Rise - The Nick Allen Sanders Saga

Last Morning of Normalcy

The alarm clock beeped loudly one morning in the Sanders residence.

"Time for another day in hell."

A young boy got out of his bed and went into his bathroom to shower. Once he was done, he put on his towel to dry himself and faced the bathroom mirror.

[AN: Tyler Posey as Nick Allen Sanders]

"How long can I keep this up?"

His name is Nick Allen Sanders. He is a 17 year-old boy in the 12th grade. Although his face doesn't show much ethnicity, he is actually a half-Filipino. He was born and raised in the Philippines until his parents decided to move to the United States when he was 15. At first when his father talked about moving to US, he was kind of excited. But now, he's starting to regret it. But he has to wait until he turns 18 and finishes high school to be able to move out.

"Nick, hurry up or you're going to be late!" his mom called from downstairs.

"Be right there!" he yelled back. He dressed up for school, put on his glasses and went downstairs to quickly eat breakfast.

"Well, Nick, today is Friday. How do you wanna spend your weekend?" his mom asked enthusiastically.

"Probably just stay in my room the entire Saturday, then go to church in Sunday for my keyboardist service," he said. "Where's dad?"

"He got a call and had to leave early this morning."

Then they went to eat in silence. Too silent for his mom's liking. "When are you going change, Nick?" his mom then asked softly.

Nick looked back at his mother with a confused expression. "What? What do you mean change?"

"You think I didn't notice how you have been acting lately? You've been distant to almost everyone. You always lurk in your room doing who knows what and rarely steps out. Did something happen in school? Please, tell me what's wrong."

Nick internally groaned. He doesn't really like to talk about his personal problems. He would rather keep them to himself just to don't bother anyone. He would rather deal with his problems alone.

He fixed his eyes into the bowl of cereal he was eating. "I don't know what you're talking about, mom. I'm completely fine. Just drop it."

When Nick didn't hear any reply from his mother, he looked back up and met his mother's face that showed hurt emotions. He hung his head low and closed his eyes. He internally groaned again and mentally slapped himself. He didn't mean to hurt his mother's feelings. So if he already hate his life, he hates it even more now.

Before any of them could speak up, the horn of the school bus blared outside. Nick sighed sadly. "I guess that's my cue to leave." He quickly grabbed his backpack and went back to his mom to say goodbye.
He reached for his mom's hand and placed it on his forehead, the custom Filipino way of showing respect.

"Bye, mom," Nick then kissed his mother's cheek. "I'll see you later."

Nick quickly went outside and into the school bus waiting for him.

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The ride to school was rather pleasant for him. He always admired the beauty of Washington, DC. Even if he wants to go home to the Philippines so bad and would do everything to make it happen, he still knows that he loves this place.

When they finally arrived in school, he quickly got out of the bus to meet up with his three best friends who are also in the same year as him.

"Yo, Nick!"

Nick turned around and saw one of his best friends, Justin.

"Hey Justin, what's up?"

[Nicholas Hoult as Justin Freeman ]

Justin quickly ran up to him, panting.

"Hey, what's the rush, Justin?"

"Pete and Ricky did something stupid again!" Pete said, still panting.

"Oh god, again? This is the third time this week that they caused ruckus!" Nick groaned. His other two best friends, Pete and Ricky, are the trouble makers of the squad. The two of them are commonly known as the 'Double Trouble' among students in school. He doesn't even know how he become friends with those two. But even if they are knuckle heads at times, they are also(surprisingly) consistent top students. "What did they do now?"

"I-I think they pissed Vincent off," Justin said.

"Oh when have they not?" Nick could only sigh heavily and facepalm at this point. First thing in the morning in school, he is already met with more problems. He already had one back home and now this? "Justin, what's the use of you being the Student Council Vice President if you can't manage to call the Double Trouble off?"

"Well, they are also student council members, yet still they're the ones causing trouble. Shouldn't they be sanctioned to punishments? Besides, I think it's for the best that the President should be the one to handle this one. We all know how handful of a problem Vincent is," Justin sighed.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get this thing over with," Nick said exasperatedly. "Where are they?"

"They're righ-" the school bell rang before Justin could tell him where they are. "Never mind. See you at the council meeting later."

"Why did I agree to be the Student Council President if this is what I'm going to deal with everyday?" Nick mumbled under his breath.

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[Author's Note: First chapter done!

We already met our main guy, Nick. We also met one of his bestest friends, Justin. Later in the next chapters, we are bound to meet the other supporting characters until we get to the main deal.

Let me know what you guys think!]