Chapter 1

The sound was deafening. The massive speakers at either side of the stage were of no concern to the fans, doubtless their ears would be ringing for days. Jason was having the time of his life, playing his first concert with his first band would be a lasting memory in his mind.

"Jason! Jason!" began the chant. They're not even chanting for the band, they're chanting for me! he thought.

"Jason! Jason!" The chanting grew louder. After the second chorus, the time never felt more right to break into a solo.

The all too familiar voice of his teacher, Mrs. Peterburg, awoke him from quite possibly his best dream ever. "Let's try to stay awake this time, hmm?"

"Sorry, it's been a long day." What a terrible excuse.

"Join the club. Now, as I was saying, heat transfer by radiation..."

A quick jab to Jason's shoulder startled him. "Dude, you fall asleep every day. You never learn, do you?" Unlike Jason's short brown hair, Kyle's long blond hair fell over his eyes, giving him the appearance of a pothead.

"You never shut up, do you?" was Jason's only reply.

As the end of class neared, Jason began to wake up. Two minutes before it was time to leave, he began to pack up his books, joining the clatter of students closing books and zipping their backpacks.

As everyone began to leave, Jason stood up, grabbed his backpack, and headed for the door right behind Kyle. He lifted his eyes from the ground and his gaze met Jenna's, a fellow classmate. Her sleek brown hair fell down below her shoulders, radiating from the lights above, giving her face an almost ethereal quality. Granted his engineering classes were predominately male and most of the girls weren't attractive anyway, he had to give her credit. In a major dominated by males, her looks easily trumped those of the smarter, nerdier kids. Beauty and brains. It's so unfair.

"You're staring again," came the voice of reason, ironically from Kyle.

"Yeah, well, she is too."

"Come on man, let's get back home. I'm starving."

"Ramen again?"

"You know it."

By the time Kyle looked back to where Jenna was standing, she had already left. Damn, why do you always stare?

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Kyle muscled open the front door, annoyed by their semi-broken doorknob that their landlord promised to fix. Seven months ago. What the hell am I paying you for?

Jason and Kyle shared their one-story house with two other roommates, Dan and Paul. Dan was the athletic one of the group, pitching for the school's club baseball team. Had he not torn his ACL sliding into second base his senior year in high school, he easily would have pitched for the varsity team. His lean build and taller than average height did nothing to compensate for his lack of common sense.

Paul was the opposite. Overweight and a little shorter than most, he was the most intelligent person in the house. His love for gaming often got in the way of his academic work though, and almost completely destroyed what little social life he had left. In an attempt to keep up with the college "way of life," Paul had turned into somewhat of a drunk.

Within a few seconds of entering the house, they heard a distinct "Son of a b***h!" from the first bedroom.

"What now, Paul?" Jason shouted through the door, not truly caring what was wrong.

"This idiot keeps wiping out our entire raid!"

"What the hell are you... oh, let me guess. Video games, with a side of Bud Light?"

"You know me too well," came the slightly slurred voice from inside the door.

"We should really get him some help," noted Jason as he turned toward Kyle.

Kyle shrugged and headed down the hall to his room. Jason walked to the kitchen, filled a pot with water, and placed it on the stove. Ramen, my favorite.

Reviews

[Jules]

I do not see why you need to introduce all the roommates in the first chapter. It doesn't seem to move the plot along. But I am still intrigued with the idea of your novel. I shall read on. :)