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 Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:21 pm
“So it’s okay if I start right away?” T. C. waited for the coach to give his approval. “Okay. See you later then.” He left the classroom and turned left down the hallway. No wait, his class was to the right. He did a 180 degree turn and ran smack into another student. “Oops sorry about that,” he apologized.
“Watch where you’re going!” It was a big guy, probably a senior.
“Well don’t follow so close behind a guy then.” T.C. left before anything else could be said. He didn’t like this new school very much: it was so hard to get anywhere in this place. But here he would be able to play baseball for a good coach, and that’s all that mattered to him.
He continued down the hallway and made a few turns before he got to the classroom he thought was his. He pulled out his schedule and checked before going in however; he didn’t want to walk into the wrong one. It turned out his class room was actually 136, and this one was 126. He kept going down the hall, checking the number of each room he passed: 128, 130, 132, and finally the last one…134. He looked at it, then his schedule, then at the number above the door again. His schedule still said 136, and the door still said 134. He looked at the other side of the hall, but those doors all had odd numbers on them. He looked down the hall either way. One was the way he had come from, and the other was blocked by a cinderblock wall.
“Where….where is it? It’s not here!” He felt a moment of panic before he could force himself to calm down and think rationally. “Okay. It has to exist, because it’s on the schedule. But there are no more rooms down this hall. It should be the next one, but there is a wall in the way. So...” He walked over to the wall. “So I just need to go through the wall! There, simple as that.” He started walking along the wall, looking for a way through, but it was no use. The wall was solid. He leaned against it for a moment and then sighed and bumped his head into the wall. A little too hard. “Oww.” He dropped his bag and started rubbing his now-aching head.
“Umm excuse me, are you looking for 136?” A small voice spoke to T. C.
He looked around, answering “Yeah. Why, do you know where it is?”
“Well, no, but I was hoping I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t find it.” The speaker was a boy a little taller than T. C., but thinner.
“Huh.” T. C. picked up his bag. “Well, I guess we should keep looking. The bell’s going to ring in a couple of minutes.” He started walking back down the hallway.
“Um, do you know where you’re going?”
“Nope.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I’m going to try asking someone then.” The other guy looked around at the people in the hall going to their rooms. None of them looked particularly friendly. Finally, he just picked a random person. “Excuse me. Do you know where room 136 is?”
The girl looked at him before turning away to her friend. “Pft. New kids. So lame.” They walked right past the two boys and went into their class.
Not knowing what else to do, and not willing to ask anyone else, the two just walked up the hallway and back down it to the wall, rechecking all the room numbers, None of them had changed.
“Hey, where does that door go to?” the nameless guy asked, pointing at an unlabeled door in the middle of the hallway. Kids would come through it every now and then.
“I don’t know. Let’s try it.” T. C. led the way to it and went through. On the other side was another hallway. The first door was 136! “Alright!” T. C. hurried into it, hoping the bell wouldn’t ring, and leaving the other kid behind.
“Um, you’re welcome,” the abandoned boy said, sarcastically. Then he too took a seat in the room, right as the bell was ringing.
T. C. managed to get his computer running before the teacher started class, but instead of using it for notes, he started working on a flyer. He was going to advertise try outs for the school’s new baseball team, and he didn’t want to waste anytime before he could post it.
**btw, that hallway thing so totally happened to me…the room I needed was actually at the beginning of the hall on the other side of the stairs, rather than at the end where it should be lmao
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:01 am
outside promised a beautiful august day, even though it was still early morning. the temperature was just right for the end of summer. just hot enough to be uncomfortable, but it was standable. alex wanted so bad to be at the stadium, or at least theidkwhatthenameis fields. since he couldn't be there this fine morning, though, he somewhat settled to dazing out the window. he had to be stuck in this stuffy room, mostly alone because alex wanted one of the window seats so he showed up extra early this morning.
he sighed and rested his chin on his hand. school meant the end for his beloved jobs in more than just one way. during summer his sisters all had some kind of camp to attend all day, so he and his mother didn't have to watch them. now that school had started again, though, they were under his care once he left the school. having to keep an eye on them while working was a difficult task; one that he was willing to juggle but his mother despised. he didn't mind, though. his mother worked hard for them. the least he could do was look after his sisters.
he was somewhat startled when he heard the bell ring. he shook his head and tried to wake up. just how long had he been daydreaming? once the bell finished ringing he had his head clear enough to notice someone taking the empty desk beside him (of course its beside him, haha). he stared as the newcomer opened a computer. why would someone bring a computer to a dinky(ahahaha, i think i heard that word somewhere before...) school like this?
he forced himself to look away from the screen, realizing that it was rude to stare. besides, whatever this guy was doing probably didn't concern him in the least (haha).
the teacher started her lecture on her expectations of the class for this year. alex leaned into his hand again, assuming he was safe to daydream through the window again. he half listened, however, and heard her say something about putting information down on an index card (do you remember doing this? like, putting your name annd email annd something interesting about yourself or some icebreaker thing like that? haha). he absently pulled at his bookbag for a pen, then realized the weight from his textbooks tipped the bag over. he tried to snatch the contents from falling out, and managed to keep all of the contents of the bag to stay in the bag... except one very important item!
he watched in horror as a dirt-covered baseball slowly rolled from his bookbag annd under the desk. he couldn't just drop all the things he was holding now and reach for the ball. he feared the teacher would definitly notice. he tried to quickly put his bag to rights again but was too late.
he sat back up in his seat and glanced at the teacher to make sure she hadn't noticed. held his breath as he desperatly scanned the floor for the ball. the ball, in all its off-white color glory, sat proudly next to the desk beside him... just enough out of his reach to look odd if he went for it.
he started tapping the pen he had apparently taken out of his bookbag. all he really had to do was ask the boy to pick it up for him. they were far enough back that the teacher wouldn't notice a little whisper. that simple solution was a problem, however. alex was totally intimitaded(sp?) by this guy! he glanced back at the ball, trying to rejudge the distance annd again decided it was too far to grab.
there was no choice, he decided. he had to wait until after class. he came to a conclusion that his depserate mind brought him to. that guy (as his mind started calling tc, haha) probably wouldn't care about something as stupid as a ball signed by alex's first coach, anyways. just an hour or so, alex kept telling himself, and he could get it. even so, he kept nervously glancing down at it, as though it were going to bounce to some place else at any given moment.
*hahaha i totally did not want the much angst in the first part! whoooops, haha... annd epic fail alex, woo!(
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:22 am
T. C. didnt notice the commotion going on next to him. He was too busy trying to figure out teh best layout for his baseball flyer. He half-heartedly pulled out a pen from his bag, but dropped it almost immediately. He reached down to pick it up but his hand brushed something else instead. Something suspiciously round and rough and baseball-like (hahaha). He looked down and was surprised to see it was a baseball!
He gasped and jumped out of his seat, diving for it. To think, someone here, in this very room had a baseball! He picked it up and looked around. "Who would drop such a thing?" He practically yelled out to the class. Then he noticed the teacher looking at him.
"Who would drop what?"
"Oh, uh this uh very nice pen. It shouldnt be on the floor." He picked the pen up, concealing the basbeall from the teacher.
"Yes, of course. Did anyone drop a pen?" She addressed the class, choosing to try and ignore T. C. He looked like trouble and frustration to her, and she wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.
"I dropped it." The guy next to T. C. spoke up.
"You did?! Really?!"
"Aren't you going to give the pen back to him?" The teacher prompted T. C.
"Oh yeah. Of course." He handed over his pen. After the teacher went back to whatever she had been talking about T. C. turned to that guy and showed him teh baseball.
"Do you want to play on my team?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:52 am
alex stared in disbelief. after a few seconds of thought, he took his ball back. here was this student he had never met asking to be on some team he knew nothing about.
"i can't," he gave a quick glance to the teacher before she noticed his whisper, "no time.
*haha, i wish it wasn't so short :*
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:49 pm
T. C. sat back in his seat in disbelief. How could he not have time for baseball? He dwelled on it during the rest of the class, while he worked on his flyer. He needed to make it interesting and simple so that there would be the highest turn out for try outs. Even though try outs were still awhile away (how far again? lol), he wanted to drum up interest as early as possible. In his mind, it was never too early to be involved in baseball.
The bell rang and he gathered up his things for class. He thought the teacher might have been saying something as they were all leaving, but he didnt hear. He hadnt listened all class of course, so it probably wouldnt make any sense anyway. As he was headed out the door, he took one last glance at that kid with the baseball before leaving.
Later that day, he had finished making his first flyer (of many). With the coach's permission, he had printed out a bunch of copies, and he was trying to decide where would be the best places to post them. The main hall, probably, near the trophy cases, the gym, the weight lifting room, and definitely the cafeteria. While doing this, he finally realized why that kid with the baseball had refused his offer. He was heading to the last location, where he also thought that that kid with the baseball would be, when he ran into that tall guy from earlier.
"Hey there! I never caught your name earlier. Mine is Kale." He stood there, waiting for a response.
T. C. just stared at him for a moment before saying, "Uh, T. C." and continuing into the cafeteria.
Kale watched him go by, not exactly sure how to feel. He had thought earlier that maybe he was just shy, so he had decided to try talking to him again. But this time, he thought T. C. just came off more rude and self-centered than anything else. The only reason Kale wasnt completely offended by T. C.'s behavior was because he had seen the baseball flyer that he had been working on, and he wanted to be on that team. He also wanted T. C. to ask him, like he had asked that other kid, however. He sighed and decided he would just have to follow T. C. until his attitude improved (because of course, what else would he do lmao).
It took T. C. a matter of seconds to zone in on that kid with the baseball from before. He took a moment to think about how he should approach him. He had come to the conclusion that the kid with the baseball was just shy, and thats why he had refused his offer. He finally decided that a direct approach might work best (idk why lol, cause i think thats the opposite thing to do, but o well, it is tc lol).
He walked over to the table, trying to remain calm. "Hey," he said when he got with in talking distance. "I'm T. C. This school is starting a baseball team, and I'm going to be the captain. I want you to join it, since you clearly like baseball." While saying this, he pulled out a flyer and put it on teh table in front of him. He was going to say more, but he realized that everyone around him was staring at him, and he suddenly felt very shy and uncomfortable. "Um, see you in class tomorrow." With that, he left the cafeteria, forgetting to put up a flyer.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:11 pm
alex only glanced at the flyer, but could tell that guy had spent alot of time on it. he sighed annd felt a little guilty about blowing him off earlier. he finished his sandwhich, which was not a pile of meat with a side of bread annd stood. after a quick wave to the few friends he had he chased after that guy.
it only took him a second or two to catch up, but the bell rang. he suddenly realized his class was across the school, he'd have to run to make it.
"hey!" he only yelled, hoping to get that guy's attention, "look, meet me outside (vry vague, haha) after school, annd i'll show you why i can't join."
with that he was off to his next class.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:35 pm
T. C. was sitting outside on The Benches. He had heard that kid with the baseball yell after him earlier, so he thought he would give him another try; he really did want him to join after all. The fact that he was willing to carry a baseball around in his bag at school showed an honesty and commitment to T. C. that gave him hope for this new school (some random justification and foreshadowing lol).
His day had been a disaster; not being able to find that first classroom had only been the beginning. After that, he had gotten in trouble in all of his classes for not paying attention, he didnt have anyone to eat with (Kale had gotten distracted by some girls who asked him to eat with them), and he had met outright hostility (in his mind) from some of the students when he was putting up some of his flyers (the fact that he had been in their way managed to elude him). The only thing that made this school worth attending was that Coach was teaching here. It was a plus that he was teaching a subject T. C. actually happened to enjoy--world history.
So after his nightmare of a day, T. C. had decided that he it wouldnt hurt for him to sit outside and read for his history class while waiting for him to maybe or maybe not show. The only problem now was that there were heavy, dark clouds in the sky threatening to bring a storm. This was a problem for T. C. because he had to walk part of the way home after he took the public bus to his own district. The last thing he needed was for a downpour to ruin his brand new laptop that his older sis had given to him before she moved away.
To cheer himself up, he opened the book he was supposed to read for history (starting in about 2 weeks lol) on the early European civilizations and started to read.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:20 pm
alex spent the rest of his classes in thought. that guy seemed to really want him on the team annd, he had to admit, he kind of wanted to be. so, the rest of the day was spent contemplating different ways he could manage being on the team.
in fourth period he thought he could sign his sisters up for some kind of lessons for each after the after-school camps ended. that way, he wouldn't have to pick them up until after practice (which he assumed was sometime late in the evening). by fifth period, however, he realized his mother would never pay the money for 4 girls to take seperate lessons.
he stared towards the front, since there wasn't a window in this room, while his teacher rambled on about the importance of physics. he could let the girls stay with friends on the days of practices annd games. he worked that out in his mind annd actually thought it could work, until he sat down in sixth period. his mother wouldn't want the girls away from eachother, or him, for that long. family was important, afterall.
the teacher of astronomy was pretty high strung, alex soon noticed as he pranced around the front of the classroom. he flipped through the beginner astrology textbook since, once again there was no window, annd tried to keep focus. maybe he could let them actually come to the practices annd not even tell his mother about it? he shook his head almost immediatly. that would never work, either.
after this last class he went outside to find that guy. after a whole period of useless plans he came to face the facts: he couldn't think of a way to join the team. he sighed. there was no choice but to tell that guy.
alex found that guy sitting on the benches, reading some book. something was wrong, though. this wasn't the same cheerful guy that morning. plus, the scene looked even sadder with the storm-threatening clouds as a background.
"hey, bad first day? by the way, name's alex, forgot to mention that earlier." alex greeted with a smile.
*haha, alex is soooo dorky!!*
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:34 pm
T. C. marked his place in the book and stood up to greet Alex. "Hey. So what was it you needed to show me?"
**epic replyyyy lol**
* * * * * *
Elsewhere in the school, Kale was checking out one of the flyers that T. C. had put up. On it was the following information: The school was starting up a baseball team for the first time this year. It had the time and place that try outs would be, and it also advertised times for conditioning beforehand. It also had T. C.'s number and email so that anyone interested could contact him. It did not, however, say who would be coaching the team, and that worried Kale. He wanted to make sure that this was a school sponsored team.
* * * * * *
Hae-Sup was also looking at one of the flyers. He was your typical over-achiever, and he thought that being the manager of the school's new baseball team would be a great way to start his high school career. He too was concerned that it might not be a legitimate school activity. Unlike Kale, who was going to wait to talk to T. C. in the morning, Hae-Sup was going to call him that night, so that there would be no risk of someone else getting that position. He was, of course, positive that there would be a manager spot open (even though T. C. hasn't even considered that there would be a need for one, lmao, as he does everything already)
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:40 pm
**evil laugh* there's a reason it took me days to write this >.<*
daren sat in agony as the last minutes of the school day dragged on. stupid alex. it was alex's fault he went to school that day anyway. daren always thought the first day of school was a bore, annd today was no exception. he gritted his teeth when he remembered alex that morning, grinning like an idiot. honestly, he thought, alex had nothing better to do than school, homework, annd work. if only he had convinced alex to join the travel team too, then alex might actually have a life annd not worry about unimportant things such as school. he shook his head after that thought. he wasn’t going to start that kind of conversation again, not after last time.
he yawned after the bell finally rang for the end of the day. all the classes were just introductions annd useless, just as he thought. he should've stayed home annd just ignored alex. he could've slept in annd played his video games all day, much more productive than a first day at school. well, it was over now, thank goodness.
he wanted to catch up with alex annd hopefully get some time on the fields before the weather turned for the worst, so he pulled out his phone annd started to text him. alex was probably just going to pick up his sisters from school annd just head home, anyways. daren suddenly stopped typing. he had completly forgotten he promised the girls! he quickly erased what he had typed annd sent a revised text message.
**** (return of the asterics!! haha)
alex jumped a little when his phone went off in his pocket. the only one who ever texted him was daren, so he didn't bother reading it. daren wouldn't mind if he waited to text back. right now, he was more concerned about easing the guilt.
"earlier, in class annd at lunch, i couldn't really explain why i couldn't join your team. sorry about that... but i'll explain after we pick up my sisters from school, ok?"
after he was sure t.c. would follow, alex started towards the elementary school a small distance away from the highschool, somewhat down the street (haha, is that vague or what?! haha). it wasn't much of a walk, so alex took a second to glance at the text before they entered the school.
he shook his head after reading the text. daren could be such an idiot sometimes. (haha they call eachother that alooot)
once inside the school alex was overwhelmed with the amount of people. he had to sidestep to get against the wall, away from the nearest crowd of parents. in the sea of parents and children, alex tried to find his sisters, any of them. he looked around for angie first, the oldest of his sisters annd two years younger than him. before he could get a proper look he felt a tug on his backpack. he turned around to see page grinning up at him, still tugging on his backpack. behind her was angie, nose in her pink ds, annd lynn clinging to angie's arm.
page wasted no time jumping onto alex, so he had no choice but to pick her up. She was small even for a second grader, so alex had no trouble picking her up. He had to brush some of her long dark hair out of his face, though, before he could keep holding her. after distinguishing which strands of hair were hers annd his, since his own had managed to get onto his face too, he finally was able to breath again.
"hey page-"
"that isn't daren." page stated, pointing at t.c.
alex shifted her in his arms, so she was resting on his good shoulder. "nope. his name's t.c., he's a pretty cool guy."
"so, you're going to buy us ice cream then?" page asked t.c.
"he-hey, what? don't ask guys you don't know for ice cream!" alex half-heartedly scolded page.
"she's been rambling on about it since i picked them up from class." angie muttered while taking a brief pause from her ds game.
"uh-right, let's just get out of here first." he led the small group outside, away from the noisy inside of the school.
"but daren promised! if we went to school today annd didn't get in trouble he'd buy us ice cream." page all but yelled into his ear once they were outside.
"he did? well, maybe its good for his wallet that he didn't keep his promise this time, then. come on, let's go home now."
“but,” page repeated, annd wriggled out of his arms to stand on the ground, “daren promised!”
“you’re not going to the fields with daren today? don’t you guys always go there when he doesn’t have practice or a game?” lynn asked.
lynn stood beside page now, with a frown marking her face. he couldn’t help thinking she looked just like their mother. he sighed after realizing he was probably going to be the one buying the ice cream now.
“no, it’s probably going to rain anyways. we’d get all the way out there only to turn around again.”
angie stepped beside alex annd pointed further down the sidewalk they were on. he looked to where she was pointing only to see an ederly woman pushing a bunch of rolling boxes (have you ever seen teachers with those huuuuge rolling boxes? haha, theyre pretty funy).
“ it’s mrs. doesntneedaname!” angie called from beside alex.
he recognized his former second grade teacher, who was lynn’s last years annd page’s this year, when she turned to wave at them.
"can we help her pack her car?!" lynn asked, suddenly excited; which seemed out of character for her, he thought.
he was about to say no, since they really needed to get home before the rain started, but the three of them screaming please at once was enough to convince him.
he rubbed the back of his now aching head. “well, I guess I can’t resist that, now can i? go on, but hurry up!”
after all three of the girls dropped their bags for him to watch they sprinted off towards the teacher, each carrying boxes annd such for her. he sighed. now that he was alone with t.c. again he had to explain properly.
“the reason I can’t play… I mean, I want to play, I really do… this isn’t, like, an excuse or anything…” alex stumbled with words, trying to find the right way to say it.
he had this conversation only once before, annd he had hated it. although, with daren, it was quite different. he was angry back then, annd he still was to a point. all he wanted was to play on a real team, not just with daren annd some of his buddies during their practices or after school. he couldn’t though, annd just like last time he was going to have to accept that.
he took a deep breath annd turned to face t.c.. he was going to just tell him the truth annd be serious about it. "they're the reason i can't play. my mother works alot, so i'm usually stuck watching them. i'm sorry, but if i can't find a way to take care of them then there’s no way i can play baseball."
*woo, uber long reply!! (words=1,1223 haha) annd, for when I end up adding description: alex= black hair, blue eyes; page the same; lynn= light brown hair, blue eyes; angie= light brown hair green eyes; daren= dark brown hair, brown eyes*
BTW- changed his number of sis.s from four to three... bc, five siblings was just too much to write, haha. so elizabeth didn't make the cut, haha.
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