Days went by, as the advertising for the Game of Change increased dramatically. It would only take a matter of weeks, before every state within America, knew about the competition. Deans from states such as New York, Michigan, Missouri, and California even allowed students to enroll through websites, to make the process of gaining participants elapse quicker. Although there were many students around the world, who were eager to sign up for the contest, there were students who were reluctant, and weren't so easy to influence…
Melony Hopson
Melony was outside, in her backyard, having a snowball fight, against her two younger brothers, Mac and Micah, when a door was slammed open from her house, with a loud noise interrupting the cold, frosty fun. "Melllllooooonyyyyyyy! Did you take out the trash this morning!" Her mother yelled, standing from the back door. The distraction almost caused Melony to get pelted with a snowball from Micah, as she turned her attention to her mother. Melony ducked underneath her fort of snow, and yelled back, "Yes, Mom!" "Oh realllllly?" Mrs. Hopson said in a skeptical tone, before holding up a large black trash bag. "Then what is this, young lady?" Melony gave a blank stare at the trash bag, before she smacked herself on the head, forgetting to take out the trash, which was a chore she was supposed to do two days ago. Her parents gave her some layaway to complete the job, but Mrs. Hopson wasn't going to wait any further. "You get in this house and take this trash out now, or you're grounded!" Mrs. Hopson yelled, before slamming the door. Melony groaned, as she kicked over her snow fort, which caused a sheet of ice to hit her little brothers in the head, and walked inside her house. She grabbed the bag of trash and began to proceed to the front door of her house, to take the trash to the dumpster, when another interruption prevented her from completing the task. "Melllllooooonyyyyyyy! Come here! Your father and I would like to have a word with you!" Mrs. Hopson yelled from another room in the house. "Ughhhhhhh…fuck my life!" Melony said to herself, as she slammed the bag of trash down on the floor, and proceeded into her parents' bedroom. "Yeah?" Melony asked, as she looked at her mother and father. "Melony, I want you to take a look at something," her father said, holding up a transcript from a envelope. It was Melony's grades for the first semester, and although she performed well in the athletic courses, she only performed satisfactory in her academic courses. Fitness Conditioning…B. Health Perspectives…B. College Algebra…D. American History…D. English Composition….D. Biology…D. "These grades are unacceptable, young lady! I know how much you like to play in the winter time, but this snow is not gonna pay bills in the future! You need to do something more constructive, and spend more time in these books, than you do, out there slipping and sliding! Just take a look at these guys." Mr. Hopson pointed to the TV in his room. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit was on, and it showed Elliott, Fin, and Olivia investigating a sex crime. "These three are out there, making something out of their lives. While you're out trying to snowboard and go to the ice rink, they're out handling the world's problems and maintaining authority! Do you know how much money you could make, if you spent half the time you waste playing in the snow, to study on how you can become a lawyer?" Mrs. Hopson said, adding on to Mr. Hopson's comment. "I told you a million times, I DON'T…WANT…TO BE…A LAWYER!" Melony yelled at her parents. "Why can't I just do what I like to do, and be myself for a change? You always try to get me to go to Law School and take up Criminal Justice, but I already feel like a criminal, having to live in this house, while everyone else gets their own dorm, and gets to do whatever they want!" The 5'7 winter extraordinaire said. Mr. Hopson slapped the side of his palm into his hand, as he said in a strict tone, "Being…yourself…hasn't made any progress on these grades, OR at home…Your mother and I have had a discussion, and we've decided to enroll you into the Game of Change, offered at your school." "It will teach you to set goals for yourself, and it will most definitely teach you some discipline, since you feel everything in life should be handed to you. No one in the competition is going to hand you the prize money, and if you don't do what they tell you to do, you'll lose the game, and if you think we're trying to hurt your feelings, then imagine how your classmates will react, when they hear about the program," Mrs. Hopson remarked. "What the hell! I do ok in school, I never bitch about anything that goes on in my life, I babysit Mac and Micah, while you two go out to the movies, and now you're signing me up for this shit, without even asking me first? This is some bullshit!" Melony exclaimed, as she stomped one of her feet on the floor. "HEY! Watch your tone, young lady! Your professor even said in the transcript, that you've been sleeping in your classes, and you want to talk about how good you're doing? These grades are NOT acceptable! Maybe we would let you do whatever you want, when you start paying some bills around here!" Mrs. Hopson said, becoming furious with her daughter. "Why can't you two just let me be myself! Always trying to tell me what to do! I hate both of you, bastards!" Melony said, her pale face beginning to turn red. "WHAT did you just call me, young lady…" Mr. Hopson said, standing up from his chair, as he walked toward his daughter. He reached out to grab Melony by the collar of her coat, but Melony, who was livid and frustrated with her father, smacked Mr. Hopson's arm away, and kicked him in the crotch, before running out of the front door of the house, crying her eyes out in anger, as she began running away from her neighborhood, leaving her younger brothers Mac & Micah, who heard some of the commotion from the backyard, startled and confused about the situation.
Soo-Mi Kim
Soo-Mi was sitting in the hallway, peacefully reading a few of her favorite manga books, when her concentration was disturbed by a nearby group of women, who were chatting very loudly about the events that happened last weekend. "So do you remember the guy who you made out with last night?" A tall brunette female said to a equally tall blonde female. "Fuck if I know, Mandy! I just remember he was at the frat party, asked me if I wanted a beer, and he was soooooo hot!" The blonde Erica said, back to her brunette friend. "Did you fuck him last night?" Mandy asked, curiously, with both of her eyebrows raised. "Of course I fucked him! But I didn't suck his dick, so no one can call me a whore," Erica remarked. The two girls giggled together, as Soo-Mi sighed at the vulgar conversation being held not too far from her. "Stupid sluts…" Soo-Mi said inside her head. Soo-Mi's sigh was heard by the two promiscuous girls, as they frowned down at Soo-Mi, walking in front of her, and leaning their heads down so they can nearly be face to face with her. "Exxxxxxxcuse me! Did you say something, little Miss Foreign Girl?" Erica rudely asked. "Yeah, what's a girl like you doing all the way down here? They run out of sushi and noodles down there?" Mandy added on to the inappropriate comment. Soo-Mi frowned at the two women in front of her; her glasses falling down to the rim of her nose, so the girls could see her aggravated expression. "I'm trying to read…" Soo-Mi said. "And what the fuck is this that you're reading?" Mandy said, snatching Soo-Mi's manga books away from her. Erica glanced at the books in Mandy's hands, and tried to pronounce the titles of some of the mangas, but ended up mispronouncing each of their titles, "Nah-rue-toe? Your-ro-ne-Ken-shun? Ah-zu-man-guh-Day-oh? You-You-Ha-ku-show? Sega Genesis Eagle-gellion?" Erica and Mandy gave each a weird look, as they then gave Soo-Mi the same bizarre look and asked, "Why are you reading this shit? It's all in Chinese writing, and it's just black and white!" "First of all, it's in Japanese writing…and if you two girls would look past the front cover, you'd know that there's English translations in the manga as well…Now give me back my books!" Soo-Mi said, reaching her arms up, trying to grab her manga books back. "Oh, you mean these?" Mandy asked, as she walked over to a nearby window and threw Soo-Mi's manga books to the outside. The sound of the books hitting a male in the head was heard, as a random guy could be heard yelling in a high pitched voice, "What the hell!" Erica stuck her tongue out at Soo-Mi, while both she and Mandy threw up L-signs with their fingers at Soo-Mi's face, and walked off laughing to themselves. Soo-Mi was in fury, but her angry face soon changed to a sad expression, as her favorite manga books were lone gone outside of the school. She sat there, laying her head on top of her arms, in her lap, until a friend stopped by, showing a concerned look on her face. "Soo-Mi…everything ok?" Kirie Matsuzawa asked, as she sat down next to Soo-Mi and put her hand around her shoulder. Kirie wasn't a fan of other Asian countries, but she and Soo-Mi were still good friends, and she was one of the only friends Soo-Mi had on campus. Soo-Mi shook her head, hiding her face between her knees, as if she were to begin crying. "No. Those dumbass SLUTS threw my manga books outside the window…" Soo-Mi said to her friend. Kirie's eyes widened as she remembered two tall females walking past her in the hallway, laughing at the top of their lungs, about something. Kirie assumed they were the ones who bullied Soo-Mi. "Mandy and Erica? Those two girls?" Kirie shook her head, after realizing the truth. Kirie was nice to everyone on campus, but even she, didn't approve of what the two girls did to her friend. Kirie looked at Soo-Mi and hugged her with one arm, as she said, "Well cheer up, hon! I actually know where your books are. Some guy was walking into the building, when out of nowhere, boom goes the dynamite! He got hammered with some comic books. I think those might be the mangas you were talking about." Kirie said with a smile. Soo-Mi lifted her head up, from her arms to look at Kirie; Soo-Mi's eyes widened in excitement, as her melancholy soon turned into happiness, as she and Kirie stood up, and began walking to the spot where Soo-Mi's manga books had fallen. Once they arrived to the spot, Soo-Mi quickly gathered her books and gave Kirie a tight hug, which made the Japanese girl give a warm smile in return, as she hugged her back. Before Soo-Mi and Kirie walked into the building, Soo-Mi noticed a advertisement for the Game of Change, posted on the door. "The Game…of Change?" Soo-Mi said to herself, in confusion. "Oh yeah! I know that game! I'm actually thinking about signing up for it, myself." Kirie chimed in. She than pat Soo-Mi on the back, before giving her a thumbs up, "You should sign up, too! If one of us wins, we can split the prize money with each other!" The thought made Soo-Mi smile. Soo-Mi had doubt about entering a competition. She was very timid and a very reserved person, but the fact that she would have a friend in the program with her, gave her a little confidence. Soo-Mi nodded to Kirie, and smiled, as she replied, "Alright! I'll do it."