Chapter 1

Middle School

It was the first day of middle school, which was kind of crazy. I had five different classes each in a different room. Whoever made my schedule must have noticed I could use some exercise after a summer of playing video games. All the seventh-grade classes were on the first floor of the school, but I took eighth-grade math, so I had to go upstairs for that class. Not that I am bragging, it was just a lot of walking.

I was feeling kind of lonely until lunchtime when I saw Logan. He had been my best friend since I moved here in third grade.

“José, over here!” Logan shouted at me from across the cafeteria. Logan has a heart of gold, but he can be kind of embarrassing sometimes. I tried to play it cool and not turn red as I walked over to the dweeb flailing his arms.

He was sitting with the other special education kids. Logan is not a typical kid. He takes more advanced math and science classes than I do, but he has to hang out with the spesh-ed teacher most of the day.

“What’s up, Logan?” I sat down next to Logan and took my sack lunch out of my backpack. My lunch was squished nearly flat in its brown paper bag. The number of textbooks for middle school is ridiculous, but I also had the Glyphs of the Ancients book in my backpack.

Logan pushed his glasses up on his nose and took a deep breath before answering. “That is an interesting question that has many interpretations. The word ‘up’ could be defined as ‘toward a higher place’ or ‘the opposite of down’. Perhaps you are asking ‘What is above us?’ in which case…”

I shook my head, “How has your day been?”

“Oh, that’s what you meant. It’s been a little confusing, but good.” Logan shrugged his shoulders and then took a swig of milk. He had a hot lunch, as usual. Today it was raviolis.

We didn’t have much to catch up on, because we had spent most of the summer hanging out and playing video games. Logan lived just around the corner, so he came over to my place all the time.

“Mine, too. It’s too bad we don’t have any classes together.” My mom had packed me a bologna and mustard sandwich; I love that woman.

“At least we still get lunch together!” Logan has a way of always looking at the bright side of things.

I nodded in agreement, “I have something to show you.” I finished my sandwich and dusted the crumbs off my hands before pulling the book out of my backpack.

Logan snatched it from me and read the title aloud. “Glyphs of the Ancients: The Game Master’s Guide” He immediately started flipping through it.

“Yeah, my dad gave it to me with a bunch more stuff. It’s this totally retro game he played with his friends when he was a kid. We found it in Lita’s basement.” I explained.

Logan closed the book to examine the winged jaguar on the cover, “This looks epic! What system is it for?”

I didn’t understand what he meant at first, “No man, it’s like a board game. It’s totally retro, like before video games were invented.”

“Oh.” Logan handed the book back to me, “I don’t want to play. No, thanks.” He shoveled some ravioli into his mouth.

I thought Logan would be more interested. He was a huge Tolkien fan like me. “It’s supposed to be like going on a fantasy adventure. Like in The Hobbit. I think we should give it a shot.” I tried to convince him.

Logan shrugged his shoulders and appeared unimpressed; it was time to bring out the secret weapon.

“I’ll ask Jasmine to play with us.”

“Okay! I’ll play.” Logan agreed immediately. If I ever had trouble with getting Logan to go along with something, I just had to mention Jasmine, my big sister. She’s two years older than us, so today was her first day of high school. Logan is low-key obsessed with her.

“Sweet. Come over to my place after school.” Lunch break was almost over so I slipped Glyphs of the Ancients into my backpack. I drank my entire juice box in one gulp. “See ya later, Logan.”

Logan was scarfing down the rest of his lunch, so he just waved goodbye.

The next class was Literature. As soon as everyone was settled into their seats the teacher announced that we would be going to the school library, “To get acquainted with the middle school library system, because the internet was only to be used to find books for class.”

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The middle school library was huge compared to the one at the elementary school. The best part was there were a lot more fantasy novels that looked interesting. We were going to be studying early American literacy, so I wouldn’t have much time for pleasure reading.

After the librarian gave us a tour we were allowed some time to look around, so I went straight to the fantasy section. There was a boy I didn’t recognize in the aisle. We made eye contact and I gave him a thin-lipped smile. He gave me a nod with a quiet, “Wassup?”.

I knew right away that this guy was way too cool for me to be interacting with. He was wearing a backwards flatbill in the library. I instantly felt the need to impress him, so I didn’t mention that wearing hats inside was against the school dress code.

I stuck my hands in my pockets and shrugged my shoulders casually. “Just checking out the selection.” My voice cracked then my cheeks started to get warm. I spotted The Hobbit on a nearby shelf, so I pointed at it. “That’s a good one.”

He definitely noticed my voice crack, but he looked at the book I was pointing to instead of my red face.

He scoffed, “Sure if you’re into bedtime stories for toddlers.”

I was speechless. The Hobbit is a classic and not for toddlers. Most importantly it is my all-time favorite book.

“If you want to read some real fantasy, try Mistborn or just about anything by Brandon Sanderson.”

I don’t live under a rock! I’ve read all of Brandon Sanderson’s books (at least all the ones my mom let me read and Mistborn did not make the list). There is no way that he tops Tolkien. Tolkien’s legendary! But I didn’t tell him all that. I just took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, he’s pretty cool. By the way, I’m Jose.”

“I’m Adrien.”

Then the teacher made us all go back to the classroom. In class, Adrien sat next to me. Apparently, he didn’t have any friends in this class either.

The rest of my classes for that day were uneventful. I had a list of school supplies that I needed to get by the next day. Mom was probably going to totally freak out, she had already bought me a ton of school supplies but each teacher wanted something a little different than what was on the school website.

I was headed to my locker when I heard Logan’s voice from the boys bathroom. I couldn’t tell what he said, but I definitely heard the reply, it was loud and sarcastic, “Wow! That’s so interesting! You should start a club and you can be the president!”

I walked into the boys bathroom to find Logan shoved into the corner awkwardly tucked beside a urinal. There were two boys in front of him, blocking his way out of the corner. I had seen this scenario before in elementary school and had really hoped middle school would be different. Logan hated being touched so they probably just kept stepping closer and closer and he just kept backing up until he was trapped. His whole body looked stiff, and his hands were up trying to keep as far from the urinal and the boys as he could. I could tell he was uncomfortable, but he was still smiling. He had no idea they were being sarcastic. They were bullying him and he was completely oblivious.

“Back off!” I tried to say it with as much intimidation as I could muster, but my pubescent body betrayed me at a critical moment for the second time that day; my voice cracked.

Both boys burst into laughter and turned around. Logan’s face lit up at the sight of me and he gave a few uncertain chuckles. “José, these guys want me to start a club! They said I could be the president.”

“Yeah, José. We’re just talking to the new president.” Said the taller boy with false sincerity.

“I think we just found our vice president,” The shorter boy grinned before saying, “of the loser club!” They both burst into laughter again.

The taller boy patted his friend on the back and pantomimed wiping a tear away, “Oh man, that was a good one!”

It was one thing to tease Logan when he didn’t even realize it, but he had to know they were being mean now. I could see his face; his eyebrows were knit together, and he was looking down. Usually, I’m a levelheaded guy, but I was starting to get angry. I clenched my fists and walked up to them and elbowed them aside so Logan could get out of the corner. Logan got out but the taller boy grabbed me by the shirt and shoved me in the corner. My head hit the wall, that was going to leave a bruise, but I did not let them know it hurt. I stood my ground and said, “It’s not okay to bully him, he doesn’t even realize you’re being mean.”

The shorter boy grinned like he was just about to make a joke. “Hey, I think this kid knows we’re being mean to him.”

“I guess it’s okay then.” Said the taller boy just before he gave me a black eye and my head hit the wall again, that was going to be a lump, not just a bruise.

“We’ll just bully you from now on instead. It’s more fun with someone who knows we’re being mean. That way we know you’re really scared.” Then the shorter boy kicked me in the shin before they walked away. I sat down holding my shin and I couldn’t hold back the tears; the pain in my shin was too intense.

I didn’t even notice Adrien walk up. “That was pretty impressive, dude. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone willing to stand up against those guys.”

I was mortified, how much did he see? All I could do was groan. He and Logan got on either side of me and pulled me up. My face was throbbing, and my shin was in agony. I don’t think I could survive the week if facing these bullies was going to be a daily occurrence. I limped over to the sink and splashed some water on my face to get rid of any tear streaks. I was not leaving the bathroom looking like I was just crying. Logan handed me a paper towel and I croaked, “Thanks.”

I patted my face dry and took a gander at the damage in the mirror. My left eye was nearly swollen shut. I hoped in vain that my tan complexion would hide the bruise so maybe I could just play it off as allergies, but I could see it already darkening to purple. I turned around to face my friends. “Who were those jerks?”

“Josh and Mason, I have P.E. with them.” Said Logan.

“I went to elementary school with them. It’s best to avoid their notice, but it’s a little late for that now.” Said Adrien with a smirk.

“I can see why.” Inserted Logan as he candidly inspected my face, “By the way, I think we should consider a new name for the club. ‘Loser Club’ does not seem accurate.”

I stared at Logan dumbfounded and he grinned at me. It was a joke. Logan did not always understand the nuances of humor, so I was pleasantly surprised. I could always count on him to cheer me up. I gave him a half smile and said, “Let’s go vanquish some evil.” I looked at Adrien, he had one eyebrow up. “That’s just our way of saying we’re going to go play video games, but today we’re going to try out a tabletop RPG. Wanna come?”

Adrien shrugged, “Sure, whatever.”