Looks like I managed to finish this chapter early , so I guess I might as well post it now. This is pretty much an intro chapter for the character Reuben Goodrich , so the first deadline of 15th January for submitting OCs still stands. I currently have three male and three female places left. As I've already started typing the OC introductory chapter for the OCs that I do have , it shouldn't take too long after that deadline for the chapter to be uploaded. If remaining slots fill up before the deadline , I will update the story summary accordingly.

Anyway , enjoy reading!

"Reuben! Come play with me!"

As soon as he'd closed his front door and stepped into the house , his three year old adoptive sister Matilda had come rushing at him , hugging his legs and asking him to play.

"Whoa , Birdy! I've just come from school!"

Matilda made an obliging tweeting sound before letting go and looking up at him.

"Play with me? Please?"

Reuben sighed as he put down his bag and took off his coat.

"I have too much homework to do , so I can't. Sorry. "

"Auuu." Matilda pulled a face signalling the beginning of a tantrum. Panicking momentarily , Reuben bent down and unzipped his bag , pulling out his homework planner and turning it to the page he was looking for.

"Look here, Birdy. See all this homework?"

Although Matilda could not read yet , she had been working on identifying letters , and so looked at the pages of his planner with great interest.

"Ohh, that's an 'o'…and an 'a' and 'e' and 'f' and 'b' …..And , ohh, a 'm' for Matilda!That's lots of letters! "She paused "lots of homeworks?"

"Yep. Lots of homeworks. Sorry, Birdy. Maybe ask Megan to play with you?"

"Meggie's got basketball today! Remember? She just phoned Mummy to remind her!"

"Oh. Well, sorry about that, Birdy. "

"It's OK." Matilda disappeared into the living room, and sighing , Reuben headed upstairs.

…

Polishing off the cookie, Reuben finally finished the last question of his Maths homework, and gratefully ticked it off on his planner. Things were harder in 6th form than they were at GCSE, and he momentarily found himself wishing he could go back to last year.

He glanced at his computer. It was practically calling to him. He did have some research for History…

Before he could change his mind, he was powering up the computer and opening the internet. He spent the next half an hour doing his research, resisting the urge to abandon it and just mess around on the internet. If he did, the homework would never get done, and he'd be screwed.

But eventually , it was finished. He sighed , and leaned back in his chair. What to do now?

"Hey there , Reu!" The voice of his other sister , 13 year old Megan , drifted in through his ajar door.

"How was basketball?" he asked.

"Same old , same old. It was fine!" came the reply.

" Okay. "

Reuben thought a moment , then said

"Hey, Megan, give me a random word."

"Eh?"

"Just do it."

"Fine , you weirdo…..erm , despair!"

"Thanks !"

"You're a weirdo." Megan reiterated , going to her room. Reuben grinned, and added that to the word he had already typed into the search engine.

He was surprised to find an actual hit that included both words. Clicking on it , he was taken to a website which contained nothing more than a few videos.

"A web series?" he wondered , looking for a title. Then his eyes found it

Despair Academy: Mutual Life of High School Killing.

Huh? He blinked , and then grinned. The potential strangeness of this was right up his street. He might as well watch it-he had finished his homework, after all. But then , his stomach rumbled.

He rolled his eyes , made sure to add the site to his favourites , and shut down the computer.

…

After dinner , Reuben helped his mother with the washing up. Not out of choice , but because it was his turn to.

"Tomorrow's your shift at the Bird House , isn't it? " his mother asked as she handed him a plate to dry.

She was referring to the small , eclectic restaurant that the family co-owned with an old friend of Reuben's father. Reuben nodded.

"When Dad gets back , remind him I'm only helping out on the takeout section. "

"Ok , sure. Bring your homework with you , it'll give you something to do."

"It's April already Mum, I figured that out at the beginning of the year."

"Of course you did! Anyway , get to bed , I'll do the rest."

"Really."

"Yeah, go on. Rest your brain a little. "

Gratefully, Reuben rushed upstairs.

After packing his school bag for the next day, brushing his teeth and changing into pyjamas , he crashed into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

…

The next day, he was hanging around with in the common room, when Joseph , one of the friends he was with , asked if he would be interested in coming to a party.

"We can go there early since we get to leave at 1, and then we can hook you up with a girl , how about that?"

Reuben rolled his eyes. As much as Joseph was a good laugh, he seemed a little too obsessed with girls. At this point in his life, he wasn't all that interested.

"I'm working at the Bird House today. No go mate."

"Ah, damn mind. Don't you ever have fun?"

"Sure I do."

"Yeah , yeah. Toddlers and YouTube isn't living!"

Mutual Life of High School Killing. For some reason, the title of the web-series popped into his head. He dismissed it.

"Oh , leave him alone!" Max , one of Reuben's other friends said. "Least he's got his head screwed on right."

"Oh , and I haven't?"

"Obviously."

The boys laughed, and chatted about mindless things for the rest of the free period.

…

The Bird House was quiet when Reuben arrived. The only customers there were ones who had chosen to eat in, and those were only a few.

"Hi Dad!" Reuben called out.

"Hey Reuben!" came a shout from somewhere in the kitchen. Some of the waiters milling around nearby waved to him, and Reuben waved back.

Going into the back room, he took some homework out of his bag , then dumped his bag underneath the coat hooks. Then, he hung up his blazer, took down an apron, and pinned his name badge to his clothes , before going to sit behind the takeout counter.

"Oh?" A tiny, fish-shaped bottle was lying by the till. He picked it up, and unscrewed the lid. Then he sniffed cautiously.

"Soy sauce?"

Almost on cue , his father yelled from the kitchen.

"Reuben! Have you seen a bottle of soy sauce anywhere?"

"Is it fish-shaped?"

"Yeah! You found it?"

"I'll bring it over!"

Once he had done that , Reuben resigned himself for four quiet , long hours with only a few orders to take breaking the monotony.

…

There had been more take-out orders placed than Reuben had anticipated , and so he was relieved when his mother arrived to take over.

At home , he did a bit of revision for the exams that were approaching , and spent some time playing with Matilda and helping Megan with her science project until his father came home to make them dinner.

When he went upstairs, he was even more drained than he had been the day before. At least it was a Friday. That meant he wouldn't need to wake up the next day.

He glanced passingly at the computer.

Mutual Life of High School Killing.

He hadn't even started watching , and it was already getting under his skin. Giving out a short laugh , he sat down and powered up the computer.

Why wait until tomorrow? It's not like it would matter, he reasoned.

It is the weekend, after all.

Matilda's nickname has no relation to the name of the family restaurant. Just in case you were wondering.

I know, this was fairly short. But this really was just a brief look into Reuben's life , and the other chapters will be longer. Most of them will , anyway . Some chapters will be a bit unconventional regardless of length and I will explain that when the time comes.

Until then, feedback would be appreciated. ^^