Shrunken Trust

Chapter 1

...
    It was a Friday afternoon and Paxton was wandering the football fields during lunch. He kicked a red solo cup left from last week's game as he made his way through the bleachers. He eventually made it to the last bench and sat down on the edge. It was peaceful here, normally at least. As Paxton started to relax he heard someone call his name. It was distant but clear who called for him.
    Paxton tensed as the voice got louder and closer. It was Brandon, the quarterback of the high school football team. He was followed by the rest of the team with the coach distracted at the far end of the field.
    "Pax, my man, come practice with us," Brandon called. "You haven't played in a while and we think you could use the practice." He looked back at the team and glared, they all nodded. He looked back with a taunting smile. "See, we all do."
    Paxton rolled his eyes at the comment. All Brandon wants is recognition from others, even if this was from the 'losers'. Paxton thought that if he threw the ball once then they would leave him alone.
    "What is it I need practice with?" Paxton got up from his spot and hopped over the wall. Brandon handed Pax a ball that one of the others threw at him. "Oh, I see, sure. I'll do it." Paxton said a little cocky. He stood at the 40-yard line and faced the opposite side of the field.
    Paxton took a couple of steps back and threw the ball as hard as he could. They all watched as the ball twirled in the air, it was low but formed the perfect spiral. The coach on the other end of the field watched in awe as the ball flew over his head and banged on the bleachers. The coach scrambled to find the ball.
    The boys stared at each other and Paxton stood there in shock. Everything stopped when they all heard the whistle and Paxton was brought to the scene. Where the ball hit was a large dent in the bleacher.
    "Now listen here Pax, I know you didn't do it on purpose but I'm gonna have to send you to the principal's office. Sorry kid." The coach blew the whistle again and yelled for everyone to head inside. Paxton headed to the office with his head low and his hands in his pockets, he should really fix that habit.
    As Paxton followed the coach down the hall he was stared at by the other students. It felt terrible, he felt terrible. He had only been sent to the principal's office before but it was for more serious things. He once got sent from accidentally covering the science lab with elephant toothpaste after adding too much hydrogen peroxide.
    He took his seat outside the door and the coach left him to go to his office to file paperwork. Pax sat quietly in the hallway, it was unusual for the hallways to be this empty. A kid walked past him trying not to be noticed, kinda hard when you're the only one in the hallway. Paxton looked to his left to see a girl in a purple hoodie leaning on the wall instead of sitting in any of the four empty seats. The girl must have noticed him too and pulled her hood off.
    "Hey, Pax! Fancy seeing you here. What did you do this time?" It was Ari, she was one of Paxton's good friends.
    "I somehow dented a bleacher with a football." He rolled his eyes.
    "Ouch that's gonna be tough to get out of. How do you dent a bleacher with a football? That's, like, impossible."
    "Yeah, all I did was throw it." Paxton agreed. Ari scoffed at the stupidity of the situation.
    "Paxton, she will see you now." The assistant called. Pax got up and entered the room.
    "Thanks Mrs. Galeher." Paxton said as he entered the office. Mrs. Galeher smiled and nodded in reply.
    "Paxton, what is it this time?" The principal asked she was looking out the window.
    "So um, I seem to have dented a bleacher... I can fix it though!" Paxton pleaded.
    "Sure you could, yeah. One question though, how do you dent a bleacher!" She began to half yell.
    "I kinda threw the ball a bit too hard." Paxton began to prepare himself for his punishment.
    "If you can fix it, do it. Because it's Friday, next week you'll get two days of detention. Understand, we need the bleacher fixed for tomorrow's game." She glared at Paxton.
    "I understand." Pax got up from his seat when he was dismissed. He said goodbye to Mrs. Galeher and found Ari standing outside the door with her backpack on and holding his out for him to grab.
    "Onwards my dear friend, together we shall journey to, well, as far as we can go until we part ways." Ari exclaimed. Paxton rolled his eyes and smiled at Ari.
    "Onward we shall go." Paxton agreed as the two walked out of the school together.
    As the two exited the school, something under Ari's shirt moved. Ari shrugged as if trying to fix her backpack. Paxton saw this. He threw this out and decided that it was just a trick of the mind.