Death Note: Blood Ties

Chapter 1: EVOLUTION

Ethan:

My life must be the epitome of boredom, I thought as I walked the streets to Brisbane State High School.

I adjusted my thick glasses. Navy and red striped blazers and maroon shirts crowded about at the school gates up ahead. Nothing exciting ever happened in Brisbane. Outside of school I had an either dying or dead social life, I hadn't had a girlfriend since Year Eight (that was three years ago), and the only thing I could do with my spare time was study for the exams this semester not that I was any good at school either.

Having no particular academic gift and not being particularly sporty my time was spent avoiding my family by locking the door to my room and playing online computer games. As I walked through the crowd of teenagers, brushing my dark fringe aside, I heard snippets of gossip, hushed conversation and excited plans for going out drinking on the weekend. It was all so pointless.

I stopped when I noticed Joel Robinson in front of me - a big Year Twelve kid who was shoving around some small Year Ten. Thankfully he hadn't noticed that I almost walked into him. Being the coward that I was I pulled up the bag strap around my shoulder and walked past him and through the school gates. The bell rang. Just in time, again. The deputy principle, Mr Harris, was trying to usher students over twice his size along to their classrooms and they blatantly ignored him. It was Monday morning and a lot of students were filled with an apathetic feeling of constraint. School held no interest for me but at the same time I wanted to be here. Anywhere was better than being home. Anything was better than being near my abusive step father.

Just let something interesting happen today, I silently prayed, good or bad I just want to feel something to get me through the day.

*

Jack:

The bell rang. Fuck it, I ain't going. Mr Harris, being a total loser was trying to get some guys to move off to class. One of them should deck him, that would make my day. I really wished I was smoking some bud right now. Whatever the kids here called it: pot, grass, marijuana, cannabis. I wanted some. People gave me names too: dope-head, space-head, crack smoker, whatever they didn't understand. I wasn't like the other kids at this school that smoked weed cause they just wanted some fun or to look 'cool'.

If your life was as shit as mine you did whatever you could to survive. That's why I took risks and went joyriding and did all that crazy stuff. Anything to make you happy, so that your own life would be interesting enough for you to want to keep living in it.

I stayed leaning against the fence with my hands deep inside the pockets of my trousers. As most of the teens started pouring through the school gate I reluctantly decided to push off the fence and go inside before a teacher told me to.

Emma was supposed to meet me by the front of the school gates but she'd missed me again. I was thinking about dumping her. I probably would if things didn't get better soon. She was fun to be around when I was high, but when I went down again I remembered she was self-obsessed and patronizing. She was hot but that only went so far in a relationship, I was noticing that she was losing her appeal. We hadn't fucked or done anything yet apart from making out. I found my roll call room and lined up, keeping a distance between me and the others. I leaned my buzz-cut head against the brick wall and closed my eyes, trying to zone out the noise around me.

*

Hannah:

My silver Toyota economy car swerved between two other parked cars and I unbuckled and opened the door. Frick! The bell had already rang and the last of the students were walking through the gates. 'In the End' by Linkin Park was blasting at full volume and got a few stares from students. I rilly rilly didn't want to get caught for being late again... I twisted the key and pulled it out of the ignition, shutting off the music. I swung the door closed and locked it with the beeper. I then immediately inserted my head phones and started playing some Three Days Grace.