Do you know how fortunate it is to be alive?
Health. Freedom. Love of the family.
The truth is that we take all of that stuff for granted.
How should we know?
We live our lives like a broken record…
Just like a sickly, sweet melody playing over and over again.
Like one of those music boxes.
How do we know how to react when the crank reach its final turn?
When the sweet melody comes to an end…
How will we handle it when it's our turn to face the music?
An old, yellow bus drove along through a chilled, starry night. The road before them was quaint and quiet, a feeling of being deserted for a long time. Inside the bus however, was the least bit from being lifeless. The bus was filled with a Junior High Classroom, forty-six teenagers filling the bus. Aside from the students, there was the bus driver and their home room teacher, a middle-aged man who wore glasses and had short, black hair. Five girls sat beside each other and talked loudly over a Reality Show they watched. One boy hid himself away behind a PSP, playing a survival-horror styled game. In the back seats, three African-American boys were just as loud as anyone else can be, cat-calling towards a couple of girls that sat nearby.
A boy with short, brown hair, which he wore spiked up, leaned his head back against his arms, looking over across the hallway to some other boys sitting beside him. "I am telling you, man. One day, you're going to be a star quarterback in the NFL, Alex." The boy with the spiked hair shouted out. The boy called Alex smirked proudly, with his cheek resting upon his cheek, strands of blonde hair resting over his eyes "Damn right, Brad… but, you should be worrying about your professional debut…." Brad blinked a bit and pounded his chest with his fist "What are you talking about, man? You'll see! I'll get so good with my board; I'll surpass Hawk and become a living legend, yo!" The guy sitting beside Alex, and African American male, smirked over at Brad "Sure but, before that, you should work on landing a kick-flip." Brad's eyes widened a bit "Sh-shut up! I've got better! I have, for real! Right, Scott?"
Brad turned over to the boy who he sat by, seeing that the boy was too busy looking out the window to respond. Brad extended his arm out and tapped Scott on the shoulder "Scott, you there? You shouldn't be spacing out like that at such a young age!" Scott seemed to respond to the tapping with a blink and he turned to Brad "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh… what were you talking about?" Brad shook his head "Never mind that. So, what's up? You've gotten quieter since a half an hour ago. What's the deal?" Scott blinked a bit and glanced down, leaning his forehead against the seat before him "N-No, I… i-it's nothing, really." Scott had the uneasy demeanor about himself, which Brad had known very well. Brad let out a chuckle, leaning closer and placing his arm over Scott's shoulders "This wouldn't happen to be related to what we were talking about the night before, right?" Scott pulled away, blushing a bright red "W-what? No, I…"
Brad shook his finger at Scott "You really suck at lying. Look, just talk to her, man. Mandy Winchester, the quiet type but, she's a definite gem. There are a lot of guys who have had their eyes on her but; her sweet demeanor throws them for a loop. Go talk to her, man. This bus ride won't last much longer." Brad glanced over three seats before them on the right side, a brown, straight haired girl with the strands resting over her shoulders. She didn't wear much make-up to mask her face but, it wasn't like she needed it. So natural was her beauty, from the shape of her hazel eyes, small nose, and nicely proportioned lips which looked absolutely beautiful in red. When she stood up, she stood at about 5'5", nothing really standing out about her body but, she was beautiful because of that. Nice curves, breasts that weren't too big nor too small, nicely toned arms and legs. And with a great personality, smart, funny, and open-minded, Mandy Winchester truly was a rare gem amongst the rough.
The girl who sat beside her excused herself and walked down the aisle to converse with some other girls. Brad noticed this and elbows Scott in the side. "Now's your chance, bro. Go for it!" Scott was once again trying to give excuses but, Brad wouldn't have it, forcing Scott out of the chair and moved him over towards the girl. Scott eyed Brad and sighed, seeing that he returned to his seat. He glanced over and noticed Mandy looking up at him and smiling "Hello there, Scott." Scott blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his head "H-hi Mandy… Um, no one's sitting beside you?" Mandy simply shook her head and scooted towards the window seat and patted at the seat. Scott smiled and sat beside her.
Brad leaned his back against his seat and watched Scott as he sat down alongside Mandy and talked with her. Brad smiled, recollecting yesterday, evening time.
Brad and Scott were chilling on the swing set, watching the sun go down. The chilled breeze blew through the trees leaves, most of the leaves managing to hang tight while others welcomed the wind, letting it take them along the current. "Hey Brad? I gotta tell you something." Scott was looking down at the sandpit that lied underneath him, kicking at the sand a little. "Well, let it out, man. I'm all ears." Brad eyed Scott "You know I hate it when you suddenly speak up and don't finish what you are trying to say." Scott blinked and nodded "Oh, right… sorry. Well…" Scott took in a deep sigh, fighting the embarrassment that was building up inside of him "… What I'm trying to say is… I think there is a girl that I… um… that I kinda like…" Brad smiled, teasing Scott's choice of words "Oh? And who is this girl you 'kinda' like?" Scott's cheeks went read as he eyed Brad "W-Well… I really like her. I like her a lot, really. … My heart pounds just thinking about her…"
Brad let out a heartfelt laugh and slapped Scott across the back "Ha ha ha… what's so embarrassing about that? Good for you, Scott! I was getting a bit worried about ya for a moment there. I thought you were a part of 'that' crowd…" Scott glared at Brad "What the hell?! Damn it, Brad… you should know that I, of all people, am less likely to swing that way. I've been having crushes on girls ever since Kindergarten. Kindergarten!" Brad shrugs "Well, you never know… maybe you wanted to get friendly enough with them to try their dresses on or something." Scott punched Brad hard in the shoulder "Fuck you, man. See? This is what I get for trying to talk seriously with you. You are too much of a jokester, man."
Brad just laughed it off "Ha ha ha… but, no more jokes. Who is this chick that is giving you butterflies?" Scott's face went a darker shade of red and he muttered, still in a coherent tone "… promise not to tell anybody?" Brad shook his head and opened his arms "No one here to tell but, me and these trees, bro." Scott got up from the swing he sat on and glanced up towards the sunset with his hands in his pockets "Hey Brad, what do you think about that Mandy girl? She seems like a nice girl, don't you think?" Brad blinked a bit "Whoa, you like Mandy? Man and I thought I was about to hear the name of some girl I've never even heard of. You are no slouch, Scott. Yeah, Mandy is one of the best girls in our whole school. She's very quiet and shy but, that's what makes her so popular. She's a babe and yet, she's so modest… everyone likes that." Scott frowned a bit at that fact "Oh, really?" Brad just smiled, grabbing Scott by the shoulder "Yeah but, I think you one-up them with one certain thing. Thing is, I overheard a conversation of the girls and Mandy was saying how she wishes that a nice, decent boy would approach her. You're a nice, decent boy, aren't ya?" Scott laughed at Brad's question "Just a week ago, we were up all night watching porn… how in the hell is someone going to call that decent?" Brad shrugged a bit "Ah, come on, man. Not everyone is going to be perfect, you know? We are men, after all. Men do things like that so, it can't be helped. The fact is, you treat the girls who are around you right. You don't holla at them. You don't give them stupid names and ask for 'favors'. You don't stare at their tits while talking to them. So, you are what I would call a good guy. Mandy likes good guys so, you have a great chance."
Scott smiled at Brad and nodded "You know, people say you are just the type of guy who is full of hot air, no substance to back up the talk. But, you are such a good friend. But, you still suck at boardin'." Brad grabs his board and eyed Scott "You of little faith… check this out! I'm reaching for the stars! Watch this!" Brad dropped the board and stepped on it, trying to du a nose grind on a step but, ended up falling over. "Aargh… let me try that again…" Scott only chuckled and watched Brad trying again... CRASH! "I'm ok… I think I almost got it, though…" … and again. "Reaching for the moon, huh?" Scott muttered and smiled "…. Yeah, you reach for that moon, Brad."
Brad blinked a bit and woke up from his little time of quiet remembrance to notice that he wasn't the only one sitting quietly. Another thing he noticed was that he was feeling really sleepy all of the sudden. He stumbled his way up, finding that all of his other fellow classmates have fallen under the sleep spell as well. "W-wud duh ell iz gon on…." Brad was unable to talk as much, placing his hand over his face to realize how numb it felt. He moved out from his seat and stumbled his way up the aisle. "Hay… Messtur Dwiva…" Brad fell to his knees, his vision going blurred. He raised his head up, looking at the driver's mirror, noticing that the driver was wearing a gas mask. "wud da… phu…." Brad couldn't fight the dosage he breathed in and fell under its effect, passing out like all the others.
The driver glanced up at his mirror and saw that all the students were knocked out by the substance that was filtering through the air vents. The driver pulled up a radio from his pants pocket "I delivered the package and the kids are 'out to lunch'. Right, I'll be bringing them in, sir. … Yes sir, it's an honor for me to work for 'The Program'."