Walter loved being young. He loved the way his stomach never filled and his voice never tired. He loved that no matter how many times he dropped a snack on the floor, he could still reach down and eat it without worrying about the five second rule. Walter Morris Arnold Darling never thought he could love anything more than being seven. And so, when he turned eight, then nine, then ten, eleven came, and twelve went he found himself very angry. He suddenly had to worry about the five second rule, he suddenly didn't have recess, and he suddenly had responsibility. All he wanted was to be young…to stay young.
And now...oh, now...Walter was one day away from becoming a teenager...and he hated it. Thirteen seemed like the stupidest age anyone could be.
Walter's hands smooth over his phone's screen. He has messages waiting for him to answer, but he didn't care. His eyes were crusty, his head hammered and he couldn't remember what homework needed to be done. A few messages that said meaningless things like "nah much else to do here ; )," and "gotta remember to watch that," were not going to make him feel any better. They would only add more boringness to his last young day.
"Walter," his mother slams his textbook on the kitchen table, "I know you're not feeling your best but please," she let go of the book and steps back, "finish your homework."
"Why?" Walter mumbles, his flips the book's pages back and forth. Swish, swish, swish. His stupid math book was larger than any computer from ten years ago and smelled like the butt of a dog. Not that Walter knew what a dog's butt smelled like.
"Because," his mother crosses her arms, "your party is tomorrow, come on," her face had more frown lines than he remembered, "if you don't want to do homework now, you will definitely not want to do it on your birthday."
Walter huffs, birthday, there was that stupid day again. "Fine whatever," he grumbles as he pretends to open the book to a very specific page. His mother weakly smiles and turns away. Walter waits until she was at least seven paces out of the kitchen before he lays his head on the book and closes his eyes.
"I wish I was young," Walter whispers, "I wish I could stay a kid forever." He let the words tiptoe out of his mouth and circle around him. The words dance and float away. He holds his breath, as if waiting for something important to happen. Something that would solve his horrible birthday one day away. But then, nothing happens. Nothing exciting ever happens to Walter.
Bing.
Walter pushes the phone off the table. It clatters to the ground. He hates phones. The whole Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, this thing, that face, was too boring. He doesn't want to stare at a stupid screen like an idiot. Why would he waste his days staring at a screen when he could skateboard down a ramp? Walter picks his head up, skateboard, now there's something he hadn't done it awhile.
He dashes outside and he shuffles his feet into the really old and slightly small checkered Van's shoes. Last summer Walter was really into skateboarding, he had even gone as far as buying new shoes, long sleeve black shirts, and a few red beanies. But that didn't last long, Walter got too hot at the skateparks. It seemed the hardest part of being a true skater, was dressing like one.
He pulls open the large garage door and makes his way through the mess. The Darling's garage should hold 2 cars, but that never happens. In real life, the garage held five bikes, two soccer balls, three basketballs, 172 old water balloons, fifty-seven toy trucks, four jump ropes, seven water guns, 49 chalk pieces (all of them broken into pieces), two blow-up pools, and the Darling's family Christmas decorations.
The garage also held Walter's skateboard, he shimmies it out of the pile under his sisters' roller blades, the two were out in the back trying to find some cool-looking bug. He smiles and carries it out onto the driveway. His skateboard was covered in Xbox game stickers. The games with guns that his mother didn't like but still bought him for his birthday. Birthday, Walter sighs.
Bing.
He turns his head from left to right, he swears he heard his phone. No, he must be hearing things. He glances at the birds in the sky, maybe one of them binged. It could happen. Walter places the board down and puts one Van foot on top. He takes a deep breath, no matter how many hours Walter spends on a skateboard, he is still very nervous before he gets on it. He kicks off and places his foot next to the other. Their suburban driveway is pretty nice, being on a hill and everything.
The wind crawls through Walter's hair and he lightly bends his knees, Walter takes the turn and bends with the road. He smiles and pushes his feet against the road giving himself more speed. He needs to go fast, wants to go fast. To go super-fast away from his stupid boring house, where he should be doing his stupid pointless homework.
Walter lets the road lead him away and rides the skateboard without thought. It's like flying without wings or running without legs. He smiles and closes his eyes, this is what being young is all about-
HOOONNNNK!
Walter opens his eyes into a speeding green car. He screams and quickly turns the board; the car barely misses him and Walter feels the wind of the car slice the air near his throat.
"Watch it boy!" the driver of the car yells, the woman in the front seat angrily raises her fist in the arm. Walter gasps, the woman doesn't have a hand, instead, she angrily points a hook at him. Her hand is a hook.
FLUMP!
Walter skates into the curb and goes flying. His board stops but his body doesn't, it keeps moving. He is airborne, Walter doesn't have time to think about how he is going to land or where. Instead, he crashes to the ground like a dead bird to a window.
PLOP!
He doesn't move his body, Walter knows, just knows that if he moves something it is going to hurt. He's just glad he remembered his helmet. Within seconds from crashing on the hard ground, Walter's body hurts everywhere. And when he says everywhere, he means everywhere.
"Ahhhhhhhh…" Walter rolls to his side. He tries to sit up but his head hammers like a construction worker's party. "Crap," Walter peeks over at his board, it's not too bruised, but there is a long scrape on the top of the board. Walter slowly moves towards it. He picks it up and pretends not to notice that his knees are bleeding or that his hands burn. There in the middle of the board, was one long scrap.
"What the?" Walter whispers. Walter fell off the board, the board hit a curb...but why is there a scrap? He has no idea what created this long line. It was like, Walter doesn't know if he should gasp or laugh, it was like a sharp object scrapped it. Almost like a hook.
"Hook?" Walter stares down the road, but the angry woman in the speeding green car with the shiny hook is gone. Walter wants to make it clear, the woman who almost hit him had a hook for a hand.
"Walter!" He hears his name but doesn't want to answer it. He knows who it is. "Walter!" His mother shouts again. Walter holds his breath, maybe she will forget about him, "Walter get your butt home now!"
He grips the board and begins grudgingly walking back. He makes sure to look both ways before he crosses the street. This was not the time to get back on his board and ride home, he shivers, this was not the time indeed.
"What the heck do you think you're doing Mister?" His mother waits until Walter is back into the kitchen before she starts yelling at him.
"I was just-"
"No," his mother holds up her hand and silences him, "you are so lucky it is your birthday tomorrow." She points at the table, to his stupid math book, "now please, just finish your homework."
Walter angrily huffs and sits back down. He hands still burning from the pavement open the massive book. This time he does flip to the correct page and takes out a new paper sheet to start doing problems 27 through 49. But even with numbers and fractions floating in his mind, Walter sees the hook shining in the sunlight. He pictures the woman's angry face in his head. Something was very strange about that woman, he can feel it.
Bing.
"Uggghhhhhh," Walter reaches his arm out for his phone. It is not too far from where he is sitting, but remember, everything still hurts. His fingers grasp the smooth surface and Walter pulls it up. His heart stops in his chest. There are three new messages wanting his attention. All from the same unknown number, all in strange fonts.
4:32 pm (052) 826-4752 unknown
Hey Walter! Growing up sucks : ( Wanna never grow up!? : )
4:37 pm (052) 826-4752 unknown
Dude just makn sure u gt my last txt...no grow up!
4:58 pm (052) 826-4752 unknown
That crazy hook lady wasn't jk...I will be thr 2ngt! Dont wory!
Walter puts the phone done. His heart is beating in his chest louder than anything he had ever heard. This must be a joke, this must be some stupid kid from school like George or Hannah trying to play a joke on him. Walter smirks, yay they must have seen him almost get hit on the skateboard. That's it, this is just one of his friends. He picks back up his phone and replies to the unknown number.
5:00 pm
V fnny...I'm going to delete this # unless you tell me who u r
Walter smiles and crosses his arms. If this was one of his friend's playing a joke on him, the next thing they would do is use a name like Mrs. Butt Eater, or Mr. Harry Chin. That or they won't reply, they will just laugh and tell him about it later.
Bing.
Walter glances at the new message and frowns. Today, this specific day before he became a teenager, the last day he was young... was becoming really weird. And not in a good way. First, there was the hook lady, then the large rip down his favorite board, and now this.
5:01 pm (052) 826-4752 unknown
Im Paige Pan.
Walter quickly texts a response.
5:01 pm
Lol no seriously if this is you George Im doing hw so leve me alone
Bing.
5:01 pm (052) 826-4752 unknown
Nope like I said this is Paige Pan dude hw sucks!
Walter holds his breath as the three dots appear on the screen. This girl Paige is going to say something else. He releases it as they vanish. He officially never wants to talk to this person again. Never ever again.
Bing.
Just as he thought he was free, the unknown person sends a gif. Walter squints, it's a kid by a mountain of homework, then the kid screams and it falls on him. Walter laughs as it happens again and again. But then he stops, because he remembers he has no idea who this person is. His mother always told him to never trust a strange number. So, he quickly texts backs:
5:03 pm
Lv me alone.
He also permanently blocks the caller. Walter breathes a sigh of relief and puts the phone back on the table. He turns to his homework, glad that he actually has something to take his mind off of that weird person texting him. Walter doesn't hear anything for seven problems. When he gets to problem 35… he hears it again.
Bing.
He looks at the phone, his hands shaking. He knows it's that girl Paige. He knows he shouldn't answer it, he thought that if you block someone they can't text back. Ya, what the heck? This person shouldn't be texting him. Maybe he blocked it wrong. Walter picks it up just to make sure. It's a different number this time, just one number off. And Walter knows oh he knows, this is the same girl.
5:29 pm (152) 826-4752 unknown
Sry didnt mean to scare u, be thr b teen…; )
Walter presses his hand against his phone's power button. It turns off, the screen black. For good measure, he shoves his phone into the math book and closes it. He shoves the math book into his backpack, zips it up, and slides his backpack under the couch. He wants the phone as far away from him as possible.
Even if Walter hadn't finished his homework, he was not going to do it now.