“Hello?” His house was empty. The door was open though; it shouldn’t have been open. He locked it every day. “Hello?”
Walking inside, Jake looked around. The house was two stories tall with ten or so rooms. Jake knew someone was there. His house was empty. Suddenly Jessica appeared at the upstairs railing, looking down at him in the doorway. Her face was full of tears. In her hands she held a manila folder. Jake knew what was in that folder all too well.

“Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped; we could have done something… Is this why we…?” Jessica didn’t cry. She just looked at him with pity in her eyes. Her black hair was cut short, hanging down to her shoulders. Her green eyes made him fall to pieces, but she wasn’t crying. He could stand her tears, however much it hurt him. It was the pity that tore him to shreds. Suddenly Tyler and Chase were in the doorway behind him. Each looked at him with a hollow, faked smile.

“Sorry man. Wish you didn’t have to work so much, but its just been tough to hang out lately.” Then they were gone. Jake’s throat closed up. Pity. Broken promises. It was all too much. In their place a woman with glasses and a suit appeared, tapping a pen on a clipboard.
“This place is nice. Where are your guardians, young man?”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you call her in the first place, why did you make me do it?” Jessica was crying now, but still her eyes held only disappointment, pity. She was yelling at him, screaming. The woman with her clipboard stared at him blankly. He wanted to scream. It was all too much…



Jake yelled as he woke up, trying to stand up and getting tangled in the desk. His backpack fell over the side and he went over afterward, with the desk on top of him and a headache roaring behind his eyes. Ms. Black stared at him from her place at the board. Looking around, Jake groaned. Chase and Tyler stared down at him, both trying hard not to laugh.

“Damn it…”

“Mr. Parker, please watch your language when we talk after class, or I’ll have to send you to the office on two counts of misbehavior.” The class took it in stride though several people eyed him as though they were on the verge of giggles. Jake grimaced at them and set his chair upright in its place before sitting down. Ms. Black returned to the board as if nothing had interrupted her lecture on writing style and use of devices. Halfway through, Jake found himself drooping. Suddenly the class was empty and he was sitting there alone, watching Ms. Black at the board. Everything seemed normal until the wall next to him faded away and a brick path stood where the rest of the school should have been. Jake stood and began walking. The road led up, slanting slightly toward some distant hilltop. Trees stood on either side of the walkway occasionally. But the sun had set (or was it rising?) beyond that hill, and there was something there that drew him… every step seemed to take him farther on, and yet he still didn’t make it any closer to the hilltop. Soon he was running, desperate to reach the top. The bricks began falling out of the road behind him, but he knew that it would never catch up to him. Still he ran, faster. His lungs began to burn, then his calves and thighs. He never hit the wall; he just kept feeling more and more burn in his legs. Looking down, Jake realized he had run his shoes to shreds and his feet were raw. But still he ran, until he heard the sound of bones on brick mingling with the sound of mortar falling apart and bricks breaking away behind him. No matter how much it hurt, Jake ran faster.

“Parker!” Jake rose so fast a spike of pain pierced his head behind his eyes. The feeling of blood draining from his skull made him dizzy, dizzy enough to waver in his desk chair. No one else was in class; Ms. Black stared down at him with a look of concern on her face. Victoria Black was a beautiful woman; she was barely in her late twenties and showed signs of rigorous athleticism. Behind a pair of thick black spectacles a pair of light brown eyes glittered (literally glittered Jake swore) and her face was usually makeup free, showing only radiant beauty. In her suit and skirt, she was the hottest teacher in the school. But Jake ignored all of that. His head hurt and his feet throbbed absently, as though he really had run his feet through. But he could feel the cushion of his shoes and he knew it was the dreams, not the truth.

“Yes Ms. Black?” She frowned at him; genuine concern showed on her face.

“Are you okay? Jake, this is the seventeenth time you’ve fallen asleep in class this month. I know it’s the end of the day, and you make all A’s so I let you slide. The other teachers encourage it, though they mention that you sleep through their classes too. I don’t have a problem, or I didn’t, until you started yelling and waking up and disturbing class.” She stared at him intently, worried for him. Jake, in his haze, barely registered the concern.

“You called me by my fist name…” she just stared at him.

“Are you okay, Parker?”

“No, you called me Jake. Just a second ago… you don’t call anyone by their first names. The last time you did that Madeline Bucker was crying over a failed test. You don’t EVER call students by their first names.”

“Why is that such a big deal?”

“It means you actually know our first names. I’ve had a bet going with DeLancey from our first week.” Ms. Black looked stunned, and a bit confused.

“Parker… Jake… Parker! What has been going on? You’re dodging my questions now. Why are you sleeping away school?” her expectant stare caught Jake off guard. Dodging questions, lying even, he was not against. But he hadn’t quite expected such a fervent caring reaction.
“I’m just tired. I got another job after school. The hours are hard.” She nodded.

“Well I can understand that. I’m sorry you lost the first one, Parker. But sleep better, okay?” Ms. Black gave him a sad smile and walked to her desk. Jake stood and walked out of the classroom, thinking. Suddenly his pocket buzzed and he leapt a foot into the air in shock. Pulling out his phone, he shot a glance back to the classroom; waving away Ms. Black he answered his phone.

“Hello?”

“Jake, Where are you? We’re leaving for the game and the party man and you are gonna get left.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Good, cause we’re out the front doors waiting for you dick.” Jake sighed and ended the call. The white SUV that Tyler’s mother drove sat in the parking lot. Opening the door, Jake grinned and sighed again. The car sat eight people easily; ten made it much more difficult. Tyler, Lane, Chase, and Rusty all grinned back at him. The girl in the seat in front of him, Leanne Madsen, smiled and stood halfway in her seat, letting him climb in before she lowered herself onto his lap.