Everything in its Right Place

When a nobody becomes a somebody. How quickly would they change?

Chapter 1:

When I thought about being in high school, I thought of big parties and drugs. Back when I was still in seventh grade. The days before I began listening to hip-hop and being an absolute mad lad.

The year was 2015, my first year in high school. I was mostly worried about all the rumors I heard about how seniors treated Freshmen on the first day.

I woke up early, around maybe five in the morning, I couldn’t help it. At the time I lived in our basement, I liked it too. Felt more like I had my own place.

The basement had a corner bathroom, it wasn’t fancy but had a standing shower and toilet. Better than what most kids had, sadly. I was always grateful.

By the time I got out of the shower, I heard my family had gotten up. I was surprised my older brother did because he usually skipped the first day.

As I got upstairs everyone was digging into a breakfast mom made. Brennan, the guy I mentioned earlier, had already scarfed down half of his plate.

“Ready for Senior year?” I asked as I sat down at the table across from him. His mouth was full, but that never stopped him from talking.

“Eh, just confirmation that I wasted four years of my life.” He got up to put the dishes in the sink. Brennan always hated school. We were all surprised he made it as far as he did.

“Well, even if you hated it, I’m proud of you.” Mom gave him a hug.

My names Bruno Powell. Some of you may know me already. Through no fault of my own. Listen, I don’t make the rules, I just tell the stories.

Anyways, back to it. From what I’ve told you so far you probably are thinking I’m just some normal kid. I bet by the time you finish this book you’ll think otherwise. And hey, if you’re reading this, I thank you. It’s not easy for a fifteen-year-old to get his memoir in front of people.

Nowadays it’s the same old book written by Hollywood’s washed-up actor that is running out of money. That’s not me, that’s not why I’m telling you this story. It’s an actual wonder what I experienced; unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

We both were done with our breakfast and headed for the door. Our mom caught me, “Where do you think you’re going?”

I was a little confused. Wouldn’t she know?

She let out a laugh. I loved her laugh. “Without a picture of my cute freshman?” She smiled.

Of course, how could I forget, only the most pointless thing when it comes to going to school. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, and I am so getting tired of it.

She pulled out her phone and made me stand in front of the door like an idiot.

“Smile!” She said. The audacity.

I did, can I go now?

It felt like she took hundreds.

Then, she finally put her phone back in her pocket and gave me a hug and kiss on my cheek.

“I love you.” With the way she was acting you’d think I’d never see her again.

I smiled through it. “I love you too ma, gotta go now.” I ran out of the door and caught up with Brennan. I don’t know how he avoids pictures.

“Thanks for waiting,” I shot him some sarcasm.

He laughed. Good. I thought he’d beat my ass. “I have people to meet. You don’t keep up; you don’t get a ride.” He laughed again.

I got into his Volvo and he already had his hip-hop blasting. I was still exploring the genre after my friends introduced it to me. I hadn’t recognized the music he was playing though.

The song was titled Too Much. I had to admit, it wasn’t bad. The beat was solid, and by the time it was over I was craving more. My whole childhood I had gone without listening to hip-hop. I had always preferred classic pop and rock. I realized that I was missing out on a whole different type of art.

Chapter 2:

It was in front of me.

The high school. A three-story brick building that had an observation tower in the middle that overlooked the school and its land. It faced one of the two middle schools that were in town. I attended the other one that was across town. Hundreds of kids attended this one though, and I didn’t know any of them, they would all be new faces to me.

Brennan parked his car in the student's parking lot that was behind the tennis courts. We walked along the alleyway that was in between the middle school and tennis courts. There was a sea of teenagers walking into both schools.

I began to get nervous and got closer to Brennan, but he was focused on his phone. Several buses were parked in front of the courts and what seemed like an infinite number of kids got out of them.

That made me wonder where my friends were. None of them had cars, and that’s when I saw the line of cars in the middle of schools. Parents dropping off their kids. I figured that’s where’d they be.

“I bet you won’t make it to your second class,” Brennan snickered. Tough talk coming from a kid who missed at least half of school.

“We bettin money or game time?” I asked. We shared an Xbox and mom had decided that we should have designated times so we both got an equal amount of game time.

“If you think I’m gonna give you game time you must be out of your damn mind. You get enough as it is.” He seemed scared he’d lose the bet. And this notion that I got more time than him was absurd.

We made it to the crosswalk and were headed for the front doors. This side of the building was walled with windows and glass doors. Above them read the school’s name: “Freeport High School.”

Once we were inside, I felt like I was going to throw up. There were maybe hundreds if not thousands of people walking through the halls. Some I recognized, but most of them I had never met.

There were also a lot of pretty girls.

Ooo, I wanna get into his pants. One of them thought.

What the hell did that mean? Oh. Oh, I think I’m going to like this place. She had brown hair and wore a tight t-shirt with leggings. I had a hard time not looking behind me and staring at her butt. My crotch began to move, and I was not ready for this school's first impression of me to be that. I had calmed my mind. I never had feelings like this before, they were unexpected.

I figured the best option was to put in my earbuds. They were wireless and as soon as I put them in my ears, they connected with a beautiful badumdum sound. I pulled my phone from my butt pocket and went to my music library. One of my favorite parts of smartphones. Millions of songs, right at my fingertips.

What to listen to. I scrolled and scrolled. I didn’t know. Good thing I looked busy on my phone, that was a plus.

I scrolled past the song Pumped Up Kicks, and I thought you know, I’d rather not. It didn’t seem like the time nor the place. Ha-ha, anyway. I just shuffled a pop playlist. The first song to play was Everybody.

I made it past the second set of doors that faced the football field, or the “Pretzel Stadium” as that was its official title. I was excited to see two vending machines. I didn’t know those were a thing for schools, nevertheless, I was happy they were there.

We passed the health room and Brennan said his goodbye as he ran up the stairs to his first class.

As there were only five minutes left until class the halls got less crowded, but people were still gathered in them to discuss their previous summer vacations.

It made me laugh. The assholes, instead of standing to the side of the hall would rather stand in the middle so I would have to go around. That wouldn’t get old any time soon.