“Alright guys, I’ve gotta go,” Sarah said. She turned to Clark and elaborated, “I’m going to see one of my friends right before class so I’ll see you later today.”
She kissed Clark and he stared at her until she was out of sight.
“Clark, you gotta tell me, man,” Charles said, “how’s she in the sack?”
“I’m not about to disclose my sex life to you, dude.”
“Come on, man,” Charles joked, “I wonna hear all the juicy details.”
“She’s not just some random chick,” Clark told him bluntly, “That’s my girlfriend.”
“So this is what love does to a man?”
“You’ll never know, Charles, you’ll never know.”
“What’s that up there?” John interrupted their banter and pointed to a flyer on the announcement board.
“Information about tryouts next week,” Clark said. “I really want to make the team this year.”
“Don’t worry man, you’ll get it,” John told him.
“I don’t know. I didn’t make it last year,” Clark said.
“As I told Principal Hayes, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new year,” Charles said.
“Yeah, but you were lying,” John laughed.
“Yeah, that may be true. It’s unlikely my GPA will increase any at all but that doesn’t mean some pretty big changes aren’t about to occur. I’m calling it now. This is our year.”
“There’s just a lot of pressure,” Clark admitted. “And I really need this.”
“If being liked is what you want, that’s what this upcoming party is for. You’re going to be the coolest kid in this school besides me,” Charles said. “And I’m gonna send out a message to every site I visit. So don’t worry about it. For now, just divulge the details about the cheerleader you been tappin’ every night.”
“No!”
Charles looked at his watch and took a peak at his schedule. “Alright, alright. But I’m going to get it out of you later. I gotta go. First class is Pre-cal. It’s gonna kill me but at least it’s first so I can get this crap outta the way. Alright, John, Clark, I’ll catch you two later.”
Clark and John took a look at their schedules and each noticed they had the same first period, Mrs. Tessler for History class. They walked together down the hall and into the classroom. It was a large standard room with full scale posters of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King on adjacent walls. The teacher was standing by her desk, flipping through notes as other students walked into the room. Clark and John both took seats next to each other on the side of the room closest to the door. They wanted to be the first ones out.
Eventually, all of the students made their way into the classroom and each desk was occupied. Mrs. Tessler introduced herself and passed out a syllabus for each student. As she went over a large list of class rules, Clark’s eyes began to glaze over. John tapped him on the shoulder and he awoke from a stupor. Clark looked around and noticed the teacher was still rambling. So he opened up his notebook and began doodling. It took him a few minutes but his doodle progressed into a stunning illustration of a wolf as John watched him draw the eyes, ears, nose, body, and tail of the creature in blue ink.
“That’s excellent,” John whispered.
“Thanks,” Clark whispered back.
After a few more doodles, the class was over but not before Clark received a text message from his girlfriend. And a text or two from Sarah was usually enough to get him through another droning hour of class. Every moment he spent with her strategically widened his grin and filled him with the type of infatuation that only teenagers feel. He couldn’t wait to see Sarah again and her latest text message was to assure him that she’d see him during lunch.
When the history class was finally over, Clark parted ways with John and headed directly to computer class. In the large computer lab, he sat between two boys he knew. One of them was Andrew Lockman. Andrew was a stoic brown-skin boy with long curly hair. He was a perceptive street-smart kid with a distinctive dress style. Andrew always wore polo shirts tucked into khaki pants. He never left home without a rosary around his neck, and sometimes a second dangling from his hip. He lived just blocks away from John in the region’s poorer neighborhood.
When Clark sat down, he exchanged a friendly greeting with Andrew and told him about the party he was planning for Saturday.
“Where’s it going to be?” Andrew asked Clark.
“Haven’t figured that out yet but I’ll know tomorrow. I’ve been racking my brain all morning for possible locations.”
“When you find out, let me know. I’ll be there,” Andrew said. “I just got a job working at a grocery store after school but I’m still free on the weekends.”
“Cool,” Clark said.
“And besides,” Andrew continued, “I’m graduating after this semester so it won’t be for long.”
“Are you going to college?” Clark asked.
“I think so,” Andrew answered. “Certainly if I can get on a sports team.”
“I know the feeling, man,” Clark told him.
The class bell rang and a rugged middle aged man with a tattered briefcase entered the room. It was Mr. Kelsey. “Yes!” Clark quietly murmured. Andrew grabbed a hold of the rosary around his neck and smiled.
They were happy for one reason: Mr. Kelsey was notorious for being a teacher who didn’t care what anyone in his class did. You could play PC games on your computer, surf your favorite websites, or text all of your friends and Mr. Kelsey just didn’t care. The teacher passed around the syllabus and Clark took a quick look at it. The paper stated that Mr. Kelsey only gave one assignment per month. Once you were done with the assignment, you were free to do whatever you desired. After handing out the papers, Mr. Kelsey sat back at his desk and sipped from a conspicuous bottle.
“Hell yeah! Mr. Kelsey is so awesome,” said the sophomore kid on the other side of Clark.
That kid was Donny Karaway, generally known only as ‘Donny the Geek’─ a moniker he earned after dubbing himself ‘Donny the Great’ for bringing his math team to a state-wide victory in middle school. He was given a nickname for his nickname and was never able to shake it off. Donny had a head full of ginger hair, a face covered in freckles, and a mouth full of bright red braces. Like Andrew, Donny the Geek tucked his polo shirts into his khaki pants. Unlike Andrew, he wasn’t exactly respected. The same dress sense usually got Donny’s tiny frame shoved into a locker.
“Hey, what’s up, Donny?” Clark said, finally paying attention to him.
“Clark!” Donny the Geek said excitedly. “I heard about your party. Am I invited?”
“Sure, dude, why not?”
“Awesome,” Donny said with relief, “Attending a cool party is just what I need to heighten my social status. You think I could score a girl at this party, Clark?”
“Well,” Clark thought for a few seconds, “I guess anything’s possible.”
“You think I could get a hot cheerleader girlfriend like you?” Donny asked.
“Maybe you should think smaller,” Clark suggested.
“Perhaps I can get to make out with a mediocre looking girl after she’s drunk?” Donny said giddily.
“Stranger things have happened.”
“Y’know,” Donny told him, “One day I’m gonna own this city. I’ve got it all planned out.”
“Wow, really?” Clark asked, unsure if he wanted Donny to elaborate.
“Oh yeah. I’ll major in bio-molecular engineering and start my own company at the age of 25. Initiate a couple of scientific breakthroughs and buy out BioTech Industries at the age of 35. I’m going to be richer than Charles’s dad and revenge will be mine. Revenge against everyone who refers to me as Donny the Geek.”
“Richer than Charles’s dad?” Clark asked.
“You heard right,” Donny said arrogantly.
“I read that Charles’s dad is worth half a billion. I think it was in Forbes. Something like that.”
“Sounds
about right,” Donny nodded.
Chloe Li, a beautiful young Chinese girl with fair skin and a single pink highlight in her otherwise jet black hair, skipped over to Donny the Geek. Wearing a pink dress emblazoned with flames, she waved and said hi to Clark and Andrew and they waved back. Chloe Li bent over so close to Donny that he could smell her perfume without trying. Her lavender scent was enough to make his entire body tingle. Clark wanted to make him snap out of whatever trance he was in but Clark couldn’t do it without drawing attention to the drool pouring from Donny’s mouth. So, despite being close enough to kiss, Chloe had to call Donny’s name several times before he zoned back into reality.
“Yeah, sorry,” Donny said, shaking his head and wiping his mouth.
“I just wanted to remind you that the Franklin Pierce math team is having tryouts this semester,” Chloe Li told Donny. “I know you were on the team last year but the new rules state that everyone must re-apply. As captain of the team, I’m the only exception.”
“Yeah, I definitely will,” Donny assured her. “Especially if you’re still captain.”
“Great, you’re always a terrific teammate, Donny,” Chloe smiled. She straightened her posture, evened out her shirt, and returned to her computer station on the other side of the room.
“Dude, you can’t just black out like that when a girl gets close,” Clark told Donny.
“I know! That never happens with any other girl. Just her. It only happens with Chloe,” Donny confessed.
“Wow,” Clark exclaimed.
“I know. In fact, I’m usually not even afraid to talk to girls. I’ve asked tons of girls outs,” Donny said.
“Really?” Clark asked.
“Yeah,” Donny told him, “They’ve all said ‘no’ but I’ve still asked them all.”
“You’ve asked Chloe out?” Clark’s tone grew suspicious.
“No, I can’t! She’s the one girl I can’t ask out. I’m too scared.”
“Dude, no! You’ve gotta try. I think she likes you,” Clark told him.
“No! What if she says no? I just can’t do it,” Donny bemoaned.
“What’s that famous Gretzky quote?─ ‘You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.’”
“I know, I know,” Donny scoffed.
“Dude, my girlfriend, Sarah, is a cheerleader. And she’s this close to being head cheerleader. And she’s like the hottest and most athletic girl at this school. And I’m dating her because I asked her out, totally on a whim, five months ago.”
Donny sighed. “But I…”
“Dude,” Clark interrupted. “If you can learn, in great detail, the nebular theory of cloud formation, you can learn how to ask out the one girl you're really into.”
“Thanks, Clark,” Donny smiled genuinely, “I guess you really are Superman.”
Two and a half hours later, Clark was sitting in the lunchroom of Franklin Pierce High. All but one of the lunchroom walls contained a mural of their Panther mascot. The one wall that did not, instead, contained rows of colossal windows that lit the entire lunchroom. Clark was sitting at a small table across from his girlfriend, Sarah. She was using her feet to playfully kick him underneath the table. This drew an even larger smile to Clark’s face as he ate whatever food was on his lunch tray. Had he been tested at that very moment to identify the main course of his meal, he would have failed. Tenderly staring into Sarah’s eyes was his only desire. Ode to be young.
They made small talk; how their day was going, who they met on their first day back to school, and what they’d be doing when they got home.
“I spoke to Donny earlier today,” Clark told his girlfriend. “You know, he’s really into Chloe.”
“Chloe Li?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” Clark said, “I told him you gotta really go after what you want. That’s how I did it.”
This time it was Sarah’s grin that grew. “What did you want?”
“You,” he said longingly. “Just you. And speaking of you, are you going to come over to my place after school?”
“Sorry,” she said disappointingly. “I can’t. I have cheerleader fittings after school and then I promised my mom I’d help out at her fitness center.”
“Doing what?” Clark asked.
“Yoga.”
“You know Yoga, and you haven’t taught me?”
Sarah laughed. “I’ll make sure that’s the next thing we do together.”
Suddenly, they were interrupted by Daniel LaRent, a large dark haired senior with a muscular build. He slapped Clark on the back and waved to Sarah.
“Hey Clark, what’s up Sarah?” Daniel LaRent said.
“Big Dan, nice to see you,” Clark waved.
“I just heard you’re the junior who’s hosting the first party of the year. Tell me it’s true,” Big Dan said.
“Yeah, it’s true,” Clark assured him. “But I still don’t have the exact location, so don’t ask. I’ll be able to tell you tomorrow.”
“Awesome, dude,” Big Dan told him. “Can’t wait! Have you told Andrew Lockman yet? Y’know, dude with the rosary.”
“Yeah, I know. And yeah, I told him. He’s in,” Clark said.
“It’s not a party without Andrew,” Big Dan jeered as he shot a finger pistol and walked away.
When Big Dan was gone, Sarah returned her gaze to her boyfriend and informed Clark that her parents wanted him to come over for dinner on Tuesday evening.
“Sounds great,” Clark said.
Although Clark agreed quite readily to meet Sarah’s parents, he was beginning to question their motivations by his next class block. He was in P.E. and although it was the first day of class which generally meant no real work, their coach, Mr. Smith, was a hard hitter who told all of the students to scurry into the locker-room and find themselves a shirt and pair of gym shorts. In the boy’s locker-room, they discovered boxes of new gym outfits and combinations for their assigned lockers. Clark was joined by Charles and John before class started and, along with everyone else, began to undress and find a gym outfit that felt comfortable.
“Too small, too small, too small,” Charles said as he threw a group of blue gym shorts over to John. “Johnny, my man, these should fit you.”
John took his Wile E. Coyote shirt off. His long blonde hair was ruffled even further when he pulled the shirt over his head. And without a shirt, his pale body appeared even scrawnier.
“Yeah, a small should fit me,” John said.
“Damn, you look even skinnier than before, man,” Charles told him. “You gotta eat more.”
“Uh huh,” John nodded.
“I’m gonna take you out for burgers and fries. You look like you could use an extra-large milkshake too.”
“Today?” John asked.
“No, I actually got a date with a 20 year old hottie tonight. She works at the coffeehouse,” Charles bragged.
“Sounds nice,” John said drolly.
“But me and you will be on for later this week. You can come with me while I’m pickin’ up the booze for Clark’s party.”
“Don’t bring anything but the best,” Clark interrupted.
“You know it, man, you know it,” Charles assured him.
Charles took off his flashy watch and placed it in his assigned locker. From his backpack, he pulled out a second pair of sneakers.
“I don’t wonna scuffle up my high tops so I brought the low tops along,” he told John and Clark.
They each placed on the appropriately sized gym shorts and matching shirts and made their way into the gymnasium. One section of the bleachers was pulled out adjacent to one of the basketball goals and Coach Smith made every student perform warm up laps before allowing them to choose between indoor badminton and outdoor volleyball.
“Don’t think you’re going to get a nice cozy choice every time you step into this gymnasium,” Coach Smith said, “This is just a taste of first day freedom. Now go on and play ball.”
Clark, Charles, and John all ch
ose to stay indoors and play badminton at a small net. It was John on one side playing against Clark and Charles on the other. They played pretty nonchalant and spent most of the time chatting whenever Coach Smith wasn’t watching.
“So what’s this stuff about you going to meet your girl’s parents,” Charles asked after Clark mentioned it.
“I think they’ve noticed that Sarah and I are spending more time together.”
“So what’s their plan?” Charles asked, “To interrogate you at the precinct?”
“No,” Clark said, “I met them once before and they were alright. It was just briefly though.”
Charles threw the birdie ball into the air and chucked it with his racquet. It slowly glided over the net and John hit it back. Clark’s racquet connected with the birdie but when John attempted to hit it a second time, he missed.
“So what’s her parents like?” Charles asked Clark.
“Sarah’s dad works at a bank and her mom runs some fitness center.”
“Sounds good,” Charles said. “Just don’t ever date a girl whose dad is a cop or a brick layer. They’ll try an’ shoot you or lay you out with a cement block once they find out you’re banging their daughter.”
“You know this from experience?” John asked, his arms pressed against the badminton net.
“Absolutely,” Charles said. “But Clark, it sounds like her parents will be easy to deal with. Just a rule of thumb, if they ask you anything about sex, you say ‘what’s that?’”
Clark and John both laughed.
This was the sort of laid-back and chilled day that Clark enjoyed. The remainder of his day in school was more of the same; introductions to new teachers and chatting with friends. He saw Sarah once again shortly after the final school bell rang. Students were rushing off campus and staggering down the halls when Sarah wrapped her arms around Clark’s neck. She kissed him for a prolonged moment against his locker before running off to cheerleader fittings.
Several hours later, Clark was at home around dawn. He was in the kitchen with his mother. A lasagna casserole was prepared for dinner. It was fresh out of the oven when she laid it on the dinner table. Clark swept into the dining room and plopped into a seat.
Ascension (The Ascension Series) Page 2