Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Lasts & Firsts

The following takes place the day after Chapter 1:

            Jake lamented the underwhelming sensation he felt as he parked his red Jetta in the employee parking lot for the first time.  It was his last first day of high school.  He strutted down the corridor doling out sporadic head nods and hellos, as well as a couple of full-fledged low-fives.

            He took his usual seat on the bench, between Dylan and Erica, one arm around each.  He couldn’t help but smile.  He saw them staring, whispering, and he loved it.  That morning he had arrived early with Dylan and pulled up the blog on every computer screen in the library.  Day 2 and they were rapidly approaching 1,000 hits.  They’d hardly been back an hour and everyone was talking about their creation.

            A small pack of sophomores approached.

            “I read your post,” one daring underclassman blurted out.

            “It was really good,” another chimed in and blushed.

            Jake winked and said, “Thanks,” as the girls giggled and scurried away.

            “You guys have fans,” Erica joked.

            Dylan retorted, “You have to start somewhere.”

They all laughed as the crowds started to disperse, with eager students ambling away to their first classes of the term.  Finally, one by one, they each got up, bag over shoulder, en route to Spanish or, Woodshop, or European History.  Jake was the last to get up, as he sat and took in the scene.

For most, it was just another day of school, but for him it was something more.  He knew he would remember this one for quite some time.  But, this was no time to reminisce, far from it.  It was time to get to work.  Time to make a change for the better.  Jake still wasn’t quite sure what he'd done, but he knew it was the start of something big.  Perhaps he’d even write about it one day.