Chapter 1
In the interior of a bedroom all is quiet. The door is shut and the window is closed. The light coming from outside showed it to be about two or three in the afternoon. The room was quite messy with clothes strewn about as if there were a war between pants and shirts and the casualties were still lying on the battlefield. The walls were splashed here and there with posters ranging from sports to music to movies: Boston Red Sox, Dispatch, and an evil looking bunny rabbit's face that appeared to be made from metal. The bed was not made and the blanket looked as if it were trying to escape from the sheet.
The dresser, from the front, appeared to be chestnut in color, but from the top, you could only see a few spots between the debris where you could make out the wood's color. Papers, books, deodorant, a used plate, a couple cups, and many other random objects were scattered about covering ninety-five percent of the bureau's surface. The mirror that was attached to the dresser's back had many papers wedged into the sides along with about thirty movie stubs. There was also a nametag stuck between the wood and the glass, and a 'Hello My Name Is' sticker on the mirror, both with the name Keegan written on it messily.
Without warning the door was flung open and a teenage boy walked into the room. He was carrying a number of books under his left arm. A disgusted smile graced his face as he looked at the cluttered dresser, shaking his head he decided against adding more to the current mess. He was wearing a white t-shirt with brown lettering on it. Khaki shorts adorned his legs as he kicked aside some clothes to make a spot on the floor for his books. His fingers swept through his brown hair that curled over his ears and ran down his forehead stopping just before his eyebrows. He squinted his green eyes while dropping the books with a thud which prompted a bark from somewhere in the house. Sitting on the edge of his bed he reached underneath and rummaged around for a couple of seconds. Emerging with a victorious smile on his face, he placed two old shoes on his bed. After switching them out with the cleaner, newer ones he had been wearing, he ran out the door closing it behind him.
"Ma, I'm goin' to Kurt's house." He shouted as he grabbed a package of cupcakes from a cupboard in the small kitchen. He hopped out of the kitchen, turned the corner and quickly made his way for the door.
"Did you change out of your school clothes?" A warm voice came from another room. The question would remain unanswered as the door had already been shut and the house was silent once again.
The suburban neighborhood looked quite friendly. Houses cozily lined either side of the street. A few small children were playing in an empty field, as two teenage boys slowly coasted by on their bicycles. One boy had a football in his hand and was steering calmly with the other.
"Did you catch the sox game last night?" The same boy with the khaki shorts and white t-shirt asked his friend. His friend's attention was focused on the children in the field as they were tackling each other. "Ty!"
"What?" Tyler shook his head as if he were daydreaming. He was about 5'10", a muscular fifteen year old with brown hair buzzed down to a half-inch in length.
"Did you see the end of the red sox game last night?" He repeated with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Yea, Manny came through again baby!" Ty tossed the ball over to his friend and both starting pedaling a bit faster to pick up some speed.
They skidded into the front yard of Kurt's house and hopped off their bikes before they even stopped. A white and black dog ran to the front door and started barking at them as soon as their feet had touched the grass. A boy that looked to be around ten years old came to the door wearing a football jersey and shorts. Disappointment took over his previously happy face as he saw the two boys standing on his front step. As he quickly made himself scarce a shout was heard that sounded like 'fatso' and the two guests looked at each other and smiled.
A few moments passed and a much larger boy pushed past the dog and opened the glass door. If any of the three could have matched the description of 'fatso' it would have been Kurt. He was an inch shorter then Tyler and a couple inches taller than Keegan but he outweighed them both by a good sixty pounds. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black mesh shorts. Dirty blonde hair sat on top of his pimpled face and he was smiling from ear to ear.
"What's up fellas?" Kurt said as he snatched the football from under Keegan's arm. Tyler immediately broke into a sprint away from Kurt as he threw the ball high into the air. It came down into Tyler's left hand on the opposite end of the yard and the three friends smiled with delight. They had been friends their whole lives, growing up in the same neighborhood with no other children their age in the small community. Their friends from school were great and all, but at the end of the week they were always there for each other. Kurt and Keegan were in the last couple of months of their sophomore year in high school and Tyler was finishing up his freshmen year.
* * *
They threw the football around for an hour or so and then filed into Kurt's house for some drinks and television. The three dropped onto the large couch that wrapped around the walls of Kurt's living room. Kurt's younger brother sat on the computer chair reading some information on his latest video game purchase.
"Hey Kurtis," he laughed as he spat out the words, "mom and dad are gone for the weekend to help grandma move in!"
"What do you think I'm an idiot? They told me on Wednesday that they were going." He said while flipping through the channels.
"Hey wait go back for a second." Keegan sat up straight as Kurt passed a news channel.
"You wanna watch the news?"
"Yeah didn't you hear about that attack in the city last week. Said it was something about some mutants, stole like eighty grand from this hotel." Keegan recalled, as his gaze was fixated on the TV screen.
"Muties, what are they good for?" Kurt looked uninterested as he put the remote control on the couch beside him.
"Yeah right they're awesome." Tyler poured the rest of his lemonade into his mouth as he sat up straight to watch the news report.
"Your just jealous. I wish I had some mutant powers. Of course then everyone would hate me." Keegan thought out loud.
"Yeah it would be pretty tight if I could fly or something." Kurt agreed.
"Or lose eighty pounds in a single bound!" Keegan said as Tyler spit out some of his lemonade laughing and Kurt's younger brother giggled while he sat down on the arm of the couch near Kurt. Kurt pushed his brother off the arm and pretended like he didn't hear Keegan's joke. The four looked intently at the screen of the TV as the reporter spoke.
"However this is just an assumption and there is no proof yet. The damage done to the building was extensive and estimated that it would cost sixty-five thousand dollars to repair. That along with the stolen money adds up to one hundred forty-five thousand dollars. This would be out of character for the mutant terrorist, he doesn't make a habit of stealing money from businesses like this, but experts believe that he is accumulating funds for a massive project to aid in his world domination schemes. Fourteen hotel employees were seriously injured in the attack, and twenty-five of the hotel's guests are also being hospitalized. There were no casualties fortunately. There was a brief message carved into the wall of the safe. It read 'Three of Ten'. Authorities are unsure of what this could mean at this time stating that it most likely is referring to two other robberies that took place several weeks ago. The other robberies were much different however, and much less money was stolen. Authorities also believe to have captured the perpetrators from the second of those two thefts. This is Maria Bautista from Boston, Massachusetts signing off for Channel Twelve news."
"Well that's one way to do it." Kurt said as his search for a suitable show continued.
"One way to do what?" Ty asked without looking away from the screen.
"Get rich. You guys wanna rob a store or something?"
Keegan scoffed as he looked at his sweaty friend. "Sure, you got some kinda power mutie?"
"Yeah this," Kurt lifted one leg off the couch and farted in the direction of Keegan. Kurt's little brother pretended to pass out and Tyler and Keegan started throwing pillows at Kurt who deflected them with a smug grin on his face.
* * *
Hours later Keegan and Tyler were slowly making their way back home in the dark. They took their time since they knew that homework was waiting for them when they got home. The only light to guide them was a streetlight every two hundred yards or so and a couple of porch lights, but there was no reason to fear in this neighborhood.
"So if you could have one mutant power what would you pick?" Keegan broke the silence with a question that let Ty know he hadn't stopped thinking about the hotel robbery. "And you can't pick flying."
"Hmm, well probably super speed, or strength. I'd be unstoppable with the ball in my hands." He replied while tossing the football in the air a couple feet and catching it again.
"You already are my friend. Just wait 'till your racking up the yards next year for the JV team." They both chuckled.
"What about you?"
"I dunno, I've been thinking about it and I can't decide. I guess it would be cool to be able to juggle some cars, but its so cliché. I think I'd choose to be a shape-shifter."
"Huh?"
"Y'know, then I'd be able to just transform my body into anything. So I could make myself a bodybuilder and then be super strong." Keegan explained to his friend.
"Yeah that'd be sweet. I'd transform into Jessica Alba's boyfriend." Tyler said as the two started laughing. They reached Ty's house and said their goodbyes. Keegan rode a couple of houses down to his yard and noticed that his father and sister's cars were parked in front. He kept pedaling through the gate in the fence and into the backyard where he leaned his bike up against the house and slid open the glass door to his home.
Inside his mother and father were in their bedroom watching the news. His sister Bridget was on the couch watching a show about surgeries, and his Collie Oscar was lying on the rug panting heavily. Keegan sat down in front of his computer, clicked a few buttons, then swiveled around and started to watch the show the show with his sister.
"Eww." Keegan grimaced as an unidentifiable organ was removed from a bloody hole in a poor patient's body. "Isn't there some kinda sitcom on or something?" Keegan looked at his sister disgusted as she munched on some popcorn.
"I like this stuff." She shrugged at him while throwing some more kernels into her mouth. She was twenty-one years old but wasn't worried about moving out from under her parent's roof anytime soon.
A chubby black cat with gray and white splotches leapt up onto the back of the couch and looked for a spot to lie down. He decided on a spot directly underneath a row of pictures. The pictures were of the three children in Keegan's family. There was a boy, followed by Bridget, and last but not least was Keegan. Their older brother had moved out and was now married living in New Hampshire
After only a few minutes of chatting with his friends, Keegan heard his mother call from her room. "Keegannnnnn! Did you finish your homework?"
"Not yet." He sheepishly replied. A couple of seconds later he had slid the keyboard back into the computer desk and grumpily marched off to his bedroom. He struggled through a lab he was finishing up for biology, rushed through some algebra, and easily handled the vocabulary words for English class. After two hours of homework, he stood up triumphantly. On his way out of his room he glanced at his alarm clock and groaned as he realized it was already 11:13. He hit up the kitchen one last time for a quick snack and after brushing his teeth and saying a quick prayer he lied down and stared out his window.
Keegan had always had trouble falling asleep, and it wasn't getting any better. His thoughts raced about the events of that day, he thought about what would happen tomorrow, and worried about the results of his homework. He thought about his friends, and girls from school that he liked, anything and everything that could run through his head did. It wasn't until after one o'clock that he finally fell asleep, but his slumber would be short-lived.
I know its kinda slow but dont worry it will pick up. the beginning has to be kinda slow for character development and stuff. any feedback?