Darklight Volume 1 Greenville High
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Darklight Volume 1 Greenville High Written by Jay Bradt Alejandra Soria © 2012-2016 Jay Bradt, Alejandra Soria. All rights reserved. 1 Part I Chapter 1. Greenville New York had always been a sleepy place. Nothing ever really happened there with the exception of the carnival that came through every August. This year it had been pushed back to September considering the weather had been strange. Aside from the Movie Theater and Braum Park (if you wanted to call a couple of trees and a duck pond a park) there wasn’t much to do other than wander the streets and haunt alleyways with the local riffraff. If there was anything Greenville was notorious for, it was its riffraff. Small time drugs and big time trouble were in no short supply at Greenville high, which was basically what most the kids were half the time. This year, as the summer came to an end, the entering freshman were subjected to a full day of classes, while those lucky enough to be upperclassmen were granted a peace offering of only a half day. Of course, nobody was happy about any day’s worth of sitting in a hot stuffy classroom, but as of nine-thirty that morning, the majority of the high school population was currently being deprived in favor of dark, under air-conditioned classes. Gathering his books from a small silver locker, a young man with dark hair, matching eyes and an exhausted expression made his way down the long suffocating halls towards his first class of a four period day that to him, already felt like a lifetime. Dressed in neatly kept jeans, a white shirt and a black vest with multicolored spots, he looked older than the general sophomore. Ignoring the conundrum of rhetoric he’d already received from the pack of freshly graduated middle schoolers, he hurried to his first class and managed to take his seat about three minutes before the bell rang. At the other end of the hall, a young girl stood nervously. Glancing through the sea of people, she looked as if she were ready to have a panic attack. "Relax," a voice called from her side as blue eyes met green. "Is this how people feel here?" "Yeah Rayne, it's public school, feeling overwhelmed is a given." Adorning pale skin and a multitude of freckles, Leah regarded her friend with exasperation. She couldn't blame her, not really. Rayne had just come to Greenville from Japan, and a school that considered corporal punishment a God given right. Her friend had arrived a paranoid, violent mess and it had taken weeks to persuade her parents to let her stay with them. Rayne needed help and Leah knew that getting her to adjust would be part of the process. "Come on," she said as she slung an arm over her paler friend's shoulders and all but shoved her into her next class. Staring at those inside, Rayne took a seat in the back. Dressed in jeans and a vibrant red blouse, everything about her gave off the impression she wanted to be left alone. Taking note of the new girl, the boy who had entered before her gave a smile while the teacher passed out the attendance sheet. Rayne didn't smile back. Peering at the sheet, she read off the names in her head before signing her own; Rayne Shardae. Suddenly a loud bang ushered from the left side of the room as the door was thrown open and a boy with bleach blonde hair stuffed beneath a black beanie sauntered in. Dark eyes scanned the class as he took a seat directly in front of the boy in the vest. His own attire left © 2012-2016 Jay Bradt, Alejandra Soria. All rights reserved. 2 much to be desired, a pair of tatty denims and a black shirt with a happy face that sported a bullet hole through its head. Ignoring the look he received from the teacher as the door re-bounded off the wall, he wrapped an arm over his chair while Rayne’s grip instinctively tightened around her pen. Locking her gaze to the blackboard, she was determined to ignore him as the teacher lowered his chalk and clasped his hands together. "If you'd all pass up the attendance sheet when you're done with it," he announced. "Class will be starting in a few minutes." "Fun, fun, fun," the boy with a hat muttered, scribbling his name before tossing the paper behind him. "Do you think you can hand that to me next time?" "Fuck off." Shaking his head, the dark haired boy began to print his name only to look up as the intercom went off. "Samuel Haine, please report to the Principal’s office this instant!" Letting his pen slide, he gave a low groan while the boy in front of him began to laugh. "Okay Cunningham pay up. You owe me ten big ones." "Five minutes..." He stared at the clock, which now read 9:55. "He couldn't have waited five minutes?" "It ain't ten o-clock yet buddy, pay up!" Reaching for his wallet, he pulled out ten dollars and gave the blonde in front of him a glare. "This is my lunch money you know?" "Shouldn't be making bets you can't afford," he said as he snatched it from his hand. "Mat, Rorik, unless you want to be joining Sam in that office you'll stop bickering and do your work." "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rorik muttered, while Mat began to shake his head. The class fell silent shortly after, although every now and again, when the teacher wasn't looking, Rorik would turn and throw a piece of crumpled paper in Mat's direction. "Do you have to be such a delinquent?" he hissed. By the time the bell went off, he was up to his ankles in paper balls while Rorik was almost out of a whole note book. The moment the alarm sounded, he rushed through the door so fast that by the time the teacher took notice it was too late. Gathered his things, Mat began to pick up the papers and place them into a small trash bin as the room emptied. Having neatly copied two pages of notes, Rayne thought it odd she didn't already have an entire notebook full as Leah poked her head into the class. "So how was it?" she asked. "Overwhelming." "It happens. Don’t worry, you'll like art, the teacher is totally lax." "Do I really have to paint?" "Doodle," Leah offered as they stepped into the room. Large and fairly wide, the art department was well established. Several students had already begun to take their seats as the teacher explained to the incoming freshman a variety of shading techniques. Rorik of course wasn't paying attention as he ghosted his toward the supply cabinet and began to fiddle with the lock. It didn't take him long to crack. Shuffling it aside, he rummaged through the shelves, which were comprised mostly of paints and glues, many of which were considered toxic. © 2012-2016 Jay Bradt, Alejandra Soria. All rights reserved. 3 Loading several into the pockets of his oversized jeans, he reached down and carefully placed the lock back on the cabinet door when no one was looking. "Is that against the rules?" Rayne asked Leah. "Yeah, you'd think he'd look any more suspicious." Clapping the door back into place, Rorik took a seat. "Getting high on glue much?" Leah asked with a snort. "Ah ha...you're so funny," he mimicked her and spent the rest of the period with his hat pulled over his face. "He's just another future tweaker, pay him no mind. You'll see those kinds of kids everywhere around here," Leah's words were true enough as Greenville was notorious for drugs, not to mention kids like Rorik who took a liking and a profession to peddling them. "Great," Rayne's tone was full of sarcasm. She hadn't gotten anything done and Leah had spent the entire period talking her ear off. "Why does this seem so much more complicated than the movies?" she asked as they walked back downstairs. "Because no one with half a brain would ever set foot here?" They stopped upon reaching the double doors of the locker rooms, which led to an enormous gymnasium currently busting with students. "Gym is mandatory?" Rayne looked as if she’d rather be hung. "Yeah...and remember we can't show off," Leah whispered. "You're the star of the soccer team...by accident?" "No...but come on don't overdo it." Brushing passed them, a boy in dark jeans and a Disturbed t-shirt nearly knocked them both off the bench. Brandishing a black beanie in similar fashion to Rorik's, he too had stark blonde hair, though his eyes were a dull pale blue, and instead of a solid color, his hat bore the Chinese character for Fear. The overpowering stench of marijuana lingered in his wake as he stalked over, plopped down and kicked Mat’s stuff to the floor. "First day and this shit sucks already." Rolling his eyes Mat reached down to pick up his books. "You're telling me...you already cost me ten dollars," he said with a stern expression. Reaching for the side of his hat, Sam pulled out a skull print lighter. "Well maybe you should stop making bets on my head dumb ass?" Back across the bench, Leah scowled and wrinkled her nose.