Where It All Began

"My story, eh? Haha Oprah how long do we have on the show?" Zack snickered, a snippet of his old self returning to him ever so briefly. He shut it down immediately.

"Oh I'm sure the producers wouldn't mind running a little long to hear it Zack," Oprah winked at the camera and grinned.

"Well with that said, I'd have to say it all started the day we left the S.S. Tipton: the 23rd of May, 2011."

[***]

23 May, 2011

"Well this is it. We're officially adults now," Cody announced as the gang stepped off the ship and into the Massachusetts Port.

"Yeah, I hate to be cliché but everyone, today is the beginning of the rest of your lives!" I laughed and mocked an announcer's voice. Everyone got a good chuckle out of it and turned toward each other. This would probably be the last time any of them saw each other for a very long time. Cody and Bailey were off to Harvard and Yale respectively. London would set off to do whatever it is heiresses do when they aren't in the school their dad's forced them into. Woody was moving back in with his mom and had aspirations of opening up a fast-food burrito restaurant one day. My girlfriend Zoe and I were going to get part-time jobs and go to a community college. I wanted to go into a hands-on career like auto-repair or mechanical engineering. Big aspirations for such a lowly guy like myself, but I had faith and so did Zoe.

"Think about it, bro. We're going back to where it all began. Five years ago! We moved here when we were thriteen! We became best friends with an heiress, wreaked havoc on a mainstream hotel that's probably the most popular in the world! We lived on a boat, sailed around the globe, became best friends and now we're back to where it all began. It's mind-boggling," I continued, probably way too over-zealous for the glum mood hat surrounded us. It was silent for a while.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then," Cody hung his head. He never much liked goodbyes. He gave London a hug and patted Woody on the back so hard tortilla bits spewed from his mouth. We all laughed again, but it was very half-hearted. "Zack?" Cody looked at me with big, teary eyes and all my brotherly hate for him dissolved. I pulled him into a giant hug and told him how much I'd miss off at Harvard, how I hoped he did good (sorry, well) and got a great job. You know, revolutionize the world, bring about world peace. It was something he had strived for since dad left.

"I'm gonna miss you, you big crybaby," I managed a smile before he had me, too, on the verge of tears and before long we were all crying on each other's shoulders. Even Zoe, who hadn't been part of our "clique" as it would stand to be called. Cody, London, and I had been together for almost 5 years now and Bailey and Woody for 2. We were a close-knit group of friends and going our separate ways was a heavy blow to all of us.

Even London croaked out a sob and joined in on the tear-fest, "I love you guys."

After what seemed like hours, we hugged one last time and set off. It was our first day as adults. At 18, we thought we knew everything. In reality, we knew nothing.

[***]

Present

"Hey baby," Bailey called to her husband from the living room where Oprah was on the television, "you might wanna come see this!"

"What is it?" he called back from the laundry room down the hall.

"Oh for god's sake honey, just come see!" Bailey snapped. She heard his light footsteps making their way down the hall.

"What did you want me to see that's so important? I have to get Jake from his friend's house in an hour," his eyes looked a little hurried, his shaggy blonde hair was still messed up from having just awoken not 10 minutes prior. Then he saw the TV.

"So, after you and your friends split up, where did life take you?" Oprah questioned someone off-screen in an obnoxiously loud voice

"Well, I think it started a few days before Zoe's birthday on the 10th of September, which would place the date around September 7th I'd guess," the off-screen subject replied. "That was the day I saw the wall."

Then the camera view switched and Cody Martin was staring at the face of his older brother on the television.

Come on, come on. Let me have it. Oh Ryan this was such a short chapter! Yes, I realize that, thank you very much. It's short because there was no proper way to continue the story's arc and flow in this chapter. It just didn't feel right introducing all of that in one chapter. Maybe I'm just out of practice and under-experienced at this moment in time, I don't know. But what I do know is that Zack will soon be revealing what influenced his revolution, what caused him to go through with it, and his first run-in with the law. Cody will also eventually fill his role as the brother so joyful to finally be reunited with his brother and see his brother's redemption. All in due time my friends, all in due time. On other news, I'm coming down with the flu, meaning I'll be home all tomorrow (it is currently 27 September, 2011) and I will most likely be watching movies and writing more chapters so eagerly await the next installment in what I hope turns out to be the best story you read in 2011. I also updated my bio with a short paragraph on my inspirations with updates to specific inspirations coming soon. And before you say it, yes I know it's painful to be getting rain checks and "coming soon"s all the time but I can't help being a procrastinator at heart and if I could help it, it'd have to wait till tomorrow anyway (hehe, get it?). So, for now goodbye. And also remember to read, review, and send me any questions you have about anything you want to ask me (answers will be posted in my bio) (I love parentheses) (goodbye).

- Ryan