Jay sat through his class impatiently; the subject matter was just far too easy. he was surprised at this as
he couldn't recall having been super smart and he is no nerd. He panned the classroom again, looking
everywhere but the teacher and her lesson. He knew he had friends but he wasn't ably to pick out any familiar
faces in the class.
And yet they were all somehow familiar but he saw no particular individual that he felt was a friend. Maybe he
didn't have friends in this class, he considered, but then he realized this is elementary school, there is
only one classroom with one teacher. But he hadn't been in any other school. how could he think that it was
run any other way?
As the day wore on Jay felt lonely... and desperately bored. he didn't belong here, he thought, I'm too good
for these kids. He missed his dad, he would be better off working with him and grandpa at their mechanic shop.
But of course dad would never let him do that, he would probably lecture him about how important schooling was
and how he wouldn't be able to home-school Jay.
durring recess Jay puttered around in the grass watching the other kids try to form a game of basketball on a
court. He moseyed over towards them and one called out,"Hey Jay! please come be on our team"
"alright Matt" Jay submitted. Matt? he knew his name? of course he did they're all in his class.
Recess flew by as Jay played an intense game with the other kids, perhaps to intense as some kids on the other
team threw a fit, "it's just no fair to have Jay with you guys. We told you he always wins. It's just no fun."
Jay let out a sigh, "it's ok, I understand, I'll go now". Now he remembered why he hated recess; none of the
other kids liked it when he played against them, he was just too good, as if he had had many more years of
practice on them. But he loved playing sports. He had been begging his dad to let him join some kind of rookie
team as an extra-curricular activity, something that would be competitive. But his family didn't have the
time, money, or patience for the fees, competitions and dealing with soccer moms and dads.
___________________________________________
When school finally ended Jay rode the somewhat long bus-ride home. When he arrived he found the door locked.
'oh yeah' the thought, dad and grams don't come home until later. They trust him to be home alone for a few
hours everyday until they get back from the shop.
Jay found a set of keys in his backpack and opened the front door.
after tossing his stuff aside he plopped on the warn couch and turned on tv, only to find static. 'aw man' the
cable is out again. His dad was always trying to fix it himself instead of calling up the cable company, but
the fixes hardly ever lasted.
'guess I'll be bored at home too.' he relented. he turned to his toys on the floor nearby and dabbled with
them for a while.
about an hour passed but and the novelty of the toys began to wear. Jay got up and grabbed some crackers,
pacing around the small home when he noticed his dad's bedroom was left open. that's odd, he expressed, dad
usually keeps it shut, he doesn't like when Jay goes in without permission.
excited at the forbidden opportunity Jay slipped into the bedroom and say the computer on. Jay got excited,
maybe the internet works, or maybe he could find a game. Dad only ever let jay use his computer for homework.
Jay sat at the computer, looking as the screensaver wore off, revealing the Chronivac program still left up.
Is this a game? Jay wondered as he began to probe the program...