Chapter 2 - In Which Exams are Taken
Submitted April 2, 2007 Updated September 13, 2007 Status Incomplete | Corny as it sounds: five or six characters in a band, living in an incredibly isolated place, and they all have elemental swords. Then one of them gets orphaned, and sent to the mainland--but the majority of the country is taken over by demons!
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Chapter 2 - In Which Exams are Taken
Chapter 2 - In Which Exams are Taken
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, I have "parts" to this story. As of yet, I have two parts, one of them incomplete.
Katrina Starr and family belong(s) to Werecat13.
All other characters (c) ME
Most names (but you haven't gotten to the point of that quite yet) generated somewhere on wwww.seventhsanctum.com All others selected from some list or another on www.behindthename.com
Italics are emphasis(es)/thoughts; [these] came in place of (these) because I felt like it; a long series of ~'s mark the beginning and end of the chapter; I think that's all that will ACTUALLY SHOW UP *glares pointedly at computer*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2-
Exam Day
It was seven o’ clock on Friday. Blake’s alarm clock rang, so he woke up, thought, I can sleep a little longer, hit the snooze button, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
* * *
Haylay’s alarm clock rang, as always, at seven o’ clock. She woke up and turned it off, getting out of bed. Her short blonde hair was fairly neat, as it was too short to get any real bed head, but at the front, where it was longer and dyed lavender, was in disarray. Haylay impatiently pulled at it with a brush as she used her other hand to shovel cereal into her mouth. She was always good at multitasking, a skill that all others in her family lacked.
She ran back to her room, where she glanced at the calendar, still brushing her hair. Then she remembered that it was Exam Day and she forgot to study. Oh well, she thought, I’ll survive…probably.
Her room was typical, with unpainted walls covered with the idols of Central Region and popular bands and posters with cats on them that said something amusing but not necessarily funny, like, “Bright lights, big kitty”.
“Haylay,” her mother called, “are you getting dressed yet?”
“Yes, mother,” Haylay replied.
She ran back down the stairs, dressed for school, still tugging at her hair and cursing it under her breath. Passing the kitchen, she saw her father eating his breakfast at the table with the other six children that Haylay’s parents took care of.
“Don’t forget your sword today,” he said.
“I won’t,” Haylay replied, looking in the mirror by the door at her reflection.
“That’s what you said yesterday, but how true was that?”
“Sorry, dad,” Haylay apologized, still playing with her hair.
“I didn’t make you that sword so you could get attacked and killed by a demon because you forgot it, you know.”
“Dad, I know,” Haylay said, running out the door as she grabbed her sword from the umbrella stand and shoved it onto her belt before jogging to school.
* * *
Blake’s alarm clock went off again. He reached behind him and hit about where he thought the snooze button was and went back to sleep.
* * *
Katrina’s alarm went off at 7:15. She woke up and considered going back to sleep, but she realized that she had to get up in time for school on Exam Day. She got out of bed, got dressed, and ran downstairs to eat breakfast, her calico cat Namir following behind.
The house was unusually quiet. Usually, Kaleb and Quinn, Katrina’s twin half-brothers, were running around, too. They probably slept through their alarm, Katrina thought.
After her breakfast, Katrina was sitting on the bench by the door to put on her shoes when her stepfather came down the stairs.
“Did the paper come today?” he asked.
Katrina opened the door and checked the doorstep for a new newspaper. All that she saw was their doormat with “Welcome” stamped on it in large letters. “No,” Katrina answered.
“We haven’t gotten any news in a week! I’m writing to the paper company telling them that we’re not getting our paper.” He turned around to go to his office and type a letter to the Central Sector Times.
Katrina grabbed her pencils and put them in her pocket. She made sure to take her sword from the shelf that she kept it on before going out the door. Something about the lack of newspaper had her on edge.
She unlocked her bicycle from its chain to a tree at the edge of her property, put the chain in her basket and dropped her sword on a special ledge she designed to hold it in place as she rode her bike. Then she started her half-hour ride to school.
* * *
Once more, Blake’s alarm went off, and he carelessly hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.
* * *
Krystal woke up, all her school stuff in a small carved hole in the cave she slept in. The watch she pinned to the wall above her sleeping bed read 7:21. Great, she thought, I slept through the alarm again. She took her pencil case, sword, and a box with three somewhat stale doughnuts, and started on her way to school, already dressed, shoving the doughnuts into her mouth as she walked.
* * *
Blake’s father came into his room and turned on the lights. Blake groaned and cursed loudly. Mr. Garrington said, “Come on, you don’t want to be late on Exam Day.”
Blake suddenly remembered and thought, Oh crap! I gotta get going! Now! He jumped out of bed and ran around the house, grabbing a Pop-Tart, shoving on a shirt and pants, wrestling on his boots, and grabbing his sword, though neither in that order nor in a distantly organized way, all the time thinking, Crap! Crap crap crap crap CRAP!
He ran out the door, forgetting his pencils.
* * *
Violet woke up to the voice of her parents, waking her up and reminding her that she had exams today. She got up, took a drink from the oasis, washed her face, put on new clothes, and brought twice as many pencils as she needed. After all, she knew Blake, and he probably slept in too late and forgot his pencils. She grabbed her sword, one of the five made by Haylay’s father, and went on her way.
* * *
The class sat in computer lab 66, chattering away, lucky to have a tolerant teacher watching them. Everyone was there, many out of breath, but none more so than Blake. Violet passed him half of her pencils, and he thanked her after he realized that he’d forgotten his.
The bell rang, a few short announcements [mostly club cancellations] were made, the bell rang again, and the test began.
* * *
The final bell rang, and the students flocked from the classroom, each eager to go home after a long and tiring day of sitting on their butts and staring at a computer screen.
The band all walked to Blake’s house, except for Katrina, who rode her bike alongside them.
“So,” Krystal said, smirking, “how’d the test go, Blake?”
“Shut up!” Blake snapped.
Haylay giggled, receiving a menacing glare from Blake.
“Not so great, eh?” Krystal taunted.
“I said shut up!” Blake yelled.
“Blake, calm down,” Violet said, tired from the testing.
“I will if she does,” Blake growled.
“Krystal, be quiet,” Violet sighed.
Krystal stuck out her tongue.
Violet sighed. “Where’s the duct tape when you need it?”
“Present!” Haylay piped, holding up a large roll of the semi-metallic gray tape.
“Um…” Violet started. “Why…?”
“I have…um…” Haylay counted her fingers. “…Six siblings. It’s almost a survival instinct.”
“Okay,” Violet said slowly. Then she turned to Krystal and Blake. “The next person to talk gets their mouth duct taped shut.”
The rest of the trip was silent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, there's still more stuff that happens before anything real happens, but there's already been some deal of foreshadowing...
Oh, and the whole repeating-six thing going on? Well, when I rewrote this story, I got to this part in June last year--the whole 6/6/06 thing? Yeah. So I threw that tidbit in, and I guess that might be some form of an omen. Or maybe it was just an omen for Blake. He's the kind of person who would be panicking about it if he wasn't running so late.
Katrina Starr and family belong(s) to Werecat13.
All other characters (c) ME
Most names (but you haven't gotten to the point of that quite yet) generated somewhere on wwww.seventhsanctum.com All others selected from some list or another on www.behindthename.com
Italics are emphasis(es)/thoughts; [these] came in place of (these) because I felt like it; a long series of ~'s mark the beginning and end of the chapter; I think that's all that will ACTUALLY SHOW UP *glares pointedly at computer*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2-
Exam Day
It was seven o’ clock on Friday. Blake’s alarm clock rang, so he woke up, thought, I can sleep a little longer, hit the snooze button, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
* * *
Haylay’s alarm clock rang, as always, at seven o’ clock. She woke up and turned it off, getting out of bed. Her short blonde hair was fairly neat, as it was too short to get any real bed head, but at the front, where it was longer and dyed lavender, was in disarray. Haylay impatiently pulled at it with a brush as she used her other hand to shovel cereal into her mouth. She was always good at multitasking, a skill that all others in her family lacked.
She ran back to her room, where she glanced at the calendar, still brushing her hair. Then she remembered that it was Exam Day and she forgot to study. Oh well, she thought, I’ll survive…probably.
Her room was typical, with unpainted walls covered with the idols of Central Region and popular bands and posters with cats on them that said something amusing but not necessarily funny, like, “Bright lights, big kitty”.
“Haylay,” her mother called, “are you getting dressed yet?”
“Yes, mother,” Haylay replied.
She ran back down the stairs, dressed for school, still tugging at her hair and cursing it under her breath. Passing the kitchen, she saw her father eating his breakfast at the table with the other six children that Haylay’s parents took care of.
“Don’t forget your sword today,” he said.
“I won’t,” Haylay replied, looking in the mirror by the door at her reflection.
“That’s what you said yesterday, but how true was that?”
“Sorry, dad,” Haylay apologized, still playing with her hair.
“I didn’t make you that sword so you could get attacked and killed by a demon because you forgot it, you know.”
“Dad, I know,” Haylay said, running out the door as she grabbed her sword from the umbrella stand and shoved it onto her belt before jogging to school.
* * *
Blake’s alarm clock went off again. He reached behind him and hit about where he thought the snooze button was and went back to sleep.
* * *
Katrina’s alarm went off at 7:15. She woke up and considered going back to sleep, but she realized that she had to get up in time for school on Exam Day. She got out of bed, got dressed, and ran downstairs to eat breakfast, her calico cat Namir following behind.
The house was unusually quiet. Usually, Kaleb and Quinn, Katrina’s twin half-brothers, were running around, too. They probably slept through their alarm, Katrina thought.
After her breakfast, Katrina was sitting on the bench by the door to put on her shoes when her stepfather came down the stairs.
“Did the paper come today?” he asked.
Katrina opened the door and checked the doorstep for a new newspaper. All that she saw was their doormat with “Welcome” stamped on it in large letters. “No,” Katrina answered.
“We haven’t gotten any news in a week! I’m writing to the paper company telling them that we’re not getting our paper.” He turned around to go to his office and type a letter to the Central Sector Times.
Katrina grabbed her pencils and put them in her pocket. She made sure to take her sword from the shelf that she kept it on before going out the door. Something about the lack of newspaper had her on edge.
She unlocked her bicycle from its chain to a tree at the edge of her property, put the chain in her basket and dropped her sword on a special ledge she designed to hold it in place as she rode her bike. Then she started her half-hour ride to school.
* * *
Once more, Blake’s alarm went off, and he carelessly hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.
* * *
Krystal woke up, all her school stuff in a small carved hole in the cave she slept in. The watch she pinned to the wall above her sleeping bed read 7:21. Great, she thought, I slept through the alarm again. She took her pencil case, sword, and a box with three somewhat stale doughnuts, and started on her way to school, already dressed, shoving the doughnuts into her mouth as she walked.
* * *
Blake’s father came into his room and turned on the lights. Blake groaned and cursed loudly. Mr. Garrington said, “Come on, you don’t want to be late on Exam Day.”
Blake suddenly remembered and thought, Oh crap! I gotta get going! Now! He jumped out of bed and ran around the house, grabbing a Pop-Tart, shoving on a shirt and pants, wrestling on his boots, and grabbing his sword, though neither in that order nor in a distantly organized way, all the time thinking, Crap! Crap crap crap crap CRAP!
He ran out the door, forgetting his pencils.
* * *
Violet woke up to the voice of her parents, waking her up and reminding her that she had exams today. She got up, took a drink from the oasis, washed her face, put on new clothes, and brought twice as many pencils as she needed. After all, she knew Blake, and he probably slept in too late and forgot his pencils. She grabbed her sword, one of the five made by Haylay’s father, and went on her way.
* * *
The class sat in computer lab 66, chattering away, lucky to have a tolerant teacher watching them. Everyone was there, many out of breath, but none more so than Blake. Violet passed him half of her pencils, and he thanked her after he realized that he’d forgotten his.
The bell rang, a few short announcements [mostly club cancellations] were made, the bell rang again, and the test began.
* * *
The final bell rang, and the students flocked from the classroom, each eager to go home after a long and tiring day of sitting on their butts and staring at a computer screen.
The band all walked to Blake’s house, except for Katrina, who rode her bike alongside them.
“So,” Krystal said, smirking, “how’d the test go, Blake?”
“Shut up!” Blake snapped.
Haylay giggled, receiving a menacing glare from Blake.
“Not so great, eh?” Krystal taunted.
“I said shut up!” Blake yelled.
“Blake, calm down,” Violet said, tired from the testing.
“I will if she does,” Blake growled.
“Krystal, be quiet,” Violet sighed.
Krystal stuck out her tongue.
Violet sighed. “Where’s the duct tape when you need it?”
“Present!” Haylay piped, holding up a large roll of the semi-metallic gray tape.
“Um…” Violet started. “Why…?”
“I have…um…” Haylay counted her fingers. “…Six siblings. It’s almost a survival instinct.”
“Okay,” Violet said slowly. Then she turned to Krystal and Blake. “The next person to talk gets their mouth duct taped shut.”
The rest of the trip was silent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, there's still more stuff that happens before anything real happens, but there's already been some deal of foreshadowing...
Oh, and the whole repeating-six thing going on? Well, when I rewrote this story, I got to this part in June last year--the whole 6/6/06 thing? Yeah. So I threw that tidbit in, and I guess that might be some form of an omen. Or maybe it was just an omen for Blake. He's the kind of person who would be panicking about it if he wasn't running so late.
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