Fortune Hunters

Chapter 2: Adolescent

Zachary woke up, the sun shining through his window onto his face. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and swung his little feet out of the blankets and over the side of the bed. He yawned wide and noticed something different about his space-ranger designed room. It took a moment for his young, tired mind to process it, but there was a new desk in against the far wall, and a new advanced computer system sitting on top of it.

Zach jumped up and ran over to the computer, pressing the small button at the bottom right hand of the screen. A message faded into view. "Happy Birthday Zach". He jumped up in his seat, excitement filling his body. He ran out of the room and across the house to the kitchen where his father sat watching the news on his Century Glasses, and his mother cooked waffles. He ran up beside his dad and pulled at him in a hug.

"Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou..." He kept saying over and over as his dad chuckled.

"One second bud" Howard said through a smile, straightening his back and fixing his glasses. "Off" he commanded and the glow of his glasses dimmed as he placed them on the table. He got up and smiled at Zach. "Do you like your present?"

Zach bounced up and down. "Yes!" he declared, making Maria laugh. His dad picked him up in a hug.

"I'm glad you do. Don't go using it all day now, you'll hurt your eyes doing that."

"But what about school?" Zach said hopefully.

"I think you seem sick today, you better not bring that germ in to get your friends sick too." The look on Zach's face made Howard's heart fill with a happiness he couldn't describe. "Now...lets get you some breakfast, and then I'll show you a thing or two about that computer. But you gotta promise me one thing..." Zach sat down at the table next to his father's seat and looked up at him. "Even though you have that new computer you don't stop tinkering, ok?"

Zach nodded, not that he had any intention of stopping anyway. A couple years before that day, Howard had given his son a couple of the newest, safe-proclaimed gadgets that Century Electronics had come out with. Just a couple expensive toys that a nine-year-old would like: the cyber sphere game system, a remote control drone, and a set of connectable blue tooth speakers to connect to his game system and set up around his room. What Zach did with them, however, was not their intended purpose.

He took apart the drone and used its circuitry to double the speed of his game system. Then, he used the remote control for it, and reprogrammed it to be able to be used as a controller so he had more control than the normal two hand joysticks give. His speakers he kept, but he had a few plans on what to do with them. Now that he had an advanced computer system, the possibilities were endless.

. . .

Joseph came the stairs into the one large room of his house that was considered the kitchen and living room. It was all the downstairs consisted of. He had his backpack on and was walking over to grab a yogurt out of the fridge when his mom surprised him from the other side of the fridge. She smiled at him and revealed a plate full of waffles with whipped cream on the top. "Happy Birthday, Hun"

Joseph smiled, he almost had forgotten his birthday was so close. He found that it didn't feel any different being eleven years old than it did being ten, but maybe that would change some day. His dad come up the stairs with his hands hidden behind his back. Joseph sat at the table and looked over to his dad curiously.

"Happy birthday kiddo!" His dad exclaimed. He revealed an old looking hunting bow, about Joseph's size, from behind his back. "It's your birthday present. I'm gonna teach you how to shoot after you get back from school."

It wasn't a lot, Joseph could tell. IT was obviously hand-me down, if it wasn't from a yard sale, if it wasn't just something his mom had thrown together from a couple old sticks and some string she had found. But it was his, and his dad was offering to do something with him, and that made him happy. He smiled at his dad and half-faked, half-serious, a face of amazement at the bow as his dad placed in on the other side of the waffles that now sat in front of Joseph on the table.

"Do you like it?" Clark said, a hint of worry in his voice that Joseph didn't pick up on.

"Yes!" Joseph said, turning towards them and standing on his chair. He reached his arms in either direction as far as they could go to bring both his parents in for a hug.

Clark looked at his son with a smile. "Now eat up, you don't want to be late for school." A couple minutes later, Joseph's belly was full of waffle, Clark kissed his wife good bye, and they both walked out the door to the car.

. . .

"Happy Birthday Peter!" the crowd exclaimed, jumping out from their hiding spots as he walked down the stairs the Saturday after his birthday. Peter jumped a little, his heart racing, but a smile forming. He ran down the last of the stairs, still in his pajamas. A banner hung from the ceiling, reading: HAPPY 11TH B-DAY PETER!. He ran right to his mom and dad who were on the opposite side of the room from the stairs.

They both smiled wide as he approached, Mary lifting Peter up into her arms in a strong hug. Peter didn't recognize most of the people around the room, but he knew a couple of the kids from school. He wasn't really friends with any of them, but his parents didn't know that. He just didn't know how to talk to people.

After a pancakes and bacon breakfast, Peter went to play some video games in the living room, expecting to be left along like he always was. He grabbed the headset-controller combo off of the pyramid device when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Peter, can I play?" It was one of the kids that his parents had invited. He didn't know him very well, but he felt to nervous to say no.

"Um...sure"

The kid grabbed another controller off of another side of the pyramid. "Is this the new cyber pyramid?" Peter nodded. "Sweet. I got the cyber sphere a couple years ago but I decked-it-out with a new controller and faster processor."

"Cool." Peter mumbled, not knowing really how to respond. This had been his longest conversation with another person that wasn't fifteen years older than him or more.

"Oh," the kid exclaimed. "My names Zachary by the way. But you can call me Zach."

"I'm Peter" Peter half smiled awkwardly.

"I know" Zach said with a chuckle. "It's your birthday today. That's cool. Mine was last Thursday."

"Actually," Peter said, against his own mind telling him not to draw attention to himself. "My birthday was last Thursday too."

"Really?" Peter nodded. "Sweet! We could be like, long lost twins or something. That would be awesome. So what games do you got?"

Peter had lost track of setting up the system. He had begun to enjoy talking with Zach. He even suspected that he might have just made a new friend, but he was still to shy to ask.

"Um, I got a couple first persons"

"Nice" Zach kneeled in front of the cyber pyramid, scrolling through the small list on the screen. "How did you even afford this thing? It's, like, the most expensive game system on the market right now."

"My dad does a lot of those technology test things. When they give us something new to test out and make sure it doesn't explode or something."

"And they let you keep it after?"

"Sometimes, but sometimes my dad just gets it for less money I guess."

"Cool...you have Parkour Racers?"

"Yeah, that's pretty fun." Zach pressed the screen and backed up so he was next to Peter.

"Race you to the finish" Zach said, thinking he sounded cooler than he really was. He placed the headset over his eyes and gripped the two joysticks in each hand. Peter chuckled and did the same.

Richard and MaryTelethesia smiled from the entry way to the living room, watching their sonduck and dodge with his new friend, until they were called back to entertain theguests. Most of the children just ran around, not caring why they were there,just wanting to do something. The parents all sat or stood in the dining roomchatting. But throughout the entire party, Peter and Zach raced.