Chapter 2 - Part 1

One of the new students at Gatelock Academy stifled a yawn as he watched the trains and monorails whiz past.  He was certainly catching the attention of several girls, and Dylan flashed them all smiles as he waited.  There were some good looking girls at his new high school.  Some were obviously taken, but Dylan was willing to challenge the competition for the rest.  He figured he had a pretty good chance, even with the ugly school blazer that was part of the school uniform.

He was so fixated on a group of girls who were milling around the doors that Dylan completely missed Howell jogging up to him.  Howell was out of breath and looked relieved as he reached the school right as the first bell rang.  The gaggle of girls giggled as they looked over at the two boys and started whispering as they went inside.

“Dude, what took you so long?” Dylan asked as he looked at his cousin.  “And you look like a prep with your hair all slicked back.  What’d you use?  Half a bottle of gel?”

“Sorry,” Howell said.  “Missed the train.  How’re you doing?”

“Good, good,” Dylan said dismissively.

The two walked into the building and hurried up two flights of stairs to their lockers.  Dylan had his locker opened and his school issued laptop out before he realized that Howell was lagging.  His cousin had helped him train during the summer, so two flights of stairs should have been easy for Howell.

“What are you?” Dylan asked.  “Dead?”

“Sorry,” Howell mumbled.  “Just a little tired.”

Dylan shrugged and waited for his cousin to grab his laptop and data books.  The taller cousin was not worried about being late.  Being a new student was a great excuse and one he planned to use as long as he could.  The hallway was quickly clearing and Dylan stepped away from the lockers without paying attention.

“Oh my goodness.  I’m so sorry.”

A sandy-blond haired girl practically plowed over Dylan and turned bright red with embarrassment.  She had dropped the book that she had been absorbed in and Dylan quickly picked it up.  He glanced at the title and could not help raising his eyebrows in amusement, causing the girl to blush even more.

“Cooking with Chef Barlow,” Dylan read out loud.  “Good book.”

“He’s a great chef,” the girl babbled.

“He certainly is.”

“Oh, hey Callie,” Howell said as he shut his locker.  “How was your summer?”

“Great.”  Callie instantly relaxed.  “Amber won her division and Jordan now wants to buy a welding gun.”

“I’ll have to get the full story at lunch then, won’t I?”

Callie nodded and waved as she left, practically running into the nearby classroom door.  Dylan realized he still had the blonde’s book and just shrugged, shoving it in his bag.  He would return it later.

“Are you seriously wearing those?” Dylan scoffed as he watched Howell put on his glasses.  “Dude, you look like you mugged an old lady for them.”

“I need them to read,” Howell muttered, even though his cousin already knew that.

“It’s a major nerd alert.  I think I should be embarrassed to be seen with you.”

“Sorry.”

The second bell rand and Howell bolted away, completely late for his first class.  Dylan walked in the opposite direction, looking for his science class.  Because his cousin was a nerd, they only had two classes together: history, which was after lunch today, and some random computer class, which was before lunch tomorrow.  What Dylan was looking forward to, though, was the last day of this week, when tryouts for the sports teams were held.