Friday, June 23, 2006

JADE: Chapter 3

During a rather lackluster week, my zombie thriller has provided great entertainment. While it inspires laughter now, I remember how serious I was about this story all those years ago, spending hours writing in bed at night, a pen gripped solemnly in my hand and the words written so fiercely that they almost bleed through the page. I loved this story then and, the truth of the matter is, that I still love it now (as much as I’ve slammed it in my previous posts). If nothing else, it shows that I had imagination.

So, here’s chapter 3 of “Jade” and because I'm feeling nostalgic and emotional, I'm not going to include any parenthetical comments. You can do that on your own.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The bell finally rang. Psychology class was finally over. Zach got up from his desk and walked to the door.

Mr. Ross was talking about family problems and all that crap. It was just plain and simple boring boring boring. Zach wanted to just doze off when he got back to his room. Who knows, if he was tired enough he would sleep from 5:00PM to 6:00AM. He’d done that before.

Someone called Zach’s name from behind him. He turned around and saw Michael waving for him to come over.

“Zach, I have some news to tell you,” Mike said in an excited voice. “You want to come to the third floor with some of the guys?”

“Mike, the third floor is closed. No one’s allowed to go up there, not even the teachers,” Zach said.

“But this is going to be great,” Mike said nervously, afraid that Zach wouldn’t join them. “Sean is going to bring some chicks from Lakewood, you know what I mean? Sneak them in or something.”

“No way am I going to be a part of this. If we get caught, Dean Norwood is going to kick our asses. Anyway, I’m too bushed. I’m going to my room to get some sleep,” Zach said.

“Listen, I know you’re not a party animals but there’s always a first time,” Mike said. “You think sleeping is better than going to the third floor with chicks and reading a spooky book. You know what else? There are no lights on the third floor. We’re only going to have a flashlight. So, please Zach, come with us. Please, please, please,” Mike nagged like a child.

“No,” Zach said with a firm shake of his head.

“I bet if Nick was still alive, he would have come along,” Mike said sadly.
Zach knew that Mike had won again. Whenever he mentioned Nick, Zack would do whatever Mike begged for. After a long moment of silence, Zach nodded and said, “Okay,” so softly that he could hardly be heard.

But Mike’s ears were wide open, wide enough to hear Zach’s answer. “Yeeeeees!” Mike shouted. “Thanks bro,” he said with a smile. “Meet me on the third floor at 12 o’clock sharp.”

With a quick nod, Zach turned around and walked to his dorm room in the other building.

When he got to his room, he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes but opened them again in shock. Someone had turned on banging music on the stereo. His eyes fell on Todd, who was listening and singing along. Zach’s roommate was the wild type. Always going out on dates and driving fast cars, Todd was almost impossible to stand.

“Todd, turn the music down. I’m really tired,” Zach shouted over the pounding.

“Okay man, I’m turning it off,” Todd said flatly.

The son of the owner of the Chicago Art Museum, Todd Matthews wasn’t at all sophisticated. He just listened to music and didn’t pay attention to school at all!

“Hey Zach, are you going to the third floor tonight?” Todd asked.

“Yes, Todd. I am going to the third floor tonight,” Zach answered in a tired voice.

“Well, so am I!” Todd said eagerly. “It’s going to be awesome.”

Zach got up. He wouldn’t be able to get any sleep with Todd talking so much. “Todd,” Zach said, “I’m going to take a shower. You can play your music as loud as you wish. But when I get out, that stereo should be turned off. All right?”

“Sure man,” Todd answered as he turned his music on.

4 comments:

Terra Shield said...

I seriously am curious to find out how Jade ends... did you get to finish it?

SabilaK said...

Hey Anusha:
Well, I'm glad that SOMEONE'S reading my latest posts. I was beginning to wonder...
I'm reading the chapters as I post them up, so I'm really not sure whether or not I ever wrapped up the story. I suspect that I didn't, as I was notorious for starting short stories and (ahem) novels back in the day, becoming bored of my characters and/or plot and, eventually, just moving along, leaving everything unresolved.

SabilaK said...

Am I the only one who thinks these stories are hilariously entertaining?

SabilaK said...

Clearly, I am.