Prologue: Still Living

I had much to live for, but death would find me anyway.

Christa passed me in the hallway, and my heart skipped a beat.
"It's hopeless," I reminded myself.
"What's hopeless?" Brock said, appearing beside me.
"The American Lit. essay," I lied.
"You spent so much time studying; you'll do fine. Besides, when are you ever going to use it? It's okay if you're not absolutely perfect."
"Your words inspire me," I said with a falsely dramatic tone. "See ya later, Brock," I waved, turning into a different hallway to my next class.

"Aaron Schroeder," the teacher said, placing my graded essay on my desk. The red ink at the top read 90%. "Good work," he smiled. I couldn't help but smile back.

It was just Brock and myself sitting at the lunch table. "How'd you do?" he asked.
"Ninety percent," I told him, "better than I would have thought. It's nice to have positive surprises once in a while."
I looked ahead, my eyes instantly focusing on Christa, who was sitting at a different table a short distance away, her back turned toward us. Brock shook his head. "What?" I asked.
"Are you just going to sit and do nothing?"
"About what?" I asked.
"D****t, Aaron, you're a terrible actor. It's written all over your face. You're bold when it comes to everything else, but you shy away from her; and I'm too good of a friend not to realize this. If you want help of any kind, I'm here for you."
I closed my eyes in frustration. "It's hopeless," I said. "She's dumped all of her boyfriends after a week. You think I'll last any longer?"
"Her boyfriends? You mean Alec, James, and Owen? She dumped them because they're a******s, just playing nice to get into her pants. And unless you've been lying to me this whole time, your morals are better than that, right?"
I let the silence sit for a few seconds. "Please don't tell," I spoke, refocusing the topic. Sensing the solemnity in my voice, he nodded, "I won't."

Not looking where I was headed, I bumped into Alec, one of Christa's old boyfriends. "Watch it!" he lightly threatened.
"Sorry." I turned around to apologize, and backed into someone. It was Kelly, Alec's current girlfriend.
"Hey!" he shouted, "I said to watch it!" He approached me with an aggressive feel in his stance. I took a defensive step back, then held my ground. He leaned his head into mine, his face a leering snarl. "You trying to touch my girl?"
I said nothing, giving him only a cold, adamant glare. A bubble of space formed around the three of us as passers-by gave us a wide berth. The vice-principal detached himself from the crowd, looking down at the standoff. "Is there something you'd like to say in front of me?" he challenged both of us.
Alec inhaled, ready to give an accusing speech. I seized the opportunity and cut him off before he could start. "There's no problem here," I told the vice-principal, "it's just a  misunderstanding."
He nodded, satisfied, and I turned around and left the scene.

At home, I decided to practice playing guitar. I had started learning to play only a few months ago, but in that short time I had advanced quite quickly, memorizing and mastering a few songs. The sound of the guitar could always calm me. It was amazing to see, hear, and feel how the small pluck of a string in my hand created a sound so unexpectedly loud and musical.
My mother's voice interrupted me. "Aaron, it's 10:30, put the guitar away and go to bed. Grumbling, I did as I was told.

That was my last day of life. Soon the true adventure would start.

Reviews

[Charley]

very good. i like it. i'm interested to read the rest, if you write anymore...
the last two sentences are really nice cliffhangers :)