01: The Beginning (1)

Chapter 1

As the sun came out into the sky, a young orphan boy watched from a window in his small room. Sunrise was one of the things he was grateful to nature for. Every day had a different appearance but they were always beautiful. As it was Friday, the boy was dressed in a school uniform and had his black hair combed back.

"It's six o'clock already?!" he hung his schoolbag over his shoulders and dashed out of his room.

"Morning Alex," an old lady greeted as he came running down the stairs.

"Morning abuela."

"Careful boy, she isn't going anywhere," she smiled. She didn't need anyone to tell her that Alex was going to Laura's room. He had been doing that for five years now.

Without sparing the lady a glance, Alex kept running till he got to his destination- a room just by the parlor. He panted as he stood by the door. His body was so weak it couldn't even handle the short race from his room to this one.

With his strength back up, Alex walked in. He smiled, seeing his best friend asleep. The beeping machines told him that her vitals were okay. She was breathing fine through the breathing aid over her mouth and nose. He held her by her hand and for a long while, watched her sleep. She had been asleep for some days now.

The doctors kept coming back to sedate Laura. According to them, her body couldn't make enough energy from food to fight the agents causing her condition. She had to sleep a lot to help her body build additional energy.

"I'm about to leave, Laura. Mister Raymond wants me to work an extra shift after school so I won't be back early, okay? Have lots of rest. I'll bring some sushi from the restaurant, and if you're awake when I return we'll share it." Tears slowly gathered in Alex's eyes as he stood up to leave.

Why did life have to be so cruel? Laura was the kindest person he knew. She would cry whenever she stepped on an ant. She always had a happy smile and would help others when she could. She didn't deserve to live like this, and as much as it hurt Alex, it angered him even more. Their lives were already hard enough; Fate was just being extra cruel by doing this to them.

Alex knew he had to leave but the thought of going out every morning had always brought a sickening feeling to his stomach. He was a full-time optimist, but sometimes he had to confront himself with the reality that he could step out of the orphanage one day and when he would return, the machines would no longer be beeping.

"You'll be fine Laura. I'll work hard and earn enough to buy your medications. I'll even clear the debt at the bank. I promise." Alex couldn't hold the tears back any longer and they slid down his pale cheeks.

Alex leaned down to kiss Laura's forehead. With his head back up, he released his hand from hers and walked out of her room. At the door, he met the old lady who took care of Laura standing. She had probably been watching him all the time he was with Laura.

"Please continue to take really good care of her. She's all I have," Alex requested, wiping his face clean.

"I will. But Alex, the days are running fast, we don't know how long she'll last in a place like this and we can't take her back to the hospital. When are you going to tell her how you feel? Don't let your love for her get tainted with the ache of regret," She advised, holding Alex by the arm.

"Not yet. When I have the cure, then I'll tell her." The determination behind Alex's words shocked her more than anything she had heard that morning. The cure to Laura's condition was priced at over a million dollars.

Even if he decided to skip school and work quadruple shifts in all his jobs, he wouldn't still be able to raise that amount in ten years. The best they could do was buy her medications, but even those weren't cheap.

Getting up on his old rickety bicycle, Alex headed out of the orphanage. One look at his worn-out watch and he peddled faster. Being late for the morning deliveries at the Pizzeria he worked would mean he wouldn't get paid for the day and right now, he needed all the money he could get his hands on. He was serious about saving up for Laura's cure.

Finally at the Pizzeria, Alex came down from his bicycle and hurried in. His boss stood at the counter facing the door. Almost like he was waiting for someone. Alex.

"Morning Mister Pablo," Alex greeted, spotting the short fat man that was his boss.

"Alex, haven't I warned you about your habit of coming to work late?" He heard his boss say, with crossed arms.

Alex bent his head to the Earth as his boss scolded him. He knew he was five minutes away from being late, but he couldn't bring himself to correct his cruel boss who never missed an opportunity to make him feel terrible.

Mr. Pablo hissed and pointed to some pizza boxes stacked and tied together two meters from him on the counter.

"The deliveries are over there. Try to get them delivered on time, okay? There have been more complaints the past few days and you know how much I hate it when the people who should be paying me money stop and..."

Alex tuned out the rest words of his greedy boss and went to take the pizza boxes. Mr. Pablo was a chatty person and Alex didn't have time to listen to his rants today. He had a test at school to write this morning.

"I'll have them delivered as fast as I can," Alex gave his boss a forced smile then walked out of the restaurant carrying the pizza boxes.

"Twelve boxes." He tied the boxes to the back of his bicycle.

This was an average set for the number of orders the Pizzeria received this early in the morning. Alex was glad. New York was a big city and sometimes, he wouldn't have enough time to deliver them all. On days he had a lot to deliver, he ended up showing up in the middle of his second class or just when the teacher was about to leave.

Looking at the list of addresses, Alex was glad that all twelve orders came from people living around his school. He was certain that he would be able to finish the deliveries and even have spare time to do a little recap for his test. He set out on his bicycle to begin and in thirty minutes he was done with all twelve deliveries.

"You took a lot of time boy. For your sake, I hope no one complains about anything," Mr. Pablo said with a stern look in his eyes as he took the list of addresses from Alex. "What on Earth happened?"

"I'm sorry sir. My bicycle got faulty and I had to spend a little time attending to it." Alex lied.

With the packages delivered, Mr. Pablo didn't need Alex for anything. He sighed, putting away his question. "Never mind Alex, just get to school. I don't want the cops harassing me for working a fifteen-year-old during school hours."

With that, Alex left the Pizzeria and headed to school. His second-morning job at a supermarket was on hold. The manager of the supermarket had been on trial for the sales of some illegal items so the place was closed down.

Alex's test was to happen in the first period, and the bell for the first period rang at seven-thirty every day. Luckily for Alex, he had arrived ten minutes earlier and began to study for his test. The library was empty just how he liked it. Despite his weak body and poor status, the one advantage he had in a school attended by the sons and daughters of the wealthy class was his intelligence. Although sometimes, it felt more like a curse than a blessing.

A high G.P.A. was his best shot at getting a scholarship into college. Even if he wasn't sure he wanted to leave Laura here for college.

"Look guys, silent mister know it all is busy preparing to spank our asses in today's test." Alex sighed as he recognized the voice of the person approaching him. Jason, the number one bully in his class, and with him was the four-man squad that followed him around.

As usual, he tried pretending not to hear them and focused on the book in front of him. Sometimes not giving them attention helped keep them away.

"Hey shithead, I'm talking to you." Jason picked up the book Alex was reading and threw it far from him.