Well, I'd say today was pretty fun. We just played catch at the park, and you fell into the sandpit! You were so adorable as you fell into the pocket of sand beneath you, I couldn't help but laugh. Don't worry though, you did too. On the other hand, your mother wasn't too happy about the entire situation.

Your mother loves you so much, and I really can't wait to tell you about her. But right now, let's get back to my teenage adventures in Boston.

So, after my ingenious idea to cheat on my essay, I was sure that I was going to ace it. After all, I ended up being one of the only people in my class to finish it. But, my struggles certainly weren't about to be resolved that easily.

"A 47 percent? Dude, what the hell man?" I said, looking at the paper before me in disgust. The paper was covered in red ink, as the sheer number of comments Mrs. Chung left seemed to exceed the amount of words on my essay.

Mike laughed, while placing his hands on his stomach. "That's actually hilarious bro." He started to breathe in heavily, wheezing and laughing as though he was about to collapse. "You handed it in and still failed!"

I lightly pushed him in response. "Shut up."

Of course, Mike failed as well, but it was hard to discern if he really cared anymore. "Cheer up, we're going to the movies tonight. Who cares about Mrs. Chung's old ass? We're going to see Jackass Number Two."

I couldn't help but smile at the bad wordplay, which was probably intentional on Mike's part. "True, but still, aren't you, uh, worried we're not going to get in?"

"Trust me, just trust. My uncle's the manager of the movie theatre here, he just lets me and my friends in for free. Besides, it's not like the employees actually care enough to check."

Quick tip, when someone tells you to trust them, there's a good chance that they can't be trusted. Proceed with caution whenever you hear this phrase. "Fine. But if we get caught for sneaking into an R-rated movie, I'm blaming it on you."

Before I continue, I just wanted to state that I don't condone you seeing R-rated movies. And when you read this, it's not as if you're going to be old enough to see them anyways. But, if you wanted to find a way you could get into movies you're obviously not supposed to be seeing, you may or may not find this chapter helpful.

Mike put his hand on my shoulder. "Chill bro, we do this all the time. It'll be fun. Make sure you're there by 7 so we have time to get popcorn and drinks."

"Fine. I'm really only doing this cause I want to see Jackass Number Two so badly." I lied. To be honest, I hadn't even seen the first one. I was mainly doing this as an attempt to fit in with these people, as this was the first time I would be meeting with them outside of school.

The bell rang, and we both headed to the front of the school. Our group usually met here before walking home together. As I walked outside, I was instantly greeted by the crisp, late September air. The slight breeze gently touched my skin, almost eliminating the traces of humidity in the air.

We decided to chill under a tree planted near the sidewalk until the rest of the group showed up. Sure enough, in a few minutes, the rest of the group, with the exception of Jacob, joined us.

"Hey guys, where's Jacob?" Mike asked, furrowing his bushy eyebrows.

"He, like, told me to tell everyone that he has baseball practice today," Allison said while rolling her eyes. "Typical Jacob, always flaking cause of some sport."

"Oh by the way, Allison, we have to work on that project for history, Mr. Rothman wants it in on Monday," Zoey said softly.

"Ugh, that reminds me. I hate him. He, like, bores the class to sleep, I can't stand him," Allison replied. "But, just message me when you wanna work on it."

"Sure. But, I kinda like him as a teacher," Zoey replied, while adjusting the bangs covering her forehead. "How could you not like his lecture on the Mayan civilization? Did you know that..."

She was interrupted by a harmonious collection of snores from the rest of us. We would do every time Zoey decided to steer the conversation into a topic that wasn't completely vapid.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you guys to read some stuff on history," Zoey continued, while placing her hands on her wide hips.

Now that I think about it, Zoey was totally the mom of the group. I think she would get along with your mother quite well.

"No, it definitely would," Mike replied, sticking out his middle and index fingers to form a makeshift hand gun. He pointed his fingers toward his face, and simulated a fake gunshot. This elicited a few chuckles from the rest of the group.

"Alright, I'm gonna head off, I need to babysit my baby sister," Allison said. "See everyone later tonight!"

"I should probably leave too, later guys," Mike said. Mike walked off with Allison, leaving me with Zoey. Zoey, Jacob and I walked the same way, but since Jacob wasn't there, it left me with a good chance to get to know Zoey more.

Soon after they left, we began to leave the school grounds as well. Zoey and I didn't know each other that well yet, but she seemed even more reserved than I was. Even though I was nervous, I eventually decided to take the leap and say something.

"So, did you see the first Jackass movie?"

She replied, but in a tone that was so soft, I couldn't quite discern what she was saying.

"What did you say?" I replied.

"I said, no, it's not my cup of tea." Zoey said, in a louder tone of voice.

"Uh, what is your cup of tea?"

"I like romance a lot better, but when you have three guys in the group, it's hard to get the group down for that." She smiled, exposing her silver braces.

"Um, I think romance would be pretty easy to pull off with three guys in a group," I said half-heartedly.

She laughed. "Nah, guys don't know the first thing about romance, and it's because they don't watch romantic movies. Even the self-proclaimed romantic guy in Friends ends up cheating on his girlfriend."

"But, they were on a break!" I shouted, in my best Ross impression.

"But being on a break doesn't mean that you're broken up. I've had this argument way too many times, I'm not down to go over it again."

"Fine. Accept defeat, I don't care. But between this, and, uh, your MSN name, I'm not so sure about you."

"Leave me alone!" she shouted, while rolling her pudgy fingers into a fist and punching me. I felt a slight shock make its way through my shoulder. "I made that back when I was 10."

"But still, sxxegurlbby1991?"

We continued talking, and minutes passed. Soon, she arrived at her house, and it was time to part ways. While she was more reserved on the outside, she was a really nice girl once you got to know her.

"See you tonight, sxxegurlbby1991!"

She groaned in disgust. The fact that I didn't find her attractive helped me talk to her, when it was infinitely harder for me to talk to other girls. To me, she was just like one of the guys.

When I got back to my house, I opened my backpack and searched for my keys. Crap. It was then I realized that I had forgot to grab them before I went to school. When I rang the doorbell, I was greeted by Rachel's devilish smile.

Oh, great. I knew I wasn't about to get out of this one. She waved at me, but I really didn't want to deal with her petty antics at the moment.

"Just open the door," I shouted.

She cupped her hands to her ears in response, like she was trying to claim that she couldn't hear me.

"Come on," I said much more loudly. I flicked my wrist in an attempt to explain that she should open the door, but I'm fairly sure she understood what I was trying to say the first time.

She laughed and pointed at me. To celebrate her newfound power, she decided to put on some mid-2000s punk rock song. It was so loud; I could hear it through the doorway. Flailing her arms in a pattern that wasn't consistent with the music, she looked more like a cry for help than a legitimate dancer.

After a few minutes of her dancing as terribly as a soccer mom trying to act cool, she turned the music off. With her shiny smile staring me right in the face, she walked away, leaving me hopelessly stuck outside. A few minutes later, Isabella came through and opened the door.

I hugged her tightly to show my gratitude. "Thanks so much, I can't stand your sister."

"You're welcome. And yeah, I feel ya," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, and she dances worse than a basic white girl." I stood up and trotted around in a circle in an attempt to mimic Rachel's godawful moves. "I don't know how she lives with herself."

"Yeah, imagine having to deal with that. Every day. For my entire life."

"Poor kiddo. Don't worry, it gets better," I replied. "Actually, uh, scratch that, I wouldn't really know cause, uh, now I'm in the same situation. Guess we're all in this together, huh?"

"Yeah. Can you, uh, help me practice later today? We-we have a concert coming up."

"Sorry, I wish I could, but I have plans." I've used that line many times before to get out of things I didn't want to do, but I was really glad that it was actually true this time.

"You, having plans? Ha, that's rich. Well alright, bye!" She smiled, and went towards the kitchen.

Not going to lie, that last line stung a bit. I get the feeling she was a bit angry at me, but I was too lazy to investigate the issue further.

Going upstairs to my room, I went up the stairs, with my feet slamming onto the wooden steps. A cacophony of creaky noises followed. When I finally got to my room, I tossed my paper on my bed. Looking at the mark, I shrugged it off, figuring I would do better next time.

Turning on my monitor, I started to play video games on my Xbox 360. Placing my headset on top of my head, I adjusted the microphone so that it rested just a few centimeters above my lips. When the game finished loading, I became entranced into this futuristic world, as the scenery and creatures came to life.

I was jolted out of this trance when my mom called me for dinner. Shutting off the Xbox, I walked downstairs to get some food. It was only 5:30, leaving me with a short window of time to tell her about my plans that night.

My mother was the type of person who required three to five business days before allowing me to go out. For reasons that I'll likely never understand, she believed that this time was necessary in helping her make a decision on whether or not I would actually be able to go.

As I sat down to eat my food, I figured I had to ask her about this eventually. Wiping off the beads of sweat trickling down my forehead, I paused to look at the clock. I really don't remember why I waited so long to ask in the first place, I think it might have been due to sheer laziness. I still didn't want to ask now, since I knew her answer would likely be a no.

Just then, I came up with an ingenious idea. It was like there was a literal lightbulb going off in my head, briefly illuminating the confines of my mind. It was so simple, I scolded myself for not thinking about it sooner.

"Hey Rob, can I go out tonight to see a movie with my friends?"

Rob paused for a second. "Sure, if it's okay with your mother."

My mother raised her eyebrows. "Well, no. I want to know where he's going, who he's going with, what time he's going to be there, what movie he's-"

"Come on, he's making some friends here," Rob interrupted. "It's probably been really hard on him, leaving his old friends when he had to move. I think we should give him a chance and let him have a bit of fun."

I looked towards my mom, widening my eyes and pouting slightly in an attempt to pull off the classic puppy dog eyes trick. Meanwhile, Rachel and Isabella were snickering in the background, which really wasn't helping my case.

After a few seconds, she looked back at Rob, and turned towards me. "Fine. I'll let you go. Make sure you're home by 9, and be careful, okay?"

"I will, I promise. Thank you guys so much."

At that moment, I gained a tiny shred of admiration for Rob. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

After finishing my food, I looked at the clock again. 5:50pm. I would have to get to the bus stop in around an hour from then, so I figured I still had plenty of time before I needed to get ready. Turning on my monitor, I decided to watch an episode of a sitcom I downloaded from the internet.

It was fun and relaxing to just have the option to turn off my brain for hours on end and just laugh at stuff. Before I knew it, it was already 6:45. I quickly turned off the monitor and began to run out of the house, hoping that the bus wouldn't leave before I got to my stop.

Thankfully, it arrived shortly after I got to the stop. I wiped the waterfall of sweat pouring out of my forehead, and began to look for a place to sit. I eventually decided to sit next to a guy wearing his headphones and jamming to what faintly sounded like rap.

Once I arrived at the movie theatre, I looked around for my friends. Eventually finding them at the arcade, they all called out my name. They were all standing next to an air hockey table, forming a small circle near one of the edges of the table.

"Alright," Allison said as I approached the group. "We're all here now, so, like, let's buy the tickets."

"So Mike, you're going to ask the general manager for the tickets?" I asked, still confused as to how the process would work.

Mike shook his head, placing his palm towards his face. "No, no, no. For the last time, let me explain it to you all. I'm going to go up to the front desk, and, uh, because they already know me because my uncle's the manager, they'll let us all in. Any other questions?"

Silence ensued.

"Alright, let's buy those tickets," Mike said.

As we approached the counter, I looked up and saw an array of yellow, LED stars, illuminating the area around us. The crew members, all wearing bright red clothes, contrasted with the dark blue atmosphere of the room.

When the cashier called the next person in line, Mike went up to the stand. "Hi, five tickets to Jackass Number Two please."

"Sure, may I see your ID?" the cashier replied, casting a pearly white smile at Mike.

"My uncle's the manager at this place, and he's told me that me and my friends can get in without needing an ID," Mike said. He pointed to the four of us standing behind him.

"Sir, this is an R-rated movie, restricted for people who are under 17. I can't sell you or any of your friends a ticket. Not only is it against company policy, but the theatre can get in serious trouble for breaking the law."

"Again, I can, uh, assure you that my uncle has approved of this. If you want, I can call him."

"It doesn't matter if your uncle has approved of this. I still can't let you in, unless you have a parent, guardian, or someone who is over the age of 18 accompany you to the movie. Might I suggest a more age-appropriate film instead? I hear How To Eat Fried Worms is quite good. If you're, um, not going to buy something else, then I am going to have to ask you to step out of line, since there are other customers waiting."

Mike walked away from the line, and so did the rest of us.

"Great job Mike, your uncle really came through for us, just like you said!" Allison exclaimed, while rolling her eyes.

Before Mike had a chance to respond, the cashier called us back to the table.

Pointing to the man standing next to us, the cashier said, "Alright, so this man, Charles, has nicely offered to accompany you guys to the movie. I'll need you to pay for the tickets if you want to buy them."

Everyone offered their thanks and gratitude to Charles for helping us. Unfortunately, I have no recollection of what he looks like, but I do remember his voice was extremely deep.

When I asked why he decided to help us out, he said, "I was a kid once, and I know how it feels. I don't want to forget that."

You know, I've always held Charles's words close. It's interesting how I can remember nothing about him other than his words, and while I didn't really get what he was trying to say when I first heard them, I think I'm starting to get it.

Anyways, the movie really wasn't anything special, but with a title like Jackass Number Two, it obviously wasn't going to win any Academy Awards. What I really enjoyed was the feeling of belonging, that feeling that there now were people in this foreign city that I could consider friends. Having to eat all alone in the cafeteria was a feeling that I wouldn't wish upon anyone.

When the movie was over, I realized what a mess I had gotten myself into. I had to be home at 9, and it was already 9:15. Already predicting what my punishment would be, I said goodbye to my friends and went back home. As I walked back up to my house, the door already opened before I even had a chance to ring the doorbell.

"Get in here," she said, while she stared at me so intensely, my soul felt like it was being ripped apart by her fiery glare.

As I stepped inside the house, I could begin to see what she was holding in her left hand. It was the paper that I received earlier that day. Pointing to the bold red 47 that was at the top of the first page, she said two very simple, but scary words.

"Explain this."

_____________________

A/N: thanks a lot to everyone who has commented, voted, or read the book so far! i really appreciate you guys being here even with my (sadly) inconsistent uploading schedule. i just wanted to say that school/job searching has forced me into a bit of a hiatus, and with exams coming up, i can't really post regular updates.

if i could, i would post weekly, but i need to focus on school rn, so i'll be taking a month hiatus until i'm done with my exams (which will be in late April). after that, i'll have the time for at least weekly updates.

i'm sorry, but I hope those of you that read this understand. also, just wanted to wish anyone who celebrates it a happy Easter!