs. "Why would I know?"

Jake sighs. "Well, are there any spare clothes?"

Matt points to a small dresser in between their bunk beds and the set in the middle.

Jake rummages through out-dated T-shirts until he settles for a white tank top and a plain blue hoodie. Luckily, Jake finds his pants under his bed, where he pushed them out of laziness last night. If the Waverly girl had found them, Jake would be stuck with XXL sweatpants that would not stay on him.

"Thanks," Jake says.

"Yeah."

Jake leaves the room and manages to find an empty bathroom to change in. He looks at his reflection, which he's still not used to. He has short brown hair and eyes that changes from light-brown to green. The cuts and scrapes that were on his face a day ago are now completely gone. There's no indication that he was near death just a few days ago. He sighs, frustrated that he still doesn't recognize his reflection as his own.

Jake opens the door and nearly gets knocked over by a stampede of kids. He suspects that's because it's Saturday and they're at the shelter rather than school.

"I need some air," he says to no one in particular.

He jogs to the court he and Riley played on last night. He didn't notice it before, but the court is in bad shape. Cracks cobweb across the cement with small weeds sprouting. One of the hoops is fallen, and stray sticks and tree branches lie in random places.