Genie

Act 1~ Chapter 4~ A Man in a Hoody

Chapter 4

  Jace glanced up from his test, bouncing his pencil on its eraser. One more short answer question stared back at him, teasing him. It wasn't that he didn't know how to answer the questions, they were child's play, but the cramping in his hand wouldn't subside. He allowed his left hand to rest for a moment, setting down his pencil and massaging it. Then, in a surge of adrenaline, he spat out three sentences, answering the last question. He rose from his seat, grabbed his backpack, and hurried to the front of the classroom and placed his test on the teacher's desk. He pushed out of the room and stepped into the hallway.

  Jace took a deep breath, relaxing with the thought that he was done for now. It was Friday and that test was the last thing he had to do for the week. The test had been in two parts, the first part was multiple choice and was given on Wednesday. The second part was two essays and four short answer questions, these questions focused on the different themes of A Clockwork Orange. Jace wasn't vexed by the test, literature was easy for him. Math and Science wasn't exactly his forte though.

  Jace waited, leaning against the wall behind him. Then in a sudden wave, the door to the classroom down the hall burst open and a rush of students surged out.

  "Jace Tempal!" Possibly the tallest boy that Jace had ever met, rushed down the hall toward the seventeen year old. The boy had messy red hair and a lollipop stick jutting out from the corner of his mouth. He looped a lazy arm over Jace's shoulders, a group of six boys and one girl following him. Samson Bollinger was the tallest and most recognizable within the group, he was the person Jace would look for in a crowd if he got lost. Samson is silly most of the time, and clumsy the other half of the time. He, much like the rest of the group, loved to joke around. "It feels like ages since I've seen you."

  "You literally saw me this morning," Jace replied. He had to tilt his head up slightly to look at Samson, but at this point was no longer bothered by the fact.

  "Yes, but an hour is an eternity without you, Jace Tempal." The girl walked to the front of Jace, and pretended to swoon. She had pulled her bushy, brown hair back into a ponytail, Jace noticed, seeing that she tried to contain the madness today instead of letting it roam wild. Kayla Howley was short, and her temper matched her height. She also joked a lot, and was a fairly recent addition to their friend group.

  "Likely story Kayla, you're not even into guys," Jace teased, causing Kayla to laugh.

  "I'm sorry that girls are a lot prettier and smell a lot better."

  "All we're trying to say is that we missed you buddy." Lawrence Skelly ruffled Jace's hair with his hand, forcing Jace to bow his head at the same time. Lawrence was a troublemaker, much like Jace was, but his hair is a platinum blonde and he stood out far more easily than Jace did. He wears knockoff polo shirts most of the time, paying more attention to how the ladies think of him than he probably should.

  "Well, pardon me for majoring in English and not general education." Jace shook his head, fixing his hair in the process.

  "Yes, and I think it's honorable that we are hanging out with such a huge nerd." Kayla punched Jace in the arm, walking backwards so she could face her friends.

  Jace playfully stuck his tongue out at the girl, pulling himself out from under Samson's arm.

  "Hey guys, I have some important news to announce," Mike proclaimed, rushing to the front so he could be seen. "I spotted Nate's future boyfriend in my psych class today." Mike Banks and Nate Kylosov were Jace's first friends from primary school and this made them inherently close. Mike has dark hair, shaved relatively close to his head while Nate has light brown hair that was cut neatly. Mike wore pressed button downs and khaki's to class, while Nate normally wore baggy sweatshirts and jeans. And the two could only be closer if they were Siamese twins. Over the years Jace had become the third wheel of this bestfriends group, but wasn't bothered by it and simply made more friends as the time went by.