Chapter One: A New Year, A New Beginning

Do you ever wish you could go back in time? Whether it's because you want to fix past mistakes or re-visit the happy times in your life, time travel is an unreal fantasy we've all dreamed about at least once in our lives.

But, if you had the chance to go back in time, would you do it? Can fixing past mistakes really make for a better future? Think about it. If a person never makes mistakes, they don't learn anything. Because of the mistakes you have made in the past, you have more knowledge for the future.

But what if something happens to you and it's not your fault? What do you do then? Do you go back and fix it or do you just watch it play put and hope for the best? The answer most people might be gravitating towards would be to go and fix it, but when you're dealing with fate, it's best to just stand by and pray that everything works out. People aren't perfect and when they start messing with fate, something is bound to slip up.

And Jake definitely did not want to slip up.

"This is going to be a great year!" Jake announced after slurping down the last bit of milk in his bowl. It was a foggy, Monday morning and Jake, Trixie, and Spud were all together, huddled around Jake's kitchen table.

"You know it playa!" Trixie agreed enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Nothing can mess this up." Spud added. "And also everyone will understand by now that Stacey and I are an item and will respect that."

"Sure they will, Spudinski." Trixie said, sarcasm clear in her voice.

Jake raised his eyebrows. "Never mind about that because this year we are no longer freshmen. We are sophomores who get to show the freshmen who's boss!"

"Now that's more 'long the lines of what I was thinkin'!" Trixie agreed.

Jake glanced at his watch and noticed that it was almost time for school, which started at 8:45.

"Yo, guys, it's 8:33 and if we want to make it to school on time we better jet." Jake told his friends.

Trixie kicked her feet up onto the table. "It's all good though. We don't need to worry about being late for anything since Jakey-Jake here got his license."

"Uh…" Jake stammered.

Trixie narrowed her eyes on Jake. "You did get your license, didn't you?" She questioned him.

"Well…" Jake began. "Grandpa took me to go get it after I turned sixteen and he made me nervous and I, uh... I…" Jake said, scratching the back of his neck.

"You..?" Trixie questioned, raising her brow.

"I… failed the test." Jake muttered.

"What was that?" Trixie teased with a grin on her face.

"I failed the test!" Jake spat out.

Trixie chuckled. "Well we'd better get goin' if we wanna get there on time."

"No kidding." Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance.

The three grabbed their skateboards and headed out the door.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" Jake called out before closing the door. "Let's Go!"

They made it to the school with thirty seconds to spare.

"Ah… Mr. Long, there you are. Late on the first day of school, hmm? That is not model behaviour." A familiar voice taunted.

Jake froze. He recognized that voice anywhere. Turning around, he anticipated seeing the face of his former mythology teacher and middle school principal, Professor Rotwood.

"Yes Mr. Long, I know what you're thinking." Rotwood began with a mocking tone. "Why have I suddenly popped into your high school? It's hard to believe it myself, but Millard Fillmore Middle School thought that I was too intelligent and let me go. I know, such a sad story, but I felt that it was in my obligations to fill in as your principal for this year at Millard Fillmore High School!"

"Aw man!" Jake groaned hopelessly.

"Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Long. I assigned you to help out with orientation. You will be the tour guide for all the new kids that show up at this school. I trust that you will do a good job?" Rotwood interrogated, raising both eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure." Jake nodded absently and took off towards the front office. Trixie and Spud were close behind him. They were glad to be free of the awkwardness that Rotwood held every time he spoke.

Rotwood's awkwardness wasn't the only thing that bothered Jake though. Jake couldn't understand why Rotwood would even want to fill in at his high school. What could he possibly want to be doing here? Jake dismissed his troubles with Professor Rotwood. He had worse things to be worrying about.

"Well I guess we'd better go pick up our schedules." Jake suggested. "I hope the three of us have most of the same classes like last year."

"I don't." Spud stated. "I only had one class with Stacey last year. One class! And do you know what class it was?" Spud asked, but without giving his friends time to answer, he wailed, "cooking class! Everybody knows that I, Arthur P. Spudinski, cannot cook! Cooking class made a fool out of me." Spud sighed and dropped his face into his hands.

"It's alright, Spud. Just chill, okay?" Jake reassured him. "Look, we'll figure everything out as soon as we pick up our schedules and if you have cooking class with Stacey again, Trixie and I will help you out."

"Really?" Spud asked, wiping a pretend tear from his face.

"Really." Jake promised.

The group began walking toward the school office, acting as if Spud's dramatic scene never happened. The office was at the very end of the hallway. When they arrived, they noticed a lady stationed behind a tall desk. As the three approached her, she was quick to greet them.

"Hello there. I'm guessing you're here for your schedules." She said, handing them a bunch of papers. "And Jake, I assume you saw Professor Rotwood in the hallway?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Jake replied. "He said something about orientating the new students here."

"That is correct." The lady behind the desk approved. She was plump and her hair was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head. She had round glasses with black rims that she wore on the tip of her nose. Jake and his friends watched her as she pulled out a single piece of paper with names on it. "Here you go, Jake. These are the names of the new students you will be showing around. You can meet them in front of the gym doors. You guys better hurry up if you don't want to be late for class!"

"Thanks." The three said in unison as they headed out the door.

"I guess I'll see y'all later." Jake waved to his friends. "The only good side to this orientation is that I get to miss first period."

"Have fun Jakey!" Trixie called as she and Spud headed towards their first period class.

Jake had decided to make the most out of every obstacle that came his way but as he veered closer to the gym, he had no idea what awaited him.

Dun duh da da!
Here is the very first chapter of my very first fanfic!

I hope you guys like it. Feel free to review and please, don't be afraid to be harsh if you need to! There's always room for improvement!

Love Love Love,

-MissAly98