Chapter 1

Sean is introduced here.

 

        It is a warm, sunny morning and the buses and cars are pouring into the parking lots of the school. Students walk tiredly to the front doors of the large building, getting ready to begin another school year. One of these students is a sixteen year old boy with somewhat short black hair and brown eyes. He is wearing a pair of jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt.

        While adjusting the black backpack that sat on his back, Sean walks through the halls while looking around at the other students. An apathetic look was on his face, though his eyes held a small hint of sadness in them. Sean wasn't really looking forward to another year of school. Every year it was always the same and he definitely didn't think anything would change this year.

        After walking for a couple minutes, Sean came to his locker, which was located on the bottom row. However, he wasn't able to get to it. A group of boys that were Sophomores like Sean were stood in the way, talking about their summer.

        “Excuse me,” Sean said a little quietly.

        None of the boys caught a single thing Sean said and they continued conversing with each other. Sean tried again, only this time saying it a little louder. This time the boys heard Sean. They stopped talking and looked at him.

        “What the hell do you want Smith?” one of the boys asked.

        “I just want to get to my locker,” Sean said.

        One of the boys smirked. He leaned against the lockers, blocking them even more.

        “What are you going to do about it?” the boy asked.

        A sigh escaped Sean's mouth before he said, “Never mind.”

        Sean turned around and began to walk off. He could hear the boys laughing at him from behind, but he didn't do anything about it. Sean wasn't really much of the assertive type and he learned from past experiences that it didn't really help him out at all, but instead only got him hurt. The last thing he wanted was to start off the school year on a bad foot by getting in a fight with someone. Not only that, but he already got enough beatings over the summer.

        Since classes didn't start right away, Sean walked around the school for the rest of the time. There wasn't really much of anything else for him to do while waiting for first period to begin. Sean was alone in this school, so he didn't have anyone to talk to. He never really talked much and so trying to make friends wasn't really something Sean could do. Most of the students didn't like him anyway, which really only isolated Sean in the school. Of course, there was always the possibility of going to his first class and waiting for class to begin, but the dark-haired boy didn't really feel comfortable sitting in a classroom alone with a teacher.

        About five minutes later, the bell rang and all the students started to head to their first period class. Sean was the first one in his English classroom. He sat at the desk in the back corner of the room, which was where he usually sat in all his classes.

        The bell rang again another five minutes later, signifying that first period had started. By then all the students in the classroom were sitting at the other desks in the room. The desks that were around Sean were all empty though. Most of the students tried to sit as far away from him as possible. It didn't really bother Sean much though because it had been like this for as long as he can remember.

        Class soon started. Like every year when school began, the teacher passed out the class syllabus and went over it. Right after that, the teacher passed out another paper, which described their first homework assignment. Apparently they had to fill a bag with a few items that somehow described them. As an example, the teacher got out a bag and showed the class some of the items he brought that described him in some way.

        It wasn't much longer until the bell rang. Sean shoved the papers into a pocket of his backpack for now. He wasn't planning on doing the homework assignment. Sean never liked talking about himself and people usually always made fun of him whenever he was asked to for class. Since this was always the case, the dark-haired boy just didn't see the point in doing it.

        Sean's second class was History. Like for first period, Sean was the first one in the room. The teacher was there and she greeted Sean to only have the boy return it with a nod of his head. He sat down in the back of the room and waited for class to begin.

        After the teacher went over the rules of the classroom and the curriculum they were going to cover during the year, she passed out a paper with a small list of questions on it to answer in a group. When Sean got the paper, he didn't bother trying to join anyone to work on the paper with, but worked alone instead. Getting the boy to work with people was a bit difficult to do because he found no interest in it, mainly because it never usually worked out for him. The others would usually just spend their time ignoring him or they would make him do all the work while they just sat there and talked. Luckily, the teacher never asked him to work with anyone.

        Once the class was over, Sean headed to his next two classes. They went by a little slowly, but once they were done, it was time for lunch. Sean took his time as he walked to the cafeteria. Like all his other classes, the cafeteria wasn't going to be any different. Even though he was used to sitting alone, sometimes Sean couldn't help but to wish that something would change for once.

Author's Note

I know this probably isn't the best beginning for a book. I'm not too good with beginning or ending written things and I'm not really sure of how I can make an interesting beginning with a book that has a modern setting.

Reviews

[Angie Diane♥&hea..]

I didn't think the opening was bad. You brought out the character of Sean which was good. I enjoyed his description. I can tell that he was quiet. The grammar was spot on and I liked the story line. You did a great job on this chapter. I can't wait to read the next one. I just really feel bad for Sean because he doesn't have anyone to love him. That must be a really sad feeling. I don't know what I would have done if I were in his shoes and people trying to stay away from me. This was great. Thanks for sharing.

[joshua deathdealer]

I like the beginning. Gives the reader an idea of Sean's life. Nice work.

[courtney]

i have to agree with you on the begining it was a pretty slow read. just keep trying at the beginings and you should get it.

[Amund Schofield]

Ok, unlike what you think, I must disagree. This is a great start to a story. It sets up the main character in a way that you get to know him, and how the world views him. You also manage to make me feel for the kid. I'll start nit picking at word choice, and sentence structure at another time.

[Amy]

I think it began very well, much better than my story. LOL.
FallenAngel93