Chapter1: An Invitation to Disaster

Chapter One – An Invitation to Disaster

“Zack, are you looking forward to your first day of high school?” Cody asked, excitedly. They were riding on the bus to school. “I know I am!”

“Whatever,” Zack replied, nonchalantly.

“I’m looking forward to all of my classes! Algebra 2 is going to be awesome!”

“Nerd!”

“So, what are you looking forward to?”

“Getting out!”

“Isn’t it going to be interesting to meet all the new kids?”

“What new kids?”

“Some of the kids who will be going to Chivers High School went to a different middle school than us.”

“Cool. More girls to date!”

“Is that all you think about? Girls?”

“And parties! We’re going to go to some killer parties his year, or at least I am!”

“You know… You should really focus on your schoolwork. It’s more important, you know.”

“Huh?”

“Colleges will see your grades from high school. If you want to actually get into college, you may want to actually try to do well in high school.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh, and about those “killer parties”: We have got to make sure there’s parental supervision at them.”

“Whatever.”

“Zack, crazy stuff goes on at some high school parties! We’re not in middle school, anymore. We’ve got to be careful!”

“Whatever,” Zack said, pulling his iPod and earbuds out of his backpack. “Can you leave me alone? I wanna listen to music!”

“Fine,” Cody replied, pulling a book out of his backpack. “I’ll just read!”

“You do that.”

Five minutes later, Cody took off one of Zack’s earbuds and said, “Turn down your music! It’s too loud. I can hear it. You’re going to damage your hearing!”

“Whatever,” Zack replied, fiddling with the volume on his iPod.

“How can you stand those earbud thingies? They drive me nuts. I can’t use them.”

“Whatever.”

Later on… Zack, Cody, Barbara, Tapeworm and Max were sitting together at lunch. Tapeworm and Max were sitting next to each other. They had been dating since the fourth of July, when Tapeworm had finally gotten the courage to ask her out. Cody and Barbara were sitting next to each other, across from Tapeworm and Max. They had been dating since spring of their eighth-grade year. Zack was sitting next to Cody.

“Well, this isn’t awkward,” Zack said, sarcastically.

“What?” Barbara asked.

“This,” Zack replied. “You’re dating Cody. Max is dating Tapeworm. I’m the only one here who is single. It’s kinda awkward.”

“Feeling like the third wheel, Zack?” Tapeworm asked, laughing.

“More like the ‘fifth’ wheel!” Max said, jokingly.

“Haha. Very funny,” Zack said, sarcastically.

“Dude, you’re not the only one who’s felt like they were the third wheel!” Tapeworm said. “Might I remind you I’ve only been dating Max since this summer?”

“Your point?” Zack asked.

“Last year, there was a few days when for whatever reason you and Mad both weren’t at lunch,” Tapeworm replied. “I sat with Cody and Barbara. I definitely felt like a third wheel.”

“Oh,” Zack said.

“Don’t worry about it, brother,” Cody said. “Being single isn’t that bad. Plus, on the bus this morning, you were excited about all the new girls at school this year.”

“Oh yeah,” Zack replied, smiling. He was thinking of Coraline who sat in front of him during geography. She had long black hair and dark green eyes. Usually Zack went for the blondes, but there was something about Coraline. She was beautiful and funny. She also seemed slightly mysterious.

“Thinking of someone already?” asked Cody, teasingly.

“Huh? What? Uh, no,” Zack said quickly.

“Right…” Tapeworm said, sarcastically.

“Who is it?” Max asked.

“Uh… No one,” Zack said, nervously. “How was everyone’s day at school?”

“Changing the subject?” asked Barbara.

“Hey! Are you Zack Martin?” a tall, red-headed kid asked Cody.

“No. I’m Cody, his twin brother. That’s Zack,” said Cody, pointing to Zack.

“Oh. Hello Zack,” said the stranger. He had ear piercings in the shape of fangs. He was wearing a grey hoodie and dark blue jeans with holes in them.

“Uh… Hi,” Zack said. “Who are you?”

“My name is Seth. I’m a freshman,” Seth replied.

“Oh,” Zack replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Word has it, you’re the coolest guy in your grade,” Seth replied. “Which is why I am inviting you to a party my friend Blaine is having this weekend. It’s goin’ to be a killer party!”

“Sweet! Can I invite these guys to come?” Zack asked, gesturing to Cody, Barbara, Tapeworm and Max.

“It depends. Are they cool?” Seth asked, with a snobby attitude.

“Kind of,” Zack replied.

“Alrighty then,” Seth replied. “They’re invited!”

“Are Blaine’s parents going to be there?” Cody asked.

“Uh… Yeah…” Seth replied, smirking. “It’s at 8:00pm, by the way! I’ll give you the address of Blaine’s house later.” He walked away.

“So… Who’s going?” Zack asked, excitedly.

“I can’t,” Barbara replied. “I already have plans. Have fun, though.”

“I’m game,” replied Tapeworm. “Max, you going?”

“Nah I already have plans, too,” Max replied.

“I’m going,” Cody said.

“Alright then. I’ll tell you guys the address later…” Zack said.

“Why don’t we just meet at the hotel before hand and ride our bikes there?” Cody asked.

“Sounds good to me,” said Tapeworm.

“Alright then. Regardless of where Blaine’s house is, we should meet at a specific time,” Zack said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re late.”

“Right,” Cody replied. “7:45, everyone?”

“Sounds good,” Zack and Tapeworm said in unison.

Chapter 2:Coraline

Chapter Two – Coraline

“Coraline?” asked Zack. He had just arrived at the skateboard park to find the black-haired beauty at the top of one of the ramps. She was wearing a red tank-top with a Three Days Grace logo, light blue jeans and black converses. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Coraline asked, laughing. She flipped her long black hair back.

He had to laugh as well. “How long have you been skateboarding?”

“Six years,” she replied. She dropped in and skateboarded to one of the rails. She grinded down the rail perfectly and came over to where Zack was standing, stopping about a foot and a half away from him.

“Nice,” said Zack, obviously impressed.

“What can you do, Zack?” Coraline, asked, smirking.

“Huh?” Zack said, not entirely paying attention.

“You skateboard, right?” Coraline asked, smiling.

“Yeah, I’ve been skateboarding for seven years!”

“Alright, then do something! Show me what you’ve got!”

Zack went down the ramp. He skateboarded around in a circle to gain speed, and then went off the ramp in the center. He spun around, landed on his skateboard and skateboarded over to Coraline.

“Pretty good,” Coraline said, smiling.

“How come I haven’t seen you at this skateboard park before?”

“This is the second time I’ve been here. I just moved to Boston in August.”

“Oh. Where’d you move from?”

“Grandview Heights, Ohio. It’s a suburb of Columbus. You do know where Ohio is, right?”

“Duh. I’m not stupid.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. You just seem like you don’t have a clue in geography.”

“Well I do. So what do you think of this skateboard park?”

“It’s awesome. Best one I’ve been to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s better than any skatepark in Columbus. Grandview Height’s park is a joke. It’s a bunch of wooden ramps and steel rails and it’s not even permanent. It moves from the pool parking lot to the tennis courts at a local park every year. Hilliard has a little bit better, but horribly simple one. It’s good for a beginner, but it was boring for me after about a year and a half. Dublin had a better park, but it wasn’t great. Gahanna also had a decent park. This one is better than any of those Columbus parks!”

“That’s good.”

“So what else can you do on a skateboard?”

“I mostly do jumps and twists and stuff.”

“Can you grind?”

“Decently.”

“Can you land a jump over that set of stairs?” she asked, pointing at a set of six stairs.

“No. I’ve been working on being able to do it, though. I work on it every time I come here.”

“I see.”

“I’m assuming you can do it, since you asked.”

“No. Actually, I don’t know how to do a jump over a set of six stairs. Dublin and Gahanna only have a set of four stairs.”

“Can you jump that?”

“Easily.”

“Alright then. Why don’t you try the set of six stairs?”

“You first.”

“Okay then,” Zack said. He got up and went over to the set of six stairs. He started skateboarding about 40 feet before the set of stairs. He gained speed and jumped over the set of stairs. He almost landed it, but he fell over backwards. When he got up and looked over at Coraline, she was laughing at him.

“Nice try, Zack,” she said, laughing.

“You try it then,” he said.

“Alright,” she said, nervously. She went up to the set of stairs, looked at it nervously, and walked over to where Zack had started from. She did not gain as much speed, so when she jumped the skateboard came out from underneath her. She fell as soon as she hit the ground. Zack started laughing, but stopped as soon as he realized that she hadn’t gotten up yet.

“Coraline!” he yelled, running over to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I’m fine. Mind helping me get up?”

Zack held out his hand and Coraline took it, getting to her feet. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“You didn’t break or sprain anything?” Zack asked, anxiously.

“Nope,” she replied, smiling. “I’d know if I had. Trust me! I’ve broken quite a few bones.”

“Oh.”

Coraline started walking over to the stairs. “Hold it!” Zack said. “Where are you going?”

“Back over to the stairs,” Coraline replied.

“What? But you just fell! Pretty hard, I might add!”

“So?”

“Don’t you want to start out small? Do something else?”

“No,” Coraline replied, simply. “If you fall, get back up again. Try, try, again!” With that, she walked up to the top of the stairs. She and Zack took turns doing the jump over the stairs. After about 30 minutes, neither of them had actually landed a jump, so they gave up and did some other tricks and stuff.

“I think I’m gunna head off now,” Coraline said, after they had been skateboarding for about two hours. “It’s been very fun skateboarding with you, though. I look forward to doing it again!”

“Yeah, same here,” Zack replied, smiling. “I had a lot of fun, too. Any chance you’d like to sit with my friends and me?”

“Maybe. Would your friends mind?”

“I doubt it. You’re a really cool person.”

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Bye. I really do need to get going!”

“Alright. Goodbye, Coraline!” Zack said, and she skateboarded off down the street. Zack left soon after, going the other way down the street.

The next day at lunch… “Hey guys!” Zack said, loudly, walking over to where Cody, Barbara, Max and Tapeworm were sitting. Coraline was following him. Zack sat down next to Cody, and Coraline sat down next to Zack on his other side. Zack began to eat.

“Hi. I’m Coraline,” Coraline said, introducing herself. Cody, Barbara, Max and Tapeworm introduced themselves.

“So, how do you know my brother?” Cody asked Coraline.

“She sits in front of me in geography,” Zack replied, before Coraline could respond.

“I believe I was supposed to answer, Zack,” Coraline said, looking at him.

“Oh,” he said, simply.

“Anyways… Yeah, I sit in front of him in geography, but he barely even spoke to me until yesterday, when we were at the skateboard park,” Coraline said.

“You skateboard?” Max asked.

“Yeah,” Coraline replied.

“She’s really good,” Zack added.

“Hey,” said Seth, suddenly appearing next to Tapeworm.

Tapeworm gasped, slightly startled. “Oh. Hi Seth,” he said.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I wanted to give you Blaine’s address,” Seth said, handing Zack a piece of paper. “His cell phone number is on there too, in case you get lost.”

“I doubt we will,” Cody said. “He lives very close to us. But, thanks anyways.”

“No problem,” Seth said. “See you at 8:00!”

“Bye,” Zack said, and Seth walked away.

“What was that about?” Coraline asked.

“Oh. He invited us to a party tonight,” Tapeworm said.

“You could probably come if you wanted to,” Zack said, hopefully.

“Nah. I’ve already got plans with my family,” Coraline replied.

“Oh,” Zack replied.

“Thanks anyways, though,” Coraline replied.

“No problem,” Zack replied. The group then went back to their usual conversation, until the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.