Book+2

by: Jackie Johnston
 * The Beginning**

"Mom it is really getting to me, in class today we were having a discussion about heritage and I could not participate. I love you very much but im just so curious, please share with me a little about my adoption?" Logan asked in pleading voice.

“Logan, I know you have been asking for a long time about the history of your adoption and how we, as your parents felt. I now feel you are old enough to know how this miracle happened.” Lucy spoke in a nurturing voice to her seventeen-year old son, Logan.

“Thanks mom, I know this is tough for you and I appreciate it.” Logan really was curious since he was a teenager and was starting to rebel he had been more and more curious about his birth parents and how and why he was adopted although he loved his adoptive parents with all his heart.

After nine years of marriage and having two daughters Mark and Lucy Andrews learned through medical tests, that they had to accept the fact that they would not be able to have any more children. This was devastating since they both always dreamed of having a large family with boys and girls. They began to seriously think about the process of adoption. While Lucy was playing bridge with a lady from their New York City neighborhood Lucy learned that she and her husband had adopted their little boy.

“Was the process difficult, does your boy seem to have any problems?” Lucy asked in curious yet passive voice.

“Our little boy has made our life so much more enjoyable and it was worth all the anxiety and the process was not too enduring, the agency made it a little less nerve racking.” Replied the lady in a sweet tone.

Through this kind lady Lucy obtained the name of the adoption agency. Lucy and Mark contacted this adoption agency and went through the process of being screened as a possible family to adopt one of their babies. This was a very stressful time because Mark and Lucy worried that they might not be accepted because they already had two daughters, had some money issues and did not live in the best neighborhood.

“Why do you believe that you two would make the best parents for this child?” Asked the caseworker in a firm but compassionate tone.

“We have always dreamed of a big family with many children and we are caring good people. We may not be the richest but we can provide more love than you can imagine.” Mark responded in a caring, confident voice.

Their caseworker was a lovely and kind lady and gave them much needed encouragement. They had to write a letter stating why they wanted to adopt and go through many interviews and home inspections. Within seven months of applying, they received a phone call telling then that a baby boy was available and could they come to the adoption agency for a meeting.

“Hello Mr. Andrews, this is Patty Henderson from the Adopt a Child Agency, we have an infant here that would be a possible for candidate for you to adopt. We would like to arrange a meeting to meet with you and Mrs. Andrews as soon as possible.” The lady on the other line of the phone seemed optimistic about this adoption.

“We will meet anytime, tomorrow at three o’clock will be good. Thanks.” Mark replied trying to control his excitement as he received the some of the best news of his life.

After the meeting, they made an appointment to see the baby and make their decision if this was the baby they wanted to bring home. They were so excited and on pins and needles wondering what he would look like. This baby was of Italian decent and Lucy pictured a baby with dark hair. When they saw their son he was very blonde and had hardly any hair. Of course they loved him at first sight and knew this baby was for them. After bringing him home, they had to wait for six months before they could go before a judge in a courtroom and have him approve the adoption. This was the last step for them to legally become the parents to their son. During this time, the adoption agency came to their home to inspect the care they were giving their baby

The adoption agency they worked with allowed the birth mother a minimum of three days to legally sign her baby over to the agency. Lucy and Mark as adoptive parents, were not allowed any personal information about the birth parents: names, addresses, etc. This information is on file and can only be accessed by means of a court order.

“Logan all we know is that you are Italian, your parents were teenagers from Kentucky and their extended family does not know you was born.” Lucy willingly shared this information to her curious son.

“Mom thanks for filling me in, I must go I have plans to play basketball with my buddies but I just want you to know you have really put my mind at ease. Love you bye.” Logan replied in a rushed but loving voice.

By Juan Flores Growing up with people you consider special is very important in one’s life. These people can have a positive effect on someone, or they can have a negative effect on a person. Logan started at the age of five, just like any ordinary kid. He loved attending school everyday because he would always play with his friends. There is nothing better than being with those that you care for. He was an active kid that would always something to do. This is where he would meet his best friend Chris. As youngsters, they would always do everything. Chris was a good guy. He would always make Logan laugh no matter how dumb his comments were. Logan and Chris had the same classes throughout their first five years of elementary school. They remained best friends, and they did everything together. Every afternoon, they would go skateboarding at a local park, and then they would just hang out and talk about anything. Everything seemed good, and it looked like they would remain best friends forever. Logan and Chris graduated from elementary school, and they were both ready for middle school. Summer passed, and they were always together. On the first day of school, Logan and Chris hung out like always. As the weeks and months passed by, Logan noticed a change in his best friend. He would see Chris hang out with older people. Logan felt really bad because Chris changed a lot. He thought that they were going to stay best friends for ever. Throughout sixth and seventh grade, Chris and Logan only hung out a couple of times. Logan and Chris were now in the eighth grade, and this is where Logan and Chris were now in the eight grade, and this is where Logan saw the change that Chris went through. Chris was not the same person he was a couple of years ago. Chris was a skater, but now that he started hanging out with others, he does not really pay any attention to his favorite hobby. Chris is now mostly involved in the hip-hop community. He started hearing rap music once he started hanging out with individuals that were older than him. He would wear skateboarding clothing, but now, he started wearing extremely baggy clothes that would make him look very big. He would go around acting all cool, and talking like if he was a rapper. He was always disturbing the peace, and he would come home late. His parents did not know what to do with him because he was starting to get out of control. Chris was greatly influenced by rap music, but he was mostly getting influenced by those who hang out with him. Chris and his friends decided to form a little group also known as a “crew.” They would hang out at a certain location, and just talk about anything. Logan did not know what to say, but he missed his friend Chris. He was hoping that by freshman year, Chris would be how he used to be. It was the first year of high school, and Logan looked at Chris. Logan was talking to Chris, but Chris kept on acting weird. Wearing baggy clothes was what made Chris stand out the most. Logan saw that Chris was eventually going to ruin his life. Logan saw that Chris was trying to influence him into his kind of lifestyle. At a party, Logan and Chris were talking. What Logan realized was that Chris was under the influence of some kind of drug. Chris was also smoking, and drinking. Logan was talking to Chris, and Chris was trying his hardest to push Logan into the hip hop scene. He was telling Logan that it was cool to listen to rap music, and live the “thug” life. Chris told Logan that if he did not change, they will not be friends anymore. Logan was falling for it. He wanted to fit in, and he did not want to lose his best friend. Logan walked away, and he sat outside to think about everything. He got a cell phone call from his mom, telling him that it was past twelve o’clock. Chris was going to stay at Logan’s house and spend the night. So, he went inside to look for Chris, and they both went home. As they were leaving, Logan saw that an individual approached Chris, and handed something to him. Logan asked Chris what the object was, and Chris just ignored him. They were finally home, and they both decided that they would watch a movie. Logan was talking to his friend Chris, and they were talking about their childhood. Chris was not feeling good, so he told Logan that he was going to use his bathroom. Ten minutes passed by, and Logan was wondering what Chris was doing. He gave him ten more minutes. Logan began to worry, once he saw that he did not come out. He called his name, but Chris did not answer. His only choice was to kick the door open, and that is where he saw his best friend on the floor. Logan picked Chris up, and he saw that he was out. Chris overdosed on cocaine that he got from his friend. That was the mysterious package that was given to Chris, and that small package was what almost made him lose his life.
 * Best friend**:

>Music has always been an influential and prominent part of society – not surprisingly, because music and rhythm are engrained into the human psyche. Only through trials and tribulations, a friend’s near death experience, and a personal epiphany did Logan come to realize this, and it saved his life. He had been interested in music for as long as he could remember, and saw it as an art form – one that only a select few could truly connect with and convey. With this awkward and incorrect philosophy in mind, Logan began drifting toward the most insubstantial forms of processed music: 1980’s “hair” metal and the modern rap scene; this isn’t to say that these genres consist of solely commercialized, unskilled artists, as many of the guitarists and rappers are good musicians and lyricists, but are stuck in a system untrue to the fundamental basis of what music should be… >This musical montage adventure began while Logan was a sophomore in high school, when kid’s minds are still very malleable and impressionable. His first step off the road to perdition came when he stumbled upon an old, beat up guitar in his attic. After brushing off the years of dust and cobwebs, he pulled it out by the neck, and saw it was an early Fender Telecaster, a rare, highly prized guitar that could fetch a high price in the music business. But, instead of selling it (he had no intention of telling his dad he’d found the guitar and snuck it into his room), he decided it couldn’t hurt to try an play a little. So, he listened to a few songs, found a few simple riffs, and it just so happened that he really enjoyed it. He kept secretly practicing in his room, day after day, week after week, and actually picked it up rather quickly. One day, his dad came home early from work and heard the faint chunk of an electric guitar that’s not plugged it. He followed it upstairs to Logan’s room, but hesitated before going in. He listened, ear to the door, for close to two minutes, before he’d heard enough. He opened the door without a knock and Logan practically fell off his chair. Broken excuses began flying out of Logan’s mouth, but they were repelled and silenced by the raised hand of his father. Instead of asking where he found the guitar or when, he asked in wonderment, “Where’d you learn to play like that?” Relieved, Logan replied, “I’ve been teaching my self for the past two months…just listening to songs, reading tabs, and I’ve begun to write my own riffs.” His dad was stunned. “Okay then…well, keep playing, that’s really good. Now we just need a good amp and you’re set,” and he walked out of the room smiling. >Playing guitar had opened Logan’s eyes up to a whole new side of music. He now looked up to bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and even felt enough of a connection to the music as to understand and play music from experimental bands with complex time signatures and rhythms such as Tool and Meshuggah. Alas, even with all of this positive energy and promise coursing through him, Logan was still drawn to the drugs and alcohol of the excess of the general music industry. He knew the destructive power of these poisons and toxins and has known people who’ve destroyed their live with them, but the promise of fun and no responsibility of narcotics were just too strong. Time would only tell until he was sucked in and lost to a dangerous industry and the affluence of a teenager. >The more and more he played and learned, the more he was pulled to the music of Bob Marley, and the spiritually powerful music that is more transmitted through you instead of played. Before then, Logan never really focused much on the lyrics of songs, but with Bob Marley, they’re a big part of the songs, and they caught his attention for one principle reason: they were socially aware. Now, Logan was a bright kid (surprisingly with his decision making record), and had always had strong opinions on social issues, but never really found a way to express this while still in high school and taking challenging courses. Music became his vessel for his ideas and opinions, and his horizons were broadened even more when a friend introduced him to the music of Dead Prez and Immortal Technique, two of the best political hip-hop artists of the day, which revolutionized his ideas of what music can do. >He now had such a strong connection with music, whether it be the music he was playing or the songs he was writing, he knew it would be with him as long as he walked this earth. The only variable in that equation was the length of time that he had left to breathe, which he seemed to want to take into his own hands by experimenting with drugs. Logan hadn’t done anything illegal yet, but it was eminent in the near future… Coming out of two solid hours of playing guitar, Logan decided to go to a party that his best friend, Chris, had invited him to. He figured it wouldn’t do any harm to make an appearance, and he went, almost expecting drugs and booze to be offered; he didn’t know whether he’d accept the offer yet, but he wasn’t worried about that. When he got there, there was close to 100 people at the party, and it was in full swing. He didn’t know too many people there, so he just stayed close to the walls, people-watching and looking for Chris. Once he found him, he noticed that Chris was acting…more weird than normal, and he went to talk to him. Upon making conversation, Logan could tell that Chris was on something, most probably cocaine. He decided to keep an eye on him, but didn’t make a big deal about it. Over the music and volume of the banter surrounding him, Logan made out Chris say “I’ll be right back…I’m gonna head home to grab something…be right back.” Logan became nervous. Chris was already coked up, and now he was going off on his own, to a house where his parents and sister were at a cheer competition out of town. He decided to follow his friend to his house, but kept good distance between them so as not to be detected. Upon arriving at Chris’s house, Logan felt unusually awkward. He knew his friend well enough that the family has always told him just to walk in, because the door is always unlocked, and his is always welcome, but the aura about the house today was different, and Logan decided to knock. The echo through the seemingly empty house was followed by an eerie silence. He decided to knock again. Silence. As soon as he stepped foot in the door, he knew something was wrong. He scampered around the house, looking in every room for Chris, but came up empty. Then he saw the bathroom door shut. He ran over to it and grabbed the handle, but it was locked. Logan bolted to the kitchen and snatched the phone, figuring he’d need it in a few seconds, then it was back to the bathroom. A few solid hits with the shoulder didn’t open the door, so, hoping Chris wasn’t lying next to the door, Logan stepped back, measured his kick, and planted a strong blow right next to the door handle. That did the trick, and the door swung open, half knocked off its hinges; and there was Chris, lying unconscious on the floor. He’d overdosed on cocaine – this is where the phone came in handy. Logan frantically called the paramedics, who were there unusually quick, and rushed him to the local hospital. They revived him, but only time would tell if he still had enough brain cells left to function properly once in rehab. >This episode had a profound effect on Logan. Almost losing your best friend can have a profound effect on anyone. Logan vowed from that point on, never to do any kind of drugs and when drinking in the future, to always be in control. No matter what kind of success the industry brought him, or the situation in which it was offered to him, he made a promise to himself to be clean for life. This coincided with Logan’s epiphany on life and music. He came to realize that music is life. It had saved his and many other’s, and it has a mystical effect on the human being. Something that defines a culture is its music, as all cultures have unique musical styles and influences. Music is rhythm, with a beat, high notes, low notes, and everything in between. It can fast, slow, and it can even jump from one to another in an instant. Good jazz in unpredictable, and there are many songs in experimental rock that have cadences that are almost impossible to follow along. With this new philosophy on music and life, Logan went on to start his own band with some of his friends from school, and music became instrumental in his life, for the rest of his life.
 * Music of Life**

By Sara Stratton
 * Pure Satisfaction**

Sitting on the only shady bench in the area, during his half hour break, Logan Andrews wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his now very tan hand. His damp, blonde hair hung over his light colored eyes, and sweat beads dripped off him, forming a mini puddle in the dirt. He let out a heavy sigh and drank some water. "Just two more weeks of this hell-hole," he thought to himself. "Two more lousy, stinking weeks, just finish it up, and then, then life begins." He closed his eyes and envisioned his dream car that he had been working so hard for. A black 2003 Mustang, just waiting to have its engine revved. Logan had already purchased car wax, air fresheners, and he had burned his first car CD, a mix of rap, hip-hop, and rock. He was ready. BEEEOOOOOPPPPPP!!!! The megaphone rang out loud over the construction site, and Logan wiped his dirty hands into his jeans, grabbed his bright yellow construction hat and shuffled back to work. He was standing on the site of the future "Cherry Creek Apartments", a housing development put into the works about a year and a half ago, when Logan first started begging his parents for money for a car. Logan and his family lived in a well-off community, and never really had to worry about money; Logan always received generous checks for birthdays and holidays, and he was usually given money when he asked for it. But after turning 17, Logan began to realize that driving his parents car was not the same as driving a car of his own. In January, after his 17th birthday, he would casually drive by car lots with his parents and mention the nice cars sitting on display, and he frequently mentioned which kids at his school had received new cars. Then one day, when he had to be picked up because his dad took one car to work and his mom needed the second car for errands, he mentioned to his parents that a car of his own would be a nice addition to his life. "You know something Logan," his dad said in his stern tone, "I think you are right, you do deserve a car." "I do?" Logan questioned, not believing his parents had finally caved. "Yes, you do. I’ll tell you what, if you can find a car you want, and agree to come up with the money to pay for it, I will pay for your insurance." "What?? You mean, you aren’t going to buy the car for me? I don’t have that kind of money!" "Logan, if you really wanted the car, you would find a way to pay for it, and I think it would be a good way for you to learn the importance of money. It’s not something you can just throw away, because you want to take your friends out on a joy ride. That’s my offer, the ball is in your court now." Logan sat with his mouth half open, considering his options. Keep driving his parents car when he’s allowed to and have a fun year with his friends and his girlfriend, or work hard for a little bit and be able to drive a car whenever he felt like it. "Fine! I’m gonna do it. I’ll find a job tomorrow, and you just watch, I will get an easy job that can give me the money I need to buy my car, and then you can’t stop me when I want to go driving around town," he shouted into the living room. The next day, Logan passed by an empty lot that had Help Wanted signs on posts stuck into the dirt, and he decided to give the number on the sign a call. He found out that construction workers, ages 17 and older were needed, and the job paid 11 dollars an hour. He signed himself up immediately, and he soon received a bright yellow hardhat and purchased blue jean overalls. But little did he know that he would be working at the construction zone everyday after school until 7 or 8 PM, and on weekends from 7AM until 7PM, with a half hour lunch break. After a week of work, he realized that his social life was going to be non-existent for the next year and a half. So while his friends went out to parties, saw movies, spent money carelessly, and gossiped about the latest high school drama, Logan developed muscles, got a tan, earned big money, and dreamed of life with his Mustang. Finally, at the end of his senior year, after a year and half of work, Logan Andrews walked into a car lot, pointed to the shiny black 2003 Mustang sitting in the corner, grinned from ear to ear, and proudly said, "Sir, I would like to buy that car, now." As the auto sales man placed the big black key in Logan’s rough palm, Logan began to feel butterflies forming in his stomach, and he thought he might explode from excitement. At last, a car of his very own! He could drive as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted, and with whomever he chose! He turned the key in the ignition and heard the engine rev. Music to his ears! He rolled down the windows, and whipped around the corner of his neighborhood, feeling like a million bucks! With plenty of left-over money in his bank account, a shiny new car, and the feeling of independence, Logan now knew the satisfaction one got from hard earned money.

Next
By: Shannon Parsons

“Next!”

Logan jumped. He had been standing in line at the bank for almost twenty minutes now, but for some reason every time one of the tellers called out in their impatient tone, it managed to startle him. The entire time that he had been standing in line, in fact, ever since he had heard the sickening crunch of metal on metal a few nights ago, Logan had been silently cursing himself. He had worked for a year and a half saving up money to buy his dream car and he still could not believe that it was all going to be gone in the amount of time it would take for him to withdraw the money and hand it over. Just two nights ago, Logan was the happiest he had ever been! He had more money than all of his friends, he had the most incredible car, his senior year was just ending, and he was ready to have some fun. That was how this whole thing happened. Fun. The boys had it all plannedthey ask for? The wildest parties were always frat parties, with tons of hot girls and free beer! Logan was ready for this. He and Todd were going to drive up in his Mustang and have the best night of their lives.

“Are you ready for this man?” Todd asked excitedly as he pulled the passenger door shut in Logan’s car outside his house.

“I have never been more ready for something in my entire life Todd. Here, pick the music you want to listen to. It’s about half an hour to the University.”

Todd began to flip through the stack of CDs. After a few minutes, he made his choice and the boys zoomed along the freeway with the speakers blasting. Every few minutes, the two boys would catch each other’s eyes, and each time they couldn’t help exchanging mischievous smiles that told that they knew that they were up to no good, and could not wait to get started.

All went well during the beginning of the night. The boys made it to the fraternity and Todd’s brother let them in. It was just like they had pictured it. There was loud music being pumped out of insanely large speakers, and before they had been standing there for five minutes, the boys had a cup of beer in their hands. Todd and Logan looked at each other with ridiculous looking grins, when they both felt hands on their shoulders. At the same time they turned around to see Todd’s brother Ryan smiling down at them.

“Are you guys ready to party?” he asked them.

“You have no idea,” Logan replied.

“Then let’s go!” With that, the two boys followed Todd’s brother into the heart of the party, deeper into the house. The night was full of fun and partying. The boys drank a couple beers, danced, talked with some new people, and were thoroughly enjoying pretending that they were old enough to be there. As the night progressed, the boys were talking to different people, causing them to lose track of one another as the party thickened. Neither of the boys really noticed this as it happned. Logan was sitting on the couch talking to some guys who were telling him all about college life, while Todd went off to find the keg with a couple of other guys. Logan had made it through the night without anybody questioning him about his age, until he grew deeper into conversation with one of the guys on the couch.

“So, what is your major?” one rather burly looking guy asked Logan.

“Um, I, uh, I’m still undecided at the moment,” responded Logan holding his breath. Was this an acceptable response if you were already in college?

“Oh yeah, that’s cool. I just switched from psychology to business. I don’t think I’m really cut out for all that stuff with your mind you know? And I don’t think that I could sit there and listen to people whine about all their problems all day! You know? Dude?”

The big guy had been expecting Logan to laugh along with him, but Logan had tuned him out. He was getting tired of having to constantly be on his toes about his age, and he realized that he hadn’t talked to Todd for a long time. Logan glanced down at his watch and realized that it was nearly two o clock in the morning, which happened to be an hour past his curfew. Logan jumped up, ignoring the questions from the big guy he had been talking to regarding his abrupt behavior, and was suddenly only focused on finding Todd. Logan ran from room to room asking different people if they had seen Todd anywhere, but most of them were of no use. They were either too drunk, or didn’t care and ignored him. Logan was beginning to panic when he finally saw Todd’s brother in the kitchen.

“Have you seen Todd anywhere lately? I haven’t seen him for at least a couple of hours and we really need to get going.”

“Oh yeah, man, Todd is just going to crash here for the night. He is really plastered. I am going to stick it to him in the morning though so don’t you worry about that! Hey, why don’t you just stay here too, you had a few beers didn’t you?” Ryan asked, taking on a more concerned tone.

“No really I’m fine,” insisted Logan, “I only had a couple of beers. I’m fine. I just really need to get home, I’m already really late. So Todd is staying here then right?”

“Yeah, but man, I really don’t think that you should be -- “

“Alright great, thanks for a great party Ryan, see you soon.” Logan quickly said, cutting off Ryan’s warning. Logan fumbled for his keys and sped out the door to where his car was parked out front.

“I only had a couple of beers!” Logan was thinking as he pulled away from the curb. He felt angry that Ryan thought that he knew what Logan could and couldn’t handle. If he thought that he was sober enough to drive, then nobody else should tell him otherwise. Besides, he was flying down the freeway, and his focus was only slightly off. He was still staying in his lane and he hadn’t crashed yet had he? With thoughts like these, it wasn’t long before Logan came peeling around the corner by his house.

Logan came flying up to the curb where he normally parked his car, but instead of smoothly coming to a stop like usual, he heard a sickening crunch. The front end of his mustang had collided into his next-door neighbor’s, also new, black, Mercedes Benz. Normally, his neighbor always parked in his driveway, but today they were having their driveway repaved, leaving all of their cars out on the street. As Logan sat in his car, cursing, the car alarm was going insane in the background and all of this was coming back to Logan. He also couldn’t figure out how he could have missed a car! Yes, it was dark, and the car was black, but still! He should have been able to see the car. And then it dawned on him. He had been drinking.

“Maybe the beers had a bigger affect on me than I thought they did,” he thought to himself.

Within five minutes after he crashed into the car, his parents, as well as his neighbors were all out on the front lawn staring in disbelief at the two cars in front of them. Needless to say, Logan’s parents found out that he had been drinking, and took away his car and his license until further notice. He also had to pay for all of the damages he had done to his neighbor’s car.

And that is why Logan was standing in the bank. He was waiting to withdraw all of his money to begin paying off his debt to Mr. Hodges next door.

“Next!...... NEXT!!” the next bank teller yelled out. Once again, Logan jumped. It was finally his turn.

After he had withdrawn all of his money, he glumly walked out of the heavy glass doors and walked over to his bike. As he was strapping on his helmet, he thought of the other things he needed to take care of that day. After he gave his first payment to Mr. Hodges, he was off to look for a new job. Only this time, he wouldn’t have as much to look forward too when he earned his wages.

Amber's Drawings
By: Hiranya Keenawinna

He walked to class. Everyday was the same old routine. Now he was in his history class, listening to Mr. I’m monotone Flores. All this just to graduate from High school and maybe go to college but he was pretty sure that graduating high school was all he was going to do. Doodling on a piece of paper while a lecture is going on about the Cold War, he notices Amber again, staring at the wall. Once in a while she would actually move and draw something on her paper and then she’d stop abruptly and rub her head. Logan never understood why she did that, dropping the pencil like it was acid. She was a great artist. He’d seen many of her drawings at one of those art festivals. The only reason he went was because of his brother who could draw really well. He could actually go to college. His little brother could actually go there and Logan would try to make it happen. She moved again. She picked her pencil on her desk. She was just staring at it like it should do a trick or something. “Hey Logan, check this out. It’s a party at Wayside’s house. You know how his parties are kick-ass man. You got come to this one.” said Jimmy.

“I can’t man, I got work again. You know how it is. Things are rough now and I gotta get my car fixed. Unlike you I don’t get money as easily.”

“You know I can’t stand this. You’re always busy or you got something more important to do. I’m not mad or anything but you gotta have some fun in your life instead of working you know. At least come to show your face around. People are asking about you.”

“Fine, I’ll come for like an hour alright?’

“Yeah, that’s all I want man.”

The bell rang just then. This long drone that never seemed to end, in fact this bell seemed to be going on too long. Logan looked around and saw Mr. Flores already telling the class to calm down and to line up in a line. Already he could see his friend Jimmy smiling and Logan knew what he was thinking. They both stood up and started to sprint out the door and the rest started to follow. Logan took his book and was about to run when he saw Amber sitting still at her desk. Logan didn’t know what came over him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along with the class. She let him pull her along without a fight. He could hear Mr. Flores telling them to stop but he knew it was no use. They ran in between people and finally got to a higher level by stepping onto a bench. Logan started yelling for Jimmy. Suddenly Amber pulled her arm out of his grasp and started running away.

“Hey! Hey, wait come back.” He ran after her and caught up with her and saw that she was crying.

“There’s no fire you know.”

“Yeah I know. Hey, you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay.” They kept running until they tired out. They stopped at a bus station. “Are you coming or not?”

He went into the bus. He looked at Amber and she was staring at the floor. He remembered once when they were about eleven they used to sit around after school and talk about stuff. He used to tell her about his dreams of being a rockstar and she would show him drawings she had drawn and he remembered them being so beautiful.

“So, um, have you drawn anything new? I saw one of your drawings at one of those art festivals and my brother draws too. He’s real good. He might even be the next like Michelangelo or something like that. He likes your drawings too and-” He realized he was blabbering and he only did that to get rid of the silence. Why did he have to pull her along, geez, he should have just gone with Jimmy at least he would have more fun with him. He looked at Amber and she looked back at him.

“I don’t draw anymore. I stopped.”

“Why though? You’re real good.”

“I can’t seem to draw anything good anymore. Nothing I like. Just things that aren’t art, it isn’t beautiful. It’s ugly and dirty.”

“Well, I’ve seen some real “good” art and all of them seem a little weird but they’re still like beautiful to some people.”

“But…but art…art is supposed to make…..it’s supposed to be beautiful. Not dirty not wrong or…or” She started crying again and he wiped her tears with his t-shirt.

“What’s wrong Amber? I mean what’s really wrong?”

“I can’t tell you. I can’t tell anyone.”

“Amber, tell me. I swear to God I won’t tell a soul. I never liked girls crying. It ruins their makeup.” He saw that she wore no make-up. Nice one Logan.

“I don’t….I don’t want too…” She started crying in earnest now. Tears were pouring down her face. Logan looked around and saw this old black woman shaking her head and reading her magazine.

“Hey, let’s stop here. Come on, cause I think we have an audience in here.” They got off and stared walking over to a nearby park. They sat down on a bench. It was a nice afternoon. He looked over at her and gave her a look that said ‘We have all day’ She started her story. She told him about how she went to this party about a few months ago. She came with a couple of friends and she drank a couple of beers even took three shots. She wasn’t too drunk and she just lazed about the house, checking things out. Then she met this guy, he was nice looking and they started flirting. She was unlike herself and felt so bold. They talked for awhile about things and then he asked her if she wanted to see the stars. She thought it was funny. She said okay and left with him. They were laughingly going up the stairs when he pushed her gently into a room. She asked him where they were and he pointed up at the ceiling and there were glow-in-the-dark stars attached to the ceiling. She started laughing and then he kissed her. She kissed him back and thought what the hell. He started groping her butt and kissing her harder. It hurt but she kept kissing him and then he shoved her on the wall and started kissing her neck. She was getting afraid, this was going way too fast and he started to unbutton her shirt. She pushed his hand away and telling him to stop. He just knocked her hands away and kept groping her breasts. It hurt and she was getting scared. Then he shoved his hand up her skirt and she slapped him. He took his hand out and pushed her onto the bed. She started screaming but no one could hear her. He shoved her skirt up and he zipped his pants down. ‘Oh God, oh god, this is not happening.’

“Stop, Amber, Jesus stop. Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Oh Amber,” He hugged her hard and felt her crying against his shoulder holding him so tight.

“He just left me there after he was done. He left the room and I was just lying there on the bed and I…I felt so dirty. I let it happen but I didn’t want it Logan. I never wanted it and the whole time he kept telling me that I did.”

“Oh god Amber, I’m so sorry.”

“And every time I start to draw, I draw his face. I draw what he did to me. I draw something dirty and ugly. I don’t know what to do Logan.” The tears were coming down fast and her breathing was hitched. Logan had no idea what to do but then he looked at her bag and brought it up. He looked for her pad of paper and her pencil.

“If you don’t draw what happened, you’ll never let it go. It will keep haunting you forever keeping you from doing what you love. From doing something that makes you beautiful. Don’t let him take this from you. Now draw. Draw what happened.”

“No, I can’t. I can’t”

“Amber, please. You have to do it. You have to get this back. Remember when we were in the fifth grade and you told me that the only thing that you liked about me was ‘cause I would play with you like I would with a guy. Remember? Remember me telling you that what I liked about you were your drawings and how happy they made you. Every time you showed them to me I would look at your face and you wouldn’t care what I thought because you loved them and you drew them. Draw Amber, please.” Logan put the pencil in her hand and watched her hesitate and then start to draw. Logan sat there watching her draw for the longest time watching her make a room and stars. She made the bed, she drew the tiniest details. She started crying when she started drawing the two people on the bed. She drew the guy on top and made him look so menacing and she drew a girl, her, helpless with tears streaming down her face. After that she tore the paper off and started a new one. She was in a frenzy drawing things faster and faster. The details blurred. She stopped crying but sniffled here and there and all Logan could do was watch her. It was three hours before she stopped. She looked at him and her whole body seemed as though she had just ran a marathon but she kept looking at him and then finally gave him her drawings. Logan was afraid to look at them but he did. He saw the stars on the ceiling. He saw his hands on her hips. He saw the door of the room and it looked so familiar. Then he saw the guy’s face and stopped breathing for a moment. He looked at her and she knew that he knew. He didn’t want it to be true.

“He wouldn’t….he wouldn’t do this. I know him. He’s a good guy, he wouldn’t do this.”

“But he did Logan. He did”

He just sat there staring at the picture of Jimmy in his hand. He started crying then. He had no idea that his friend was like this, that his friend would do something like this. He looked at her. He pulled her to him and hugged her, telling her sorry and at the same time wishing that it wasn’t Jimmy, wishing that this wasn’t true. He looked at the drawings and then told her to rip them up.

“Wha…What?”

“Rip them up Amber. Tear them apart. You did it Amber. You drew.” She looked at them and she ripped them up slowly and ripped them until they were little pieces.

“I’ll walk you home” He dropped her home and hugged her. He watched as she went into her room and he decided then to go to Wayside’s party a few blocks down. He went in and it seemed to be a great party. He was looking for Jimmy and saw him dancing with this girl. He walked up to him and, not saying a word, pulled him away from the party and into a room.

“Hey, you made it Logan. Hey check it out man, Wayside’s got this awesome new car. You got to check it out.”

“Shut up Jimmy. Who the hell do you think you are? You took away her innocence man; you broke her spirit all for a little piece of ass.”

“What the heck are you talking about? Why are you all pissed off at me?” Logan threw him a picture that he took from Amber, a drawing of him with the ceiling of stars on the background. Jimmy looked at him.

“I was drunk man. I couldn’t. I mean how the hell was I supposed to know she was a virgin and she wanted it man.”

“If she wanted it so bad why the hell was she fighting and telling you to stop. I thought I knew you man. I thought you were more than this.” Logan left the house. He couldn’t go home so he called Todd and went over to his house. Logan kept thinking about Amber and how she must feel and how horrible he felt for having a friend like him. He might have lost a friend but he knew he had done the right thing and he might call Amber tomorrow.


 * Caution
 * By: SBarloon

Logan considers himself to be one of those unlucky types of people; if something could go wrong, it probably will. Logan is confident in his skills to a point, but there was always that poking doubt and caution when he would do something new. When his good friend asked him if he would like to go trail riding the next week he said sure but couldn’t ignore the feeling that something bad would happen. Logan knew from experience that if he had this feeling, his mother would probably have it ten fold, because mothers know everything, or at least it seems that way. His suspicion was right on. When he got home and told his mom that he was going trail riding in the wetlands she immediately said, “I don’t know, it’s unfamiliar, you’re near the street, you don’t know the horse, and I’d want you to wear a helmet.”

“Wear a helmet?” That idea along with all her other cautions went in one ear and out the other in a second. Logan was not wearing a helmet if he didn’t have to, that was just plain dorky. Somehow, when his mother said it was a bad idea, the idea always sounded even better to Logan. It was as if going through with it and having nothing happen would prove some point to his mom. So Logan decided he would go on the trail ride and not wear a helmet. How would his mother even know?

When he got to the stable with his friend, Jane, she said he could ride Tyler, an old mustang who was supposedly super lazy and slow. If this horse was such an old man, why bother with a saddle? So Logan and Jane set off bareback down the street toward the wetlands. Logan was initially nervous and was nearly waiting for something bad to happen. He didn’t let on to his concerns, however, because he didn’t want Jane thinking he was afraid. The pair had walked, trotted, and cantered already and Logan was starting to feel better. They turned the corner on to a busy street and started walking toward home when Jane asked, “Do you want to canter?” “Sure,” Logan said. They had almost made it home and there had been no problems yet. He asked Tyler to step to a canter and Jane did the same. Jane and her horse were a few strides in front so Lagan asked Tyler to move up so they could be next to Jane. Big mistake. Tyler and the other horse used to race down in the riverbed and when Logan kicked Tyler forward, Tyler thought they were racing. As Logan and Tyler blew past Jane she giggled, “We’re racing!” and when they just kept going she shouted after them, “You can stop now!” There was no stopping Tyler at this point. He had grabbed the bit in his mouth and had a full head of steam going toward home. Now all Logan could do was try his best to stop him and hold on for dear life. As the two were galloping down the trail with a busy street on one side and cactus and other bushes on the other a few thoughts raced through Logan’s head, “I knew something like this would happen, I thought this horse was supposed to be lazy, and I wish I was wearing a helmet cause this fall is gonna hurt.” Tyler was showing no signs of slowing and Logan was pulling on his mouth so hard that he was pulling himself up onto Tyler’s neck. That wasn’t going to work so Logan switched to plan B, wait for Tyler to stop or just wait to fall off. Logan clamped down best he could without a saddle and looked ahead. There were people jogging on the trail in front of the pair and Tyler was on a kamikaze mission headed straight for them. Logan yelled as loud as he could, “Heads up! Watch out!” and watched as people dove off the trail like a scene from a car chase in a movie. At this point Logan was wishing he had listened to mom and just stayed home.

Suddenly Tyler took a quick turn and the force threw Logan off and sent him sliding across the asphalt where he stopped next to a floppy reflector pole. Logan turned his head and watched Tyler run off toward home and then took a deep breath. A little Asian lady came over and asked him in a thick accent if he needed help up or if he wanted a phone. For the moment Logan was content to just lie on the ground and catch his breath and let his heart beat return to normal. Logan sat up and leaned back on the reflector, which flopped over backwards at the weight and Logan hit the ground again. Jane rode up and asked if he was all right before telling him how cool he looked and that he was going way faster than the cars. Logan laughed at the visual and then got up to walk back to the stable and try to find Tyler.

Logan’s long walk back to the stable gave him time to think. First of all, honestly, he was luck to still be alive. So many more things could have gone wrong. Second, he was lucky Tyler wasn’t hurt since it wasn’t even his horse. There was also the fact that no one else was hurt and that he wasn’t hurt. His favorite shirt was ruined but that is nothing compared to what could’ve happened. Logan thanked God and realized how lucky he was to only have a small bump on his head. He wished that he had listened to his mother and worn a helmet. His experience has taught him many valuable lessons. Be safe, even if it is dorky, it may save your life because you can only get lucky so many times. Listen to mom, she has this sixth sense when it comes to her children, and listen to yourself. If you’re uneasy be cautious but don’t ever be afraid to live. Logan’s horse incident is something that he looks back on now and laughs at the thought of horse and rider racing the cars down the street and people diving off the trail. Even though its humorous now it is something that he will never forget because of the serious lessons it taught him.

By: CStrawn In movies and book things like this always happen so easily. The girl and the boy meet and instantly fall in love. There is no guessing around about weather or not the guy really likes the girl. It just happens. Sally Andrews was finding out that this is not the way it happened in real life. She was just an ordinary seventeen year old girl, with a younger brother and an older sister, and two boring parents. “Ordinary,” thought Sally as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. “That just about sums me up.” Sally longed to find love easily like the beautiful actresses in the movies. Or maybe just a perfect first kiss. At the age of seventeen Sally had still not had her first kiss. Sure, she’d had many opportunities, but she wanted that perfect exploding firework type of kiss. She heard tons of stories from her friends about the horrible first kisses they’ve had. “It was gross and nasty,” described Sally’s best friend. “It’s better to just get the first one over with and move on to the next few, it gets better.” However, Sally did not want her first kiss to be anything like that. She vowed to wait for the perfect moment for her first kiss, even if she was 100! Her friends all thought she was ridiculous for waiting so long, and expecting something so great. But Sally was the ultimate romantic and she wanted it perfect kiss just like in movies she watched and the books she read. Another problem was that she not only wanted the perfect opportunity, she wanted the perfect guy. One certain perfect guy. One of her brother, Logan’s, best friends even, Jeff. Only problem? Yep, he hardly knew she existed. Oh sure they chatted a few times. Enough for her to fall head over heels for him. He was the perfect guy for her. Nice, good looking, athletic, popular, and even smart. A rare find. Too bad plenty of other girls thought so too. “He could have any girl in the whole school,” Sally thought. Sally was lucky enough to have English class with Jeff, and even luckier, she sat behind him. Every time he turned back her heart jumped a little and she got butterflies in her stomach. She talked to him mostly about school work though. But he would always turn around with a smile and chat with her. He friends always told her he was flirting with her but never saw it. “He just asks about assignments, never anything else. That can’t be considered flirting,” complained Sally for the hundredth time. “Think what you want but he’s defiantly flirting. I heard he’s going to the New Years Eve party at Emily’s this weekend, you should come with us,” begged her friend Megan. This New Years Eve party was what everyone was talking about for the last week of school before Christmas Break. Sally had considered going with her friends but still wasn’t sure. She usually spent it with her family at home. This news that Jeff would be there defiantly helped her change her mind about not going though. The 31st of December rolled around not quickly enough. Sally spent the day trying to figure out what outfit to wear and how to do her hair. She wanted to look perfect. She was constantly calling her friends asking for advice on certain articles of clothing. Around nine o’clock Sally and Megan walked the few blocks to Emily’s house. When they got there they saw plenty of their friends and they spent the night chatting with everyone. Sally made sure she sat with a good view of the door in case Jeff did show up. After an hour or so Sally was beginning to lose hope that Jeff would show up. However, around eleven o’clock in walked Jeff himself. Sally’s heart skipped a little bit when she saw him, and she could have even sworn he smiled right at her when he walked in the door. She started daydreaming about him for a few seconds. The next thing she realized Jeff had walked over right to her and said ‘hi.’ Sally could not believe it; Jeff was talking to her, and not just about their English assignment. Sally spent the next hour just talking with Jeff about everything. The time flew by so fast and before she knew it people were screaming. “Ten-Nine-Eight-Seven-Six.” “Wow! Is it midnight already?” Sally wondered out loud. He and Jeff both joined in on the count down. “Five-Four-Three-Two-One” At the stroke of midnight, right after shouting “Happy New Years!” Jeff leaned in close to Sally and KISSED her. It was the most magical thing that Sally had ever experienced. And right on cue fire works exploded in the sky lighting everything up. This was the perfect kiss that Sally had been waiting for. Her perfect movie kiss with the perfect guy she had a crush on forever. For Sally, this was defiantly worth the wait.
 * The Firework Kiss**


 * Job Applications Will Kill You
 * by Kyle Fopma

As soon as Dimitri stepped out of the DMV, he started to hear angelic choruses in his head. He was free! He had a driver’s license and a car to go with it. He saw unlimited possibilities; he could go anywhere without having to hitch a ride with his parents or any of his barely-licensed friends. He pulled the key chain out of his pocket, and raised it to the sky as if it were Excalibur itself. He echoed the words of Martin Luther King Jr. as the car keys glinted in the sunlight: “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” “You know, you’re going to have to get a job now,” interrupted Dimitri’s dad. Suddenly, the birds stopped chirping and pitch black thunderclouds covered the sky. The angelic choir stopped their harmonizing abruptly and shuffled back into heaven, closing the gates behind them. “What was that?” asked Dimitri. “Gas. Insurance. You pay for it. It’s part of the responsibility,” replied his dad. “Wow. That’s no fun,” mumbled Dimitri as he unlocked the car door and slid inside. “Of course, it’s no fun, but that’s the way it is!” exclaimed his dad as Dimitri turned on the car. “I’m figuring it’ll be about $90 a month for insurance, and you know, with gas going on 5 bucks a gallon, you may just want to start riding a bike anyway.” A bike? That was the most absurd idea Dimitri had heard all day. And as much as he valued his relaxation time, he wanted to exploit his newly achieved freedom. “Fine, I’ll start searching for a job tomorrow,” he declared.

Dimitri had originally figured that he would apply somewhere, go home, and get a call the next day saying that the manager was so impressed with his application that he was stepping down to let Dimitri take the job. He quickly found that this was not the case at all. “We don’t have any openings at the moment,” said the guy at Jamba Juice. “We only hire 18 and olders,” said the strange looking man behind the counter at Blockbuster. “The manager hasn’t been in for awhile,” said the voice at Golden Spoon from the other side of the phone line. He was running out of options. All the cool, fun jobs were for folks lucky enough to be 18 or older, and fast food was at the very bottom of his list, to be applied for in only the most dire of circumstances. Between those two, there was a lengthy chain of minimum wage mediocrity. Meanwhile, it seemed like everyone around him was getting the first job they applied for. It was close to being depressing, and would have been if his parents hadn’t agreed to pay for gas while he searched for a job. The application process was becoming tedious. Name, address, Social Security number. Sometimes there was a quiz, to “test your personality.” These applications were the really annoying ones; sitting there marking if he agreed or disagreed that he cursed when he argued, stayed relaxed in tense situations, hated the world, or liked extreme pain in small doses. There were rejections, both by him and the hiring store. He got an interview at Target, and found that the interviewing party was 4-foot tall Lupita, whose accent was so strong that he couldn’t understand half of the questions that she asked. Needless to say, he didn’t get the job. He walked into Rite-Aid once to apply, stepped through the door, looked around, and walked out. Sav-On was the absolute worst. His friend Logan had scored a job there, and they desperately needed help. He figured it was a sure thing. The application was on a computer in the store, it included a personality quiz, and he eventually finished it, feeling like he had run a marathon. The manager called him later that evening. “Dimitri? We really liked your application, but you missed a few points on the personality quiz. How about you come in tomorrow and re-apply.” Missed points on the personality quiz? Dimitri tried to figure out how he had pulled tha one off. He picked up the phone and called Logan to ask. “You were probably too honest. Just answer what they want to hear,” Logan suggested. So, Dimitri went back the next day, sat at the computer, filled out all of the required information, took the quiz, and pressed the button to submit the digital application. Then he pressed the button again. His heart sank as he realized that the computer had frozen. He got the manager to restart the machine, and he went through the whole excruciating process again. The machine froze once more, stopping on the question, “Are you currently a convict in the United States prison system?” “Yeah, because if I were a prison inmate, I would totally be applying for a job at Sav-On,” Dimitri told the computer. “Are you currently a convict in the United States prison system?” replied the computer. Dimitri decided that technology was never on your side when you needed it to be, and left to go find a place that still took paper applications. He figured he would find a job eventually, before the fast food option was required. But for now, he was still in application hell, waiting for something good to happen. He stared blankly at the car keys in his hand, shook his head, and started the ignition.

By: Taylor Brown
 * The Accident**

The big CIF boy's volleyball game had just ended in a disappointing loss and the small group of fans that had traveled to Palos Verdes to watch them play were heading for their cars. Logan and his friends started to piled into his Pyrus when his brother came up and told him that he didn't know how to get home and that he needed follow him because his car came equipped with a GPS system. Of course, Logan agreed since he still wasn't legal to drive his friends around and knew his brother would rat on him if he didn't cooperate. So they waited for his brother to pull up behind them and then took off down the rode. As they drove on down the windy rode they became a little scared because the rode was so poorly lit and the locals there drove like maniacs, but they let it go and continued talking about how they should have won the game. After driving for awhile, Logan’s brother drove up next to them and said he was running low on gas and they needed to stop at the next station before they hit the freeway. So they found the nearest ARCO and pulled in. After they had left Logan looked in his rear view mirror and realized his brother didn't have his headlights on anymore, that he must have turned them off when he was at the gas station and forgot to turn them back on. So Logan called up his brother on his cell phone and told him to turn his lights on. Not until later did he realize how important that phone call really was. They finally got on the freeway and were about an hour away from home when it happened. Since this was not a familiar area to them the on and off ramps were really confusing and they had no idea which lane they had to be in to get on the 5, so they guessed. Huge mistake. As they kept driving in the lane that they believed to be the correct one, the GPS system came on telling them they were in the wrong lane. So Logan reacted quickly, seeing that the freeway was branching off and they had, to what he saw, as about 400 feet to get over to the lane they were suppose to be in before it merged into another freeway. He pulled quickly to the right and just as his headlights flashed over the curb 20 feet in front of him, he realized he had made a huge mistake. Apparently, there was a curb dividing the freeways with a guard rail another 20 feet after that that they didn't see because the freeway was so poorly lit. Everyone one in the car screamed as they realized they were about two feet from hitting the curb. Thankfully, they just barely missed the curb. After seeing that everyone in their car was safe, Logan remembered that his brother was following him, and looked in the rearview mirror to make sure his brother didn't do what he had just done. He looked just in time to see his brother swerve out of the way of the curb and started heading toward the side of the rode. Then he swerved again, this time with the car only on two wheels, and headed back toward the guard rail. In his last attempt to gain control he swerved the car right again to stop him from hitting the rail and his car spun out, circling twice before coming to a crashing halt no more than five feet between a tree and a pole. Seeing his brother spin out, Logan slammed on the breaks and pulled off to the side of the freeway and he and his friends began sprinting towards his brother car. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached his brother's car just in time to see his brother getting out of the car screaming, "WOOHOO...that was the best car accident I've ever been in! " Logan was in shock from the fact that his brother could careless that he almost just died, and even worse the fact that he almost just killed his friends and his brother all at once. He waited with his brother for the tow truck to come since the accident completely blew off the back two tires of his car. All the while, while sitting there waiting, he kept replaying the image of his brother swerving out of the way over and over again in his mind. Then he realized how he had told his brother to turn his headlights on earlier in the night and that if he hadn't have done so, his brother would have been dead right now because there would have been no way he would have seen the curb and he would have slammed right into it most likely flipping the car and killing him on impact. Just the thought sent chills up his spine and he realized how lucky he really was.

by Jaye Hellmich Some hoodlums that live around town stole Logan’s bike. What a depressing day! He had to walk all the way home. He was just afraid to get home late because his mom’s best friend from California was flying in today to visit her. He had to get home to help clean up. Walking down the streets of New York isn’t all that bad. Smelling the fresh scent of hotdogs sizzling on the corner stands and seeing people lining the streets to sell you their products was wonderfully unique. He loved New York! However, today he saw something out of the ordinary walking down the city streets. It was a girl who was looking just a little lost. Logan takes this route home everyday and sees all the familiar faces, but this face he’s never seen before. She was wearing a tight, black T-shirt with pink glittery writing that said, “Get to know a GEMINI.” He thought she was pretty, and she was walking towards him, getting closer and closer. He was debating whether or not he would say something to her. Now or never he thought to himself. He blurted out, “I’d like to get to know a Gemini!” And inside he thought, “You’re such an idiot!” “Excuse me?” She said. He could tell she heard what he had said but she was trying to be polite. “Oh, I was just saying, that I, uh, I like your shirt.” “Oh, well thanks for noticing! And, well… hey I’m not from around here, could you tell a Gemini how to get to the subway and how it works and stuff? I’ve never been on one before.” How great was this! Logan had the lamest pass at her, but his smile got her attention. He introduced himself and began to show her around. As they were walking he found out that this Gemini’s name is Rebecca, and they’re the same age. They seemed to be getting along just fine. “So where are you headed?” he asked her. “ 4 Short Lane, outside the city. You know where that is?” “Um, that’s my address…who are you again?” He was very confused. “Whoa that’s where you live?” She laughed. “My mom and I are visiting from California. I didn’t think that you were the Logan she told me about. How random that we would meet up like this.” Logan called his mom on his cell phone and told her that they found each other, and that they weren’t coming home right away. He wanted to show her around. So Logan led the way and he proudly showed Rebecca all the great parts of the Big Apple while his mom met up with Rebecca’s mother. Rebecca got to ride on the subway for the first time in her life. It was really hot and smelly down underground! He took her to see the Statue of Liberty. She was so excited; good thing she brought her camera! “Oh, wow! It’s beautiful! I see it in the movies all the time, but this is amazing in real life.” There was a mini-statue of the real Statue of Liberty at the entrance to the ferry on the way to Ellis Island. It was a little taller than Logan. Rebecca was studying it when suddenly it jumped at her! She jumped back and screamed. Logan laughed. “You have to be careful of all the crazy people here. You never know what they’ll do.” After they visited the Statue of Liberty, Logan took her in her very first cab ride to step into the Atlantic Ocean. They walked along the white sand of Jones Beach to see all the dead jellyfish washed up on the shore. “They look like silicone breast implants!” They both laughed together. To Rebecca, the Atlantic Ocean was a lot warmer than the Pacific, but she was afraid to go in because of all the jellyfish! After throwing the dead jellyfish at each other, upsetting some old people walking by, and getting some ice cream, they headed towards Times Square on a double-leveled bus that you might see in London, but for real, in New York? They were going to meet their moms there for dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall Italian family restaurant tucked away on the busy side streets close to the Square, but they still had a few more hours of playtime before the parents. Logan and Rebecca walked down Broadway talking and laughing, and stopping here and there to pick up a few souvenirs. Rebecca liked the blocked crystals with the etching of the Empire State Building floating in the middle, shimmering in the sunlight. “It even lights up in a rainbow of colors at night. Here, here is the switch to turn it on. Only five dollars.” Five dollars seemed cheap!!! Rebecca bought three of them to give to friends, along with an “I (Heart) New York” T-shirt for herself. Then, it seemed like every fantastic Broadway production was at their fingertips as they looked at all the signs for all the shows: Chicago, Wicked, Aida, and Rent… so many fabulous shows, Rebecca wanted to see them all! With excitement and energy, Logan and Rebecca went inside many little shops on the way to the Empire State Building. Logan bought a picture of the “Imagine” mosaic photographed in Central Park as a tribute to John Lennon, and Rebecca was fascinated by the street vendors all along the sidewalks. She bought a matching “I (Heart) New York” key chain, and even bought a CD from a kid that was selling his own work and dancing to the tunes on the side of the street. There were crazy men walking along the street that were dressed as Wonder Woman, or Spiderman. There was even a man dressed like Marilyn Monroe! “Wow this is a crazy place to live.” “Yep, but it’s home.” They took all the elevators to the top of the Empire State Building. They could see the whole city! They also saw the New Jersey River, so they could see two states at once. Rebecca took a million pictures. They bought some more souvenirs too. On the way to the restaurant, Rebecca thanked Logan for taking her around. “How weird that we’re complete strangers, yet I just had one of the best days of my life. Thank you so much.” “Oh no problem! It’s been a long time since I’ve walked around with one of the most beautiful girls in New York City, and besides, I haven’t been to all the tourist spots in a long time. It was really fun anyways. I’m amazed and glad we met up like that. It was great getting to know you, Miss Gemini.” They met their moms at the Italian place and ordered some Calamari. It made them think of the jellyfish “breast implants” and they couldn’t help laughing. They were already planning out all the stops they were going to make for tomorrow. Rebecca had four days to spend in New York, and she didn’t want to miss a thing. Finally their stay was over, and it was Rebecca’s time to go home. She thanked them for their hospitality and the adventures she had with Logan. “Don’t forget to call me next time you’re in California! Hey, hey, hey, best get out the way!” And with that, she was gone.
 * On the Streets of New York City*

By: Chelsea Leon**
 * Mark Brite

Mark Brite’s mother abandoned him when he was five years old, leaving him with his father who knew nothing of parenting. His father then sought the answers to his problems at the bottom of a glass. On Mark’s sixth birthday his dad was laid off and he became abusive. In the years following, his fuse grew shorter and shorter. Mark would end up running away from home but always returning with hopes to find his dad sobered up. Our story begins the night before Mark’s seventeenth birthday, when he came home shortly after ten o’clock only to find his dad in the doorway with his belt in one hand and an empty glass in the other. Mark stood there and looked into his father’s glazed eyes too afraid to move knowing his eminent fate. His father stepped toward him. “Where you been boy,” he slurred as he wiped his face and set the glass down on the nearby table. When Mark hesitated to answer his father took another step toward him. “Out,” He responded. “Listen smart ass you’re late.” His glazed eyes became angry. “For what,” Mark questioned. “Don’t back talk me boy!” His dad grumbled as he raised the belt over his head and clipped Mark’s side with the buckle. Mark turned with vengeance in his eyes but held himself back a moment too long; his father saw that he wasn’t going to do anything so he took the opportunity and struck him again. Mark fell to his knees and was kicked in the head when he was down. He saw a dark blur and when kicked in the stomach he blacked out entirely. When he was able to open his eyes he saw the silhouette of his father as he grabbed his coat off the dining room chair and stormed out the door in a drunken rage. Unable to move, he laid his head back down on the blood stained carpet and lost consciousness. Mark woke up to the sound of his dad fumbling with the house keys and swearing under his breath. He could tell by the racket outside the door that his dad had already been drinking. Mark scanned the dark room and realizing where he was, looked for the clock to find that it was past eight o’clock the next night. Afraid of what would happen to him if he stayed, he picked himself up and as quickly as he could he made his way to the nearby window, crawled out of his living room and into the ally behind his house. He couldn’t think straight, his head was throbbing with pain, but his legs carried him around the corner where he collapsed and hid behind a dumpster. He rested his head on the wet pavement and opened his eyes to find a gun near the wall under the dumpster. His mind raced with thoughts of revenge. He reached for his phone and called his best friend Logan and told him the situation but left out the fact that he now had a gun. “Dude, please just come stay with me,” His friend pleaded with him. “He’s not going to change.” “I just have to go home this one last time.” And he ended the call. Mark stood outside his house and decided he would quietly go to bed. He crept through his bedroom window and laid down. Less than an hour later his dad entered searching for something, tearing apart his room screaming “Where is it?” “Where is what?” “Don’t toy with me! I know you took it. Where is it?” “Dad I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “You’re lying! You’re always lying. Just like your mother!” As the furious drunk charged toward him, Mark gained courage and blocked his father’s swing. Confused, his dad went at him again. This time Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out the hand gun pointing it at the raged alcoholic. His father backed up and focused on the weapon realizing the danger he was facing. Mark then turned the gun toward himself and pulled the trigger and died. His father changed after that night. He got help and worked through his troubles; he now counsels at Alcoholics Anonymous sharing his painful life changing experience.

by, Lina You**
 * Semper Fi

Logan Andrews has a very important decision to make. His grades in school weren’t that bad, but they weren’t good enough to get into decent Universities. So he had thought about signing up for the Marine Corp. So many of his friends had voiced their opinions about his decision when he told them about his idea.

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?!” “Cool dude! Girls DIG the uniform!” “Why are you doing this?” “Tell me if you guys really take shits in the sand!” “At least you’ll have a nice tan from the sun out there!” “Haha you’re gonna have a farmers tan!!! SUCKER!”

His friends had been both supportive and understanding. Then there were those who weren’t so chill with the thought as his friends were. He remembered the conversation with his parents when he told them about his plan.

“Honey, are you on drugs?” “No mom I’m not on drugs…” “Son, we didn’t raise you to just get sent off and killed the moment you set foot onto the war zone!” “Um…” “Darling did you run into a wall again?” “No mother…” “What the hell were you thinking!? There’s no way in hell you’re going to join!” “But…” “NO!…You are not going to join the Army and that‘s final!” “Uh…to be technical it’s the Marines…” “DOES IT LOOK LIKE WE GIVE A SHI-” “Language!”

The conversation ended with two doors slamming and loud music being blared out of one of the rooms and squealing of tires outside the house. Logan knows that his parents were just overacting and that they’ll get over it soon. They always do. They’re just worried because they had always thought that he’d stay home for college and not go away. They just weren’t ready for him to leave their sights. But that wasn’t the main point of his worries.

He wasn’t sure if he was going for the right reasons. There are so many people out there that volunteer for the Army because they truly believe in what they are fighting for whereas he was just going to join for the college education, tuition and for the advantages of wearing the uniform. He’s been told by the recruiters that many people will give him respect for wearing the uniform and he wasn’t sure if that’s what he wants to get out of joining. Sure it’ll be great to have people thank him endlessly for being sooo brave and it also doesn’t hurt that girls will be hanging on every battle story he’s going to have but he has better morals to just join for uniform. Thank God his parents did something right.

Logan was chilling on his hammock one day when his sister ran into the room.

“Logan! Terrorists just blew up another building! So many people were killed! What is this world coming to?!”

After saying all that, she left the room sobbing hysterically. Logan went down to the living room and watched in horror as people cried and as flames licked the television set. His parents’ faces were grim and at that moment they looked much older than their age of 40. He saw his baby sister’s crest fallen face and it just clicked. This is what he wants to risk his life for everyday. It killed him to see his family so upset despite their differences. His sisters are quirky, brother annoying, and his parents controlling but he loves them none the less and just the thought of them getting hurt by these terrorist made him see red. He finally realized that he wants to fight for those that he loved at home and all around him. He wants to fight for the freedom that his country has given him all his life. To protect those he loved from those terrorists. He smiled finally content with his decision to join the Marines. He planned on doing everything he could do to never have to see his family’s faces so saddened again. Never again he vowed. Never.

Kyle Jones
 * Unbearable**

Beep…..beep…..beep…..beep…..beep! The sound of her heart rate rang continuously in the background. The ominous green line with a consistent spike appearing at every interval came almost as a relief, for it meant one thing; she was stable.

Her face looked so beautiful; lying there on the bed, a minor scrape on the forehead was the only flaw. But beneath the sheet pulled up to her neck …the same peaceful observations could not be made. A mass of bruises and scrapes along with a deep gash just below her ribs on the left side scared her body and another incision where the doctors had to go in to operate also marked the trauma of her situation. With his face pressed against the glass he stared in disbelief. //How could this be happening? It’s not possible, it just can’t be real!// As the fog cleared from the glass in-between each breath, he thought, he hoped that what he was seeing was unreal. But after each breath, to his dismay, what he saw was not at all fake. It was hard for him to think that only a short 8 hours before she had hugged him goodbye and promised to call and tell him what time they would be going to dinner. He had seen her get in her car and wave goodbye with nothing but smiles! If only he would have know what was in store for her, if only he could have warned her! But life is cruel, it doesn’t give warnings.

The man on the phone, looking for his lighter to begin filling his lungs with tar didn’t see the light change from green, to yellow, to red. He didn’t care to pay attention to the task at hand, that being the road! He didn’t see her white Mercedes casually take the green light signaling it was her turn to continue through the intersection. He didn’t see her he said, all until it was too late. He clipped her front end sending her spiraling into an oncoming truck that systematically ran the little white Mercedes into the light post. The little white Mercedes was totaled….along with its driver. The door had to be removed to get her from the prison of tattered metal where she was rushed to the nearest hospital to be operated on immediately. One of her lungs had already collapsed, and she had lost an extreme amount of blood, going in the doctors were not optimistic. But they seemed to manage the impossible as only people of their caliber can; they had saved her life for at least the night.

Removing his face from the glass he walked over to her parents. They exchanged embraces and tears flowed freely. No words were exchanged, but what can you really say? The seemingly impossible has just struck no where closer to home and there is literally nothing you can do. The doctor came out of the room and removed his gloves and mask and sat down opposite the grieving group. His news was not good…if she could make it through the night they would be able to do more work, but the chances of that were slim. He delivered the crushing blow; there was roughly a 40% chance of survival. More tears.

As the doctor was giving his condolences alarms went off. Her body was failing and the medical team rushed back into the room. For three agonizing minuets that seemed to last an eternity, the doctors tried to stabilize her. With all their tools and all their knowledge and skill they couldn’t do it, the damage to her body was to great. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP… flat line… Out came those two white paddles, the ones you see when the worst has come to pass, and the ones you associate with the moments before death. That was the end, the doctors pulled off their gloves and masks once again and came outside and said there was no more they could do, she was gone.

The world seemed to end. As he saw the doctors’ move away from her body he staggered backward, and choked down vomit. He new what had just happened and he had to escape, he had to get out of this place, he needed air, he needed something, he needed her! With stiff movements and shaky hands he unlocked and started his car. He was in no condition to drive, but then again he wasn’t in much of a condition to do anything. For the past 3 months he had looked at her differently. When they were out with friends or grabbing a bite to eat there eyes would meet and for a split second they would share a spark, but embarrassment forced one or the other to look away. It hadn’t just been those moments; there was more, the flirting, the casual touch becoming more playful, the friend becoming more than a friend. He loved her more than he had previously realized, and now he hadn’t told her. His heart thudded in his chest, beating faster and faster as he drove faster and faster. The pain was too much, the regret unbearable! It had to end, it just had to end.

He drove to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. //It’s symbolic that it should end here.// For on more than one occasion they would both marvel at the sunrise from this 200 ft. drop. He got out of his car and stood on the edge, hands out feeling the wind on his face, his thoughts swamped with memories of her. He was about to take the fatal plunge just as a car pulled up.

“What the hell are you doing man?! Come back form there it’s not worth it! There’s too much more of life to live! This is not you only option! Think of how she would have wanted it!”

//Logan//. Always playing the hero, he was so good at it, and it got him all the attention in the world. But a persuasive voice will only get you so far, and at this moment their friendship was the last thing on his mind. Ignoring his pleas to withdraw from the cliff he simply took a step forward. His foot landed on nothing and so he fell.

Deadly Disease By Lawrence Thunell That sensation crept over him. The sensation of sadness and that ball in the pit of his stomach, he hadn’t cried in over two years. His release was much more effective, the convulsions and spasms he had once he fell asleep were enough to control the emotions within him. With his eyes glazing over and the vision of the podium harder and harder to see, he made a break for it. Standing up calmly at first he planted one foot down solemnly, in an understanding way so as to not disturb the others if they were to look up. Once inside the stall he locked the door and sat down. With his hands together resting between his nose and his upper lip, the tears fell, the secretion from his nose slowly making his nose itchy, made him sniffle.

“…And I am an alcoholic.” Those were some of the first words he had ever heard, along with so many prayers that were tied with sobriety. This is how he grew up; this was all Logan had ever known, these people, these stories, this family. This was why he couldn’t understand the AA jokes; this was why he was so incredibly sensitive and optimistic about the comments directed at these people, his people. Eventually, he became numb, eventually he didn’t care about these people, or any people all of the illusions and mirages emerged all at once. It wasn’t because he had lost hope or faith; he didn’t want to deal with the struggle, the pain anymore. His parents were recovering and that should have been enough, his parents were sober, that had to be enough. Burrowing deeper within himself, he shut off to the rest of the family, the rest of his friends slowly following the same path. He grew up with this struggle and pain why should he have to continue on with this sentiment if it wasn’t going to directly affect him. These were the thoughts that were running through his head when he walked into the hospital waiting room.

“Logan I know you’re upset but you really should go and see him, he’s your cousin and we aren’t sure if he’s going to make it.”

“I am here for my mother and not for him, look what he has done with his life, look what he has done to his family.”

“You of all people know the story of this family Logan, you of all people know of the addiction of your mother, know of the addiction of your father, you grew up within the walls of the Alano Club for christ’s sake show a little bit of compassion please! I’m sorry, please, just go in with your cousin, he’d like to see you.”

“Doctor I know you’re a close personal friend, and with all due respect, you don’t have any right to talk about my mother, never once did she try and kill herself in front of her children, never once did I walk into my garage to find my mother hanging from an extension cord, soiling herself with a note under her that said it wasn’t my fault. But you know who did in fact do all of the afore mentioned things, that excuse for a man within those walls right there, and there is no way in hell that I would go in there and support him.”

Logan pushed past his family, locking eyes with his little second cousin Jamey, only for a split second, but that split second was enough for him to read that piercing pain that was right behind her pupils. When he got home, he fiddled around in the dark for his stereo “On” button. The slow lull of whatever song wasn’t important, the only thing that was important was the fact that he wasn’t alone there quiet and in the dark, he slept with no covers over him, the blankets were to constricting. He tried to think about the last time he had cried; about the last time he had felt enough pain to cry. A split second before entering sleep, he remembered that time. It was that very day when he had looked into his little cousins eyes, the sadness did not come from pity or even the pain she was feeling. The pain came from her demeanor, her father’s demeanor, her father’s eyes and smile and personality that shown through even in this time of excruciating pain and confusion.

The nighttime came in a common ritual for Logan, he would slowly start to twitch and whimper in his sleep, with no recollection whatsoever after he woke up of anything ever being wrong. But tonight was different his dreams and uneasy sleep were interrupted by a call. A call that he feared receiving. The caller ID read “Mom” and before he answered the phone, he knew what awaited him on the other line.

“Logan your aunt has died from complications from her diabetes and her service will take place on Tuesday.”

He dropped the phone, picked up the bottle and took five giant swallows, turned over his pillow and fell asleep.

Monday morning went by in a blur; he was still numb, shot off to the world and angry with no one in particular. Tuesday morning, waking up from a nightmare of his own vision of his cousin hanging, he dressed in all black. Walking into the funeral parlor he had no intention of crying, after all he like everyone else had half expected this day to come. He hadn’t cried in over two years and saw no reason to start on this day.

His father was the first to speak on his dead Aunt’s behalf and he began to cry. Logan, half-expecting the tears to come felt nothing, felt simply numb. Then his father led the chapel in the prayer:

“… and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…”

This was all too familiar to Logan; he had heard it every Tuesday and Thursday right before the meetings began. Logan felt his heart sink, felt that uncertain yet heavy feeling of understanding. He quickly looked away from his father to try and shake the feeling, he didn’t want to cry, he couldn’t cry. As he turned to his left, he locked eyes with his little cousin; she had been staring at him. He knew that fiery gaze, he knew what it meant all too well; “Help me, I don’t understand.”

Standing up calmly at first he planted one foot down solemnly, in an understanding way so as to not disturb the others if they were to look up. Once inside the stall he locked the door and sat down. He understood again, he knew why he loved his parents; he knew they were good people. He knew his cousin was a good person, with a deadly disease. In the middle of his crying, in the middle of the tears, and the pain and the sniffling, Logan smiled, and it could even be considered one of the truest smiles in two years.