Chapter 1
One shot to the face was all it took to send him sprawling onto the hard blacktop. Blood seeped out of a cut below his lip, and he wiped it away in anger before surging back at his opponent. He swung and his attempts were met with obnoxious laughter from the other boy and spectators. Clearing his eyes of his dark brown hair, he made another move. Again, only to have the other boy meet his attempts with a block; then shoving him back onto the pavement. He spat blood upon the court, and mustered up enough strength to rise once more. Catching the boy off guard, he delivered a right hook that knocked him back into the crowd. The older boy shooed the hands of his friends away, and shoved Luke. “You’re done, kid.” He surged forwards, his hands slamming Luke forcefully onto the ground. The crowd’s laughter grew as Luke struggled to fight back tears.
The older boy seemed to be losing interest in toying with him, and dealt one last defining blow. Luke hit the ground hard and darkness closed in around him, a blurred vision of the laughing boys still clinging in his mind.
Slowly his eyes flickered open, the fluorescent lights revealing that he was in the Nurse’s office. “Ugh,” he groaned as he attempted to pull himself from the bed.
“Take this,” the nurse said, shoving a bottle of Advil in his face. Luke gratefully accepted, and washed the medicine down with a glass of water. “Where are my parents?”
“They are on their way now,” she said through a fake smile. “You were out for a good fifteen minutes or so, I’m sure they are very worried about you!”
“Yeah...I bet they are,” Luke stated sarcastically, slumping back down onto the bed. The nurse continued tidying up the office, “You should lie down until your parents arrive. Would you like the light off?”
Luke took a deep breath, the anticipation of his parents arrival was overwhelming. “No, I’m fine.”
The nurse forced out yet another fake smile before striding out the door, closing it behind her.
He lay there gazing up into the lights, unfocusing his eyes so that they multiplied into a million different stars beaming softly down upon him. Slowly, he grew dizzy and was forced to avert his gaze. “Another fight,” he sighed. “Frank, or as he likes to be called ‘Dad’, is not going to be happy.” He always tried to get along with the other kids in his high school class, and he mostly kept to himself. However, trouble always seemed to find him at the most inconvenient of times.
Luke froze as the door slowly creaked open. He breathed heavily, sure that it was his father. His mom’s face appeared around the door, and Luke let out a heavy sigh of relief, unaware of the danger that was following close behind. His mother urged someone to follow in behind her, and a tall man clad in striking Bostonian shoes and well equipped with an exuberant brown suit, walked into the room. Luke’s heart sank, and he looked at his mother in disbelief...it was his Social Worker. Then, to only make matters worse, in walked his father, a furious look ridden upon his face.
“Another fight!” His father said sternly, “How many times must we go through this, Luke!”
Luke scanned the room, he knew he was in trouble, his Social Worker had never come before and Luke had gotten into quite a lot of trouble in his time.
His mother then stepped up and knelt in front him, “Tom has come so that we may talk about this, he is concerned about your well-being in our home.”
“I’m fine,” Luke said coldly, looking into Tom’s eyes. The man’s expression didn’t change from the disappointed expression it bore.
“No, your not fine. This is not the first...or second time this has happened! It has become a regular thing, and that is not healthy,” His father stated, fury causing him to shake where he stood. Luke looked at the ground, he couldn’t face his foster parents and look them in the eyes. He was well aware that he had greatly disappointed them, and Tom only came when he was moving him to a new home.
“How’s your eye, Luke?”
He looked up to see Tom kneeling in front of him, “It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt if thats what you mean.”
“It was just a question Luke. This is your main problem, your temper,” Tom stated, shaking his finger in the air.
Luke rose to defend himself, but was shot a glare from his father. Luke scowled in defiance, but sunk back into his seat. Tom continued, “We are all aware that you are intelligent and successful. How were your grades the first three quarters of sophomore year?”
“All A’s” Luke said, playing with his hands.
“Exactly. You are continuing to do well this quarter as well?”
Luke’s foster parents nodded and looked to him for his answer.
“Yes,” Luke stated, his mood lifting.
Tom looked Luke in the eye, “Then why is there this reoccurring problem with your temper? You are smart, and thoughtful. It just doesn’t seem normal that a boy like you could keep finding himself in so much trouble! Now, we can’t keep pretending that there is not a problem here. What are we gonna do about this, Luke?”
He knew that this question was rhetorical. He was leaving, he was sure of it. But no followup speech came. They were all looking at him, eagerly awaiting his answer. “I will have to learn to control my temper, thats all.”
Tom’s face grew bleak, “It’s obviously not that easy, this problem keeps coming up. As I said before, we cannot pretend this didn’t happen.”
Luke looked to his foster parents for support, but their faces were blank, still in disbelief that they were in this position again. “I have an idea,” he stated. “Give me two more months to redeem myself. If I get into any more trouble, you can move me to a different home, if not, then I get to stay.”
Tom nodded, and looked to the parents for their input. They agreed as well. Tom then clasped a hand on Luke’s shoulder, “Two months, no second chances. We clear?”
“Yeah,” Luke said rising from the bed. As he stood, his father shot him a furious glance before opening the door to let Tom out.
“Good luck!” Tom said as he strode out the door.
The ride home in his dad’s Mercedes was silent. Luke could barely take it, he had never felt so awkward around his foster parents. As they pulled into the driveway, his father took a long pause before unlocking the car doors. Luke gazed at his home, the three story Californian house was equipped with two garages and engineered of Italian origin. After what seemed like hours his father let them out of the car, and they opened the door to a dark home. Makai ran over and shoved his snout into Luke’s arms, and he embraced the young Malamute. He had gotten Makai when he was first left the Orphanage to go into foster care, the beautiful dog resembled a proud wolf, Luke’s favorite animal in the world. He darted up the stairs into his room as his parents began to turn on the lights.
“Homework now!” His father shouted from the kitchen. Luke unzipped his North Face backpack and spread his books along his desk. From there, he began to work on his homework. something clouded his focus, however, a feeling of loneliness shot through him like a striking pain. There it was, the same feeling he had felt at his last foster homes, he felt like he didn’t belong there. He sighed and nursed the dark bruise around his eye. He had never liked any of his schools, but he had never gotten into as much trouble as he did at this one. He realized, now that he thought about it, he didn’t know if he wanted to stay at all.
He began to heavily consider getting into a fight on purpose just to get out of this place, California. As he pondered it, however, he realized it was too risky and that he might be sent away to a family in which discipline would be harsh. He pulled a book from his over stuffed bookcase, and began to flip the pages. It was his favorite book, Call Of The Wild. He read well into the night, finally turning the last page in the epic novel. At last, he managed to doze off, still confused about his feelings toward his situation.
*
The next morning was hectic. He awoke to the shouting of his mother, urging him to get out of bed. He jumped into his clothes, and hurried downstairs for breakfast. His father was honking the horn, threatening to leave without him.
“Have a good day, and remember no fights!” His mother shouted as he ran out the door. His father looked at him sternly as Luke shut the door behind him.
“Took you long enough. You know these morning are going to change, from this point forward you will be waking up on time.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Luke said sarcastically, staring out the window as the beach blurred past. His father shook his head in disapproval and revved the engine, running a red light. Neither of them said another word until they pulled up to his school.
“You remember what Tom said? No more second chances, Luke. Understand me?”
Luke nodded, and smiled as he closed the door. His father turned on the radio and sped away to work.
Like deja-vu, the day began like any other. Luke gazed up at the school’s sign, painted intricately above it’s thick oak doors. Everyone was pushing to get into the school, and he patiently waited, in no hurry to begin classes. A rush of cold air from the air conditioner overwhelmed him as he passed into the school’s main hallway. As he worked his way through the crowd, he scanned the faces of those around him in attempt to find Alex. He followed the flow of traffic, moving with the masses on the right side of the hallway. People were pushed from their lockers and dragged into the mob-like crowd that was the student body. Intimidated by the size of the boys around him, he pushed through to the edge of the crowd, finding Alex in the usual spot. “What’s up, man?” Alex closed his locker, making a feeble attempt to stuff his psychology book inside. “Nothing...wow what happened to your eye?”
“Oh,” Luke said, raising his hand to his blackened eye. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.” Alex beckoned Luke to follow him into the moving crowd, and they seeped into the center of the madness.
“You know your parents are going to make you move away eventually. What did they say this time?”
“Oh, you know. They just said that if I do it again then Tom will move me to a different home, that’s all,” Luke responded, forcing out a smile. Alex shook his head.
“I don’t know, man. You went pretty far this time. I mean how much more can your parents take?”
“Yeah. Well...” Luke began. His attention shifted as a beautiful brunette, with sparkling blue eyes pushed his way past him.
“Haha,” Alex said shoving Luke, “Thats why you keep getting into fights man. You are obsessed with that girl!”
“Yeah, yeah. Shut up.”
Alex patted him in the back, “It’s a real shame Jacob is with her, haha.”
Luke shoved him away, “You suck, you know that?”
“Thats what I'm here for,” Alex replied with a smile.
“Yup.”
“But, hey. This is me,” He said pointing towards the door. “I will talk to you later.” Alex dissapeared from the center of the crowd.
“After school!” Luke shouted after him, but his words were lost amidst the clamor of the hallway. He tightened up his backpack, placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and moved with the flow of the crowd.
At last he pushed his way into the English room, giving a glance of hatred to the boy he had fought with the previous day. He was one of the first in the class, and pulled out his notebook from his backpack, placing it nonchalantly upon the desk. The bell rang, echoing throughout the hallways and students began to pour into their classrooms.
The desks around him were soon filled, and Mrs. Hicks started the class. Her voice bellowing as she asked her students to take out their homework. Luke slipped the paper from his notebook and gave her a weak smile as she passed by, her yellowed teeth sneaking through her lips. He jumped at the sound of her screams, and he looked behind to see her scolding his classmate. Her face ridden with wrinkles, portraying that she had spent too many years dealing with High School students. “Yet again Mr. Trumpler, I might just have to alert your parents of these missed homework's!” Jason rolled his eyes, snickering to himself. He didn’t care one bit. She eyed him, scribbling in her grade book. “I’m serious. It will start to catch up with you, especially when you are already struggling in this class.”
She continued onwards, moving through the rest of the students with ease. At last she headed back to the front of the classroom, struggling to reach the Projection Screen.
“Now class, is everyone up to date with their reading of Hamlet?”
“Yes,” everyone replied monotonously, only half of which who were telling the truth. The class continued on the same as everyday, notes. Mrs. Hicks scratched the chalk against the board and everyone followed in scribbling rhythm.
“Hey...kid,” A voice whispered from behind him. Luke paused before turning around.
“Yeah, you. Can you get my pencil for me?” Jason said, pointing his bony finger towards the floor. Luke reached down and grabbed it.
“My name’s Luke, you know,” he said coldly, holding the pencil in front of him.
“Yeah, yeah whatever. Just hand it over.” Jason beckoned him, slouching down into his chair.
Luke shook his head, fighting to control his temper. He considered telling him off right then and there, he didn’t deserve Amy, but he remembered what Tom had said and cooled down. Reluctantly, he placed the pencil on Jason’s desk. Jason snatched it up, and began drumming obnoxiously upon his desk. Not even bothering to go out of his way and thank him. Luke twisted back around and ruffled through the papers in his notebook, gazing in admiration at his descriptive drawings of Gray Wolves. Pulling out his current masterpiece, he began to shade the wolf’s pelt to add effect.
The bell rang again to end the first period, and Luke headed out of the classroom. Jason followed shortly after, struggling to move through the crowd. “Hey, wait up!” His shouts were lost amidst the clamor of hallway gossip. Luke turned to see the boy close behind, and he slipped past the traffic of moving people into the stairwell. He pushed through the halls from class to class for the rest of the day, barely awake. After what seemed like an eternity, the final toll sounded and the halls were filled with the sounds of gossip. Luke didn’t hang around to talk to anyone and he headed towards the back of the school to be picked up. As he weaved past the people in the halls he felt a sting on his back, and turned to see Jason standing behind him.
“You know, I didn’t really like the way you were talking to me earlier kid,” He said stupidly.
Luke turned and began to walk, “I just told you my name.”
“I didn’t ask for your name I asked for my pencil. Maybe I would have known it if you had any friends here.”
Luke stopped dead, “What did you say?!” He began to move back towards the other kid.
“Ha, you heard me kid,” Jason said cracking his knuckles.
Luke pushed his way back until he was face to face with him, “Big mistake!”
Jason laughed hysterically, “Hey everybody!” People stopped, clogging up the hallway. “This kid is standing up to me. Me!” People began to crowd around. “What are you gonna do about it, huh? You’re nobody”
Luke struggled to control his temper, and turned around and attempted to push his way through the now circling crowd.
“Yeah thats what I thought!” Jason shouted. “No guts, nothing but a little baby!”
Luke stopped, he knew that Jason’s comeback was corny and ridiculous, but he couldn’t help himself. His teeth ground against one another as his hands curled into fists at his sides. He turned to see Amy standing in the front row of the circle, a look of worry cast up her face.
“Oh! So that’s what’s making you so cold! Is it Amy? Huh? Does it bother you that she’s my girl? Now I understand!” Jason howled, laughing hysterically. The crowd burst into laughter. Amy blushed red in embarrassment, but remained at the front line.
Fire burned in his veins and he turned around, dropping his pack to the floor. People began to cheer, and Jason dropped his as well. Luke charged him, and got off a punch that sent the giant football player to the floor. Amazed, Luke failed to react fast enough to evade Jason’s strike, and he dropped to his knees as the wind was knocked from his lungs. Gasping for breath Luke lunged forward and tackled him, throwing punches left and right. The sounds from the crowd dissapeared as Jason’s yelps grew louder.
Just as quick as it started, it was over. The crowd dispersed as teachers came rushing into the madness. Luke felt a strong hand pull him from Jason and drag him over to the lockers. He watched Amy as she ran to Jason’s side. To his surprise she looked at him in embarrassment, but there was no sign of anger upon her face. But it didn’t matter anyway, It was over, Luke had let his temper rise again. He knew he was really in for it, and he took what he assumed to be the last glimpse of his school as the Principle walked him out to his father’s car. The smile dissapeared from his dad’s face, and he looked away from Luke.
“He’s all yours now,” The principal said as he opened the door to the Mercedes.
“Thanks.”
Luke saw his life flash before his eyes, or at least it seemed to. The door to the car shut, and there was no escape.
