Reception

Chapter 1 - Full Bars

"Come on! There's no way this is happening!" He shook his phone violently in the air, willing the signal stronger with every bit of air he covered with his swinging motions.

"Don't your arms get tired, Damien?" chirped a voice from behind him, clear amusement flavoring its rich, velvety tone.

"Shut up!" he shot back, "You don't understand, I need to see it! I need to see it!" Damien exclaimed, turning on heel to meet his amused inquirer. Damien placed his hand on his hip lightly, giving a penetrating and aghast gaze to the slouched figure in the chair in front of him, "You simply don't understand, Michael, this video is the most important bit of information that could revolutionize the way we humans think!"

Michael noticed a slight uncomfortable feeling rising in the small of his back due to his slouched position and poised himself up, leaning forward on the edge of his seat. Even as he readjusted himself the smirk that had erupted on his face from a few moments ago never left his lips. "Right. Damien, I hate to tell you this, but let me be clear," he stood up and approached Damien, a slight mock concern setting his tone as he let his hand fall gently and gingerly on Damien's right shoulder, "In no way will a video game trailer ever revolutionize mankind." Point made, Michael span on heel, pointing up at the vaulted ceiling, "You'd better start heading to class."

Damien stuck out his tongue, only to bite it in surprise as the school bell pealed through the air soon after Michael's finger retracted to his sculpted hand. Damien cursed Michael's timing. However, what he cursed more was that that had happened for the fourth time that week. Although, biting his tongue because of it was definitely a new development. Score one for Michael.

Inwardly, Damien admired how rugged and cut Michael was. In fact, in many ways, he was envious. Not that he, himself, ever felt that he was unattractive or inadequate, but something was always unsettling when he looked at Michael. In every case, however, he cursed that beautiful boy's marble-cut abs and watch-like timing skills.

"Sulivan! To class! Now!" came a shout from behind Damien.

The voice made him jump even higher than the bell had, making him appreciate that he wasn't sticking out his tongue at that moment. Imagine the tongue-damage that could have been done! However, that was the least of his worries. As he turned around to meet the source of the noise he was already cringing. He recognized that voice, and it did not bring him any happy butterflies in his stomach. Or any happy feelings, for that matter.

"Sarah, what a surprise," he meekly responded. Damien knew that Sarah had volunteered to be the part of the Hall Security Force, but he thought she was taking her job way too seriously. "Nice outfit," he coughed, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Sulivan, I don't have time for your games, get to class and make it quick or this will be the twelvth-"

"-eleventh-"

"-twelvth time I would need to deduct points." To Damien, she sounded arrogant and cocky. In fact, if it wasn't for that overabundance of bitchiness and higher-than-you attitude, he would have considered her in a different light. It was no secret that Sarah was gorgeous, but that only added to her feminist and order-demanding profile.

"You know that it's only been eleven times-"

"-volleyball game, you hit a ball off of an non-designated area-"

"-are you serious?" he scoffed, "There is no way that that's an infraction!"

Without waiting to be told Sarah strolled over to Damien, her medium-high heels clicking ominously and powerfully. She stopped just a step or two short of him and tapped her TED. The little plastic and metal chip whirred to life, a familiar blue pulsing streaming at intervals down etched lines in the casing. After a few moments a screen appeared mid-air, showing various student council projects and statistics run by the school. Sarah moved her delicate fingers through the menus in her TED, finally coming to the Rulebook. A few taps through the electronic book later and the volleyball infraction was there for all to see.

"Section five, paragraph-"

"-I got it, I got it. Good job, Ms. Cop, can I go to class now?"

Sarah always had a way of draining the fun out of everything and it was no different this time. Damien's earlier smirk and cocky attitude was gone and was, instead, replaced by a strange sort of cocktail consisting of embarrassment and that shunned feeling someone gets when they've done something wrong.

With a small sigh that Damien had never seen before, and a sadness that soon rippled itself across her face like a drop starting a wave in a pond, Sarah replied, "Yes, Sulivan, you may go."

It was odd, Damien had never seen that type of reaction from Sarah before. He paused a moment, wondering how such a reaction from her was even possible. In fact, he figured that she was completely incapable of all emotion besides "fun-drain." There was no way that the golden hair that he had come to call "The Shield" - because it seemed to be able to block out any negative comment ever thrown her way - and the busty, voluptuous physique other girls had come to envy, could have, in his mind, ever housed any emotion other that confidence and leadership.

In a confused daze Damien did as he was told and began trudging off to class, all previous energy gone.