Digital Monsters- Data Overload
Note: Dinosaur Summer is mentioned in this chapter. It is not mine. It is owned by Greg Bear and I suggest you go read it.
Chapter 2
Jerek slipped out of the car and gave a low wave to his mom. It was now 7:32; time to get a late pass. Jerek walked down the hall and turned left at the corner. He kept walking and made a right turn. He looked up and saw no one else late. He sighed and walked up to the counter woman.
"Name?" She said, checking her watch and writing a bold 7:32 on the slip.
"Jerek Griswold." Jerek mumbled, looking down.
"Grade?"
"Eight."
"Reason?"
This was something Jerek would know would sound silly, but he paused and said, "Toaster blew up."
"Riiight... I've worked many years at this school, and never heard that." She said, rolling her eyes and handing him the slip.
Jerek sighed and walked towards room 101, his English class. He opened the door and looked around as everyone stared at him. The teacher looked at him. "You have a pass?" She said, raising her eyebrows.
Jerek raised his pass and the teacher gave him a silent conformation. He balled up the pink pass and threw it in the Recycle Bin. He trudged to his seat and took off his backpack. The person sitting next to him looked over and said, "Why you late?"
"Toaster incident." Jerek said, looking at him.
"Serious?" The person said.
"Yes. Serious. Seth, don't rub it in." He said, laying his chin on the cold wood desk.
Seth was Jerek's friend since the first grade. They met by running into each other. They apologized and realized they each liked Digimon. Since then, they were always in the same class.
Seth laughed, and the teacher stared coldly at him. He grinned weakly and looked away. He suddenly got a topic in his head and said to Jerek, "You get any new Digimon cards?"
"Yeah. Nothing good though. Just a few powerups and weak Digimon." Jerek said, pulling his head up.
"Oh." Seth said. He looked at the teacher and then at the clock. It was time for independent reading.
Jerek yawned and propped a book up on the table. He stretched and told Seth, "Keep an eye out for me. I'm going to take a nap."
Seth nodded and began reading Dinosaur Summer, while Jerek closed his eyes and took a breath...
Jerek was in the park again, but it seemed different. Tons of machines and gears popped out of the ground, and almost no benches seemed nearby. He scanned the area with his eyes and found no green whatsoever. There were no trees, no shrubs or bushes, and no flowers. Only thing there was the statue in the middle of the park and the stone paths. He looked up and saw the sun, which was beating down on him. He suddenly saw a little dog thing walk up to him that yelled, "Jerek! GET UP!"
Jerek woke up for second time that day. He flew back and almost knocked his chair back. He looked up to see the teacher glaring down at him. "Mr. Griswold... You fell asleep." She said, folding her arms.
"Um... My book was boring?" Jerek said, trying to get out of trouble.
"Sure... Don't do that again." She said, walking back her desk.
"Sorry..." Seth apologized.
"It's okay." Jerek mumbled and looked at the clock. 9:00. The bell would ring any second now...
BBRRRRRIIIIIINNNNGGGG! The bell screamed and everyone packed up and left. Jerek walked next to Seth and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Seth said, looking at Jerek.
"It's nothing... I keep having these dreams with this weird dog thing always waking me up." Jerek said, stepping on Fall leaves and crunching them.
"I shouldn't have asked..." Seth said, rubbing the back of his neck.