In a bedroom that is colored in dark green and light blue, a young boy of the age of sixteen is sleeping soundly in his bed. When suddenly a very abnoxious ring marking 7AM comes from the alarm clock and he throws one of his pillows at it knocking the clock off the desk and simutaniously stopping the ringing. He placed the other pillow over his head and tried to go back to sleep. Once he was half-way asleep, sixty pounds landed on his stomach with a thump. The boy gasped for air and sat up, taking the pillow off of his face. He came face to face with his ten year old brother Aaron, who was smiling at him. "Aaron get off of me!" cried the boy, throwing his pillow at his brother. Aaron happily caught it and threw it right back in the boy's face, knocking him back down on his bed.
"It's time to get up Nick," he said.
Nick mumbled and took the pillow off of his face. "It's Sunday, what do you mean I have to get up?" asked Nick.
"No it's not, it's Monday," said Aaron.
Nick checked his calender again and saw that Aaron was right. "Oh crap!"
Nick jumped out of bed and Aaron happily bounced onto Nick's bed. Nick ran into the shower and ran back out, grabbed his backpack and scrambled out of the house. Nick was pretty tall for his age, not too tall though. He had beautiful blonde hair that tucked behind his ears slightly-and a few strands that fell to his face- and beautiful baby blue eyes. He was overall a sweetheart but had a clutsy side to him(as you can see), but that just made him cuter. No matter how tall he was, he was still a kid at heart and also, a prankster. Although Nick was in his junior year of highschool, he didn't have a car yet so he used the bus to get to school, that is if he got to the bus stop on time. Which he didn't that day. "Dang it." He started to run as fast as he could. About half way through his trip, he heard a car honking behind him. He stopped and turned around. A black Rav 4(a kind of 4runner for people that don't know, also my favorite kind of car) pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down and revealed his friend, AJ, or Alexander James. AJ was average height for his age. He usually had a pair of sunglasses on and or a cap and today was no different. He had a pair of shades on. He changed his appearance often. His latest look was blonde hair, a little project that Nick helped him with. AJ could have blonde hair one day, and the next day he could have a shaved head that was dyed blue. He also had a goatie at times as well-today he was cleanly shaven-.
"Need a ride?" asked AJ.
"Are you going to give me one?" asked Nick.
"Hop in," he answered. Nick did precisely that and they drove off. AJ,besides his appearances, was a guy full of surprises. He planned a huge sweet sixteen party for Nick at the beginning of the year with the rest of the guys.Although he was a wild and crazy guy, he had a sensitive side. "And why are we late today Nickolas Gene?" he inquired.
"I thought it was Sunday," answered Nick honestly and a bit embarassed.
AJ eyed his friend suspiciously then asked, "And how much were we drinking last night and why didn't you invite me?"
"Just shut up and drive," said Nick.
"Yes sir, right away sir," answered AJ, flooring the gas pedal. Actually,Nick wasn't sure how he could mistake Monday for Sunday either. He had been really stressed out from finals and his part time job lately.
Then Nick realized something else, "Oh crap," he said.
"Not in here please, thank you," said AJ. Nick gave AJ a dirty look and then AJ asked seriously, "What's wrong now?"
"Since I thought it was Sunday, I didn't have any of my homework done," replied Nick.
"Ouch," said AJ. He reached behind the seat and gave Nick his backpack. "Here, I actually got some homework done. The biology's in there."
"Thanks," said Nick, taking out the biology book.
"But I need it back by 3rd period," he said.
"Of course," replied Nick. AJ pulled into the student parking lot and the boys ran to their first period class and took their seats. A girl sitting behind Nick tapped him on the shoulder. It was Tomi, the boys' childhood friend. "Uh, hey Tomi. What's up?"
"Don't 'hey Tomi' me, didn't you get my page yesterday?" asked Tomi. Tomi, or Tommianne, had been neighbors to Nick since they were both born. She didn't fit in with too many of the girls because she was a major tomboy. She had her thick, light brown hair cut fairly short-a bit above her shoulders-, she had light brown eyes to match her hair. She always wore semi-baggy jeans and a shirt covered with a jacket or flannel. She was an excellent athlete, sometimes even better than the guys. She was just one of the guys. Sometimes she really regreted being "just one of the guys".
Nick looked at his pager. Sure enough, her number was there. "I'm sorry, I was sort of dazed this weekend," apoligized Nick.
"Yeah... well it wasn't important anyways," said Tomi, lying through her teeth.
"Hey forgetful boy, you didn't forget about the basketball game tonight did you?" asked AJ.
Nick smacked himself on the head, "Well I forgot about everything else, why not this as well?"
"You ARE going right?" asked Tomi.
"Of course," replied Nick.
"If you three haven't noticed, the bell has rung," said the teacher up front.
The three turned around and directed their attention to the teacher, or at least pretended to.
After class, Nick, AJ and Tomi were walking down the hallway when a basketball bonked Nick square on the head, making him tip forward. The basketball bounced back into the hands of it's owner, Brian. Brian and Howie were seniors and childhood buds of Nick, AJ and Tomi.
"How's it going?" he asked, bouncing the basketball. Howie, who was next to him, snatched it and started to dribble it himself.
"Well, that ain't gonna help his memory much," commented AJ.
Nick massaged the back of his head and replied sarcastically, "Just FINE."
"Nickyboy here isn't having a very good day," explained Tomi.
"Don't call me Nicky," said Nick.
"Why, what's up?" asked Howie, tossing the ball to Brian.
"Just too much stress," said Nick.
"Yeah, jest a bit..." added AJ.
"Anyways, today, 4PM, the park, basketball," said Brian, "Do you have that in your head?"
"I know," said Nick.
"You sure you're okay?" asked Howie, always concerned about his friends.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll feel even better when we whoop your butts at 4. Ain't that right Brian?" said Nick, doing a little handshake with Brian.
"Man you wish," said Howie, "See ya guys there."
"We'll be there," said AJ.
"And we better get to class, see ya guys!" said Tomi. They all scrambled to their classes.
The basketball game was a childhood tradtion between Nick, AJ, Tomi, Brian, Howie and Kevin-the sixth player and friend-. Kevin, the oldest and Brian's cousin, was in college. The basketball game started really young, when Kevin was only eight. Brian, who had been dribbling a basketball as long as he could remember, would be playing basketball outside in the front of his house. Nick would walk by and he would throw the basketball at Nick's head(that's how that also became a tradition). Nick would either cry or go after Brian, or both, and before they knew it, they would be playing basketball. Then AJ would pop up from no where and snatch the ball and then run for his life. They would always catch him in or around the park. Then before they knew it, they'd start playing. But it would always be Brian and Nick against AJ unless Kevin was in town visiting(he lived away at the time). So one day, AJ brought along Tomi. Tomi was a natural basketball player and the first game with all four of them was a memorable one. That was AJ's first win. Then Kevin moved down and the numbers changed again so to make it fair, Kevin alternated teams. Then a while later, a new kid moved to town, Howie. While the rest were playing ball, he would hide in the corner and watch quietly until one day they invited him to join them. He finally overcame his shyness and joined in. He showed them exactly how good of a ball player he was. This was the official start of the traditional basketball game.
Meanwhile, school had ended and the boys and Tomi were meeting one by one at the flag pole. Nick was the last one out and right when he was about to arrive, he heard "Nick!" He turned around. It was his girlfriend, Misty.
"Well look who showed up at the wrong time," mumbled Brian.
"Shh..." warned Howie.
"She can't hear me, we're far enough away. And like I would care if she could hear me," said Brian.
"You guys seriously don't like her huh?" asked AJ.
"She's the biggest tramp in the school," said Brian.
"She's fine though," said AJ.
"There are more than looks," said Tomi.
"Whatever she may be, she's Nick's girl. Watch what you say," said Howie.
"Being Nick's girl doesn't change what she is," said Tomi.
"Aw, are we jealous?" asked AJ.
"Why would I be jealous of Nick's girlfriend?" asked Tomi. AJ said nothing but thought something else.
Meanwhile, Misty and Nick were having their conversation. "Why didn't you call yesterday?" asked Misty.
"I'm sorry, I just have alot of stuff on my mind lately," replied Nick.
"Can we go on a date?" asked Misty.
"Now?" asked Nick.
"Yeah," said Misty.
"Baby I can't. I have the basketball game today," said Nick.
"So some basketball game is more important than me?" asked Misty, starting to get mad.
"Baby, this is really important to me," said Nick.
"Fine!" said Misty, stomping off.
"Mis..." started Nick.
"Come on Nick," said Brian. Nick followed the guys to the cars. "I'm gonna go pick up Kevin. So Nick rides with me."
"Alright, I'll drive Tomi and Howie down to the park," said AJ.
"Alright, meet you down there," said Brian, as he and Nick headed toward his jeep.