Tick, tick, tick… My head pounds as I continue to scribble down the essay, and the clock doesn't help very much. It's PARCC testing week. I know, best week of the year, yay… I usually have no problem with essays, but I feel more stressed than normal. My hands begin to tremble, causing me to misspell a few words. I fix them and try to avoid looking to my left to face Adam, my best friend. I start to shake slightly; what's with all the stress? This isn't even included in our actual grade! It's just for the schools to have good ratings, like, "Oh, look! We rate a ten! Come live in our area! We have the smartest students and, by extent, the best teachers!" I roll my eyes at the thought. Yeah, eighth grade hasn't really been the best for me. I glance at my watch, which reads, "1:42 PM". Three minutes until class ends. Relief flushes through me as I finish with the last sentence. Great timing, too; my teacher passes my desk and swipes the paper from me, returning to his desk and reading it over. I attempt to set my pencil down on my desk, but it slips out of my grasp and lands on the tile floor. The sound of my pencil hitting the ground catches the attention of everyone else in the room and they all turn to me, even the teacher. I bend over in my chair and reach for my pencil, but Adam picks it up before I have the chance. He holds it out to me as I sit back up, smiling kindly, and I grab it by the eraser, silently thanking him. Adam lets it fall out of his grasp and I pull out my binder, placing the pencil back in the pocket where I originally had it. I close my binder and- RIIIIIIIIING! I jump up from my seat, clutching my binder, and walk quickly out of class with the other students following behind me. The crowd moves as one as every kid marches down the hall to return their books to their lockers. I stride down the opposite way and stop at my locker. I spin the dial to the first number of my locker combination; 47, 39…

"Hey Jayce," My thoughts are broken by a call of my name. I groan in annoyance, I know exactly who this is. I glance over my shoulder and turn my attention back to my locker upon spotting Mason. Mason was hitting on every girl in his grade, including me. I was usually his main target; lucky me…

"So, Jayce," He continues; does this guy ever shut up? "I was wondering if you would-."

"Look, Mason," I interrupt, shoving my books into my locker, "I can't. I'm having a few friends over tonight, so I can't, okay?" He rolls his eyes.

"But wouldn't you like to spend more time with me?" He bends down to my level and kisses my cheek. I'm going to have to bleach that later… or burn it off. I straighten up and slam my locker closed, spotting Ty chatting with Jason and Husky behind Mason. His eyes dart to me and I give him a pleading look. Ty nods in understanding and stops his conversation with the two.

From a few feet away, Ty yells, "Come on, Jayce, you're going to be late for class!" I turn back to Mason.

"I got to run." I say and step around him, running over to Ty.

"Gah," I groan, "Thanks for the save."

"You looked like you needed it. Now come on," Ty urged, "or else we really are going to be late." We turn the corner and Ty, Jason, and Husky throw themselves into the boy's locker room, while I sprint into the girl's locker room. Just as I cross the threshold, I hear RIIIIIIIIIIING! I sigh in relief and rush over to my gym locker, throwing it open after turning the dial.

"Good afternoon, Jayce," I glance over my shoulder as I slip my shirt off.

"Huh? Oh, Ms. Dirken, hi," I greet my physical education teacher and slip on my gym clothes.

"Was Mason giving you a hard time again?" She asks with a bit of a laugh following.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Your friend Jason told me when he came out of the locker room." I nod in understanding; seriously, Jason? I sigh and pull my golden brown hair back into a pony-tail, afterwards exiting the locker room. I spot Adam, Jerome and Mitch chatting and walking side by side down to the gym. I smirk and sneak up behind Adam, signaling Mitch and Jerome to be quiet as I see them start to giggle.

I let my head hover next to Adam's ear and whisper, "Notice me, senpai…" Adam shrieks and spins around, seeing me laughing my head off. Mitch and Jerome burst out laughing and I support myself against the wall since I almost double over from laughing. Ty runs out of the locker room, a worried expression plastered on his face, followed by Ian and Husky.

"What happened? Jayce, why'd you scream?" I try to explain what happened, but I couldn't stop laughing. This is rich; they thought I screamed. I point to Adam since my words seemed to fail me at this point. He rolled his eyes and threw one of my arms around his shoulders, half-carrying me down to the gym.

I can't stop smiling as we throw the doors to the gymnasium open. The schedule is messed up because of PARCC testing, so we had an hour in this class. It's my last class of the day and on a Friday, which relieves me. I never get enough sleep on weekdays. I sit in the middle of the gym with the rest of Team Crafted around me. We start to chat and Mitch explains why I can't stop smiling, which almost makes me break out into laughter again.

"Alright, class," Ms. Dirken shouts over the voices of the students, which quickly fade away, "because of the schedule, gym is an hour long, as most of you know. Due to this change, today will be free choice; you can either practice combat down here or head upstairs to the artificial environment to practice stealth and survival. Go to your station!" I immediately charge for the weapons rack and grab a stone sword. Mitch and Jerome waltz over and grab their weapons of choice. For Mitch, a stone sword, and Jerome, a stone axe. I look around to see that the rest of the class gone. Wimps… I don't have a partner, so I'll have to take turns battling the two boys. And Jerome, when I say boy, I mean bacca. But he still handles a diamond axe like a pro. I volunteer to sit out first and hoist myself onto the bleachers. I reach into my pocket and pull out my pair of sunglasses, slipping them over my eyes. I lean against the cold metal bars of the railing and toss my legs onto the seats next to me. I stare unblinking at the wall in front of me, thinking, seeing where my mind takes me. I stay frozen in this position for at least ten minutes, Mitch and Jerome's battle cries sounding muffled to me. My mind wanders to when I met Mason in the hall, him kissing me on the cheek (still got to burn that part of my face off). I shiver at the thought. Grunts and cries sound from below me, but I'm not pulled from my thoughts. My vision begins to blur as I'm sucked deeper into my mind.

"Jayce," A muffled voice calls to me, "Jayce!" The voice's clearer the second time, but I'm still frozen in place. The bleachers shake slightly, signaling someone climbing up onto them. A hand places itself on my shoulder and shakes me lightly, but I still don't move. My sunglasses begin to slip off of my nose and are removed, which finally drags me back out of my thoughts. I look a bit to the right and I'm met with Mitch, who's at an uncomfortably close distance and his eyes full of worry.

"What," I whisper, smiling slightly.

Mitch hesitates before whispering, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why do ask?"

"You weren't responding when we called for you."

"Oh… why are we whispering?"

"I don't know. You started it."

"Hey lovebirds," Jerome yells from below us, "you done yet?" I blush madly and so does Mitch. Mitch jumps down off of the bleachers first and turns to me, opening his arms as to catch me. I roll my eyes and jump down, tripping over my own feet. Mitch grabs my arms before I fall to the floor and pulls me to my feet. I slip out of his grasp and step back a little.

"Thanks," I say, punching his arm playfully. I turn to Jerome. "Let's battle." I hesitate, expecting to hear the Pokémon battle music, but raise my sword when I don't. Jerome comes sprinting towards me and I block his axe as he brings it down on me. I push him back and he nearly trips. He tries to kick me to the ground, but I jump back, his foot inches from my stomach. Jerome suddenly grabs my wrists and pins me against the wall, knocking the sword out of my hand. The stone sword hits the ground, clattering over my heavy breathing. Jerome smirks and he lets go of my wrists.

"GG," He says and turns towards the bleachers.

"We're not done yet," I proclaim and tackle him, snatching the axe from his hand. I pin Jerome down with my left arm across his chest, his stone axe in my other hand.

"The rules state that the winner has to pin down their opponent with a weapon to their neck. So, technically," I put the axe to his neck, "I win." Jerome's eyes widen in fear; did he think I was actually going to kill him? I suddenly fly off of him and land on my back, wincing at the impact. Jerome quickly appeared on top of me, his left arm pinning me to the floor with his stone axe to my neck.

"Thanks for the tip," He retorts and I roll my eyes, struggling to push him off.

"You son of a glitch," I mutter, smiling. Jerome winks at me and releases me from the floor, helping me onto my feet. I punch his arm playfully as he puts the stone axe back on the rack. I watch as Mitch jumps down from the bleachers, sword at the ready, but- RIIIIIIIIING! I curse under my breath and throw my sword back onto the rack, following Mitch back up to the locker rooms.

I exit the locker room only to be stopped by Ms. Dirken, her usual bright smile replaced by a subtle frown.

"The principal wants to see you." She explains; great, yet another thing to ruin my Friday. I nod and trudge into the principal's office, my hands trembling.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Bladen?" I ask my voice shaking as he turns in his chair to face me.

"Yes, Ms. Sariath, have a seat," He gestures to a very comfortable looking plush chair in front of the desk opposite him. I sit, but don't lean back in the chair.

"I received a letter addressed to you. It involves your parents," My heart stops; my parents… but they're currently fighting Herobrine's army. Mr. Bladen pushes an envelope that's sitting in front of him towards me. I slowly take it, staring at the message in the corner: You'll see… I shakily sigh and direct my attention back to Mr. Bladen.

"Thank you…" I say with my voice trembling and stand, turning towards the door. I'll read it when I get home… or when I have time. I invited TC over earlier and they'd arrive an hour after I got home. I push the door open slowly and force myself towards my locker, grabbing my book bag and hoodie. I slip on my hoodie, smiling weakly when I spot the black lightning bolts with yellow hazes on the sleeves, and sling my bag over my shoulder. I then slam my locker closed and sigh, resting my head against it. I miss my parents. I feel like a child, a defenseless child. I have no one to turn to in my time of need because I have to stay strong for my little sister, Mackenzie, or, as she likes to be called, Mak, who's a year younger than me. Footsteps sound next to me, but I ignore them and hit my head against my locker a few times.

"Stupid… ducking… Mason," I grunt with every hit.

"Jayce," Someone says behind me, "come on. We're going to miss the bus." I lift my head up, rubbing my forehead, to see Mak in almost the same outfit as me, except her hoodie was pink and didn't have my signature lightning bolt on the sleeves. Her light blonde hair frames her face perfectly, especially with her thick square glasses. I follow her as she leaps down the hall, letting her partially drag me. I eventually crawl onto the bus and throw myself into a seat in the back next to Mak, leaning against the window and closing my eyes.

"Seriously Mason? That's never going to work." My eyes snap open.

"Pssh, yes it will. I just need to get her to come over," I curse under my breath and sink into the seat, Mak eyeing me curiously. She glances at the seat in front of us and her eyes widen; Mason's sitting in the seat in front of us, I just know it. Mak seems to read the look in my eyes and nods, confirming that he's there. Well, duck… I think. The rest of the bus ride would be torturous if he finds me. The bus shakes lightly as it moves down the road.

The bus stops a few times before reaching my neighborhood. I stand as the bus screeches to a stop and grab Mak's hand, pulling her off of the bus with me. I wish the bus driver a nice weekend as I pass him and leap down the steps. I sigh in relief and start walking down the sidewalk through the neighborhood. My neighborhood is at least a mile long… and I live at the end of it. Well, at least I get a good workout out of it. Most of it is forest anyways. I take my headphones from my bag and plug them into my phone, my sister doing the same with hers. I open iHeartRadio and tap Roomie Radio, Won't Back Down playing immediately after. My steps start to merge with the drumbeat and I mouth the words. At the second verse, a twig snaps behind me, snapping me out of my daze and forcing me to stop Mak in her tracks. I pull off my headphones and let them rest around my neck, staring into the trees where the snap had come from. Now that I truly analyze that section of the woods, I can see some trees cleared as if to create a path. I slowly approach the clearing to see a trail of gravel covering the ground from one side of the forest to here; so it is a path. I stare into the trees with Mak behind me for at least a minute, and then turn back to the sidewalk to continue towards my home.

Hey, what's up? Skylar here! I just wanted to say...
Jayce: Yeah, yeah, you want to thank your readers. You don't have any yet.
Mak: Uh, yeah she does. *points at description*
Jayce: God damnit...
Skylar: Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks to the readers of my other stories for making them pretty popular.
Jayce: But you only have-!
Adam: *covers Jayce's mouth with hand* Go on...
Skylar: Thank you, Adam. Anyways, put in the comments down below what you think will happen next because honestly I have no idea. *laughs nervously*
Skylar out.