Chapter 2: Mr. Helkin

Awakened by the sound of an echoing car alarm bouncing off the houses that line the street, and penetrating through the open window in his bedroom, Alex opens his eyes.

"Another day in this Hell-hole," he mumbles under his breath as he sits up and places both feet on the floor. Standing up, arms above his head, stretching to wake himself up, Alex makes his way towards the bathroom in the hallway.

"Hurry Up!" Blake yells from the bottom of the stairs. "You're going to be late if you don't put a little pep in your step," she yells again.

"I'm going as fast as I can Mom!" Alex responds, pushing out one last yawn as he grabs his toothbrush.

Staring at his reflection, pondering about the coming day, Alex spits in the sink and rinses his mouth out. He still cringes from the burning of the mouthwash, just like he did as a child. Once more, Alex spits in the sink, wiping his mouth on the faded white hand towel, stained with a faint blue crust from the past few days. He turns on the water, washes his face, and stares himself in the mirror one last time. A slight sense of curiosity washes over him as he sniffs the air eagerly. Alex shuts off the water and makes his way towards the kitchen as he soon recognizes the smell.

"Blueberry Waffles," he says to himself as he steps into the kitchen.

"I made your favorite," his mother says as she turns around to face her son.

"I know..." he says.

"Waffles," spoken in synchronization, they look at each other and laugh for a moment.

Alex grabs a waffle from the plate on the counter and quickly shovels a huge bite into his mouth as he walks toward the living room to grab his bookbag. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he tells his mom he will be in the car waiting. He walks through the living room, tossing a glance toward the couch. James is reclined, watching an old episode of "Jeopardy" with a cigarette in his hand. Alex walks out the front door with a disgusted look on his face. Shaking his head, he closes the door behind him.

He approaches the red, rusted, 2001 Ford Explorer sitting in the driveway, and checks his reflection in the side mirror. Kneeled down, making sure there's not any blueberries stuck in his teeth, Alex stands up and opens the door. Gently placing his backpack in the floorboard, he accidently drops his English Literature textbook, and it slides into the driveway. Alex bends down to pick it up and notices a blacked out SUV across the street, a white sticker on the side and tinted windows. He's seen that same car before; yesterday while going to get bread, and a few days before that while hanging out with some friends up the road. Alex grabs the textbook and slowly stands up, getting in the front seat of his mom's car while also keeping an eye on the suspicious SUV. It's perched at the top of the cul-de-sac, back-hatch facing the Malone's house as if to get the best point of view of the street. Slouching down into his seat, Alex is barely able to peek over the bottom of the window and into the mirror to see two guys sitting inside the vehicle.

"Are you ready to go hun?" asks Blake through the driver's side window.

"MOM! Jesus Christ you scared the shit out of me," Alex replies with his hands clenched around his bookbag, held in close to his chest as if to use it as some sort of protection.

"What is wrong with you son? Are you on drugs? Are you smoking the marijuanas?" his mother asks concernedly.

"No, I'm not smoking or doing drugs mom. There is a car parked at the top of the hill, and it was creeping me out," Alex responds.

Alex sits up straight and takes one last look into the mirror. The SUV was gone. He jumps up quickly, looking around, searching for the vehicle that seemed to just disappear.

"I swear, it was right there Mom," he says as Blake gets in the car and starts the ignition.

"I'm sure it was just someone trying to find an address, so they pulled over to look at their GPS. Calm down son," Blake responds with a chuckle. "You should be happy, and not so worked up about a car Alex. Today is your last day at this school and then we can start our new lives," she adds.

"I mean, I am happy that we are moving. I just hope this is the last time we have to move Mom. We moved around so much when I was little, I just want a place you and I can call home," Alex says in a heartfelt manner.

Blake places her hand on top of her son's and smiles. Pulling out of the driveway, she puts the car in drive and coasts down the eroding street. Alex places his head against the window and stares at the passing houses as raindrops begin to fall. Sliding down the glass like a snake, Alex races the beads of water with his finger.

---

Even though he moved around a lot as a child, he's never missed a day of school. He's never been late to a single class. Alex has to rush through the cafeteria and past the library before the bell rings for first block. Speed walking, almost jogging down the halls, Alex grabs the handle of the door and walks into Mr. Helkin's World History class and takes a seat just as the bell sounds. Alex shows a slight smirk of accomplishment as the teacher begins class and returns a smile in Alex's direction.

He slouches in his desk and starts to doodle in the top right corner of his notebook. History doesn't really excite Alex, but he listens to the lessons as if listening to the weather channel, just background noise to him. Drawing the last turn in the maze, carefully flowing between the blue lines of the paper, Alex notices the gaze of Brittany Hall from the desk next to him.

Brittany is and always has been one of the most attractive girls in school. Alex has had a crush on her since middle school but has always admired her from afar, never having the nerve to ask for her number, or even speak more than two words to her. Her hair flows like a chocolate silk river down her back and over her shoulders. He loved everything about her. The way her perfectly tanned skin contrasts against the fluorescent glow of the classroom lights. Her eyes, like tiny golden suns sitting upon a white ocean. Alex always notices the way she bites the end of her pencil when she's focused on something.

Trying not to seem obvious, he glances over to her through the corner of his eye.

She's staring, biting the end of her pencil, and sitting so normal yet beautifully.

"Dear God, how can the way someone sits be so damned attractive?" Alex wonders.

Brittany's eyes catch on Alex's as he quickly looks back down to his notebook.

"I think I've solved it," she says confidently.

"What?" Alex responds, confused.

"Your maze that you drew. I've been sitting here trying to figure it out, and I think I've got it," Brittany says with the most God-like smile Alex has ever seen.

She scoots her desk closer to Alex's and drags her pencil through the narrow openings of the labyrinth of graphite walls. Down, right, down, left, left, up, right, getting closer to the end Alex looks up at her face in awe. Their eyes meet, Brittany's hand stops, and they smile at one another. Brittany slides her hand up and tucks some loose hair from her bangs back behind her ear.

"Told you I could do it," Brittany says with a sense of cockiness as she makes the last right turn in the maze and finishes the puzzle.

"You're amazing... I mean, that's... that's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing," Alex says nervously, hoping she didn't notice.

Brittany lets out a flirtatious laugh.

"Thank you," she says with a smile. "I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to puzzles like that."

"I guess I'm going to have to make the next one a little harder then huh?" Alex responds jokingly.

"I guess so," she says, glancing up at Alex.

The bell rings, Brittany slides her desk back into its original spot and starts to pack her things up. Alex turns around in his seat to face the front of the room as he places his notebook into his backpack.

"Maybe I'll see you around," Brittany says as she exits the classroom.

Alex watches as she leaves and slings his bookbag around his shoulder, stands up, and leaves his World History class for the last time. Smiling at Mr. Helkin as he walks out of the room he heads to his next class.