Chance- Chapter 1

“You’re late,” Mr. Stock said dryly.

“I know,” I remarked, taking from him the pleasure of showing off his authority. I wasn’t about to let him intimidate me.

As he sat down looking around, I could tell he was grumpy. For a minute, he just sat there, scowling. Obviously my plan had worked, because he was definitely displeased with how I had responded. The thing about it though, is that he couldn’t do anything. Not without putting everyone through too much trouble, anyway. Besides, I’d technically done nothing wrong.

I looked away and refused to acknowledge anyone around me. I wasn’t doing this just to be funny, and I didn’t want people to start trying to laugh or get my attention.

My eyes fell to the window, and I gazed outside. I looked up towards the sky, and had to let my eyes adjust to the sun, which suddenly seemed brighter. Its flames danced in my eyes and I began to reminisce to myself, getting lost in my thoughts.

Because of some things that happened in my childhood, I lived with my aunt. She raised me until I was just old enough to survive on my own, then she pretty much kicked me out. She owned an apartment complex, so she didn‘t have to put me on the street, just give me my own room and keep to herself. By that point, I hardly ever saw her. Basically, lived alone.

You could say it’s a hard knock life, and in the end it turned me into a social introvert . I had nobody to greet me when I came home, and nobody to talk to and grieve with. I had no friends to chat or hang out with, and nobody to trust, or confide my feelings in. I'd learned to live alone, and that’s just how I want to be. Alone.

“Seth.. Seth!” I jumped with shock. Mr. Stock was standing by my desk. “ Don’t ignore me when I’m talking to you!"

“Hmm?” I replied, without really thinking about it.

He glared at me, but the way he did it was so awkward I was a lot closer to laughing than I was to being scared. Surprisingly enough, the best way to describe Mr. Stock was summed up in one word; stocky. But beyond that, he had this over sized nose that took up most of his face, a quickly receding hairline, and this awkward slouch. All in all, he looked like an overgrown ape who had a bad shaving experience.

You hear people say all the time that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but Mr. Stock must have been an exception. Sure enough he complimented his looks with a disgruntled attitude and the kind of gruff voice that made him better suited as a gym coach than a teacher.

Mr. Stock snapped, “Don’t ignore me when I'm talking, and don't look at me like I’m stupid! where is the homework I gave out yesterday!?”

I thought back, and suddenly remembered he had given us an assignment. I fished it out of my backpack and handed it to him with a sullen expression. He grabbed it and continued walking. I looked around and moaned. It was only Monday, and I had a whole week left of this.

After a good forty minutes of notes the class finally ended. I didn’t waste any time getting my stuff together and moving on. When I got away from most of the crowd I turned the corner and walked off down an empty hallway. My next class was in a building not a lot of people really go into that often.

Looking down the hall I heard two girls talking. They were turning a corner, heading in the direction I had come from. I recognized them as Kate and Sammy. They were almost always seen together. Come to think of it, I didn't think I had ever even heard them referred to as separate people. Kate was kind of short, with mid length auburn hair and a purse about half as big as she was. Sammy on the other hand was slightly taller than average, and was athletic. The kind who usually wore a T-shirt and a pair of jeans with their hair almost always in a pony tail.

When they got close they hushed, and began talking in a quieter tone. One of them pointed, and when they walked by they quickly glanced at me and moved on. I thought I had heard them whispering my name. But, then again I probably did. I was different from everybody else and hadn’t spent a lot of time trying to prevent rumors. By that point they were floating all around.

The day went by in a blur, as they usually did. Once we had finished with our work in the last hour, people were either talking, reading books, sleeping, or some like me were staring around the room. I swatted at a fly that was buzzing around, busy doing whatever it is flies do, then let out a deep sigh.

I looked around at the cracked ceiling, and tapped the desk to try and keep at least my fingers occupied. It was still rather close to the beginning of the school year, and it was hot. There wasn’t any air conditioning in this room and everybody was ready to get home. Comfy atmosphere, no? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the bell rang. This time instead of grabbing my stuff and dashing out of the room I waited a while, taking my time gathering my stuff together. I didn’t feel like fighting a crowd so I lingered around until the place cleared a bit.

I walked to the edge of the parking lot and dug into my pocket for my keys. Then I used them to unlock the chain around my bike and hopped on. It was pretty awkward riding a bike to and from school, but I couldn’t afford a car. The ride home wasn’t exactly the most fun part of my day, but I have no other way to get home and I like to think I need the exercise.

When I reached the apartment complex, I locked the chain back under the stairs and headed up. I ran up to my door, unlocked it, and went inside. As I walked in I tossed the backpack on the bed, trying to remember if I had any homework that day. When I couldn’t think of any, I sat down and looked around the one room apartment I called my home.

My eyes landed on the only picture I had of my parents, and looking at it I began to feel an immense amount of surplus feelings swell up inside of me. My eyesight became hazy and unfocused, and I was once again scared and lonely, frantically looking around at the people running around and screaming. People continued to ask, “Where are your parents?” While all I could do was cry and shake my head. Flashing lights and loud noises surrounded me, and I felt as if I were being consumed.

*Hey guys. I know it's dry, but this is just the very beginning. It starts heating up around chapter three, but I didn't want to put to much on here at once*