A Great Leap (First Draft) - Outer Realms Book 1

Prologue

The spring sun was an intense, constricting weight, wringing the moisture from anything that fell under its intense gaze. A boy sat in a classroom, thankful for the last few minutes of his afternoon lesson that kept him in the merciful cool of air conditioning. There was the scratching of pens on paper as the class completed their work for the day as quickly as possible.

A few students whispered, a fly buzzed against a window, a train rattled past noisily outside and there was the constant whir of the air conditioner. Sweat in various stages of putrescence mixed with many flavours of body spray in a choking cloud. His own sweat soaked through the boy's shirt, sticking coldly to his back and feeling constricting, the tag on his neck like an itch that clawed at the inside of his skull and the sweeping current of the air conditioner hitting him with icy blasts. Every sound, every smell and every feeling grated painfully on the boy's brain but he tried to block everything out and concentrate on his work.

The musical chime of the school bell signalled the end of the day and the boy was the first out the door. He walked by the carpark, trying to pretend that the sinking in his chest had nothing to do with the absence of a familiar car. He pulled out his phone and dialled his mother but he only ended up with the message bank.

"Hey mum," he said, his voice cold and tightly controlled, "I really needed that money and those forms signed. Guess something more important came up. I'll be late home anyway." Then he hung up.

He entered the school office, pulling a few pieces of paper from his bag and money from his pocket.

"I can still hand these in, right?" he asked the receptionist, "I know they were due this morning. I only just got them signed."

The receptionist frowned as she read the forms. "That's fine. We can still get them in."

The boy smiled but it did not touch his eyes. "Thanks. Have a good one."

As he walked toward the gate, the boy heard someone calling his name. He ignored it, marching resolutely onward though he knew it was a futile effort when he heard heavy feet hitting pavement behind him. He tensed involuntarily when he felt a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He relaxed his face and turned around to face one of his classmates.

"What do you want, Tim?" the boy asked.

The boy saw Tim's lip twitch in the briefest sneer and his eyes narrowed for less than a second before becoming a wide, hollow smile. "You actually can speak?" Tim asked in feigned surprise, "Guess you're not brain damaged or something after all."

"What do you want, Tim?" the boy repeated.

"Wondered if you wanted to come play some ball with us," Tim answered, thrusting his chin back toward the school and the basketball courts that lay on the other side, "You know, charity for the poor orphan boy and all that. Know not having a real mum and dad must make socialising pretty hard."

The boy sighed, tired more than hurt by the poorly veiled bullying. "Not interested."

"Come on," Tim said, his smile still plastered across his face, "We've been at this school almost two years and you don't have a single friend. Being a head case orphan doesn't excuse you."

"Friends?" The boy asked with a laugh, "With you? Why? So you and your dickhead mates can sharpen your wits on me? Or maybe you'll just spend all your time trying to trip me and throwing the ball at my head? Not interested."

"Fuck, we're just trying to be nice. You can fuckin' kill yourself for all I care, we just don't want to have to hear about it for weeks at school if you do."

"Stop trying then," the boy said, "You suck at it. Besides, I know you've been fooling around with Maria. Fuck off and I won't tell anyone. I'm leaving now."