Dreamcatcher

Chapter One: She Noticed Me

It was a cold winter Tuesday morning in Arcadia Bay.

Everybody who lived at the campus snuggled up well during the chilly season period as hundreds of students lacked the motivation and effort towards their education.

One student in particular was hung back on that Wednesday morning as he laid back in his dorm at the campus, comfortable and relaxed as he was laid on his bed, listening to music play through his laptop on his desk on the opposite side of the room where he had a good view of the backyard where people normally hung out - if it wasn't there, people would be in the front yard.

This student's name was Clark Price. He was the twin brother of Chloe Price, his more disobedient sibling.

Clark's attire was simple: he wore a simple black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans and sneakers. His hair was naturally brown and short, styled with a high fade; while his facial hair was kept cleanly shaven since he was at a stage where he didn't fully appreciate growing out his facial hair just yet.

When Clark realised what time it was, he jumped up off his bed and scrambled to collect all of his belongings by stuffing his backpack with them. Luckily, nobody was present to notice his dilemma but he knew he had to hurry to get to class. Once outside the dorm block, he sprinted around to the front of the school and leapt up the steps, skipping four at a time until he reached the front doors and calmly walked through.

To Clark's right, the security guard, Skip, greeted him with a faint nod as he paced for his room on the left at the furthest end of the hall. The hall walls were messily decorated with posters and flyers regarding club registrations and party invitations. Students littered the halls by their lockers in groups of two, three or singular for those who made quick trips collecting their belongings from their lockers.

Clark breathed at a calmer pace as he glanced at the clock mounted high up on one of the walls and walked quickly to his class - the only class he hated going to was something others could also share their disgust for: mathematics.

The usual suspects were present in the classroom, all sat their appropriate seating arrangements. Clark didn't bother to pay much attention to the fact that there were a missing face or two. But of course, if there was one he wasn't worried about, it was his sister. As soon as Clark sat down at his desk - he was seated three rows back on the far right side of the room, close to a shelf of books but close enough to restrict anybody from squeezing through there - and took out his belongings.

When he plopped down in his spot, that was when his teacher walked into the room and greeted his students lazily. "Good morning, class. Let's not waste any time. We've a lot of ground to cover this morning. Would you all be so kind and open your books to where we left off yesterday. Mr McGee, can you please dispose of your gum in the rubbish bin, not on the underside of your desk, and open up your book like I asked."

The Irishman seated next to Clark groaned and whispered in complaint of how much of a killjoy his teacher was.

"Bloody old codger can go fuck himself." Mick McGee groused irritably with a light Irish accent.

"I heard that, Mick," said Mr Cleary with a monotonous, flat voice.

When everybody did as they were asked, Mr Cleary proceeded to lecture his students about that morning's topic, algebra.

It didn't take long for people to lose concentration and doze off, which would surely be a new record as a select few actually bothered to remain focused.

Until the students were permitted to complete work in class that unless was completed then would become homework, Clark zoned out and inconspicuously slipped his earphones into his left ear, concealed by his left hand which cupped it as he wrote with his write. This was because their teacher didn't want them to be distracted while they worked.