Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Friday
I sat there, staring at the clock. 2:50. I looked back down at my scrap paper. Blank. I examined the other students around the room, trying to see if anyone else was having as hard a time as I was. Most kids' pencils were moving feverishly on the paper, their answers almost flowing directly from their brains onto the page. I looked back at the clock. 2:51. Turning my attention back to the paper, I tried desperately to get something down. My pencil touches the page and waits for its directions, but I give it none. I just sit there, hoping that this godforsaken period will just end. I took another peek at the clock. 2:53. One more minute , I thought to myself. I took another peek at the paper, once again reading the first question. Evaluate the equation: . 2/5 + [-(3/7)] b). -(2/9) + 1/6 c). -(2/3) x 1/4 d). 7/12 ÷ [-(1 3/4). My head started spinning as I read, trying to understand the words yet failing miserably. I started to panic, until I heard the sweet melody that is the ring of the bell. 2:54. I grabbed my books and rushed out the door to my locker. I shoved all my stuff into my backpack and was about to leave until a certain blonde-haired boy walked up to the locker next to me.
“Whatcha doin’ there, football boy?” Questioned Cap as he grabbed his backpack from his locker. I smiled at him, amused by his uncreative nickname.
“The same thing you are. Hightailing it outta this hellhole.” He laughed at my crude remark, then gestured for me to walk with him. I quickly threw on my backpack and followed, walking slowly to try and match his relaxed pace.
“You excited for our sleepover tonight?” He asked, looking at me with his goofy little grin. I was. I had been thinking about that day ever since he had asked me about it on Monday, enthusiastically waiting for the end of the school week so that we could finally have the joyous event.
“Yeah,” I responded nonchalantly.
“Same dude! I’ve been thinking about it all week.” We reached our homeroom and stood near my desk, still chatting excitedly about what we wanted to do during the sleepover. A few minutes later, our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Vogel, dismissed us and walked through the hallway and out the front entrance, grabbing our bikes from the rack as we left.
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We stopped outside Cap’s condo building, locking up our bikes at the bike racks near the entrance. We then quickly made our way up the stairs to the third floor, where Cap’s condo was located, and ran down the hall to his condo. Cap swiftly pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, holding it open for me as I stepped inside.
“Rain’s out with her friends tonight and won’t be home until around 11, which means that we’ve got the house all to ourselves,” Cap declared excitedly.
“Nice,” I said, smiling. I went into the living room and sat down on the navy blue couch located in the middle of the room.
“So, what do we do now?” Cap asked. I shrugged at the question, not really knowing what to do either. He sat down on the couch and stared at me expectantly, since I was the one who actually knew about these things. I thought for a moment, then looked at him and said with a big grin, “How about we play a card game?” Cap smiled at the idea and got up to go get a deck of playing cards. He returned a few seconds later, holding a stack of cards and a large, flat piece of cardboard.
“What’s the cardboard for?”
“To put the cards on,” Cap replied. He then put the cardboard sheet onto the floor and sat on the space in front of it. I got up and sat parallel to him, then took the deck and started to shuffle it.
“Which card game are we gonna play?” He inquired as he watched me ungracefully shuffle the deck.
“How about Go Fish? It’s simple to play and the games never last too long.”
“Ok!” We played a few rounds of Go Fish for a bit, then decided to watch some movies. The hours flew by as we watched movie after movie, until it was already 8p.m. Deciding that we should start heading to bed now, we turned off the TV. I grabbed my overnight bag from my backpack and headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth, Cap doing the same after I finished. Cap turned off the lights in his room, and we laid down on our sleeping bags, situated to the side of Cap’s bed.
“Goodnight, Darryl,” Cap said in a small voice. I, however, was already fast asleep.