The Big Four

Chapter 1

Jack

"Jackie," a voice whispered in my ear. "Jackie, wake up."

"Go away," I mumbled back. Someone jumped onto the bed beside me. And threw the covers off of me. And shook me, trying to wake me.

"Jack," the voice said. "Mom's gonna be mad if you go to school late."

I groaned. It was time for school already? I sneaked one eye open and looked at the digital clock on my table. 7:30 glared back at me. If I slept for 15 more minutes, I would still have 15 minutes to prepare for and go to school, which was three minutes away from my house if I walked. Unfortunately, I wasn't as sneaky with Emma as I thought I would be.

"Aha!" Emma cried. "You're awake! Let's go eat the pancakes mom made us! If you don't come down in ten seconds, I'll eat your pancakes."

I sighed as I watched my sister skip out of my room. I could stay in bed for a few more minutes, but I could smell the pancakes now, its smell wafting from the kitchen, going up the stairs, and entering through my now-open door. It smelled good. Really good.

I dragged myself out of bed and walked to the kitchen, stretching on the way. 

"Good morning, Jack." My mom greeted me.

"Morning, mom," I replied, sitting on my usual chair beside Emma. My mom slid steaming pancakes onto my plate. I grabbed the syrup and drowned the pancakes in them.

"So," my mom said. "I got a call from the principle yesterday." I pretended to be interested in stuffing my mouth with pancakes. 

"Oooooooooooh," Emma said. "Jack's in trouble." 

I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, unable to speak with my mouth full.

"Principle North said that you're part of the welcoming committee to show a new student around." My mom arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. We all knew that I would never participate in that kind of stuff.

I swallowed some of my pancakes. "Just doin' somethin' else for a change," I said with a muffled voice. 

The truth was, I got in trouble over the summer. It had something to do with school, and honestly, I didn't really care about what I did. But, it got I in trouble. I was sent to the principle's office before school even started. That had to be a record.

Principle North had sighed. "Now, look, Jack." He had told me. "I know you're actually a good kid. But you can't just do stuff like this."

I hadn't been paying much attention to the speech. I had had lectures like this ever since middle school, when I had started hanging out with the popular kids. Instead, I had stared out of the window, watching the breeze move a tree's branches.

Principle North had rubbed his forehead, his bushy eyebrows furrowed. "I'll give you a chance. What about this: if you agree to help welcome a new student, I'll let this pass and you won't have to serve the detention when school starts."  

I had agreed without really agreeing. I didn't even know what I had agreed to. Now I remembered, and I thought how much it sucked to be me today.

"Well, you better get ready then," my mom said, sucking me out of my memory. "Don't want to keep the new student waiting. That wouldn't be a good first impression."

I sighed and rolled my eyes internally. I absolutely did not want to do this, but I didn't want to be in detention so soon either. Finishing up my pancakes, I jogged back upstairs and changed into jeans and my usual blue hooded sweater. I threw my backpack on and slipped on white Adidas.