Author's note: I promised I'd have another chapter done by this morning
(that promise was based on Florida time, of course), so here it is! At
least now I know I can reach my own deadlines.
Lockers, lockers, lockers. The best part of the first day of school. Why? Well, I guess I'd have to say that, being a sophomore, it's a lot easier to find it than it is to find new friends. In an uncontrolled environment, searching for my new locker and turning through the three-digit combination are the most controllable ingredients in my experimental life. But... back to the Ducks; after all, they've been my life for the past three years, and they'll be there for another three years. Hopefully.
I glanced down at the yellow strip of paper in my hand. "Locker number thirteen-twenty-one... thirteen-ten... thirteen-fifteen... thirteen-twenty- one," I mumbled to myself. So far, so good. I reached for the lock and turned the black dial.
"Hey, Luis!"
I looked over my left shoulder to see a cheerful Connie, dressed in bright clothes, as usual. It's a little sickening, I must admit. I wonder if she'd smile through a tornado.
"Hey, Connie. How's it going?" I turned back to open my locker while she leaned on the locker next to mine. Out gushed her story of a Minnesota summer vacation. Her life must be a fairy tale or something, because first she's talking about how she was mad that she didn't get to go to New York with her aunt, but, in the end, Minnesota "had a series of wonderful summer rains." May I add some sarcasm? ...How cute... I think I just might puke. In actuality, though, I merely smiled and nodded; no need to make the cherub cry, right?
"Well, I'm going to go. Julie's calling me. It's great to see ya again!" She gave me a small kiss on the cheek and bounded across the hallway.
For some odd reason, she was a tad bit too happy for my liking. Maybe she's high. No... Connie's too nice for that.
"I think she likes you, man," Adam said, greeting me with a friendly punch in the shoulder. His fingers expertly turned the combination of the lock on the locker next to mine, and he opened the locker without any struggling.
I grabbed my schedule from within my open locker and stuffed some textbooks into my book bag. "How would you know?" I slammed my locker shut and watched him organize his things.
"Hey, I know more than just hockey."
"Yeah, right. Banks, the love expert. You've got to be kidding me."
"I heard Connie broke up with Guy a couple weeks ago." Adam looked at me for a reaction.
I shrugged. "Guy needed to get away from her a long time ago. She's becoming a damn flirt."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "And you're not?"
"Fine. Never mind, then. I'll just keep my distance from her."
The warning bell rang shrilly, and students rushed to get to class.
"I'll catch you later, Banks," I said, walking away.
"Later, man."
The first two classes went by slowly with a long introduction of the courses and what would be expected of us. Not too much there. I guess Algebra II and European History will be my boring classes. I'll have to make a note of that, just in case I happen to be a little sleepy one day.
Now for third period. English and literature. This shouldn't be too bad. I took a seat in front of Ken, who smiled tiredly at me.
"What's wrong with you?"
Ken shook his head. "Nothing; I'm just still in sleeping mode. I never noticed how long and boring a flight from San Francisco to Minnesota really was."
I shook my head. "Sorry, Ken." It seems like it's going to be a pretty boring year. Then again, it's just the beginning. We'll have to wait and see.
As I turned around to face the front, someone caught my eye, and I paused. Yes, a girl, and a beautiful one at that; a lightly-tanned Latina --- long, wavy blonde hair and dark eyes. Scratch that: it looks like I'm going to have an interesting year, after all.
Author's Note: Well, that's another short chapter. I'll be working on Chapter Three this afternoon, and I'll see if I can get that up by tonight. If you haven't already noticed, there should be italicized words in a number of places. I can't get the italics to upload with the story and I'm too lazy to add the HTML tags. So, bear with me; I know it's kind of hard to read a story and to try and guess the emotions. If you haven't noticed, then wonderful; it just annoys me when I can't add the feeling into my characters when they speak. And before you accuse me of stereotyping Luis as a flirt and creating a "Mary-Sue", wait until the story's done! It's not all it's made out to be. (Again, sorry for any spelling or missing-word mistakes. Just tell me if you find any and I'll be happy to fix it.)
Lockers, lockers, lockers. The best part of the first day of school. Why? Well, I guess I'd have to say that, being a sophomore, it's a lot easier to find it than it is to find new friends. In an uncontrolled environment, searching for my new locker and turning through the three-digit combination are the most controllable ingredients in my experimental life. But... back to the Ducks; after all, they've been my life for the past three years, and they'll be there for another three years. Hopefully.
I glanced down at the yellow strip of paper in my hand. "Locker number thirteen-twenty-one... thirteen-ten... thirteen-fifteen... thirteen-twenty- one," I mumbled to myself. So far, so good. I reached for the lock and turned the black dial.
"Hey, Luis!"
I looked over my left shoulder to see a cheerful Connie, dressed in bright clothes, as usual. It's a little sickening, I must admit. I wonder if she'd smile through a tornado.
"Hey, Connie. How's it going?" I turned back to open my locker while she leaned on the locker next to mine. Out gushed her story of a Minnesota summer vacation. Her life must be a fairy tale or something, because first she's talking about how she was mad that she didn't get to go to New York with her aunt, but, in the end, Minnesota "had a series of wonderful summer rains." May I add some sarcasm? ...How cute... I think I just might puke. In actuality, though, I merely smiled and nodded; no need to make the cherub cry, right?
"Well, I'm going to go. Julie's calling me. It's great to see ya again!" She gave me a small kiss on the cheek and bounded across the hallway.
For some odd reason, she was a tad bit too happy for my liking. Maybe she's high. No... Connie's too nice for that.
"I think she likes you, man," Adam said, greeting me with a friendly punch in the shoulder. His fingers expertly turned the combination of the lock on the locker next to mine, and he opened the locker without any struggling.
I grabbed my schedule from within my open locker and stuffed some textbooks into my book bag. "How would you know?" I slammed my locker shut and watched him organize his things.
"Hey, I know more than just hockey."
"Yeah, right. Banks, the love expert. You've got to be kidding me."
"I heard Connie broke up with Guy a couple weeks ago." Adam looked at me for a reaction.
I shrugged. "Guy needed to get away from her a long time ago. She's becoming a damn flirt."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "And you're not?"
"Fine. Never mind, then. I'll just keep my distance from her."
The warning bell rang shrilly, and students rushed to get to class.
"I'll catch you later, Banks," I said, walking away.
"Later, man."
The first two classes went by slowly with a long introduction of the courses and what would be expected of us. Not too much there. I guess Algebra II and European History will be my boring classes. I'll have to make a note of that, just in case I happen to be a little sleepy one day.
Now for third period. English and literature. This shouldn't be too bad. I took a seat in front of Ken, who smiled tiredly at me.
"What's wrong with you?"
Ken shook his head. "Nothing; I'm just still in sleeping mode. I never noticed how long and boring a flight from San Francisco to Minnesota really was."
I shook my head. "Sorry, Ken." It seems like it's going to be a pretty boring year. Then again, it's just the beginning. We'll have to wait and see.
As I turned around to face the front, someone caught my eye, and I paused. Yes, a girl, and a beautiful one at that; a lightly-tanned Latina --- long, wavy blonde hair and dark eyes. Scratch that: it looks like I'm going to have an interesting year, after all.
Author's Note: Well, that's another short chapter. I'll be working on Chapter Three this afternoon, and I'll see if I can get that up by tonight. If you haven't already noticed, there should be italicized words in a number of places. I can't get the italics to upload with the story and I'm too lazy to add the HTML tags. So, bear with me; I know it's kind of hard to read a story and to try and guess the emotions. If you haven't noticed, then wonderful; it just annoys me when I can't add the feeling into my characters when they speak. And before you accuse me of stereotyping Luis as a flirt and creating a "Mary-Sue", wait until the story's done! It's not all it's made out to be. (Again, sorry for any spelling or missing-word mistakes. Just tell me if you find any and I'll be happy to fix it.)