The beginning of eighth grade was quite a struggle for Jack, since eighth grade was supposed to get you ready for high school by taking a huge step from seventh grade. He also struggled with the feeling of not wanting to feel gay and being an outcast at his school. His family was going through a rough spot right now, due to his dad's store losing money and his mom not having an annually paying job. Jack was the one taking care of his family at home, especially his little brother, Joe, who was transitioning to his first year of middle school.
Joe was a very short child, with very strawberry-blond hair. He was still slightly pudgy, but was getting a lot better due to him not being on his ADHD medication over the summer. His eyes were similar to Jack's, but the energy being completely different. The only muscle that he had was from being a bit of a chubby kid.
"Jack, get up!" Joe said, excitement in his voice as he jumped up and down on Jack's bed. "It's my first day of middle school, and I don't want to miss the bus!" Joe leaped off and ran out the door with their two dogs, Fido and Frisco, along behind him. Jack slowly rolled out of bed moaning, not particularly excited about returning to school to the start of eighth grade. He would have to go back to all of the bullies at school and deal with the heavy homework and tests. Although there were things he was not looking forward to, there were also some perks to going back to school. For one, Jack had made the eighth grade Leadership Team, and he would be able to go back and see all of his friends. But there were two people he was most excited for; Cait and Greg. Greg had just become one of Jack's great friends and they had wanted to get together over the summer, yet were unable to.
Jack was excited to see Cait for endless reasons. She was Jack's first friend at school, while all of the other kids bullied him. Cait was always there for Jack, through thick and thin. To Jack, she was the most beautiful girl on the planet, and he had a developed a huge crush on her. Now that Jack was a bit bulkier and a lot better looking, he thought that he might have a shot with her. Cait was a gorgeous girl with wavy pale blond hair, also containing natural streaks of light brown towards the bottom. Her eyes were a light sky blue. Her face was soft, and her complexion pure. She was thin with a perfect body, which was amazing to hug. She was about Jack's height, only a little shorter.
Once Jack had gotten dressed and all ready to go, Joe and him ran to the bus, which was only a couple of blocks away. I hope that we don't miss the bus this morning; don't want to be late for school on the first day. Jack thought as he sped past houses. After six blocks of sprinting, Jack and his brother finally reached the bus on time. When they got on, the first person he laid his eyes on was Cait, curled up in the corner of the seat, gently resting her head on her knees, hoping that she would wake to the new, and more attractive Jack. Yet she stayed asleep the entire bus ride. He then shifted his attention away from her, until he saw his good friend Liam.
Liam was an extremely boney kid. Anybody could wrap their hand around his upper arm, twice around his wrist. He had a hint of a beer belly (even though he didn't drink beer), and no muscle anywhere. He wore thin, rectangular glasses around his eyes, and had thick blackish brownish hair that came down like a bad bowl cut. Liam was very short, his personality making up for his lack of height. He was the best young actor that anybody knew, and by far the funniest guy that you had ever met. He could crack you up just by looking at you with a strange face.
It was a short, half-an-hour, bus ride to school. Jack and Liam had a fun time on the bus, yet Jack still stared at Cait, just thinking about her, and how amazing she was. As the bus stopped at the middle school, Jack tried to wake her.
"Hey, Cait." Jack said as he gently shook her to wake her up. "Hey, c'mon, lets go to school." He said with a soft voice that relaxed Cait as she got up and off of the bus. Yet in minutes, she was running all over the place, greeting and hugging people.
