Spark- Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Seth White woke up again gasping for air, sweating profusely. It had been another one of those nights. “I got a million where’d you get it….choose one” rang the alarm of his iPhone. He didn’t need it. His mind had done an excellent job.

He pulled off the bright green sheets and rolled out of bed, irritated. As he trudged to the bathroom he glanced at the mirror. Oh bloody hell, he thought as he noticed his straw blonde hair standing on end. Again. Since he was about ten, he had really dark, vivid nightmares which he could never remember. The only thing that reminded him about his nightmare in the morning was his hair. After the nightmares, it always stood on end and crackled quietly. Most people would find it weird that their hair crackled but not Seth. He had seen a lot of weird things in his life.

“SETH!!! Go take a shower! You know you’d be late for school again! If that teacher of yours calls me-”

“Yes, Yes I’m doing that!” Seth yelled, indignantly.

Koral White, Seth’s mother, was known around Merrick Boulevard for her morning screaming matches with Seth. She was a strict, deeply religious woman who believed success only came to those who worked for it. In a few minutes, Seth was down the stairs and about to pour himself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Then the rants continued.

“SETH! What kind of shirt is that? Are those skulls?!” his mother said, apparently horrified.

“Mom, it’s just a shirt. I’m not going to be a Satanist.”Seth replied, struggling to hold back laughter.

“You say that now! Don’t you know the devil uses tricks like this to trap his followers?!”

“Mom, please. The devil isn’t going to trick me into worshipping him. Don’t you think I would notice if a red guy with horns and a pitchfork tried to sell me a shirt?”

“That’s the kind of back talk your father would never have approved of!”

God, she always did this, Seth thought, seething with rage.
“I’m going to school.” He said and stormed out the door with his book bag slung over one shoulder.

Seth ran down the block to the bus stop, irritated at his mother’s behaviour and overcome with guilt about his father. As he sat on the graffiti covered bench, tears began to well up in his eyes and images of that day came rushing back. It was dusk. Five year old Seth was lying on the bean bag in the living room, playing with his Red Ranger action figure. He loved that toy. Mommy still had her long hair and she was pacing around the room, obviously worried. The policeman came back inside and said something to Mommy. Mommy shook the policeman and yelled at him. The policeman put his arms around Mommy as she cried into his shoulder.

Seth was pulled back to reality by the sound of footsteps. He looked up and saw a close friend of his, Lily Khan, walking over.
“Hi!” She said, cheerfully sitting next to him.

“Hey Lily” Seth said, half smiling.

“So, I just finished the chemistry homework last night. I didn’t have time to finish it earlier because I was writing the Bio paper.…”

Lily, he thought. Lily and Seth had been friends since freshman year when she was having trouble with her chemistry. She looked so pretty today in her bright blue Aeropostale hoodie. His chest fluttered a bit whenever she spoke to him. Too bad she was with a friend of his. His best friend.

“Seth? What’s wrong? You seem a little spaced out.”

“Oh. Nothing I was just…uh…thinking.”

“Your mom did it again, huh.”

"Yeah. I just don't understand her! Sometimes I swear she thinks I killed him.."

"Seth..."

"I mean she's my mother. I'm supposed to love her and be there for her and what not but..God, I fucking hate her!" he said, the tears running down his face now.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Just don't kill her in her sleep okay"she said, smiling reassuringly.

They both laughed. For a tiny fragment of time their eyes met. For that millisecond he looked into her and her him, their souls intertwining in their eyes. They held the gaze for a bit then Lily looked away, embarrassed. Seth, on the other hand, was brimming with excitement. Oh god, he thought. She might actually like me. Oh god. Oh god.

“SETH! The bus is here! Come on!” Lily screamed, as she ran to the big blue MTA New York transit bus.

He wiped his tears quickly before anyone else noticed and hopped on the bus.

The bus was his morning oasis. A place he didn’t have to worry about screaming mothers or dead dads. Just rows and rows of freshmen. All of them trying to appear nonchalant about the fact that it was their first day of high school. He remembered what it was like to be alone in a big grey, unfamiliar building. Then he met Lily.

“Seth? What the hell is wrong with you? Scoot over.”
He looked up to see a tall, muscular person in a white shirt and a back pack in one arm. Matt Dawson, his best friend. He smiled at him and moved to the next seat, letting Matt sit by him.
“Hey man.” Seth said, his grin unwavering.
“Why are you smiling so much? Did you actually do Gwen?” Matt replied, his eyes wide as dinner plates.
Crap, he thought. Gwen. Gwen was his girlfriend. They had been going out since junior prom. He didn’t have a date and neither did she, so they went together. Since that day she had been his self proclaimed girlfriend.
“Oh. Her.” He said, biting his lip.
“You know what? I don’t know what your problem is. You should be happy to have a girlfriend during senior year.”
Seth tensed. He had to learn how Matt was doing with Lily.
“So, anyway, how are you and Lily doing?” Seth said, carefully avoiding eye contact with his best friend.
“Oh you know same old, same old. She’s been acting weird, you know?”
Yes! Yes! Yes! , he thought. Maybe she’ll break up with him. He knew it wasn’t fair to think about his best friend’s love life so maliciously but he couldn’t help it.

The bus was screeched to a sudden halt in front of Jonathan C. Kalhound High school, tossing books and people alike. As Seth looked back at the chaos behind the bus, he couldn’t help but smile as the first years tried to pick up their stuff and still act cool. He got up and walked to a freshman who seemed to be having a particularly tough time. He was crawling on the ground, his glasses askew and his books almost completely ruined by the shoes of his classmates.
“Dude. Forget the notebooks. The textbooks are a lot more important.” He said picking the boy up.
Terrified, the boy nodded quickly and ran off.
Confused, Seth looked around and saw Lily smiling at him again. He waved at her and ran off the bus, his heart pounding against his chest like a jackhammer.