- RE - LIFE -

Chapter 1 - On one cold afternoon

On one cold afternoon, in the big city of Leon, About four
guys and girls were waiting for their table at James' Hot
'n' Spicy Pizzeria,
Freezing as different streams of cold wind froze every bone
in their body, Freezing but absolutely carefree, the gang
discussed the happenings of this VERY special day, tomorrow
is the last day of their ongoing nightmare, the last day of
school!

' Man, that old witch... I hate her; She just HAD to stick
that "D" in my report card,
Now, didn't she?' said a disgruntled young man, pounding his
fist on the pizzeria's
Wall, 'I mean... She hated me from day one, didn't she?' he
added sourly.
'Calm down there, Dean' said a particularly weird looking
young man, sitting on a bench near by.
'You know she screwed us all, I got no special discounts
either',
But that wasn't enough to calm Dean's heated temper,
He sat down on the bench pushing the young man aside to make
some room,
But the young man did not slide over.

'Hey! Ron! Don't start with me now, not today... 'Cause I'm
about to freak out here'.
Ron stood up and took a deep breath 'Tonight.. It reminds me
of those moments at
School trips, you know...' Ron gazed at the sky.
'When everybody is at some cheap school arranged club,
dancing their ass off, and you start walking away, gazing at
the sky looking at the stars and start thinking... you
know?'
Ron sighed and smiled 'It's usually a very depressing
moment, but mystical never the less'
A third young man snorted amusingly, nodding 'Hey Ron, what
the hell's wrong with ya'? What's with the suicide talk?'

A small grin appeared on his brown face, this young man was
Steve, one of Ron's best friends 'School is OVER man, be
happy, we are back to our favorite place in the whole world
and we've got two more months of absolute freedom ahead of
us, so lighten up will ya'?' Steve resumed his chat with one
of the
Girls, yet one of the girls turned around ran towards Ron
and squeezed the life out of him with a huge hug.
'Ron! You still didn't tell me, how were your grades? You
just ran off...'

Ron gazed at the sky once more and started playing back in
his head the occurrence of that very morning ...



He was walking to school, worried. 'If I get a bad report
card this year, there's no way
I could go to the same university as Jill and Steve, I'll be
stuck in some hell-hole serving old people their
snot-looking dinner, while all my friends climb their way
to
Success, I can't fail again...' Ron entered his school
through that old dent in the
Fence, he looked at it and smiled, memories of creating that
dent with Steve flashed
Quickly as he continued walking towards the school's main
hall, but he was stopped
By a surprisingly loud yell, looking left he saw his
girlfriend, Jill, Jumping up and down cheerfully, arms
spread with a huge grin on her face, he looked back at her
and smiled, Jill was the only thing in the world that could
make Ron forget all his worries and frightening thoughts and
he loved her more than anything else in the world.
'Jill!' Ron cried happily, spreading his arms as well 'How
are you?' Jill gave Ron
One of her usual "Extra Squeezey Hugs" and yelled out
happily 'this is it Ronny!
We get our grades today and excluding tomorrow's small
goodbye party, SCHOOL IS OVER!' she gave him a kiss and
waiting to see his reaction, but Ron could not feel entirely
happy, he knew what was coming, he knew that his grades had
been pretty
Shabby all year and it didn't look like his report card will
surprise with a happy end, but he forced a smile and said
'Yes, finally, huh? We can finally kiss these ugly halls
goodbye and start our lives... I mean...' Jill smiled and
grabbed his hand 'c'mon, lets go talk to everybody ' she
shivered 'OOH! I'm so excited!' Ron sighed while he was
dragged along with Jill to his all-too-familiar old, dirty
classroom.


Half an hour of End-of-the-Year chitchat later, Ron had
almost burst into flames,
Trying to overcome the unstopping tension he felt, when
suddenly all of the students
Were silenced at once, a quick look in the direction of the
classroom door revealed
The source of the sudden silence strike, at the door a fat
woman was standing,
Gold bracelets and bangles were dangling from her hands as
she walked into the classroom, she was smiling, her second
and third chins were connecting with the
Bottom of her throat as she opened her big, lipstick colored
lips 'Well. Well. Well.'
She said maliciously while eyeing every student's terrified
face ' What day is it?' she added 'Everyone sitting so
quietly, listening to my every word.. oh what a sight! I
wish I had a camera!' worried looks exchanged around the
classroom, as Miss. Bignos, Ron's teacher squeezed her huge
behind in her chair, which was already dented, probably from
past meeting with Miss. Bignos' large behind 'What a poor
chair' whispered Ron, and Jill chuckled slightly, careful
not to alarm her large
teacher.


'Well.. Lets see now' said Miss Bignos while wearing her
glasses 'Oh! Is it the last
Day already? Pity. I was looking forward to 4 more hours of
history before we call it quits, but alas... the finals are
over and done with, though the question remains "How did you
all do?" ' Bignos chuckled and pulled a large paper bag out
of her big teacher's bag, she laid it on the table and
started emptying it's contents, Ron felt
As if a lightning bolt was raging inside his guts, making
him feel sick.
'Sally Doris' Bignos yelled and a skinny girl rose from her
chair and walked
Towards Bignos' table, which was now full of report cards
and one giant bowl of cookies, the girl sat on a chair
facing Miss Bignos at the opposite side of her table.
'Yeah, Cookies, as if that's going to make someone feel
better about failing' moaned Ron while eyeing the report
cards 'Hey... Where's Steve?' Jill pointed at the door,
Steve was standing there, breathing fast and wiping sweat
off his forehead, yet beneath all the sweat and the panting,
tinkered an unmistakable smug smile.

'Steve! Over here! Where the hell where ya'?' Ron whispered
as Steve walked closer.
'Heh, I couldn't wake up this morning..' Steve said, his
smug smile was now stretching across his narrow yet handsome
face 'Who was it this time?' Ron quickly added, smiling.

'Jill Pearl' Bignos yelled as Sally Doris left the
classroom, a small grin was spreading across her face 'Well,
that's me!' Jill said as she walked towards Bignos 'Good
luck!' Ron yelled after her and then resumed his
conversation with Steve 'So... details, details.. Let's have
it!' Ron continued and Steve was about to start telling him
what happened the day before when Dean approached them 'Hey
guys... ' He said with
A gloomy face 'E.. Excited?' he muttered 'He he.. Not at all
' Steve resumed his smug smile 'I've got a good feeling..'
he continued while Dean and Ron's faces started looking even
gloomier than before 'This was a great year, but enough is
enough... I wanna say goodbye to this dump and get on with
my life' Steve said, his eyes glittering 'Freedom, at last!'
an excited shriek filled the classroom and Jill came running
towards Ron and almost chocked him with one giant hug 'I did
it! Everything, Every subject is "A", I'm so happy' Ron
hugged Jill back and congratulated her, though deep inside
he was getting a bad feeling.. 'Sandra Derek' yelled Bignos
as Jill was taking her seat between Ron and Dean 'So, Are
you excited?' Jill said as she was looking at Dean, Who was
looking even gloomier when he heard Jill's question, he
looked away,'What's his problem?' Jill muttered.


An hour later, the class was almost empty, It's been long
since Steve left with his all "A" report card while smiling
more than ever, Even Dean got a surprisingly good report
card, well.. except a very unfair "D" at math, which perhaps
was unfair but not bad enough for Dean to lose his good mood
about the rest of his surprisingly good report card, Its
finally Ron's turn, he was the last one to get his report
card and there was a good reason for that 'Ron Padlock'
Bignos said in a quiet tone, there was no reason to shout
since Ron was the only student left in the classroom, Ron
walked to Bignos' desk and sat down on the chair facing her,
he looked down at the jar of cookies, it was now containing
half a cookie and some crumbs, it looks as though Miss
Bignos had helped herself with quite a few cookies as well,
as crumbs were attached to her enormous lips and a small
trail of cookie crumbs was leading to her side of the table
'You better sit down, Ron' she said in a serious tone, Ron's
heart missed a beat 'I am sitting down!' he answered 'Well..
Sit harder' Bignos replied, Ron was feeling his heart
beating faster 'Mr. Padlock, I'm afraid I have some bad news
to break to you...' Bignos paused and continued a few
moments after 'As you can see, Your grades are very bad this
year, and I'm afraid you're past the point when you could
take the 12th class again' Ron wouldn't want that anyways,
he looked down and saw his report card, full of "F"s and
"D"s, he even spotted a very odd "X" in math, his weakest
subject , 'Ron, take the summer school option, You've got
the potential to bring an all-A report card home, you just
have to concentrate harder' Bignos said with a soft voice,
but this was the last straw for Ron, he stood up and yelled
'Oh, cut the crap!' Bignos' face turned red 'Potential ?!
You say that every year and you know what? That's
BULL-SHIT!' Bignos stood up, her giant nose started making
strange noises 'Why can't you just tell me the truth for
once, huh? It's the end of school, I've failed almost
everything, why don't you just tell me the truth and get it
over with' Ron looked at Bignos who was both shocked and
angry 'OK!' she growled 'You want the truth? Here goes.. You
are stupid, those grades are the lowest I have ever seen in
my entire teaching career, an "X"? What the hell is that?
You have no potential, no future, NOTHING! You'll be a
plumber's assistant at best!' Miss Bignos slowed down and
caught her breath and continued calmly ' Now have a good
life, dear ' Bignos raised he hand holding something
'Cookie?' she smiled innocently, Ron took the cookie (More
like half a cookie) and left the class... .


Outside was Jill, she was waiting for him to come out of the
classroom and when he did she ran in his direction screaming
'SO! How did it go?' Ron didn't answer, he just ran away
while throwing his hand at her as if he was saying 'Leave me
alone!'.
Jill just stood there, shocked at Ron's behavior, Ron knew
he shouldn't given her the feeling as if it was her fault
but he wasn't in the mood for talking.

'Table 6, please' said one of James' Hot 'n' Spicy pizzeria
waiters, Ron's deep thoughts faded out as he entered the
pizzeria, Table 6 .. As usual.


Half an hour later, Ron already forgot all about Miss Bignos
and the whole report card business, He was sitting in his
favorite place in the world with his favorite people in the
world, Jill was sitting right beside him, robbing his left
thigh with her right hand,
Ron loved it when she did that, ANYONE would, he looked at
Jill, she had beautiful, long brown hair and two blue eyes,
they were so deep that Ron felt he could fall into them.

He was in love with Jill, every part of him was, he wanted
to be with her all the time.
As the first tray of pizza was laid on the table, Dean and
Steve had seized the biggest slices, stuffing the slices in
their mouth and hardly being able to chew , they were about
the take a second slice, when one of the girls giggled at
the sight of Ron's obsessed look towards Jill.
'So.. Ron..' the girl said brightly, Ron looked back at her
'Yes, Linda?', Linda was Steve's new "Girlfriend" but
everybody at the table knew how fast Steve switches
"Girlfriends".
'How ya' doin'?' Linda added with a friendly tone. 'Aren't
you going to ask me what were my grades?' Ron replied
grumpily. 'Its none of my business, now is it? And of
course, My grades aren't very good, So I'm not going to talk
about school at all!'
Linda continued, smiling at Ron, She sensed that he was
troubled by something earlier, so she quickly changed the
subject.
'So.. How long have you and Jill known each other?', but
before Ron could answer, the second pizza tray had arrived
and with it a surprise.. .

'Red wine? GREAT!' Dean cried as he uncorked the bottle,
Each person had a glass of red wine near his plate and as
they began eating, Steve took his spoon and pounded it
softly against his wine glass and asked for everybody's
attention,
Dean was stuffing his third slice into his mouth and then
Steve raised his glass,
The others did the same.
Steve cleared his throat and began speaking. 'Good evening
ladies and gentlemen!', Dean and Linda chuckled, 'I would
like to make a toast to something very important to all of
us, First of all I would like to make a toast to Friendship'
Everybody raised their glasses a bit higher and then took a
small sip off their wine and raised the glasses again
'Second, I'd like to announce that I will be going to the
Matron Institution for Advance Technology at Hedgrounds up
north!'. Jill stood up, Shocked.
'Me too!' she burst into tears and ran over to Steve and
gave him a big hug,
'This is so great Steve, I got friends there before even
entering!'
Jill added cheerfully, 'We are going to have the time of our
lives together!!'
Ron got a little jealous but decided to keep it to himself,
A few minutes later,
When Jill's enthusiasm had cooled down a bit,
Steve raised his glass and continued his toast, 'Third, I
would like to say that,
For me, This night represents the future, Here's to the
future of us all, To a happy successful life and a bright
future for us all!'.
When Steve had finished his speech, he drank his red wine
and the others raised their glasses as they were saying 'To
the future!' together and then they all drank their wine at
the same time, Well.. Almost all.
Ron on the other hand was gazing heavily upon his glass of
red wine, the others didn't notice that it was his forth
glass, They had been too busy with Steve's toast to see how
depressed Ron had become, He took his glass of red wine and
placed it right under his chin, so the reflection of the
lower part of his face was showing when he looked down at
it, Ron continued staring at the wine, which began to look
more and more like blood, He dipped his finger in the wine
and watched his distorted reflection.

The reflection changed.

He saw himself in the reflection, He was picking up garbage
bags,
His cloths were filthy, He looked older, like twenty years
older.
Suddenly, A man and a woman approached him, laughing at him
and pointing at him.
He recognized their faces, they were Steve and Jill, his
favorite people in the world, but they didn't recognize
him.
They were wearing expensive looking cloths, he tried to
speak with them, But they wouldn't talk to him, Suddenly..
He woke up.


Ron was in his bed, it was about 3:00 am, he looked around
to see where he was,
He was in his room, Ron picked up a note that was laying
close to his electric watch, he read the note with a
surprised look on his face..

To my Roni..

I hope your hangover will not be as bad as your
Behavior today at James', Sorry for letting
You get drunk like that; I won't let it happen again. He
he.

With Love, Jill.

'Oh my god, what did I do?' Ron muttered to himself.
'So many mistakes, I can't correct anything..', Ron moaned,
'Soon everyone will be off to collage or whatever and I'll
be stuck. Here... without a future, Alone'.

My life is over, I can't do anything, I'm going to lose her,
I'm going to lose all my friends, All because I was always
last in class,
I was too preoccupied with staring at Jill that I completely
abandoned anything else that mattered...' Ron cried.
'Why did I do that? I wish I could do it all over... I wish
I had another chance...'

Ron approached his window.

'God, I know I said I hate you, And I admit I don't really
believe in you, but PLEASE, give me another chance at life,
let me try again so I will never forget anything that
happened and won't make the same mistakes.., Please.. Only
one more chance...' Ron wiped a single tear off of his left
cheek and crawled into his bed, expecting the biggest
hangover he ever had to grace him when morning comes...

The day after, Ron woke up, As he opened his eyes he noticed
that something was
different..

He was different.