The Haunted Playground

Part 1 The Meeting_ Chapter 1 (Tim)

 I hate school. I really hate school. It's lame, it is boring and we just sit at desks for six hours a day, learning a lot of useless information that we never use in the real world...

"Come on, Tim. I know you're stupid, but can you at least try to help?" says my science lab partner Nick, looking up from the microscope.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I was just daydreaming."

"Please tell me why I'm not surprised. You do the same thing on the baseball field. That's why we can't play good defense," Nick grumbles.

Nick and I are both on our school's baseball team. He's our team captain and a pitcher, and he's really good. I play the outfielder, but I have a terrible time catching the ball and getting people out. The only reason why I was able to make the team is because of my offense. I'm one of the best hitters that we have and I'm also an incredibly fast runner.

Oh God, I really hate science. "Geez, I'm sorry. I can't figure out what we're looking at here," I say, coming up from the microscope.

"That makes two of us. They both look like black blobs to me," Nick says. "Hey," he says, changing the subject, "you're in the batting line-up for the game tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I'm going be toward the top, like either the second or the third person at bat. I'm also going to be in the field tonight as well."

"Good thing, because this team from Ashland that we're playing tonight has an awesome defense, so we really need your power and speed."

"Are you going to be pitching tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be the starter, but I'm going to see if I can't pitch for the whole game, because let's face it: I'm the only chance that we have of wining."

This is the part about Nick that bugs me. Even though he's still a friend, he can be really annoying because he thinks he's better than everyone else.

"Hey there, good morning, class. How is everyone?" says Mr. Jacobs, our school principal. "Sorry to interrupt your class, Mrs. Butler," he continues, "but this is Casey and she will be joining your class," he motions toward a pale-faced tall skinny girl with uncombed long black hair, and dressed head to toe in black.

"Wow, now there's an emo chick if I've ever seen one," Nick whispers to me, looking at Casey.

"Yeah," I agree, both of us staring.

"Hi, Casey, welcome to our school," Mrs. Butler greets her. "Right now we're looking at different bacteria. Why don't you go..." She pauses and looks around the room. "—work with Nick and Tim. They can fill you in on what they've already done," she points to the lab table where Nick and I are sitting.