Chapter 1: Alex

Alex woke up in his room. It was the start of the second week of school. Ugh, Mondays. He got up, made his bed, and started to pick out his outfit. He got out of his pajamas-a yellow shirt and grey pajama shorts-and put on a yellow t-shirt and brown pants. He brushed his short hair and went to see if Ethan was awake.

 Ethan was awake. He just finished checking off that he made his bed on his Chore Chart, and Alex saw that he actually did make the bed. He also saw Ethan was wearing his pajamas.

 “Get dressed. I’m going to eat breakfast,” Alex informed his brother. Ethan nodded. “What’s for breakfast?” Ethan asked. “I don’t know. If you get dressed and come to eat breakfast, you’ll find out!” Alex said as he left.

 Alex went to eat breakfast, and his mom served waffles. “Thanks,” Alex said as he started to eat. Ethan came down in a blue t-shirt and dark jeans when Alex was about half done his five pancakes. “Alex! Are you still gonna wait for me?” Ethan asked like he was concerned. “I’ll wait for you,” Alex reassured the kid.

 A few minutes later, Ethan was finished eating and the boys got their backpacks off their respective hooks, put on shoes, and left for school. Alex chose some grey and white sneakers, and Ethan chose blue Velcro shoes. Alex walked Ethan to Reefside Elementary, and then he headed to Reefside Middle School.

 At the school Alex saw that he showed up at the same time as Daniel, with Catherine not too far away. “Hey,” he greeted Daniel. “Hey. Did you read the news?” Daniel asked Alex and Catherine. “What news?” Alex asked.

 “My dad says that ten-year-old high school genius girl ran away, according to the news. She’s at least in Silver Hills, maybe further,” Daniel explained. “Weird. Who’d want to leave here?” Catherine asked as Becca walked up. “Who left here?” she asked. “That genius ten-year-old ran away, apparently, and they think she’s at least a town over,” Catherine told Becca as they went into the school.

Alex didn’t need to help anyone find their way around much, so he just went to his locker. “Hey, Alexandra,” a familiar voice said. “Go away, Freddy,” Alex sighed. “Maybe you should make a friend and then come back to bug me. Then I’ll never see you again,” Alex told him before the bully could insult him. Alex got his stuff, locked his locker, and ran to his first class, English.

 Alex’s morning was uneventful. There was a pop quiz in second period Math, but otherwise nothing happened. Until lunch. At lunch, which is after third period (Art), Alex got to see his friends again. He bought fries, two hot dogs, and a can of Coke. He came over to Daniel, who was at the table with a hot dog, fries, and Pepsi in a bottle. “Hey,” he greeted Daniel.

 “Hey,” Daniel said as he noticed that Alex had two hotdogs. “Why’d you get two hotdogs? You’re that hungry?” he asked. “No,” Alex lowered his voice. “If Becca doesn’t have a lunch, I’m gonna let her have it. Don’t tell anyone that, though,” he informed Daniel.

 “Dude, do you like her?” Daniel asked, not knowing that Alex liked that he called him ‘Dude’ regardless of if it was a habit. “No…maybe…but she likes me,” Alex answered. “Seriously?” Daniel asked as Catherine and Becca came over with their food. Catherine had a hot dog, bottle of Coke, and onion rings. Becca had fries and a Root Beer.

 “What seriously?” Catherine asked. “Oh-that girl seriously ran away. That genius ten-year-old. It’s been spreading throughout the school like wildfire,” Alex improvised. “Wasn’t Daniel the one who told us about the girl running away this morning?” Becca asked. “I don’t remember, it was such a long time ago,” Daniel joined in. “It was about three hours ago,” Catherine said. “Three long hours. Who can remember a small conversation after three hours of school?” Alex replied. “Never mind,” Becca sighed.

 “Becca, why do you just buy fries and soda?” Alex asked. “Oh-that’s all I can afford with the money I take to school normally. My dad doesn’t give me much lunch money,” she explained. “Want a hot dog?” Alex offered her one of his. “Oh-sure,” she said after a moment.

 As Becca took the hot dog, Catherine giggled. “What’s so funny?” Daniel asked. “Nothing,” Catherine replied when Becca gave her a look. Alex raised an eyebrow, but dismissed it. “How was your morning?” Daniel changed the subject. “Uneventful,” Catherine said.

 “Though that news about that genius girl actually spread like wildfire. I wonder if they’re gonna make a news story about it,” Alex mused. “You watch the news?” Daniel asked. “No. There are just not many interesting news stories,” Alex replied.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Unless it’s something about the Power Rangers. They’re in Amber Beach,” Alex continued. “Yeah. They got a Yellow Ranger added to the team,” Catherine remembered. “I wouldn’t want to be there,” Becca decided.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “I bet I could help the tech person develop a new weapon or something!” Daniel said. “You couldn’t help develop the tech! They’re probably super advanced and you have to be a genius to help them!” Catherine said. “Maybe that’s what that genius girl left to do-help the Power Rangers!” Alex realized. “That’s crazy,” Becca said. “It makes sense,” Daniel decided.

<p class="MsoNormal"> The preteens ate their lunch in silence and then went to their afternoon classes. Alex had Science, where they were starting to learn about the human body. Alex hated this unit, because there was always that kid who asked ‘what if someone is born a girl and thinks they’re a boy’, just to be mean to Alex. Thankfully, this didn’t happen today. Next period was French, and then Gym.

<p class="MsoNormal">  Alex was glad he had Gym at last period. Then he can walk home, have a shower at home, and then pick up Ethan from school like he was supposed to. He did so, and when he picked up Ethan, Ethan had a question for him.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “If you do something bad and don’t feel bad about it, is that bad?” “What do you mean by bad?” Alex asked as he and Ethan left the school. “Like you don’t want Mommy and Daddy to know you did it, but it’s not like stealing or something,” Ethan explained. “I think that’s normal…you don’t have to tell Mom and Dad, and you don’t get into trouble, and unless an adult finds out you did it, you should be okay,” Alex answered with a little bit of thinking. “What if an adult finds out?” Ethan asked. “Then they’ll probably contact Mom and Dad, and you’ll have to explain yourself to them so they won’t take away your computer privilege,” Alex answered.

<p class="MsoNormal"> When the brothers got home, they went in the back entrance of the store to get to their house more easily. They went up the stairs and unlocked the door. Nobody was home, of course. Their Dad was working downstairs and their Mom was probably out recording her latest Single at a studio in the city, or practicing with her band.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Do you have any homework?” Alex asked his brother as they hung up their backpacks. He nodded. “In Math. We’re learning multiplication. The four times tables,” Ethan informed his older brother as he took out the worksheet from his agenda. “Want any help?” Alex offered to help. “Yeah,” Ethan said.

<p class="MsoNormal"> After twenty minutes, Ethan’s homework was done, and Alex didn’t have any homework, so he let Ethan go on the computer, and went to look through the news for that news story about that ten-year-old who ran away.

<p class="MsoNormal"> He found it, on the front page. He saw that there was actually a picture of the girl on the front page. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She had somewhat long hair, and the caption said that the picture used was Reefside High’s most recent school picture of her. Alyssa Rae Taylor. She didn’t look familiar. She was smiling in the picture, and the article said that the most likely reason she ran away was due to complications with her parents. The article also said she probably used public transportation to leave, as she left without her parent’s knowledge and had probably packed about a backpack worth of food and clothes.

<p class="MsoNormal"> After he read the entire article, Alex saw that it was now 4:50 PM, and his Dad left a note in the kitchen, saying that Mom won’t be home until about six, and he was working downstairs. He also said in the note to make soup for dinner, and there were cans on the table.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Alex went to the living room, where Ethan was, playing on the computer. “Ethan, want some soup? I can make you some,” he told Ethan. “Scooby ones?” Ethan asked. “Sure,” Alex agreed. He made Scooby Chicken Noodle Soup for Ethan, and made himself some normal Chicken Noodle soup.

<p class="MsoNormal"> That night, Alex was reading a book and he heard his Mom putting Ethan to bed at about 8:45. Alex read until 9:15, when he was done the chapter. ‘It was just an ordinary, funny day today,’ he thought to himself as he fell asleep.