Chapter 3

So we went to the checkout counter with my school supplies... Remember how I said that I didn't want that much? Well, O'Shay wouldn't have any of it.

As the cashier bagged our things, the total rang up—I think you can guess that it wasn't a low price, right? But nonetheless, the doctor just took out his credit card once more and swiped it, leaving him $400 more broke. I just felt so overwhelmed by his generosity that I was having a hard time believing it myself, like this was just some dream and I would wake up in my bed with my memories back—but I knew that reality was very far away. With our bags in hand, we headed for the exit of both the general store inside the mall, and the mall itself. By the time we were done shopping, it had only been a total of four hours. Yeah, that seems like a long time, but trust me, it passed by very quickly.

We passed through the doors and were immediately met with pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. I just stared at it in wonder. It was both majestic and saddening at the same time. But the thunder and lightning made it all the more exciting, making me want to continue watching—but O'Shay snapped me out of the trance.

"Oh, I knew it was going to storm! Come on, Toby! Let's hurry!" he shouted above the thunder that boomed directly overhead.

I stopped him before we could bolt into the fray. "Won't our groceries get soaked?" I asked.

He snapped his fingers. "Oh, you're right!" he exclaimed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out something I'd never seen before. It was a metal rod with a black tip and a little hoop on the bottom to clip it to something. Before I could ask what it was, he answered for me. "This is a prototype umbrella," he explained, twisting it around and revealing a little black button. "It's a new model, and it's currently being used in beta testing, which is working out just fine overall... It should be in stores soon, once I—" He broke off, looking at me. "Haha! Look at me, getting carried away again." He scratched the back of his head nervously as he continued. "That's why I'm using it, you see. I'm a beta tester. But never mind that—watch this!" He pressed the button and the umbrella popped out of the top, covering both of us without any problems at all. It was huge, you could say, as we were standing a good couple feet apart. "And the best part about it is that the prototype can adjust to any setting that it's in—building, outdoors; you name it!"

I smiled. I had to admit that it was a pretty cool umbrella. Finally charging into the storm, I was amazed that no water got anywhere near us. You would've thought that with the way the wind was blowing the rain, that at least our pants and shoes would've got wet? But it was like we had a pocket of air around us while the umbrella was over our heads.

We reached the car and O'Shay opened the trunk, putting the bags inside—all the while trying to find room for them, because frankly, with all the clothes we bought earlier, you couldn't exactly fit anything else in there. After a minute of frantically trying to get the bags in the trunk, he gave up and just put them in the backseat of the car. When I went around the car to open the door, I noticed that I still wasn't getting wet. I looked up and saw the umbrella had stretched all the way over the car. I laughed to myself. That was really cool.

Once I hopped inside the car, the umbrella snapped back to only O'Shay. When he got inside, the umbrella went back into its little container. Turning on the car and putting it into reverse, Dr. O'Shay pushed the cylinder back into his pocket and smiled at me. "Ready to go home, Toby?"

I nodded, leaning back exhaustively in the seat. "Yes!" I groaned with a slight chuckle.

"Well then, let's go!" he chuckled, speeding out and away from the Metropolis S. Mall, and eventually out of the city and back into the residential area. I made sure to look at where I was staying before we went back underground into the parking lot. Once we arrived, I noticed that the building looked semi-similar to the buildings in Metro City. Its surface was made of Plexiglas, which in turn made it super reflective to the sunlight—but it was a good thing there were dozens of trees around, huh? It was tall, around twelve stories high with our apartment on the very top floor with no other around.

We parked underground, got out of the car, and pondered to ourselves at how in the world we were going to take everything up to the top floor in one trip without at least dropping anything or taking extra trips. "Hmm..." O'Shay mumbled. "Maybe we should get some help..."

I wanted to look him in the eye and scream, 'Yeah, no kidding!' But I kept my mouth shut.

"I'll call down someone to help us, okay? You just sit tight; I'll only be a moment." And with that, Dr. O'Shay walked out of hearing range and took out his wireless.

Little did I know that it wouldn't have made any difference.

"Hello, Cathy! How are you? It's been a while!"

Wait...was that him? Why can I hear him so clearly? I wondered, searching for him in the blue-lighted garage. He was probably hiding away in the shadows. I listened once more, only then remembering that I had heard him clearly before in the apartment when I shouldn't have.

"I need an Oath down here, if that's all right with you," he continued on. I silently wondered what an Oath was, but listened once more. "We have tons of bags to carry. We could use a hand—er, eight more at least."

Eight arms? Then it struck me. Was an Oath the newest model of the Hosts? And if it was, would it stare at me again? Make me feel totally uncomfortable under its stare, and claim I had an "interesting design" that was supposedly my DNA? While wondering to myself, I hadn't heard the end of the conversation. Dr. O'Shay came trudging back to me, pocketing his holo phone.

"I called for some help," he told me. "They're sending down an Oath, which is the brand new model of the Hosts, or GJ's, that you saw at the mall." He tapped his chin in thought. "Although, I still wonder why they would have those old models... Why not the newer ones...?"

I could tell he was talking to himself near the end of his explanation. As soon as I noticed this, the elevator door opened, not even making the slightest sound. You'd think it would make at least some kind of noise the way it rose, right? Some things would just never make sense to me.

The Oath appeared, looking about the same as the Host that helped us at the mall, although slightly different. This one was all blue, and had a bow tie on the nape of its collarbone—or where there would be one if it were human. The bow tie was a bright glowing white, making me wonder if it only glowed in the dark. It rolled over to us, its eight hands rubbing together to prepare itself for the task at hand. You could tell that this particular model was fitting with the most recent of Artificial Intelligence Unit, or AU for short—and no, it didn't include the 'Intelligence' in the acronym. "Greetings, Sirs! What can I help you with?"

"Could you carry these bags up to the very top floor on the penthouse, please?" O'Shay asked, pointing to the bags in the trunk and the backseat. "The door will already be open for you by the time you reach it."

"Yes, Sir!" it said, nodding to the doctor and heading over to the bags. It watched as it picked up multiple bags at once and slung them on its eight arms. It was remarkably strong, but that was to be expected, after all. It was a robot.

"Isn't that heavy?" I blurted, slightly surprised it had come out of my mouth.

It turned to me, its eyes looking me up and down—although it never said anything about my "interesting design", to which I was grateful. "No, actually. These are rather light for me. I'm programmed with the strength of twenty men."

"Oh," I said dumbly. Of course they'd be light for a robot! Why did I even ask? I wanted to hit myself on the head, but I didn't want the robot to watch me hit myself. That would be rather awkward.

Without another word to me, the Oath picked up the remainder of the bags, with room left to spare. It made its way over to the elevator, got on, and rode it to the top floor. O'Shay pressed a button on a small device in his hand, which resembled a retro car door opener. I arched an eyebrow, but then realized that only a few moments ago, he had said the doors would be open.

"Alright, Toby, let's go. You got a lot of clothes to try on!" O'Shay said, heading for the elevator, which opened as it came back down.

I groaned. Trying on clothes was not my thing. I wanted to ask if I could just try them on when I went to school, but kept my mouth shut for fear that I'd be lectured again. I glanced up above the elevator where there was a digital clock that I hadn't noticed before. It was half past two in the afternoon. It would be a long day.

Once we rode the elevator up to our apartment—a penthouse, O'Shay called it—we entered through the already open door and discovered the bags littering the living room floor and the Oath nowhere to be found.

"Well, at least he brought them up," O'Shay sighed. "We'll have to bring them to your room ourselves, it seems."

I couldn't help but groan again. More labor...what's next? Ending world hunger? Solving the world's peace? Saving humanity? "Pfft...yeah, right..." I mumbled low enough to myself. That will all never happen. I couldn't save a stick if I tried! With a huff of annoyance, I picked up some of the bags and began to bring them up to my room. O'Shay followed closely after with—surprisingly—less bags than I had grabbed. Well, he is older than me, I thought to myself as we entered the room.

That's basically how the rest of the day went. I tried on clothes while he went downstairs to his office to do some work. And to think, tomorrow I would finally be going to school. I would finally get to make some friends and have a purpose in this world. But... I thought to myself, faltering with putting my jacket back on. What if I fail the test and not be able to attend? Dr. O'Shay would be upset...

While I slowly fell to sleep that night, my imagination flew as I dreamt of meeting new friends and finally getting along with everyone. Finally having a new meaning to my life.

Something I could remember forever.

~O~O~O~O~

My alarm blared the radio station, and I yelped in surprise, whipping up in bed and trying to catch my breath. Why was it that I got scared so easily? I frowned at myself, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself. Why did my alarm...? I broke off my thoughts and paused, looking over at the clock on the nightstand. Slowly, I turned it off and sat wondering why my alarm had gone off so early in the morning—as I noticed it was 7 AM.

Then it hit me. The entrance exam! I forgot that was today! I quickly got up out of bed and threw a pair of clothes on after I took off my pajamas. With my jacket in hand—as I'd grown quite fond of it—I hurried out the door, looking out of the overhang of the stairs to see O'Shay sitting in the living room watching the morning news. When I crept down the stairs he turned, obviously hearing me despite my silent descent.

"Good morning, Toby!" Dr. O'Shay greeted. "Ready for your first day at school?"

"Uh...I think so?" I said uncertainly. "I'm...kinda nervous about the entrance exam."

"Don't worry too much. I'm positive you'll do fine," he said, standing. "Let's get a move on. I want to have you give Mr. Haverston a good impression by being there early." He began over towards the door, slipping on his coat and shoes. "Don't forget your bag. You might need it today!"

"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, hurrying back upstairs and grabbing my bad. I had packed it yesterday with some of the supplies O'Shay had bought me. I ran back down the stairs to find Dr. O'Shay already waiting next to the door, holding the car keys.

"Ready to go?" He smiled. "There's some toast on the counter you can grab real quick if you're hungry."

"Okay, thanks!" I said, hurrying into the kitchen to grab said toast. Without a second thought, I ran after O'Shay as the door began to close, it shutting behind me. As we made our way to the parking garage, my heart began thumping wildly in my chest. What would it be like? What will everyone's first impressions be? I swallowed nervously as the elevator doors opened and the dimly-lit parking lot came into view.

We made our way to the car, and I climbed into the passenger's seat. Dr. O'Shay got into the driver's seat and started the car. We were soon on our way! Buildings flew past as we drove to the school, the whole time my mind was reeling. It spun like a top as I thought about what would happen when we got there. Would I make a fool of myself and be the laughing stock of the school? Or would something worse happen like— Gah, give it a rest! I told myself. You'll be fine...I hope.

As quickly as I thought it would, the school building loomed in front of us as we entered the parking lot. I had to admit, it was a lot bigger than I had first expected. "Whoa..." I breathed, looking at every curve and detail mended to the building. It was made of the same material as the rest of Metro City seemed to be, and the High School appeared big and luminous as the neon blue letters shone down on us—despite it only being half past 7 AM.

"Here we are," O'Shay said cheerfully, parking the car in front of the school and climbing out. I hesitated a moment before getting out myself. We walked up the stairs to the entrance, and the glass doors slid open before us. My mouth suddenly felt rather dry. Once we stepped inside, all seemed quiet. Everyone must be in class already, I thought to myself as I gripped my bag's strap tightly, swallowing nervously. This might just go a bit smoother for me this way.

"Here's the principal's office, Toby," Dr. O'Shay said, stopping in front of a door. "Are you ready?"

"No..." I said, voice wobbling with nervous anxiety.

He just laughed and patted my head gently. "Oh, Toby. You'll do fine, I'm sure!"

As he turned towards the door, I froze, remembering as he had patted my head. I hadn't felt any spikes in my hair, and I began to panic, throwing my hands on my head and feeling around. "No, no, no, no...!" I mumbled fearfully.

O'Shay paused and turned back to me. "What's the matter—oh! Haha, you forgot to put hair gel in this morning, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah!" I stuttered. "I, uh—"

"Don't worry; I'm sure everyone will like you even with your spikes," O'Shay said, pushing me through the office door before I could protest.

"Ah, Dr. O'Shay!" A man sitting behind the desk stood up, smiling. "Glad you could make it! And I assume that this is the boy?"

"Yes, he sure is. His name is Toby," he replied, patting me on the shoulder. I studied the principal. He was tall, had thin spectacles, and a rasher bushy, chocolate-brown mustache that was the same color as his hair, which was slicked back.

"Uh...hi," I said.

"You look like a mighty fine young man!" he said as he looked me up and down. "Right, okay..." Mr. Haverston leaned over and fixed a small stack of papers on the surface of his desk, coming around and sticking out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Toby."

I smiled, grabbing his hand. "You too, Mr. Haverston."

He smiled back, making my anxiety die down slightly. "Alright! Are you ready for your entrance exam?"

I froze. "Uh—"

"Of course you are!" he said without waiting for a reply. "You can take a seat at my desk there, and I'll set it up for you!"

"Um...okay," I said hesitantly, sitting down behind the large maple wood desk as Mr. Haverston reached over and typed something into his holopad—which resembled a laptop, only it was a holographic monitor and keyboard. A white screen appeared with questions written on it.

"There you are!" he said brightly. "Now go ahead and start on that, while I talk to the doctor for a bit. Sound good?"

"Sure," I answered, studying the questions. What is the square root of pi...? I read inside my mind. Suddenly, the answer popped into my head and I began typing in the answers. I tried to stop and take things slowly, but my fingers just wouldn't let up on the keyboard. I blinked after I finished, quickly scanning through the questions once more, and my mouth dropped open. They were all answered! And it had only been a few moments since I started. "Well, that was weird." I frowned, turning my head and watching as the two adults had their conversation over in the corner of the room with hushed voices. "Uh...I think I'm finished?"

"Finished? Already?" the principal and O'Shay said at the same time, which caused them to share a look. Both of them hurried over to me, Mr. Haverston picking up the holopad and scrolling through it, reading all of it carefully. "These... They're all correct...!" he breathed, eyes not leaving the page.

"Really?" O'Shay and I blanched at the same time.

Mr. Haverston narrowed his eyes and glared at me suspiciously. "Just what kind of game are you trying to play, young man?" he asked slowly.

"Game? I'm not—what do you mean, game?"

"You answered all these questions like they were something from preschool!" he blurted, holding onto the holopad tightly.

"The answers just popped into my head! The numbers added up in my head, and I just wrote them down!" I told him.

The principal closed his mouth after a moment and grumbled lowly to himself with a humming tone, rubbing his chin and staring at the screen. "You got a perfect score. 100%! I just...don't understand how..." Then he blinked, snapping his fingers and pointing an accusatory finger at me. "You must've cheated! It's the only explanation."

I blinked in surprise. "Wh-what?"

O'Shay jumped into the conversation. "He didn't cheat, I assure you!" He latched onto my shoulders and jostled me slightly but gently. "When Toby was younger, his mother always used to call him little Einstein."

I frowned. My...my mother? He knows my mother? I placed a pin in that thought. I would have to ask him about that later.

"Likely story," he replied snidely. "Even the smartest kid in this school took at least ten minutes to finish the test and certainly not three," he added on, his cheeks flushed with anger.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Dr. O'Shay cut in before I could. "Well then, write an equation down yourself—from the top of your head. One that you know to be difficult. He can solve it in no time flat, I assure you," O'Shay told him.

Mr. Haverston sighed and rolled his eyes, but after a slight hesitation patted his pockets for a pen. Once he found one, he grabbed a piece of scrap paper from his desk and spent five minutes or so writing down a complicated looking equation. He'd had me turn the other way, so that I was facing the wall in order to make sure I wouldn't peek. "There!" he said, setting the pen down and sliding me the paper. I spun the chair around and glanced at the problem. Without pausing for a second, I scribbled down the answer and slid the paper back to him. Mr. Haverston stared at what I had written, quickly grabbing the calculator and typing away for a few moments, doing the math himself. Once finished, his cheeks flushed once more. "B-b-but this is the right answer!" he said, flustered.

"I told you, Toby is a gifted child," Dr. O'Shay said calmly.

I glanced at him, but didn't push further. Mr. Haverston leaned back in his chair with a breath of exhaustion. "Alright... Alright! You're officially the smartest kid I've ever met." His frown from earlier turned into a bright and cheerful smile, making me blink in surprise as he stood and grabbed my hand, shaking it. "Welcome to Metro High, Toby!"

And it was over, just like that! I smiled wide and laughed in relief, shaking his hand back. "Thank you, Sir. You have no idea how happy I am."

"I assume Toby will start classes right away?" O'Shay asked.

Mr. Haverston turned to him with a nod. "Yes. School has only just begun, so I'll type up a quick schedule for him, and by next period he should be getting to his first class—his second period of the day." Sitting back down with a sigh, he turned back to his holopad and began typing—probably my schedule for the day.

I turned to O'Shay excitedly, shaking my fists up and down in front of me as the excitement poured over the brim. "I can't believe it!" I whispered with joy, my heart pumping rapidly in my chest.

Dr. O'Shay smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder and leaning down to my level. "Now Toby, I want you to listen to me." I nodded and he continued on. "I want you to be the very best student you can be. Make lots of friends, okay? Don't hold back!"

"Right!" I acknowledged with a laugh.

~O~O~O~O~

"Everyone, I would like to introduce a new student, Toby O'Shay," the teacher said brightly.

I frowned. I thought my last name was Tenma...? I thought, slightly confused. I was met with kind smiles from the rest of the classroom plus a few waves. I nervously waved at them.

"Treat him well, alright?" The teacher turned to me. "Have a seat, Toby," he said with a motion in the direction of the seats.

Nervously, I began towards the only available seat near the back of the room and sat down in the desk, the desk in turn lighting up dimly with a welcome screen displayed on the panel. "Whoa..." I breathed to myself.

"Alright, class. Now I want to begin our lesson on the Rega-N39 satellite that began orbiting the Earth around a century ago, before it fell to the planet and exploded in the air," the teacher began, a display of the satellite appearing on the screen that was the board a minute ago. "Now..." The teacher stared the class down. "Can anyone tell me the specific reason as to why the satellite malfunctioned and fell to the Earth?" A student with shock-red hair slowly raised his hand after looking throughout the classroom. "Yes, Reno!" the teacher called on him.

"Um," Reno began, "because the hydraulic pump was malfunctioning, and also because the electrical system was hastily made and built, resulting in long-range power shortages."

"Great job, Reno!" the teacher acknowledged with a smile. He clicked on the next slide, showing a picture of a huge storm over the planet. "The Rega satellite was a chemical weapon satellite, in case we needed a defense from extraterrestrial life. Once the satellite had exploded over the planet, the chemical weapons on board in turn exploded over this storm in the Pacific, mixing in with the rain—and consequentially making the storm into an acid storm." The next slide consisted of desolate wastelands with animal skeletons littered around the ground as he continued scanning through different aftermath pictures. "Once the acid rain storm—which was classified as a Category 5 hurricane after it grew in strength over the Pacific—showered over the region of North America, chemically affecting the plant-life, which found its way up the food chain, and in turn killed off 75% of the population after it continued to spread." He switched to another slide with a zoomed in picture of a tiny little growth. "About three years after the poisonous storm's anniversary, the remaining 25% of human population went on a search for any kind of life that might've survived. After months of searching through the desolate wastelands, they found this little specimen surviving on its own, and once carefully examined, it was deemed safe to eat. This little plant began the era of rebirth," he finished.

The teacher looked around the classroom once more. "Can anyone tell me what the name of this particular plant is?" he asked.

Everyone in the entire classroom—minus me—raised their hands. "A STRAWBERRY!" everyone shouted.

"Yes, the strawberry!" The teacher smiled as he clicked another slide with a better-grown strawberry plant. "The staple food of our civilization!" He continued clicking slides, showing other plants throughout the deserts. "Soon, after much searching across the Earth, other edible foods were found, including potatoes, cacti, and dandelions."

I watched as the power point ended and the lights brightened once more in the room. "Alright students. Now time for a short test on what you just learned."

"AWWW!" everyone but me groaned—who looked around at everyone else with an arched brow.

"No complaining! You can do it; I believe in you all," the teacher chuckled, a quiz popping up on all of our desks.

I jumped, slightly taken aback by the desk. It was unlike anything I'd seen before, but then again, there was a lot of stuff around here that I'd never seen before. I looked up as the teacher continued. "There will be three trick questions as always, so try your best!"

The first question pinged up on my screen, and I looked down at it. What was the plant that was— BEEP. I had clicked the answer as quickly as it had popped in my head. The next question popped up; it looked like a trick one! What year(s) did the chemical bomb— BEEP! Another quick answer. Soon enough, I was finished before everyone else and looked around the classroom at all the other students who were still stumped on the second question. I remembered that during the slideshow, the year was never mentioned, so that's what must've been confusing everyone else. I looked over to my left and smiled. They should just look at the wall, the answer is right there, I thought. On the wall of room was a timeline that started with 'Year 1, Year of the Strawberry'. The timeline had started then, which was after the chemical bomb exploded, so the answer must have been the only year that would make sense—which was 2102. I slowly raised my hand and coughed a little.

"Yes, Toby? Is there a problem?" the teacher asked.

I shook my head, lowering my hand. "Ah...no. I'm, uh...done," I said.

"Done?" the teacher echoed curiously. He motioned for me to come up to his desk. "Bring the USB port, please."

"Uh, Mr. Robinson, I'm done too!" Reno called from his seat next to me, standing up and walking towards the desk with a small, see-through chip in his hand.

I looked on the side of my desk and saw the same small see-through chip sticking out of the side of it. Ah, there it is. With a slight yank, it came out of its spot easily, and I got to my feet and brought over the chip to Mr. Robinson. The teacher took mine first, and then took Reno's. He stuck mine in a small box-looking device with a tiny screen on the front. The USB from my desk completed first with another perfect grade—100%.

"Very well done, Toby," he congratulated. He then brought over Reno's after taking mine out and stuck it in the machinery. After a moment, Reno's test score popped up on screen as a 95%. "Great job, Reno."

"Aw...what did I get wrong?" he sighed, slumping over slightly.

Mr. Robinson checked over the results and clicked his tongue. "Ah, it was question number 2."

Reno groaned a little and cocked his head at me. "How'd you get it right?" he asked.

"Uh...lucky guess?" I shrugged nervously. I didn't want to seem like a show off in front of the class.

"You must be real lucky, then," Reno chuckled as he went back to his seat.

I smiled after him, and when I turned around to go back to my seat, all the other students were staring at me; some even glaring with jealousy. I frowned, suddenly and slightly frightened. Are they jealous because I got a perfect test score? I wondered as I sat back down at my desk, sitting low in my chair.

From next to me, Reno started tapping furiously into his desk. A word bubble suddenly appeared on my desk screen. I raised my eyebrows and glanced at Reno, who motioned his head to the desk.

So your name's Toby, huh? was the message.

I hesitantly tapped back a reply. Uh, yeah?

Well, Toby, first thing's first. Since you're obviously smart and all, scoring a freaking 100 on the test in three seconds, you're definitely gonna get some haters. I know; I've got them too.

Er...haters?

Don't worry about it. Just ignore them and keep moving on. Onward and upward, Toby!

I looked over at him and he looked up at me with a smile. I smiled back; but there was a thought plaguing my mind. I had heard that line somewhere before, and unless I figured it out soon, it was going to cloud my mind for the rest of the day.

Ignore them, huh? And here I was trying to make some friends... I typed back, a little glum.

Oh, don't worry. There are plenty of kids like us!

'Like us'?

Yeah, you know, the smart guys! The ones who actually do the homework. Not all of us are in the same grade, but we meet up with each other at lunch and after school, and help each other out. You could—

"Toby! Reno! Are you two noting each other?" the teacher asked sternly. Reno and I looked up, out faces guilty.

"Uh..." I began, unsure as of what to say.

"Toby, I understand it's your first day and that you're trying to make new friends and all, but please do it when we're not taking a test," Mr. Robinson sighed. This caused most of the students in the classroom to snicker at us.

I sunk lower in my seat, trying to avoid the stares and laughs. Well, there goes my popularity... I thought to myself as I stared at my desk.

"But we finished the test," Reno pointed out. "I just wanted to chat a little without disturbing the others while they finished the test. I mean, he is a newbie and all. I wanted...to make him, uh...feel comfortable here...?" He trailed off.

The teacher frowned, glancing at the both of us. "Well...if you put it that way..." he sighed. "But if I catch you chatting to each other during my lectures, you will both find out what it feels like to be sent to the principal's office. Clear?"

"Clear!" Reno and I said at the same time. As the other students went back to their test, Reno and I gave each other relieved grins.

Well, that was close, I said.

Ikr? Reno replied.

I frowned. What does 'Ikr' mean?

Oh, it means 'I know right?' It's an old slang. I have a habit of using those. Sorry, was the answer.

Ohh, okay.

Sup bros? A new person had joined into the conversation.

I frowned. Who're you?

I'm the darkness in every corner... I'm the shadow that lives in your closet...

I...

AM...

Cora, knock it off. You're being ridiculous. If Reno had actually said that, it would have come out bluntly. I glanced at Reno and saw him give me an eye roll.

Uh, wait, you're chatting with us and you haven't finished the test? I typed into the message box.

Huh? the person called Cora replied. Oh pfft, no, I'm not in your class, dufus. I'm in biology. The teacher's givin' a preeetty boring lecture over here... Nearly everyone's asleep! XD

Oh, well I guess that makes sense, I typed.

Say, I've never seen your user before. You new?

Yeah, he's new. He just joined today. Already got a few haters.

Wow, why?

I got a 100% on the test.

Cool XD I'm guessing you got a 100% too, Reno?

No, actually, I got a 95%.

Cora didn't reply for a few moments.

Oh. Did I forget to mention that he also finished before I did?

R. U. SERIOUS?! Cora screamed in all caps. Someone actually BEAT Reno in time AND score?!

Only by a few points! I protested.

Wooooow...

I was about to type in a reply when Mr. Robinson clapped his hands together. "Okay, students! It's almost the end of second period. I want to make sure you all have your homework I handed out yesterday." I raised my finger, about to tell him I didn't have the homework assignment, when he added quickly, "Toby, I'll hand you the paperwork as you leave. Now let's see the homework. Show me the holopads."

All the students plus Reno lifted their handheld holopads—which was just a flat screen—displaying all the same assignment. I looked at each one and frowned. Why don't I get a cool thingy? I pouted mentally.

"Good, good, good." The teacher inspected each of the holopods from afar. "Alright, now send them to me and I'll have them graded by Monday. Good day, everyone! See you guys later!"

As all the students went up to Mr. Robinson and transferred their homework information to his holopad, I still sat in my seat, confused as to what to do next.

"C'mon, Toby," Reno said, pushing me out of my vacant thoughts. "We're going to our third period, and then after that we go to lunch. There you can meet everyone else." He smiled. "I'm sure you'll all get along great!"

"Do I have third period with you too?" I asked.

"I don't know, do you?" he asked, poking me with his elbow. "Here, let's see your schedule." As I brought out my schedule, he looked it over. "Yep! We have next period together. What a coincidence, haha!" he chuckled, walking up to the front of the class and transferring his data to the teacher. Turning around, he added, "See you in Ms. Peterson's class!"

I watched as he left out the door, blinking. Without another thought, I picked up my things and began for the door as well. "Toby," Mr. Robinson began, latching onto my shoulder and stopping me in my tracks. "Here." He handed me a handheld holopad, a white screen on it that displayed the homework assignment. "Get this done this weekend, okay?"

I nodded, smiling. "Okay. Thanks, Mr. Robinson." As he smiled back, I started out the door and jumped in surprise. There were kids...everywhere! In the hallway, on the benches off to the side, in front of their lockers... Literally everywhere, talking the day away. It was mass chaos, and my head spun around and around as I tried to process all the information. There were all sorts of types of teenagers: goth, nerd, preppy, outcasts... Pretty much everything, and according to Reno, I was categorized right on the edge with the outcasts.

I wonder where my locker is? I asked myself, standing off to the side of Mr. Robinson's class, taking out my schedule and looking down at it. My locker number and combination should be on here somewhere... Ah! There it is! I read the locker number and memorized the combination, going off to find said locker, all the while weaving my way through the dozens upon dozens of layers of students while at least trying to dodge them all. I soon realized my efforts were futile as I was pushed and shoved through the halls. I quickly glanced to the right. My locker!

"Move it, kid!" a gruff voice sounded as I was pushed—somewhat violently, I might add—off to the left.

I stumbled for a foothold and hit my shoulder into the lockers on the opposite side, I frowned after the guy who had pushed me. What'd he do that for?! I shouted inside my mind as my eyes bore holes into the back of his skull, him laughing away with his group of friends at my misfortune. The guy who had pushed me had semi-long ginger hair and blazing green eyes, set in a muscular figure. He was also wearing a green hoodie and jeans. I took a snapshot of him in my mind; I would definitely not forget him now.

I looked down the left of the hall, and seeing that it was clear I looked to the right; also clear! I made a break for it across the hallway and clung to my locker with a breath of relief, earning a few giggles and stares from other kids on the same side of the hall.

"I can certainly tell you're new," a new voice sounded from my right. I turned my head and saw a boy about the same age as me wearing a green-striped overcoat, a yellow scarf around his neck, and tan shorts underneath his coat. But what really caught my eye about him was that he had dark green hair.

"Is...that natural?" I blurted with a point of my finger.

"Huh?" He looked up and picked up a small strand of his hair that hung down his forehead, soon dropping it and breaking out in a laugh. "Oh! Yeah, everyone's first impression of me seems to be to first ask about my hair," he said. "But yes, it's natural."

"I'm sorry!" I apologized, waving my hands in front of me. "I-I didn't mean to—"

"Naw, it's fine," he interrupted, shaking his hand. "My hair's weird. It's just a fact!" He shrugged, grinning.

"Oh...okay, cool!" I laughed along, turning back to my locker and putting in the combination. As I opened my locker, I heard the boy shift next to me.

"So, uh...what's your name?" he asked.

I blinked over at him, half putting my bag in the locker. "My name's Toby."

"Hi, Toby," he replied, shaking my free hand, surprising me. "The name's Kenichi, but everyone calls me Ken, so it's okay if you do too!"

"Oh, sure," I said. "So...are you...? What, uh...crowd are you part of?"

"Crowd?" He blinked in confusion. "Oh! I'm an 'outcast'." Ken shook his head. "I honestly don't understand the 'crowds' thing; it just gets on my nerves..."

"I'm an outcast too, I think. Or...at least that's what Reno said," I replied, shrugging.

"Oh, so you've met Reno?" Ken asked. "That's awesome! That's one from our group down so far."

"You're in Reno's group too?"

He nodded. "Yep! We're a smaller group, but we don't mind. You just gotta watch out for Daichi, though. He switches sides a lot."

"Daichi?"

"He..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "How do I explain this? Daichi is in our group, being smart and all, but since he looks a little athletic, he thinks he can be one of the bullies to gain more friends."

"That seems a little over-dramatic," I mused.

"Yeah, but that's how he sees it. We're all against it, but we're also afraid to bring it up. He's the one who pushed you in the hall, I think," Ken said, motioning his next bit. "Tall guy, ginger hair..."

"Wh—that was him?" I said incredulously. "Oh, come on... So I'm gonna have to deal with this guy more often?"

"He's not terrible when he's around us, at least when the group's on our own," he answered as I closed my locker. "But when another one of his bully pals enters the room, he's gotta leave and be with them; make fun of us." He shook his head again. "Some nerve, that guy."

My eyes blazed. I can't believe he pushed me and he's an outcast, too! I fumed. Ken's right. He's got quite some nerve. I opened my mouth to ask Ken another question, but the bell rang throughout the hallway. But that's not what surprised me the most. What surprised me was that it sounded like there was some sort of screeching noise along with the bell, and I grasped my ears in pain, wincing. "Ahhh! Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ken asked, eyebrow arched as he watched me double over in pain.

"That noise; what...?!" As soon as the bell stopped ringing, I uncovered my ears and frowned at the bell on the wall above the lockers.

"What noise?" Ken asked, frowning. "The bell?"

"No, there was— You didn't hear that?"

"Nope."

I frowned, scratching my head a bit. "That's weird..." I mumbled.

Ken suddenly grabbed my arm and began yanking me down the hall. "Come on, we gotta go to class; we don't want to be late!" he said. "What's your next class?"

"Uh..." I looked at my sheet. "Science."

"Whoops, we're not in the same class!" He let go of my arm. "See you at lunch, Toby!" He waved, smiling.

I waved back, but when he'd run off I glanced at the bell again. Why was I the only one who heard the noise? I wondered as I looked down at my schedule again, keeping an eye out for room number A7 with Ms. Peterson. Once I located it, I quickly hurried inside, followed by two more students when the bell rang again, giving off that annoying feedback noise. My head began to spin rapidly and I nearly lost my balance as I entered the room. I winced, and grabbed the side of my head, earning a few strange stares from other students.

Reno came up behind me. "You okay, Toby? You looked a little...uh, how do I word it? Not okay?" he murmured softly, hand on my shoulder.

I turned to him. "Yeah...I-I'm fine, I just...hear this really annoying feedback noise with the bell, and it's hurting my ears," I grumbled, the bell coming to a stop. The dizziness soon faded.

"What feedback noise?" Reno frowned.

I shook my head and sighed. "Never mind..."

Ms. Peterson clapped her hands together. "Okay! Take a seat, guys. Let's get started!" she said with a smile.

Hesitantly, I took a seat near the middle of the classroom, setting my things in the slot under my desk and sinking low in my chair. That had really hurt. I just couldn't understand why my only two friends hadn't heard that feedback noise when the bell went off. Could it have been because my ears were just sensitive? Or...something else?

"Okay, today like I promised, we're going to learn about cellular reproduction," Peterson chirped, clicking a button on a remote to a device on the front desk. The device lit up and projected an image onto the board. It was then that I realized it was one of the same projectors that Mr. Robinson had used for his history lesson. The slide that showed first was a video of two cells slowly coming together and then breaking apart, creating another in the process.

"Cellular reproduction is the process of a cell splitting and becoming two similar cells." As she clicked the next slide, it suddenly went kaput, causing the students in the class to murmur among themselves. "Oh, this wretched machine!" she cursed, smacking the projector.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I winced, covering my ears. The feedback! It's coming from the machine now too?! Suddenly, my mind blanked and my eyes opened wide as I felt as if I were being sucked into a black hole.

The forest whistled with the breeze of the coming storm, the leaves on the trees and undergrowth moving against each other, emitting a peaceful sound. I hopped from rock to rock through the dense undergrowth and towards a vast river, an angry and depressive air surrounding me.

"Stupid dad..." I muttered angrily, hopping to another rock. "Stupid...! Just so stupid!" I paused on a semi-large flat rock, bending over and looking at my reflection in the water. It was blurry, as if whatever it was didn't want me to see my own reflection.

"I don't even understand why I bother..." I growled, standing back up and looking at the darkening sky, thunder rumbling in the distance. "All he does is ignore me anyway. I just...wish I'd never been born at all! Then maybe he would be happier if I'm not there! Not like it would even matter..." I kicked a rock into the river with my shoe, it skipping across the water and ending with a splash as it fell into the depths.

Like a plague, the rain came pouring down from the heavens, soon soaking me—but I didn't seem to care. With a growl of annoyance, I hopped angrily from rock to rock, ignoring the fact that the rocks were wet, and therefore slippery. Suddenly—and with a shout of surprise—I slipped on a slanted rock, falling back against it and whamming my head on the hard surface, slipping into the deep water.

As I fell under, my eyes closed slowly as the last thing I saw was darkness.

"Toby... Toby!"

I jolted awake, my vision blurry. Reno sat over me, his face worried. "Toby! You okay, dude?"

"I-I don't..." My eyes fluttered, slowly closing as I slipped into unconsciousness, darkness surrounding me once more.

"TOBY!"