SCHOOL OF ROCK

My dad came into my room before he left for work. His face was now a more defined picture of health.

He was ready to go to work and I was ready to go to school after I had eaten breakfast.

"Morning, dad"

"Morning," he grunted back. He glanced around my room. It was totally different from every other boy's room. Impeccably neat and so arranged. My dad looked at the bookshelf protruding from the wall. I saw him frown when he saw Ben Bova's In Quest of Quasars: An Introduction To Stars And Star-like Objects.

He picked it up.

"This is what messes with your mind"; he told me as he reached for David Dietz's Stars and the Universe.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't afford extra restrictions.

He stopped suddenly and looked up, readjusting his glasses like he had seen questions floating on the air.

"Where's the medical dictionary I gave you?"

"I traded it for some books at the library. Those things make me want to retch", I replied absentmindedly.

My father shot a glance at me. It was so intense that I felt I have been slapped.

"And I didn't retch. That's why you have food on your table and decent education", he retorted.

He dropped the books on my bed and reached for the laptop.

-----------------

Well, after my dad had carted everything away, we ate breakfast and he drove me and Jane to school. He always did. But the school bus always brought us back by noon.

As he drove through the street, he put on some Bruno Mars' music. The music was soothing. It did sound like space. I wanted to talk to Jane about what had happened yesterday night but I couldn't. Dad never allowed us to talk in the car. He said it distracted him.

But as I and Jane sat back, we engaged in silent conversations where our eyes did the talking. But we understood ourselves.

"Jane, I want to tell you something", my eyes said. She could sense the gleam in my eyes.

"We can't talk now" her eyes replied curtly.

"I wrote to a pulsar yesterday night and it replied back", I told her.

Just then, her cheeks puffed in suppressed laughter and she began to cough.

"What is wrong?" my dad asked without turning.

"Nothing", she simply replied.

The conversation came to an end. I thought she was laughing at the prospect of sending a star a message.

"Your stop", my dad called out.

I looked out of my window at the right and discovered that we had gotten to our school. I tugged at my seat belt and yanked it free.

Champion Creek Academy has a huge layout. And it is a private school so we have uniforms. And indeed, we look smart in the navy blue trousers, white shirts, navy blue blazers and a tie with the same hue.

The girls wear skirt unlike other private schools that wear pinafores. The school has a football field, a baseball field, a basketball court, a swimming pool,- Gosh, you would think it was a recreational center. Palmetto trees thrived and Carolina jessamine bloomed on the hedges.

A fountain in the shape of a trophy was in a sort of roundabout in the front of the school.

I have been attending this school since preschool but I still marvel at the intricate masterpiece of architecture surrounded by the brick walls.

Jane nudged me by the side.

"You were saying?"

"You laughed, for goodness sake". I felt like tugging at her ponytails.

"I just want you to clarify something". She twirled a ponytail round her index finger.

"Okay". I finally give in. "I wrote a message to a pulsar yesterday night and I got a reply in a strange code"

Jane burst out laughing.

"What's funny?" I frowned.

"Do you remember that I was grounded?"

I nodded, oblivious of where the conversation was heading.

"Okay. But I was grounded for just dinner time. I still have my freedom."

I used my right palm to cover my face in frustration and sighed.

"How does it relate?" I groaned.

"Hey relax, big bro. The patient dog eats the fattest bone." she smirked.

"That's if the impatient ones wouldn't have eaten it. Just tell me, will you?"

Jane was enjoying this game.

"I hacked your laptop yesternight and found your message. So, I disabled my location and sent you a message back in Voltex code. I guess it brought a reply back in gibberish symbols. And you taught your message got to a pulsar? With just 1.316x10/18 Hz?"

She ran off, laughing, and I realized that I've walked past my class. My sister is so annoying.

----------------

History class was so whack. Mr. Frizz kept asking us to repeat the words "Dum Spiro Spero". Like, who didn't know the state's motto?

I was relieved when the bell the end of the period, rang. My tongue was hurting.

I walked through the hallway and headed for my locker. I bumped into Nigel, a fellow classmate.

Some people describe 'bumped' as meeting someone unexpectedly but I explain 'bumped' as ignoring or trying to escape from someone and you finally meet them around.

"Hey, Judd", he called out.

I groaned inwardly.

"What's up?", he asked after he got no reply.

"The sky? Or the stars?" The sarcasm was strong in my voice but he ignored it.

The fact that Nigel wanted to talk meant he needed fresh gist or he wanted to gossip. This chestnut-haired, lanky boy had such a taste for gossip that sometimes my mind always mistook him for a girl.

"I saw a letter addressed to your father in Principal Mullen's office", he began, "What was it about?"

"I didn't read it. You said it yourself that it was addressed to my father."

"You don't want to tell me that you exchanged your medical courses with aerospace courses?"

Before I could refute any of his words, he spat on.

"My dad wants me to be a lawyer but I want to be a journalist",

"Wow! It really fits you". The sarcasm came with a double dose.

I walked past him before he said another thing.

At my locker, I experienced a little difficulty in opening it. My hands were full with notebooks and textbooks that I didn't even use in class because a teacher didn't prepare for his class and kept asking us to repeat 'Dum Spiro Spero'

I yanked at the locker. The darkened red metal opened and I dropped my books inside. The walls in my locker had stickers of planets, stars, comets and asteroids pasted on it.

I searched for my Geography notebook among the stacked book in the locker. That was when my hand touched something smooth. Something that wasn't meant to be there. Something with a bit of mystery. Urgh! I'll tell you already.

I brought it out of the locker and peered into my palms. It was a medium-sized red pebble.

I didn't know how it got into my locker, but what use is a pebble?