Low on Time/Issue 3

'''This is issue one of Low on Time, entitled: Pilot. '''

Issue 3; Moment To Relax
''A slightly younger Paul Alexander walked down the hallway in Northeast High School with his two best friends, Steven and Mike. Being the three athletes in the school, they were on top of the food chain. The three of them were seniors, and got all the chicks, were very popular, and no one would mess with them. Each of them wore leather jackets, jeans, and undershirts.''

''"So, did you get with Ashley last night?" asked Steven, looking at Paul.''

''Paul laughed a little, "You know it!" he said.''

''Steven high-fived Paul, and Mike stood next to them, innocently. The three went to the cafeteria, and sat down in the back of the cafeteria. A few girls sat with them, and a couple other athletes did too. Paul had a power bar, and that's about it for lunch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw sophomore, Travis with freshman Henry walking through to go to the library like they normally do. He knew Travis, as he dated his sister before, and knows he's the biggest wimp. As the two walked by, Paul stuck out his foot so Travis fell face first onto the floor. Paul's group erupted in laughter, and Mike high-fived Paul who looked accomplished. Henry stood there, watching the group laugh. A big chunk of the cafeteria made their way over to see what was going on. Travis stood up, and looked at Paul.''

''"What the hell was that about?" asked Travis, obviously angry.''

''"My bad." Paul said, sarcastically. "You should watch where you're going though."''

''"Come on, man. Let's go." Henry nervously said to Travis.''

''"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend." Steven said, laughing at his own insult.''

''Travis looked around at everyone watching them. "Come on." he said to Henry.''

''"No, don't go just yet." Paul said, standing up.''

''Paul, very confidently walked over to the two. He was a lot taller then the two, and easily a lot stronger. He looked down on Travis, with a menacing smile. Travis wasn't gonna back down to him, and he hit Paul in the jaw. Paul backed away, holding his jaw in pain. He looked up at Travis, and ran at him, tackling him. The two tussled on the ground for a bit, before Paul got the upper hand. He was on top of Travis, and kept punching him wherever his hands couldn't defend him. Henry tried to pull Paul off, but Steven and Mike held him back. Paul kept beating on Travis, until his knuckles started to bleed, then he got up.''

Paul stood over a knocked down Ike, who was holding his jaw. Ike hopped up, and looked at Paul, then to Haley who was standing next to Paul with her arms crossed.

"Why are you so over-protective of your damn sister anyways? She's a freak!" Ike said, still holding his jaw.

"Why do you have to do be a dick?" exclaimed Haley. "And she's not a freak, you don't know what happened to her."

"Then enlighten the rest of us!" Ike said, smiling. "Or are you too scared?"

"I wouldn't tell you what the fuck happened to her in a million years, you fucking racist druggie." Haley said.

Ike smiled, and looked at the two. He started to walk away, but quickly turned around and threw a punch at Paul, connecting with his temple. Paul grasped the side of his head, and his face got red with rage. Paul charged at Ike, taking him down. Paul easily over-powered Ike, holding him down. Ike head-butted Paul, and Paul fell over, grabbing his head. Ike got on top of him, and pulled out his pocket-knife.

"My how the tables have turned!" Ike said, with an evil grin.

Haley stood back, watching them. You could see the fear in her eyes. No one else who was around wanted to do anything. Kelly, Dylan, Jake, and Olivia came by to see what was going on. They saw Ike hold Paul by the shirt, as he held the pocket-knife to his throat.

"What the hell?" screamed Olivia.

Dylan quickly sprang to action, rushing over, and grabbing Ike by the back of the shirt. Dylan pulled Ike off, and Ike dropped his knife in the process. Dylan pushed Ike against the wall as Haley ran to check on Paul, who's lip is bleeding and his eye is swollen to hell.

"Baby, are you okay?" asked Haley, worried.

"I'm fine, nothing but a scratch." Paul said, not taking his eye off of Ike.

Haley helped Paul up, as Dylan still had Ike against the wall. "Let me ask you something, what the fuck were you thinking?" asked Dylan.

"In fights, intimidation is key." Ike said, smiling.

"You realize you could go to jail for that, idiot?"

"Yeah, but no one here knows who am I anyways. How are they gonna get me in trouble?"

"Plenty of ways. DNA testing, face recognizer... the fact that the gold necklace you're wearing says 'Ike Dennis' on it."

Ike looked down a his gold necklace, defeated. "Fine, you win." Ike said.

"Get the hell out of here." Dylan said, releasing his grasp.

Ike walked away, looking back at Paul who is watching him leave. Ike did nothing but smile as he walked away.

The next day, Paul was in his history class, chatting away with Mike and Steven like he normally does.

''"What's up with that Travis kid, trying to hit you?" asked Steven.''

''"I don't know, all I know is that dude is an idiot." Paul said, smiling.''

''"You kicked his ass though, man." Mike said.''

''Paul laughed, "Yeah I did." Paul looked at the clock, it read 8:35. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Paul said, getting up.'' ''

Paul was washing his hands in the bathroom, when the bathroom stall opened. Henry walked out, and stopped when he saw Paul. Paul looked up at him, and smiled.''

''"That's not gonna help, you know?" Paul asked. "Looking like you're scared will make you an easier target. I'm only letting you know because you have three more years left when I'm gone."''

''Henry walked over to the sink next to him, and turned on the water. "I know, but can I ask you something?" he asked.''

"What is it?"

''"Can you leave Travis alone? Last night, he said something about suicide, and I don't want him to do it." Henry said, looking around.''

''This immediately hit Paul where it hurt. He was more shocked than anything. "Really?" he asked.''

"Yeah, so can you just, stop?"

''"Yeah, sure. I don't ant the kid to die, that's not my intention." Paul said, turning away.''

''"Thanks." Henry said.''

''Paul opened the door, and Travis was standing there with a pistol in his hand. Paul put his hands up, slowly. Fear ran across his face.''

''"You bastard!" Travis cried, pointing the pistol at Paul.''

''"I--" Paul is interrupted when Travis pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Paul in his abdomen, and it took Paul down. Paul slumped up against the bathroom door, shortly before passing out.'' ''

Paul woke up in a hospital bed, attached to all these machines and wires. Mike was there when he woke up.''

''"Man, you're up!" Mike said, happily.''

''"What happened?" Paul asked, still feeling a bit light-headed.''

"Man, you remember that freshman, Henry? When Travis shot you, the kid was able to control your bleeding before you lost too much blood."

''"Did-did that punk kill anyone?" Paul asked, grasping his stomach which was in pain.''

''Mike looked down, and started to cry. Paul looked at him, shocked. "Who was it?" he asked.''

''"He got a few seniors and--" Mike paused, taking a huge gulp, "Steven; shot him right in the head." Mike said, tears in his eyes.''

''Paul was speechless. He couldn't believe his best friend was out of this world.''

''"Did they kill that fucker?" Paul finally asked.''

"No, he took his own life."

Owen was at his dorm, lying on his couch, sleeping, still in his suit. This time of day gave the students a moment to relax, and Owen liked sleeping. His door opened, and his roommate, Sean walked into the dorm with Kira and Harold, both holding laptops. Sean motioned them to be quiet, and the three went to Sean's room. Harold was the last in, closing the door behind him.

"Man that dude sleeps a lot." Harold said.

"No, he's normally studying or something." Sean said, hopping on his computer.

Kira and Harold start setting up their laptops. When they set them up, the two took their seats, and logged into their game, Minecraft.

"So, you guys wanna play Survival Games, correct?" Sean asked, putting his headset on.

"Fine by me." Kira said, putting her headset on.

They hear a knock on the dorm door, and the three look at each other.

"I'll let Owen get." Sean said.

On the other side of the door, Owen was waking up from hearing the knocks. He got up, yawned, and very slowly walked to the door. He opened the door, and Violet was standing there. Owen was surprised she stopped by, today was the first day they actually talked besides a simple "Hey" or something.

"Nice hair." Violet said, sarcastically, looking at Owen's messed up hair.

"I just woke up." he said before yawning again.

Violet walked past him into the dorm, and sat down on the couch he was lying on before, grabbing the remote. Owen walked over to her and sat next to her.

"What's going on?" asked Owen.

Violet put on the news channel where a reporter was doing a emergency news story, the voices of Kira, Sean, and Harold can be heard faintly in the background.

"The dead are coming back to life, it's chaos! We have received no word from the military..." with panic in her voice, she's cut off by Owen turning off the TV.

"What the hell, man?" Violet asked.

"That's a prank. There's no way that's real, think about it." Owen said, in disbelief.

Violet looked up at him, and smiled, seeing a tiny bit of fear in him. She grabbed his arm, and he looked down at her, and smiled.

"How come you're not so open during class? You're way too reserved." Violet said.

"Well, I have to focus on my school work." Owen said, looking away, not liking where this conversation is going.

"But, you're a funny and kind dude."

"Thanks, but I can't really do that... I've been doing stuff Violet... things."

"Come on, you're copying The Walking Dead." Violet said.

"Damn, didn't think you watched that."

"There's a lot of stuff you don't know about me, Owen."

"Ok, do you wanna sit here and talk, or do you want to go to the café?"

"Let's go to the café, then Owen boy." Violet said, standing up.

Kelly, Jake, Dylan, Olivia, Paul, and Haley were in Kelly and Olivia's dorm. Jake was helping with Paul's eye.

"Who the hell was that douche?" asked Haley, who was sitting next to Paul.

"Some nobody." Jake replied.

"Who carries a pocket-knife around on campus is what I want to know" Dylan said, who is sitting on the couch, Kelly on his lap.

Olivia sat in the corner, holding Ike's knife. "I don't know-- but I did kinda pick it up." she said.

The five look at her with questioning looks. "What?" she asked.

"If they catch you with that on campus, you might get expelled." Kelly said.

"I'm not too worried. We had a dorm check a week ago, they won't do one in another two months!"

Paul kept looking at Haley, who looked very nervous.

"Hey, everything's fine." Paul said, moving his hand across her face, gently.

"I know, I thought that guy might try and kill you though." she said.

"Alright, you're good to go." Jake said.

"Thanks, man. I owe you one." Paul said, hopping up.

Paul and Haley left the dorm, and walked down the hall. Paul put his arm around her, as they walked.

"So, back at the fight, you said that something bad happened to your sister..." Paul started. Haley stopped, and looked at him, cautiously. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?"

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Dylan Adams
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Harold Morgan
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne
 * Haley Dixon

Deaths

 * Steven (Flashback)
 * Travis (Flashback)