Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings and Word Processor of the gods

Key:

'Jake thinking to himself'

"regular talking"

Chapter 1: Interests Are Sprouting

Jake had his head resting on the palm of his hand, only half-listening as his English teacher droned on. He had his eyes focused on the back of Lily's head. He was trying to decide when and how he was going to ask her out. Suddenly something the teacher was saying caught his attention.

"Okay, so I have made the groups in which you will make a play." Informed the teacher. He picked up a piece of paper.

Jake, and pretty much everyone else in his class, groaned. The teacher cleared his throat before reading the list of groups aloud. "In group number one, Miranda, Blake, Ashley, and Dillon. Group number two, Jake," Jake's ears perked up at his name, "Michael, Anna," Jake held his breath, waiting, "and Lily. Group number three…"

Jake was extremely happy. Even though he was happy, he did not look at Lily, though he noticed she kept glancing at him. Every time she looked at him, he would turn away. Then every time he looked at her, she would look away.

'I'll ask her out tomorrow,' Jake promised himself. He headed out the door, to his locker. He grabbed his stuff, closed the door, and walked out of the school.

As Jake walked home, he started to relax. School, especially math, was not his favourite thing. He did well in school, mostly to please his parents, but also to impress the girls. It seemed to him that most girls would rather be with the sporty jocks, but a few, including Lily, would rather be with the bookish boys like him.

The birds were singing, as Jake walked quickly home. Every few minutes he would glance behind him. He wanted to be very certain that Joe, Jack, and Jordan; the school bullies were not following him home, just waiting to pick a fight with them.

Just as Jake was rounding the corner onto his street, he saw Jack step out of the shadows, of the bushes, and start sauntering towards him. Jack smiled, when he saw that Jake had noticed him. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. Silently like shadows, Joe and then Jordan stepped out of the same area, where Jack had hidden. With Jack leading, Joe, and Jordan flanking him, they all started to saunter towards poor Jake.

Without a second thought, Jake took off running. He knew if he did not have his backpack on, he could almost out run them, but with his backpack thumping, he ran as fast as he could. Jake could hear three distinct pairs of feet following him, as the three bullies came closer and closer.

"Hey you! Are you going to stop running so we can take your money, or you going to run like a chicken?" taunted Joe, slightly out of breath from the run.

"CHICKEN!" yelled Jack, his breathing ragged.

'Lord, please help me!' prayed Jake in his head. 'Please help me get out of this.' Then Jake suddenly felt more energy pulling him, towards his house. Quickly he accelerated, dragging short, rasping breaths into his lungs. The muscles in his legs were screaming at him, to slow down.

Instead, Jake gritted his teeth and kept running. When he got to his neighbours house, he could hear the footsteps behind him abruptly stop. He could hear the three bullies panting like a bunch of dogs.

"Better…get ready…for a pounding…tomorrow, chicken." Jordan told Jake, wheezing, "…because…you've…sure…asked for it."

Jordan's voice was fading into the distance, as he, Joe and Jack started to walk back in the direction, which they came from.

"Probably to beat another poor kid to pulp." Jake muttered to himself, after he had gotten his breath back. Glumly, he could just imagine himself in a pile of pulp with his eyes resting on top. He let himself into his house.

"Wasn't that Joe and his gang out there?" Jake's mom asked him, peering out the window in the kitchen.

Jake nodded, grabbed and apple, took a bite, and then said, "I managed to out run them, this time." He walked out of the room.

His mother's quiet voice followed him, "Good for you." Then he heard her pull out pots and pans out of drawers, as she began to fix supper. He went up the stairs to his room, and closed the door.

Jake flopped onto his bed. He closed his eyes, and heard in his head, the teacher saying that he and Lily were in the same group. He relished the thought, and then in his mind's eye, he saw Lily turn slightly and smile at him.

Slowly, Jake opened his yes and stared at the room's ceiling. He sat up on his bed, dangling his legs over the edge. He said aloud, "Lily, would you like to go out to have a soda with me?" 'No,' he thought, 'that wasn't right.'

Jake opened his mouth to try again, "Hey Lily," he paused, "I was wondering if you would," he racked his brain for something they could do. His eyes lit up. "if you would like to walk home with me?" He smiled. 'Perfect' he thought to himself.

After a few minutes, Jake went to his desk and started to work on his homework. Today he had math, science and of course English. Sighing, he got to work on his math. Jake could not concentrate on it though. All he could think about was Lily. 'I bet if I finished my homework,' Jake said to himself, 'then Lily would notice me for sure!' Jake smiled and got down to work.

By the time Jake's mother called him to supper, his homework was completely finished. Jake stretched then walked downstairs to the dinning room, to eat supper with his family. All the while, Jake did not say anything when somebody asked him what happened at school today. He only thought about the play for English and Lily.