Issue One

Even wrapped up, he could feel the icy wind. He could hear the yelling but he had no idea what was being said. He tried to look around, but his head was stuck in one position, pressed firmly up against something.

Suddenly, the yelling stopped. He felt himself being flung. Then he was falling.

No.

Not falling…

“Alexander Anderson, you need to get up this instant. It’s nearly seven. You’re going to miss your bus.”

He opened his eyes, uncertain of where he was for a moment. “Five…more…minutes,” he finally pleaded. It wasn’t his first time having the dream; he was always exhausted after it, though.

His father, Eugene Anderson (Gene for short), stood at the foot of the bed with his hands at his side, “Champ, you know I’d let you sleep until it’s dark again, but your mom will have both of our hides. Now come on. Up you go,” he pulled the comforter off of the bed.

 “I’m up,” Alex said. “I’m up.” He rubbed his eyes and looked at his dad. Alex knew enough not to push it. He stood up, stretched, and quickly made his way to his closet

Alex ran downstairs and saw his mom, Alice, cycling on the back porch. She brushed a gob of hair out of her face and waved at him as he passed.

Both of his parents worked. Gene worked at Lorns’ Industries. His day didn’t begin until 8, but he liked getting to the office early to enjoy the artisan coffee that Mr. Lorns provided. Alex didn’t know exactly what his dad did, but he knew that his father had worked there long enough to have had worked for two generations of Lorns. He would work for a third before he got the chance to retire.

His mom taught contemporary literature and creative writing at the local community college. She had managed it so her first class didn’t start until ten thirty, but, much like his father, she enjoyed getting to work early. His mom tutored struggling students in the library some days and others she just listened to music in her office.

Alex looked at himself in the small bathroom mirror. He was getting ready for his first day of high school. Four years of absolute hell if everything he heard was to be believed.

Alex Anderson was not impressive. He was tall but gangly, barely weighing 120 lbs. His arms were long and his body was scrawny. He kept his hair buzzed as short as he could, otherwise it would be a tangled mess.

Alex stepped into the shower. He didn’t have a lot of time.

He had wanted to try out for sports or to join a lifting club, but his mom would never let him. I just don’t want those other boys breaking you in half. Alex always heard it in her voice.

He turned the shower off and stepped out to dry off. His parents had told him to try and be as sociable as he could. They reiterated that neither one wanted him trying out for a sport, but they pushed the idea of an after school club on him. They pushed that idea hard.

You know, it’s a great way to meet people his mother had said.

Your mom and I actually met while we were working on student council his dad continued. The story of how they met was something both of them loved to share, no matter how many times Alex had heard it.

It’s going to look great on a college resume.

After school clubs and volunteering will get you further than sports ever could

Both were lines they loved to use. Both were probably true.

You could do the musical his mother would say you do have a lovely singing voice.

You could join the science club. Lorns’ Industries is always looking for high school interns with an interest in science and engineering. They pay too his dad would say.

Any of these seemed like possible, but Alex wasn’t all that desperate to meet new people. He had time to think, though. Clubs wouldn’t get started until the third week of school. Freshman orientation had made that clear.

Alex grabbed his bag and checked his phone. He barely had enough time to make it to the bus stop. He grabbed the breakfast bar and the bottle of juice that his mom was holding, gave her a kiss, and ran out the door.

He didn’t notice the man across the street watching him.

Alex made it to the bus with a minute to spare; he didn’t see Dan waiting for him. Instead, Meagan Lynn was sitting on the bench by herself.

Every muscle in his body stopped moving.

Her black hair was brushed out, creating a dark mist around her face. Her skin seemed darker than normal; she had just gotten back from Florida with her family. She was radiant.

Meagan spotted him and waved. He managed to wave back. His hand trembled as it fell to his side; he hadn’t seen Meagan in nearly three months.

“Alex,” she yelled, “how was your summer?” She jumped up and hugged him.

Alex shrugged, “It was all right. Kind of boring.”

She cocked her head at him, “I don’t believe, for one second, that you and Daniel didn’t get into a little bit of trouble.”

Alex shook his head, “Nope. Dan went to football camp up in Orion and I stayed here with my parents. Nothing really new.” He straightened up as she inched closer to him on the bench. “Nothing really at all.”

“That does sound boring.” Alex nodded. She motioned to the bus that was pulling up, “Our ride is here.” Alex grabbed his bag and followed her onto the bus. They found an open seat so they could sit together.

“I think I’m going to focus on the piano,” Meagan said after they had both sat down.

“What?” He wasn’t certain how the topic had switched so quickly.

“The piano, I think I’m going to focus on that for the Chamberlain High Orchestra. I’ve been practicing a lot and I think I have a really good shot at being selected for a concert piece.”

“That’d be awesome,” Alex said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you play.”

“You’ve never asked.”

“Well,” Alex said with a boost of confidence that he wasn’t sure how he found, “consider this me asking. I’d love to listen to you play.”

Meagan smiled, “That’d be cool.”

Alex smiled, “So no more cheering for you?”

She shrugged, “I wanted to cheer, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do both.”

“So it looks like I’m not going to have to be the star player to get your attention this year.”

Meagan laughed, “You think you could be a star player?” Alex glared which made her laugh even harder, “I’m sorry. I guess I never took you for the athletic type. Tell you what? I’ll take you seriously if you can tell me one position in football.”

Alex crossed his arms and slid down in his seat, “I know the quarterback,” he muttered.

Meagan clapped her hands, “Congratulations Mr. Star Player!”

“Shut up,” Alex said. Meagan did not shut up. In fact, she kept talking for the whole ride.

Alex and Meagan parted as soon as they got to school. He had lost his schedule and had to get another one; unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one. There was a line in the office, almost to the door, waiting to speak to the office lady.

“May I help you,” the lady croaked. “Did you lose your information too?” Alex nodded and heard her mutter freshmen under her breath.

“Don’t be too hard on the kids,” a graying man said, walking out of his office. He looked at Alex with a warm smile, “What’s your name?”

“Alex…Alex Anderson.”

“Mr. Anderson,” the man said, “I’m Mr. Jones, the principal here at Chamberlain High.”

“Yeah,” Alex said, “I think I saw you at orientation.”

The man smiled, “I ran a few of the workshops.”

“No, sir. I wasn’t in one of your workshops. I just saw you in the hall.”

“Observant young man,” he gently patted Alex on the shoulder, “take care of this one, won’t you?”

The office lady shrugged and handed Alex a warm sheet of paper, “Alex Anderson, locker 363 up on the third floor. Your combination and class schedule is on the back.”

Dan stood by his locker talking to Junior when Alex made it to the third floor. Dan was visibly excited. “Hey, Double A,” Dan slapped Alex on the back.

“What’s going on,” Alex asked.

“Dan’s excited because we both made the team,” Junior rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t that good,” Alex asked. “Why aren’t you excited?”

“Everyone makes the freshman team,” Junior shrugged. “My dad will be happy that I’m on the team, though.” Junior, or Peter Lorns Junior, was the son of the CEO of Lorns’ Industries and – at least according to Dan – worth so much money it would make you cry. “So long as I’m active in sports and focus on science he’ll keep letting me work at the factory.” Junior also worked as a janitor at his father’s business on weekends and over the summer.

“Get off it,” Dan said. “We made the team because we the best,” Junior shook his head but Dan didn’t notice. “I’ll tell you what,” Dan said, shoving Alex a little bit, “I’m going to own this team by senior year. I’m the best quarterback this school has ever seen!”

“They haven’t won a season since we’ve been alive,” Junior said, “I’m sure any fresh blood is appreciated.” Dan, with a smile on his face, sung that’s about to change.

“You guys have already started practicing,” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Dan said, “three-a-days for the past two weeks.”

 “Yeah, we’re finally getting a break,” Junior said, “Only one practice a day after school. All we have to do is survive eight classes without getting a detention and then survive another three hours of practice. And then homework, but that’s not really important.”

“Fun,” Alex mocked.

“You should come out,” Dan yelled. Junior rolled his eyes. “They’re still taking bodies that want to play. I’m sure you could get on the practice squad or something.”

“Thanks,” Alex shook his head, “but you know my mom wouldn’t go for that.”

“I forgot about Alice and her hatred of all things fun,” Dan sighed.

“Say that to her face,” Alex challenged.

“I’m a brave man, Alex, not a stupid one. But that’s fine, I guess. We need fans just as much as we need players. Someone needs to cheer the first freshman quarterback to make varsity.”

Junior laughed, “We should just let people know that the future of Chamberlain Knights football just made the team. The best and the bravest so long as coach doesn’t line him up across from Mrs. Anderson.”

Dan punched him, “I’m the quarterback; my line would protect me from her.” He looked over at Alex, “What classes you got? Maybe we’ll get to hang out all day.” They only had English and history together. “Maybe it’ll be better next semester,” he shrugged.

“At least we all have lunch,” Junior offered.

The bell rang and the children scattered.

Alex’s day started with English. He sat there, quietly, as the teacher went over the syllabus. The class seemed interesting, but boring. The teacher, Mr. King, didn’t seemed as miserable as the kids were being there.

His next classes – Spanish, Algebra, and computer science – went the same as his English class had. The teachers went over their syllabi and then took questions about the class. The computer teacher tried to change things up with an ice-breaker. None of the kids were as enthusiastic about it as the she was.

Lunch came and went. His last three classes of the day, though, dragged on. The final bell mercifully rang.

Alex walked into the school newspaper office. The paper, cleverly called the Knightly News, was one of the more popular non-athletic extra-curricular. All of the students were so busy that they didn’t notice the freshmen standing just inside the door.

“This place is kind of crazy,” a mousy red head said. Her voice sounded familiar.

“Yeah,” Alex startled as she had snuck up on him. “I wonder if this is what a news office is really like.”

“Of course it is,” the girl said. “I follow all of Jill Lang’s posts and I read her blogs religiously. This life can be crazy.”

“Jill Lang?”

“Jill Lang,” the girl repeated, “She is the youngest reporter ever hired on at the Chamberlain Star,” the girl was beginning to talk faster, “She is such an inspiration. I would love to work for her one day.”

“Yeah,” Alex said, “she sounds great.” He was watching as a boy went into the dark room with his camera. His eyes quickly darted over to a group of three students hunched over a computer, arguing.

“She is,” the girl sighed. “I’m Lindsey, by the way. Lindsey Kelly.”

“Alex Anderson.”

“I think we have a few classes together.”

Alex looked over at her but she didn’t seem familiar, “Maybe. I’m bad with faces.”

Lindsey smiled, “Well, we’ll have time to get to know each other. Are you thinking about joining the newspaper?”

Alex nodded, “Maybe. It seems really busy.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “the news never stops. They publish a new paper every week.”

Alex watched as the boy left the darkroom without the camera, “You seem to know a lot about this place.”

She just smiled. “It’s so interesting…the news is…I think of it kind of like a mystery novel. We get to write out all of the clues that we find and try to come to a conclusion that makes the most sense.”

Alex smiled, “This is just a high school paper, you know.”

Lindsey shrugged, “All kinds of stuff happen in high school.” She looked him up and down, “I think you would really like it here, too. You look like someone who needs to be heard.”

Alex wanted to ask what she meant, but he was interrupted by the sponsor of the club, Mr. King. “Glad to see so many of my new students have taken an interest in this club. Fortunately, an interest is all you can take at the moment. Due to school rules, you are to wait until the beginning of the third week to sign up. I do hope to see all of you back here at that time, but I do realize that might be a lot to ask once you see what else is out there.

“I would like to make the case that this is the only club that can get you published on a weekly basis. I can’t promise anything, but if you work hard and are dedicated to your craft, I think you will find the Knightly News to be rewarding.”

Alex smiled. It appeared that it wasn’t just freshmen that Mr. King disliked.

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