You walk into a small dark room. A single light bulb hands from the ceiling off a string. The light bulb flickers off then back on. A television screen is mounted on the cracking cement wall. The screen turns on as you enter. A pale woman with dark gray curly hair is on the screen, smiling at you. She waves.

"You made it. Welcome. I'm Citten. Before we get into the story, Marco here has some explaining to do." She points behind her to a teenaged Mexican boy wearing a red hoodie. He's sitting in a chair with his arms crossed.

"H-hey. I'm Marco, the main character..." he shoots an exasperated look at Citten. He seems to have forgotten what to say.

"Go on, tell the viewer about yourself!" Citten prompts him with an encouraging smile.

"Uh... I'm eighteen and a senior in high school. And I like nachos." Citten frowns.

"How about I tell the viewer about you and you can confirm it?" Marco opens his mouth to reply but the gray haired teen doesn't give him a chance to answer.

"Okay! So, Marco here, or should I say "Safe Kid"-" she pauses to snicker. "has a very typical, average, or even boring life."

"Excuse me?" Citten ignores the offended brunette and continues.

"He has two best friends, Ferguson and Alfonso, and he does karate. Yes, very bland indeed." Marco huffs and pulls his hood over his eyes.

"Oh yeah! He also somehow made it through twelve years of public school without touching a girl! No hugs, no kisses, no gentle squeezes in off-limit areas--"

"Citten!"

"Right! Sorry." Citten snickers again, leading you to believe that she is not sorry. "Yes, where was I... Marco never touched a girl, or therefore had a girlfriend, except for that one girl in second grade, I think..." Citten scratches her head. She turns around to face the flushed boy behind her.

"Am I right? Second grade? What was her name... Janey? Hanna? Jan--"

"That's beside the point!" he exclaims. His cheeks burn red.

"Right." Citten turns around. "But everything changes in that fateful financial managements class."

"That class was useless."

"But you're glad you had to take it nonetheless. Otherwise, you wouldn't have ever met--"

The television screen shuts off.

xXx