1 Chapter 001

Logan awoke to the sound of his alarm with a small groan. He didn't like waking up early, his body just enjoyed the warm embrace of his blankets. Despite his body's refusal, Logan dragged himself out of bed to take a shower. The nice warm water giving him the relaxing wake up he enjoyed. He then dried off, got into a green t-shirt and jeans, and made his way up the stairs to the living room.

"Morning Logan," his mother said as she sat in her rocking chair.

"Morning Mom," he replied back, "Sleep well?"

"The usual," she sighed, " The dogs were barking at three in the morning again."

Logan nodded in understanding, looking out the window at the two dog brothers sitting on the front porch. One was all black with a patch of white on his chest, the other a mix of tan and black. Both were a mix of wolf and lab, along with a few others that he couldn't think of. Logan went to the kitchen where his father was cooking and grabbed a plate.

"You ready for school?" his father asked, "It is your last year."

"I know," he replied, "It just kinda came up on me, I'm not sure what to think. But I feel ready to give it a try."

"That's good," his father said, "The last thing you want to feel is unprepared. Ready for some eggs?"

Logan nodded and placed his plate next to the pan where his dad was cooking. After being served his meal, he sat down and began eating. His father brought over a glass of juice as he finished half of his plate. After breakfast, he grabbed his bag and started to place his stuff into the old Jeep that his mother drove. The wait for one of his parents to get ready to drive usually wasn't a long one, but he felt excitement coursing through him as he prepared for his final year in high school.

The drive to Logan's school was one he considered unusual. It started with a turn off of the main road into the hills, and down a small road that was mostly paved, but had a section of dirt in it. Logan enjoyed this road, seeing as it showed a sense of rustic backcountry living to it. Logan's school also showed a similar aspect. It was a smaller school, but better than some others.

As he walked down to his classroom, he caught sight of three boys playing at the basketball court. Two were blonde haired, with one being very tall, and the third was brown haired and rather skinny. These were Logan's three best friends. The tall blonde one was Jasper, who was a bit irritating sometimes but still a good friend. The other blonde was Matt, who was the all around honest friend, but also very funny. Finally, there was Kenneth, who was fun to hang around with, but came off as a space cadet sometimes. They all caught sight of him and stopped their game to catch up.

"Morning Logan," Matt said, "Had a good summer?"

"Good enough," Logan replied, "Spent it either with you three or at summer camp helping out."

"Get your driver's license yet?" asked Jasper.

"Dude, why do you always ask that? You know I don't have a good enough car to take the test," Logan said.

"Then get a job," Jasper retorted, "Then you can get a car."

"I had  a job," he replied, "Then I got laid off due to less customers."

"Guys, just drop it," Matt said, "It's no use getting riled up about this."

The two friends shrugged their shoulders and approached the door to one of the three classrooms that the high school had. Inside, a older woman was sitting at the desk in the back corner of the room, smiling as she saw the group walk in.

"Morning Susan," the four said.

"Hey guys," she replied in a cheerful tone, "You won't be starting in here. You're first class is with Dave, here are the schedules."

The four friends thanked their teacher and made their way to where they needed to be. Susan didn't ask them to call her by her last name, like many school systems, because of the fact that the size of the school was so small that they all got to know each other on a personal level. In fact, they're high school usually consisted of between ten and thirteen students. This year, Logan was the only graduating senior, and his friends were next in line.

As they walked, they continued to talk about the coming year and what it might entail.

"We're still doing the school D&D club right?" asked Logan.

"Of course we are," Matt replied, "We just need to talk to Susan about when we can use her room."

"It's going to be hard for me to always show up," Kenneth said, "I've got a singing bowl class on Thursdays."

"Singing bowl?" Logan asked, "Where's this happening?"

"Community center," Kenneth replied, "It's about the same time as when we usually have D&D."

"That sucks," Matt said, "If we start a campaign, it's hard to just place you in the middle of it."

"As long as you don't make another dumb Caucasian subrace," Logan commented, "Last time you tried that you died in the first battle."

Before Kenneth could reply, they made there way to the front of the classroom door. Peering in they saw that no one was inside. They entered the room and walked in, setting their bags next to where they were going to sit.

"By the way Logan," Matt said, sitting next to him, "Guess who's in the 10th grade class?"

"Dunno," Logan replied, "Who?"

"Ruth Baker," Matt answered.

"As in Faye Baker's sister?" Logan asked.

Matt nodded his head. Faye and Logan had a young love relationship in elementary school. When they were both in junior high, they were in different schools and could not keep up the relationship. They parted as friends, but he then always saw Faye's sister Ruth as a cousin. He hadn't spoken to Ruth recently, but he did get calls and messages from her during the summer.

"You thinking of dating her?" Jasper snarked, "Even for you that's low."

"Why the hell would you ask that?" Logan replied, "Last time I remember you trying to get a girl, she left for Florida before you realized she liked you."

"Screw you Logan," Jasper sneered.

Before anyone could make any other remarks, the door opened and the teacher Dave walked in. He set his books on the far side of his desk that faced the students and started passing out textbooks to the four students.

"Morning boys," Dave said, "We all ready for some chemistry?"

The four nodded as they received their textbooks. Their teacher began to talk about how the school year will go in terms of academics. Their next class was math, which they didn't need to move to another classroom because Dave was also their math teacher. Though in Logan's case, he was asked to do an online course because he had already done the algebra class the other three were taking.

The rest of the day was in Susan's classroom. When lunch came around, they walked outside to a table where the school cook was setting up. Since it was a small school, they weren't supported by the school lunch program. Instead, they hired someone to cook for the school.

"Wonder what lunch is today," Logan said, "Curry rice maybe?"

"I'd say quesadilla," Matt replied.

As his friends continued to talk to each other, Logan caught someone in the corner of his eye. A tall blonde girl sitting at the stairway bench. Her hat covered her face and her headphones covering her ears. She didn't have a bowl of lunch, maybe she wasn't hungry? Should he ask her?

"Hey Logan, you paying attention?" Jasper said, "Or are you thinking about your next crush?"

"I may be spacing out, but I can still hear you," he replied, "And I told you I'm not going to date her."

Before either of them could banter further, Matt stepped in between them and walked Logan ahead to then front of the line.

"Just let it go Logan," Matt said, "He'll keep doing that because it gets to you."

"I know," he replied, "But he's been doing this kind of the thing for years, you'd think he'd change by now."

"I'm right there with you," Matt said, "But it's Jasper, he's got his moments where he's serious. You know this, so just let it go."

Logan nodded as he made his way to the front of the line. Matt was right, today's lunch was quesadilla. He grabbed his bowl and looked back at the bench where Ruth was sitting. She still was there, hadn't moved from her spot.

"Can I grab another bowl?" he asked, "For one of the students?"

She nodded her head and passed him a second bowl. He thanked her, and made his way over.

"This looks like you making a move," Jasper said.

Logan didn't reply, but just decided to take Matt's advice. He just kept on walking, not letting his friend get the better of him.