October 29th, 2012

Tristan sat on the bench as he watched his friends skate in the empty parking lot. He knew he wanted to try it but didn't think he would be good at it. So he watched as Jason and his friends skated and did tricks.

Jason: Hey Tristan! Come skate with us!

One of Jason's friends whispered in Jason's ear, before they both chuckled a bit. Tristan wasn't one to wonder what they said, he just wanted to try and look cool in front of Jason.

Tristan: Ok, sure!

Tristan walked over to Jason and was handed a skateboard. Tristan started to get on the skateboard. Once he was on, he started to get the hang of it. Jason then walked over to Tristan and kicked the board out from under him. Tristan fell to the ground face-first on the cold pavement.

Jason: Oops!

Jason and all of his friends laughed at Tristan as he tried to get up from the ground. He wiped the blood from his nose on his sleeve and stormed away from the skating park. He walked all the way home and didn't stop once even to wipe the tears from his face.

Present day, 2018

Tristan woke up to the sound of beeping. He slammed his alarm clock off and got out from bed. Immediately when Tristan got out of bed, his head started throbbing. He got dressed and took some Tylenol and went through his morning routine. He then checked his phone, and got his homework along with his backpack and other stuff for school as well. Then Tristan went to the Spotify app on his phone, plugged earbuds in it, and played his custom made playlist of songs on the app. He left the house to leave for the bus stop he waited at.

Tristan: (thinking) A keyboard… what does that mean… it that where I can find my next note possibly?

His bus approached as his playlist began playing "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons.

Tristan had his plan all figured out. He would have to break a rule or two but he knew that was a price to pay. It wouldn't be easy, after all. But he'd find a way. Or at least he thought he would. He planned on sneaking into the schools computer lab after hours in order to find the next note. He planned on checking every single keyboard there was if it meant being able to get the next note.

"I wonder what's more important than school to you, Tristan."

He had gotten distracted in class again. He looked up at his stern English teacher. He wasn't very sure what to reply with.

Tristan: You know, breaking into the school and stuff. Same old things.

More than half the class laughed. Tristan couldn't believe he had said that out loud. He wonder if the teacher thought anything of it. For all he knew, they could be reporting him right now. But then a new thought occurred to Tristan. Why would they report him when he's never done anything wrong in school? He had great grades and never took a sick day. And after all, who would report a junior in high school like Tristan? Sure there were other anthros that messed around a lot of times but he wasn't one of them. Tristan sure didn't like school though. But who does?

At lunch, Tristan sat down next to his normal friends again and watched as his other friends talked to each other. He liked watching his friends talk and being able to absorb the information he got from them. He listened to Noah and Shane and-

Yeah, he had a crush on Amelia. He didn't want to ever admit it, but really, he knew he really liked her. She was very pretty and a very good singer. She's even made music on SoundCloud before. Other than being nosy, she was also very nice as well.

But Tristan never thought he could be with her outside of being friends. Tristan got his phone out, plugged his earbuds in, opened Spotify, and listened to "High Hopes" by Panic! at The Disco.

The rest of the day seemed to go by fast for Tristan and once he got home, he worked on homework as fast as he could, writing a million miles a minute. He went through his normal after school routine and even pretended to go to sleep until his parents were asleep themselves. He then got up, put on black, snuck out of the house, and walked back to the school. The moon was full and it was so dark outside, even with a flashlight he couldn't see a thing. But he naturally knew where the school was also. Once Tristan started approaching the school, he made sure to stay hidden.

Tristan: (thinking) Well, I've officially lost my mind now. Sneaking into the school at…(he checked his watch) 1 in the morning? I should have never listened to the note I found in my locker…

All he needed to do was search the computer lab, find the note, and get out. It was as simple as that, right? I seemed that simple, so how hard could it be?

Tristan: (thinking) Yeah… I can do this.

Tristan knocked on the nearby wood bench he saw just to make sure. No, he wasn't superstitious but then again if things like luck, karma, and being jinxed did exist, he didn't want to take any chances. Especially not when sneaking into a school at night.

Once he approached the nearest door, he tried to pick the lock. He actually learned how to pick locks one time when his friend, Noah, taught him back in freshman year. Tristan put a mental note to thank him some time for that, but also made a mental note to try and find a way to thank Noah without making it seem like he used those skills for wrong, like breaking into a school at night.

Tristan then stepped into the school building. He was in the art room. He knew how to get to the computer lab even though he didn't have any classes in the computer lab. He just knew the school. He knew he could do this an easier way but lacked the time and the brainpower to go any with any of those. He was halfway to the computer lab when he heard footsteps around the nearest corner. He figured it was the janitor. He couldn't risk getting caught by anyone so he dashed over to the nearest classroom. Locked. He quickly but quietly ran back around from where he came and to his locker to open it and get inside. He waited there for what felt like 10 minutes before he got out from the locker and creeped over to the computer lab.

As he walked inside, he studied the empty computer room. He searched about 13 computer keyboards until he found a note laying under the same keyboard connected to the same computer that his friend Noah uses in his computer class that he took. He didn't have time to read the note so he took the note and left the same way he came from. He didn't let his guard down all the way until he was at home and in bed. He was sure glad he didn't get caught.