Chapter 1: Jimmy

It was after school, and I was tuckered out from all the school work that was due today. "Dude, I didn't get any sleep," I sighed. "Well maybe if you had studied more..." I heard someone interject. It came from behind me. Suddenly that same person patted me on the shoulder. It was Jimmy.

Jimmy and I were in the same home room, but that was really the only time we saw each other. I wouldn't say I was a dumb person, but compared to him, my iq was average at best. He walked next to me as we both went to get our bicycles from the bike rack, right outside of the school.

"So, how have your classes been treating you?" I asked, trying to make small talk since it was awkward just to walk in silence. "Same old, same old," he said, obviously deep in thought. "Hey, why don't you come back to my house, my mom is making meatloaf and I need to work on a project, I could really use your help," he said. It took me off guard since we only had one class together. How could he trust me enough to ask me to come to his house? "Sure, but I might doze off," I said. "I only got 3 hours of sleep last night trying to finish all of my work".

We biked in silence until the intersection came. I stopped. "Do you want me to just bike to your house with you or-" I was cut off. "Come over now, I could really use the help and I need to start as soon as possible". It sounded more like he was demanding than asking. "Ok". It was a very dry response, I know, but that was all I could think of at the time.