As the two approached the school, they saw her standing in the doorway. She looked as if she had been waiting on them. She wasn’t wearing her normal cheerleader uniform – just a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
“What are you two looking at?” Kennedy asked as Max and Noah approached. Both of their mouths hung open in shock.
“Who are you…and what have you done with Kennedy Coleman?” Noah asked.
“What are you talking about?” Kennedy asked, turning to lead the boys into the school.
“Why aren’t you over with your boyfriend Olaf and the satanic sisters of Hell?” Noah asked.
“What is that? A Viking reference?” Kennedy asked.
“I was going for troll,” Noah said as the three of them walked down the hall side by side.
“I think what Noah is trying to ask is: why aren’t you with your friends?” Max asked as they stopped at Kennedy’s locker.
“I am,” she responded.
The three of them walked the rest of the way to class, sharing stories of the weekend and talking about the adventures that lie ahead of them. Somewhere, far away, Max knew that the battle had just begun. He knew that there was a war on the horizon. Romania was just the tip of the iceberg. He knew that there would be a dangerous road ahead, but for this one moment he didn’t care. He had his entire life to be Max Baker, Guardian of the Ninth Sector. For now, he was just going to focus on the much more difficult task at hand: high school…and girls.
Acknowledgments
To my wonderful wife Lane (thanks for making me go to bed), Steph Murray and Marlene Castricato for believing in Max Baker, Sheldon Reid: King of Edits, Rose Moore, the Brown family, the Stracener family, the Whitham family, the Bell family, my Opryland brethren: Mike Flynn, Nick Heflin, Wild Wayne, T-Rex, Eric Ramey, Shawn “Baby Carrot” Grenley, Jeremy Roney, Steve Henry, the Purucker family, the Grim family, Pritpal Singh, Jeff Oakman, and Dustin Owens.
A very special thanks to Derek Britton and NothingisOriginal Designs
Matthew Cronan
Matthew Cronan’s love affair with writing developed during high school and the two have been happily involved since. His influences include Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, and Douglas Adams. He spends his days being a hospitality superhero and moonlights at night writing about them. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his amazing wife Lane and rescue-pup Sam.
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