Hughes High

Chapter 1

"Bueller? Bueller?" Mr. Stein continued to flip through his attendance chart, not even bothering to lift his head, "Has anyone seen Bueller this morning?"

"No, sir. He's out sick."

"Again? I'm telling you every week there's something new wrong with that boy. Do you have any idea when he'll be back?"

"Um... he told me that he'd be back by Thursday but I'm not sure. I'd be more than glad to take him his work if you'd like."

"Well thank you Mr. Frye but that won't be necessary. If he wants it, he can come and get it himself. Besides, a little human interaction never hurt anybody. Well, except for 14th century Europe, am I right?" He chuckled to himself as he continued to check the attendance. The only thing worse than his jokes is one and a half hours of hearing them every morning.

I leaned over and tapped Cameron on the shoulder, feeling the holes of his Red Wings jersey. "Hey Cameron, where is Ferris?" Mr. Stein continued to call roll, as if anyone was listening.

"He's downtown again with Sloane, probably at some art gallery or whatever. You know, it amazes me how much shit he gets away with, yet when I come home fifteen minutes late, god forbid, I get my ass chewed out by my father like it's a regular Tuesday night. I wish I was able to glide through life and not give a damn like Ferris. What a life."
Now that I think about it, I've never met Cameron's father but based on what I've heard, I don't want to. I honestly wish I could see what it's like to live in Cameron's world. Where you feel the constant pressure of success from parents that don't even notice you're there and have friends who see you as nothing more than a coaster to put your drink on. A kid who doesn't have time for a social life because school is his life. But behind all that, he's still Cameron. Fun, loving, dependable Cameron. If only he could learn to loosen up once in a while.

"Cooper? Cooper?" He looked up at the two of us, listening to each other more than we were to him. "Excuse me, Miss Cooper, Mr. Frye, if you don't mind I'd like to be able to finish calling attendance and get started with class."

Cameron's face began to heat up, turning as red as his jersey. "We're sorry sir, we'll stop talking. We didn't mean to interrupt you."

"Thank you. Now where did I leave off? Oh that's right! Cooper? Well we already know Cooper is here." He said checking my name and glancing in my direction, not even trying to hide it. "Croft? Is Mr. Croft here?" Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I could see someone kick the back of Cameron's chair. Of course it was John.

"Hey, nice going you two. You could try to keep it in your pants until after class you know. It's really killing my buzz."

"Look Bender," he turned around without realizing what was waiting for him,"I don't have to take any more of your shit. You do know that right? You and I both know that I'm easily capable of telling all these people what it is that we both know, but I wouldn't do that because I'm not as low and shitty as someone like yourself."

"Hey man, I didn't start any of this. If anything it was you and your friend. What's his name? Brad or Brandon or something? You know that kid who always wears the same green sweater and looks like his mom dresses him every morning. For all I know she probably does."

"His name is Brian and he isn't even my friend. He's just some kid I know from Calculus and if it weren't for him and what he did for you, you'd still be in 9th grade math."

"I don't get it Cameron, if you're so eager to tell everyone what you, I and probably the whole school already knows, why don't you go ahead and do it? The only person you're really hurting is yourself. People, including myself, already look down on you so it's not like you can get any lower."