Chapter One: Business as Usual

It was noon on what was shaping out to be a very good day. There were no signs of the clouds and storm systems that had hit Alameda the day before. A fog was covering the hills of Mt. Trashmore which had, since being a trash heap, become green and lush, despite its name. I was sitting outside with my friends on the Ice Cream Dock of Bay Farm Isle. We were all just hanging out and having a good time; what teenagers can do together.

The Vietnamese lady that owned the place, I think her name was Ms. Hsaio or something, was looking over at us. She was probabaly wondering when we would pull out 9's and rob her. Everyone made jokes about Ms. Hsaio especially, she would watch over teenagers like a hawk. But then again, most of the storekeepers in Alameda look at the teenage population like shoplifters. Of course, the employees working at The Ice Cream Dock, now, were mostly teenagers anyway.

Amy started talking about how the weather had been acting up. Justin, her boyfriend said it was probably because of La Nina. Look at us, drawn into talking about the weather and such seasonal things as La Nina. There was no real good chat since a few weeks ago when I broke up with my first boyfriend, Sean. He was acting like a jerk . . .

It all started with a phone call at 8:48am on Saturday. My mom came in saying it was Sean. The first grab for the phone, mom pulled it away from me. She has this big goofy grin on her face.

I snatched the phone on the second try, “Hello?”

“Hey Gabe,” Sean chirped into the phone, “What's up?”

“Oh I don't know; it's 8:48 in the morning.”

I guess I couldn't make myself sound angry enough. From there, I can't remember what went on. I heard his voice; but, I wasn't really paying attention to anything else. For all I know he could have asked me to give him my left kidney! But, at 10am , his mom dropped him off at my house. I was getting off my ass to go to the bathroom after being online for, who know's who long. As Sean entered, I waved to Kristen, his mom. She waved and drove off, leaving Sean with me; standing in the dorway.

“Hi,” I said, rather dryly.

“Hey, I brought a video game.” He stated excitedly.

“Which one?” Was my reply, as I searched his eyes for any acknowledgment that it was 10am and I should still be asleep if it wasn't for him.

“Foresaken.” Which is what you'll be if you don't calm down you little shit!

When he walked in, he handed me my CD player, which I lent him for a few days. (God, what love does to people. Love . . . if you could call it that). He tells me that the batteries are out. I say thanks for getting it back so promptly and put it on my bed. Sean asks if we could play video games. I popped my head in downstairs to see if my dad was watching T.V. He was; a football game. (Why do they stop showing cartoons at 10am? I love to watch them.)

I told Sean that my Dad was watching TV and that we'd have to wait to play. He said okay and hopped on my computer. I wasn't surprised that he didn't even ask. To him, I guess I was just a hunk of flesh that kept him away from his crazy mom and useless step dad. How do people get this messed up?

Sean was busy playing “Star Wars: Episode One Racer” while I was still trying to go back to sleep. Five minutes later, we went downstairs to play Foresaken. Dad had finished watching TV and I popped the game in. I thought I had not played Foresaken before, but, when the main graphic came up, I noticed that I had. Foresaken was probably the only game that Sean could win when played against me . During the game, he would gloat like a hormone-pumped 23 year old with a disposition for n arcissism . I don't know why I didn't let him know that he was pissing me off by making rude comments . He would say things such as, “You suck” and “God dude, I killed you bad” . Why didn't I say anything?!

Foresaken was probably the only game that Sean could win when played against me. During the game, he would gloat like a hormone-pumped 23 years old with a disposition for Narcissism. I don't know why I didn't let him know that he was pissing me off by making rude comments. He would say things such as, “You suck” and “God dude, I killed you bad”. Why didn't I say anything?!

After the few hours of playing Foresaken and not listening to Sean, I ended up whooping his ass by a good 18-5. Too bad I don't gloat; I'd be having a field day. Well, I did gloat. I'm entitled to a few now and then, right? Thought so. We quickly moved on to more video games. After I cleaned his clock at those too, we headed upstairs because it was time for him to leave. And not a moment too soon for him to leave either. He was getting on my nerves. I asked my dad to drive him home, he said okay. He went in my room to get his stuff, and when he came back out, guess what he had? My cd player and some batteries.

“I need my CD player.” I told him.

“Why?” He asked me.

“Because.” I said, a little firmer than I meant.

“Why?” He said again.

My dad saved Sean from being brutally ripped apart. Thank god, just because we were on a hard-wood floor at the moment didn't mean that Sean's blood would be hard to clean up. He took Sean out to the car and drove him home. We never did get to finish that scene with Sean. Too bad too, it would have been interesting to see his next moves played out. I probably would have said, Just because. And he would have said why one more time, pushing me over the edge. At that point, I would probably twist his arm farther than it should be able to go and break it off . . . . Or not.

Sitting on the Ice Cream Dock was three weeks ago. Now, I was sitting in fourth period waiting for lunch to come rolling around. God, was I hungry. It was probably some sign that I was to turn into a wolfman on the next full moon. Ms. Adam, my CORE teacher, was rattling on about the Americans v. Native Americans, here words sounded as if I was underwater and she was trying to talk me back up. In other words, I wasn't listening to a thing she was saying. Earlier that day, I ran into Scott Peterson, my friend of around five years. I was dreaming about some type of Sci-Fi world where the woman would be used as a last-ditch reproductive process, while needlessly beautiful men would rule the rest of the world. Pretty messed up, but hey, I was really bored, really. When I stopped to apoligize. He has been looking cuter lately. I don't know why. I guess I have just started to look at him in a different way. I am so jealous of him though, he is a total hottie, he gets all of the girls. The more girls that guy gets the more I want him. But, I still have somehting on him, my hairstyle. No one can beat my style with hair.

Scott Peterson is shorter than me - average height, for someone our age. Beautifully shaped eyes, the color of and emarald. It's hard to be friends with him, at some point I just want to hold him so bad. But I can't do that. Scott is straight. I make even a remote pass at him and I am dead; our friendship would be over. And I don't want to ruin our, now, closer friendship by telling him that I've always been in love with him.

Whoa, did I just say "Love"?