BEEP BEEP BEEP

The alarm clock blared in Tom's ear like a bee on steroids. He silenced it with a smack, but a part of him wished he could blast it to smithereens with a Pyroclap. But that was a level 80 fire magic spell. It would take him months to grind back up to level 80 in the fire magic skill tree. Was it 80? It might have been 40? He couldn't remember. He was pretty sure that Alex had used the spell when he was at level 50, but that might have been a scroll instead of his own skill level. In the midst of his connotations, he realized the clock was still going.

Tom's inner monologue was abruptly interrupted as a sharp pain erupted from his stomach. His whole body convulsed, buckling against the object that fell on him, and suddenly, he was wide awake, not a trace of drowsiness in his mind.

“Good morning, brother!” an annoyingly cheerful voice sounded right on top of him. “Morning, morning, MORNING!!!”

Tom glared at his little sister, but she just smiled back at him cheekily, still sprawled across his stomach. She was humming to herself in obvious satisfaction, kicking her feet playfully in the air as she studied the giant world map The Legend of Noralon Tom had tacked to the wall next to his bed. Or rather, pretended to study. Tom could still see her watching him intently out of the corner of her eye for a reaction.

“Get off of me, Chloe,” Tom grumbled. He quickly grasped her legs and chest and flipped her over the edge of the bed. She fell to the floor with a thud and an indignant yelp.

She sprang back up to her feet like a cat before snatching his pillow out from under his head with lightning speed. Before Tom could react, she swung it at him with surprising force, the pillow connected with his face, engulfing him in softness as he smacked back down into the bed. Laughter erupted from Chloe's lips as Tom sputtered, trying to free himself from the pillow's grasp.

"Oh, you little brat!" Tom sputtered as he grabbed his other pillow and tried to smack her with it.

Chloe laughed like any other nine-year-old as she ducked his attack and hit him with the pillow a second time.

"Can't catch me!" Chloe giggled as she continued to beat him with his own pillow.

Tom signed as he picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. He started to tickle her, causing her to laugh uncontrollably. Her blonde hair whipped around as the nine-year-old tried to struggle out of his grasp.

The two of them jerked to a stop as Dad slammed his bedroom door open with a bang.

"Shut the hell up!" Dad shouted.

"What the fuck are you two doing?! I have been up all night, working hard, and you two ungrateful brats can't even keep quiet fucking quiet!! Do I look like I have time to fucking deal with you!?"

Chloe shuffled behind Tom as their dad kept shouting. Tom's entire body was rigid as his dad's words pounded into him.

"Fucking ungrateful! That's what you are! Why the fuck did I even have kids!!" he ranted before turning to leave. "I need a fucking drink," he mumbled as he left.

"Come on, Chloe, let's get some breakfast. Then I can take you to school."

Chloe nodded before she zoomed out of the room.

Quickly changing out of his pajamas, Tom took a moment to look around his room. He took note of everything that was missing from his room. Chloe had a very fuzzy notion of other people’s privacy and even sticker fingers. He would retrieve his supplies later.

As soon as he was changed and his backpack packed, he went down the hall to the kitchen to eat something and try to avoid his Mom.

Unfortunately, Mom was waiting for him today and immediately started to lecture him from her position on the sofa. He hadn’t even finished his descent down the stairs, and she had already found something about him she didn’t like.

“You don’t really intend to go out looking like that, do you?” she asked.

“What’s wrong with this?” asked Tom. He was wearing cargo pants and a hoodie, barely any different from literally every other teenager in the world. It seemed just fine to him.

“Don’t be so difficult,” she snapped at him. “Our family is a pillar of the community. I know you don’t care about such things, but appearances are important to a lot of people. You are a member of this family, and your actions inevitably reflect on our reputation. I will not let you embarrass me by looking like a common punk. Go back to your room and put on some proper attire.”

Tom had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes just long enough to turn his back on her. Maybe her guilt trip would have been more effective if this had been the first time she had tried it on him. However, there were two problems with her argument. One, they were white trash. Dad was an abusive alcoholic, and mom was a morbidly obese narcissist. Their reputation couldn't really go any lower. Second, these were, in fact, the nicest clothes he owned, so her point was moot.

"Don't you ignore me," his Mom called after him as he moved into the kitchen, refusing to get off of her fat ass to follow after him.

"Go upstairs and put on some jeans," she ordered as she flailed about in her lazy boy.

"Buy some jeans that fit then," Tom shot back.

"Hey, don't you talk to me like that?!" she hissed. "I carried you for nine months, and you will not disrespect me like that!!"

His mom's idea of jeans was the kind of skinny jeans that were so small they might have cut off circulation to one's feet if he could actually put them on, which he couldn't. He suspected she liked them because she had once been the cheer captain in high school, but after a fight with whoever his grandparents were, she ran off with his dad. An abusive alcoholic who was ten years her senior. And when she didn't become an Instagram star or whatever she was trying to become, she just gave up. She spent all her time on the couch watching TV or entering Chloe into beauty pageants or other dumb things to make herself feel better instead of, you know, actually parenting them.

Tom grabbed two bowls and dumped the premade oatmeal inside before adding raisins, brown sugar, milk, and some raspberries he had stolen from a bush, taking over the backyard.

When Chloe snuck down the hall of their one-story home, she immediately shuffled over to Tom, being careful so as not to let their Mom see her. Then she sat down and began eating with him. Mom was still watching the news. Something about a snowstorm being due to hit them later tonight. He didn't really care too much, and global warming meant they weren't going to get more than an inch of snow.

As soon as he and Chloe were done with their food, he grabbed her pink winter coat and slipped it on her. He grabbed his own coat and both their bags as he took her out the door. His Mom Did not even acknowledge them, her eyes glued to the TV.

"Is it really going to snow?" Chloe asked as they started to walk down the road.

"Probably," Tom said as he checked the weather with his phone.

"Yes, I want to build a snowman," she sang.

"Oh no," Tom swore as Chloe started singing. Do you want to build a snowman from frozen, over and over?

For the next five blocks, Tom was forced to endure her endless repetitive singing of a Disney movie. Fortunately, his high school was in the same general direction, so that way, he wouldn't be losing any time.

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Fortunately, her elementary school was only five blocks away from their house, so it wasn't a big deal. More importantly, he wasn't alone for long. Alex joined them halfway through the walk.

"Hi, sweety," Alex said, picking Chloe up and spinning her around.

Chloe squealed in delight as Alex spun her.

"Don't do that," Tom complained. "If she throws up, it's your fault."

"Ok, ok," Alex said as she put Chloe down,

"But Tom," Chloe protested.

"No, the last time she spun you around, you threw up and ended up sick for a week," Tom said as they walked along.

Alex was quite a bit different from her in-game characters. Her father is Chinese, and her mom was Egyptian, but she inherited the worst traits from both of them. She was short, chubby, with cropped hair, and stuffed into a sweater and sweatpants combo. Pimples decorated her moca face, and her frizzled black hair was at least a third of her mass. She was not what anyone would call sexy. As opposed to her skinny white blonde bimbo character models in-game. Not that she cared all that much. She gained weight too easily, and she was an uber-nerd with no interest in exercise, much like Tom.

That was probably why they got along so well, though Chloe was another reason.

"So Tom, are you coming over to my place for the expansion tonight? It's a LAN party." Alex half whispered.

"Can I come?" Chloe asked so cutely it was almost heartbreaking.

"Sorry, pumpkin," Alex said. "This is a teenage party only."

A part of him wished he could bring Chloe, but she was a bit of a brat, and he took care of her all the time. It wasn't that he didn't love her. He just wanted some time alone with his friends once in a while.

Once they reached Chloe's elementary school, Chloe ran off toward her friends.

"She's so cute," Alex cooed.

"She's a bit of a brat." Tom countered. "She stole all my pens and paper today."

"Hey, a cute girl should always be forgiven." Alex protested.

"Why do I feel the next time you screw up, you're going to quote this conversation."

Alex suddenly looked at him all seriously.

"You and Chloe, okay. I mean, I know your parents …"

"Let's talk about something else," Tom cut in as they arrived at school.

Hopkins was a public school comprising three floors, sixty-four classrooms, and a variety of workshops for extracurricular activities. It aimed to provide a comprehensive educational experience. However, it had fallen on hard times. The school had been underfunded for years, resulting in outdated facilities and a dire need for upgrades. Even the computers were still running on the outdated Windows 7 operating system. The school's infrastructure had also seen better days, with peeling paint and aging equipment that had remained unchanged for at least five years. It was clear that Hopkins was in a state of disrepair, but it wasn't so bad as to justify an injection of money.

Despite all of its problems, Tom really loved his school. He much preferred it over his house.

Tom and Alex arrived at school at 8:00 a.m. They were just getting to the front of the school when…

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Tom yelled, as suddenly a car pulled out from the curb, the engine revving as some moronic jock blasted out from the curb, straight at them!

Tom and Alex dived between two parked cars in front of them. Tom heard the squeal of brakes and the maniacal laughing from the car's open window.

"Better pay attention, couch jockey!" Getting to his feet, Sean glared at Chad, the backup quarterback for the Panther Pack.

"Least. He's not a camper!" Alex shot back.

"Shut it, Dyck," Chad shot back.

"Eat a dick Chad," Alex shot back.

"You first bitch! First time for everything." Chad laughed like a hyena.

"The same can't be said for you," Tom shot back.

He didn't care for Chad; the guy exuded arrogance, and rumor had it that he had quite the reputation as a star athlete in his last high school. However, when he was expelled and transferred to Hopkins, he got demoted, and that failure had led to him finding unfortunate targets to release his frustration on other people. Tom and Alex had come to his attention at a Halo LAN party. Chad had been an obnoxious ass, so they had fragged him the entire night. And now he hated them. Tom for being a nerd, and he called Alex a trans dyke. Needless to say, the feelings were mutual.

The only thing that had stopped Chad from beating the crap out of them had been the football coach's rather strict policy on his players getting into fights. But it still hadn't stopped the harassment.

"You better watch your mouth, Tom. You can't be with your friends all the time," Chad warned.

Tom drove off in his car, nearly hitting someone's car as he served into the parking lot.

"Fucking lunatic," Tom muttered.

While he wasn't exactly afraid of Chad, Tom really wasn't all that interested in getting beat up, either. Sure, he could hold his own in most fights, but most of the fights he'd been in as a kid hadn't been with a high school athlete in perfect physical condition with anger issues.

"Come on, let's go," Tom said. Leading Alex towards the front entrance.

The front of the school was already packed with puffy-faced students, the cold air nipping at their faces as they procrastinated before class, the cold air being preferable to the classroom.

Two of the stragglers were Tom's friends. Hector and Skippy. Hector was short, barely five feet tall, had curly brown hair, and was obese. Hector always had trouble making friends, and honestly, he was anti-social to an extreme degree. Despite that, he was a chemistry prodigy. He was also a massive role player, and he always insisted that people call him by his player handle in-game. Personally, Tom was pretty sure the guy had ADHD and maybe autism.

Skippy, on the other hand, was over five feet tall, drank way too much coffee, and he enjoyed saying offensive stuff despite the fact he wasn't racist, or homophobic, or transphobic, or sexist, or any other issue. He was just an asshole who liked to get a rise out of people. His squirrely disposition had him checking over his shoulder every few seconds.

"Hey, assholes," Skippy called out. "I've got your coffee."

Skippy offered him a steaming cup as he walked up to him.

Tom briefly considered injecting the coffee directly into his veins before he started to drink.

"Thanks, Skippy," Alex said as she took the coffee and chugged it down.

"Thank you, my ni--"

Alex smacked skippy in the arm hard.

"Oh, what was that for?" Skippy asked.

"You're not allowed to say the N-word. remember"

"But what if I were given a choice between saying the N-word and saving a black person's life or not saying the N-word and that black person dying." skippy asked.

"Well, I mean, of course, then you could say it," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

Skippy opened his mouth.

"No, you can't say it right now." Alex cut in.

"Why not?!" Skippy moaned.

"It's racist," Tom suggested.

"I don't even care about that. I just like saying the word," Skippy admitted.

"Yeah, I'm just not saying it," Tom said

"You wouldn't say the N-word to save someone's life?" Skippy asked.

"Why wouldn't you say it, Tom?" Alex asked

"Because I don't want to be canceled," Tom stated

"Is that racist? I feel like not saying the word would be racist." Skippy said.

"Skippy, how is Tom racist?" Alex asked.

"Alex, I'm white. I want to go to college. I'm not touching this with a ten-foot pole," Tom said, backing away from the group.

"Well, Skippy is." Alex pointed out.

"Skippy's family owns a chop shop. He's not going to college. He's going to run a chop shop. If I get labeled as a racist, any scholarships I get could be dropped." Tom pointed out.

"How are you getting canceled for saying the N-word if you're saying it to save someone's life?" Alex asked.

"I could get canceled for debating it in the first place, so I'm shutting up," Tom pointed out.

"So you would let a black person die?" Alex asked.

The second to last bell rang, cutting their conversation short.

"Saved by the bell," Tom said as he shot off.

Tom raced inside the school, up the stairs, and towards the chem lab. Hector was right behind him as he had the same morning chem class. They arrived just as the last bell rang, along with one of the goth kids with long bangs. Slipping in, he hoped no one would notice them. The teacher, Ms.Lewis, gave him a dirty look.

"I'm getting tired of the lateness, people. If anyone is late for tomorrow's test, he or she will receive a zero," she said.

Ms.Lewis was the kind of teacher that every kid in his class, including Alex, had at least one dirty thought about. With a body of sin, wearing a too-tight pantsuit that threatened to rip open with her every movement, she was complete eye candy. Most of what he knew about her was from rumors. She had supposedly tried to be a reporter and become a teacher as a fallback option. And she was young, like graduated from college last year, and isn't even 25 yet. If Tom hadn't been so tired, he would have been completely distracted by her as she walked around the classroom. Tom sagged in his chair. It was warm in the classroom, too warm for him to stay awake.

"Alright then," Ms.Lewis's voice snapped Tom out of his thoughts, causing him to look up.

"If you would all kindly take out your notebooks," Ms. Lewis continued.

He then darkened the lights for a PowerPoint presentation. Tom tried to focus on the review, but soon, his head began to nod in time with Ms. Lewis's singsong cadence. In another five minutes, he was fast asleep.