Chapter 1

Spotting her favorite victim exiting through the main door of the school building, Kim Parker extended her forefinger and thumb at right angles to each other to form an ‘L.’

Putting her hand to her forehead, she shouted, “Loser!”

Dan looked over at her and shook his head in disgust. It was their last day of high school and Kim Parker, bitch extraordinaire, was continuing her efforts to make his life miserable. For twelve years he had put up with her snide remarks, public insults, and rude acts. Now that time was coming to an end. School was ending and he’d never have to be near her again.

Letting his irritation show in his voice, he said, “Grow up. We’re not in high school any more.”

“I don’t even know why they are letting you graduate. You can’t even read,” Kim said with disdain in her voice.

She was heading off to college in September with visions of a very bright future. She was confident that she could use her good looks to get anything she wanted. As far as she was concerned, he was going to end up a janitor or something equally as low. The sooner she could get that loser out of her life, the better.

“I can read,” Dan muttered while turning away so that she couldn’t see how much her words hurt him.

Too many years had been spent as the slow kid in class before someone realized that he had Dyslexia. He had hoped that he would make it through one day of school without having someone remind him that he had problems reading. Almost without exception, it was Kim who made a point of making him feel stupid.

The root of the problem, on Kim’s part, was that they shared the same last name. Once, in first grade, one of the kids had accused her of being stupid because her twin brother was stupid. She didn’t remember the episode, but the idea that someone might think that they were related continued to embarrass her. Every time that he had been called upon in class to read aloud, she had felt humiliated by his stammering uncertain recitations. She hated him for that, and that hate ran deep.

The years together in school had not lessened her animosity towards him. Her hatred of him grew every time someone asked if they were related. In every yearbook, his picture appeared right next to hers. In fact, his name appeared right before hers. In the graduation ceremony, he would walk the stage in front of her. He always came first, and, as far as she was concerned, he was the stupid one.

Kim crossed her arms and said, “It’s not fair. I actually had to learn something to graduate and they just passed you through school because you’re stupid. Everyone knows that they had to pass you, or your parents would have sued.”

“Shut up,” Dan said.

Despite his hard work to learn the material, Dan actually believed that’s why he had been passed through school. The truth of the matter was far different than either Kim or Dan realized. Dan had better grades than Kim in almost all of their classes. Although the teachers had often given him oral exams, the grades he earned had represented his real understanding of the material.

Exiting from the school, Tom took one look at Dan, and knew that Kim had been harassing him again. As far as he was concerned, there was no excuse for her behavior. She was the most popular girl at school. and she didn’t need to cement her social position by making Dan miserable.

Pasting a false smile on his face, he said, “Hey, it’s the slut. Have you been spending much time on your knees? I’ve got a twenty. How about a blowjob?”

“I’m going to kill you and your loser friend one of these days,” Kim shouted furious at the accusation.

He often accused her of using sex to get what she wanted. It was close enough to the truth, that it infuriated her. The only one in school who could get under her skin that fast was Tom. There had been a time when they had been friends and had definitely been moving toward being better than just friends, but that was history.

“Oh, go ply your trade elsewhere,” Tom said looking at her with disgust.

Kim glared at him, unable to come up with a retort that would hurt. She stomped her foot and said, “You think you’re better than me.”

“I am,” Tom said with a smile.

Giving him a look that conveyed exactly what she thought of his social standing, Kim said, “You are so pathetic. You dress in Grand Mart clothes, drive an old clunker of a car, and wear black frame glasses. Your mother even cuts your hair. You and Retard are nothing but a pair of losers.”

“You’re right about my clothes, car, glasses and my haircut. That doesn’t change the fact that we are both still better than you,” Dan said with the calm assurance that came from the fact that he actually believed it.

“God, I hate you,” Kim replied stamping her foot on the ground.

Patting Dan on the shoulder, Tom said, “Let’s get out of here. School is over as far as I’m concerned and the sooner we’re away from the bitch the better.”

As they walked away to where their cars were parked, Dan said, “I don’t understand it. There was a time when you were friends with her. Everyone thought that she was going to be your girlfriend. She was madly in love with you. You could have fucked her. Why didn’t you?”

Tom didn’t want to talk about what had happened to break up his friendship with Kim, so shrugging his shoulders he answered, “She isn’t a very nice person. Why would I want to have sex with her?”

“She’s the prettiest girl at school,” Dan answered.

He glanced back at Kim who had been joined by her circle of followers. The young woman was very attractive and had almost every guy at school wrapped around her little finger. One of the few exceptions was Tom.

“Would you have sex with her if you had the chance?” Tom asked looking at his friend.

“No. I don’t like her,” Dan answered.

He was actually afraid that if he were to ever be in the position of having sex with her that it would end up being closer to assault than making love. He could just see himself getting hauled off to jail for abusing her.

“Same here,” Tom said with a grin. Knowing that Dan was looking for work, he asked, “So, how is the hunt for a job going?”

“I found a job in construction last night. I start work, tomorrow,” Dan answered feeling a little embarrassed about the kind of work he’d be doing.

A lot of the kids in school were headed off for college. Most of the people in his middle class neighborhood looked down on people who earned a living with their hands. Growing up in that environment, Dan felt ashamed about what he considered his only option for the future. He believed that it was his fate in life to be manual labor. College wasn’t really a choice for someone who required three months to read a single book.

“Do you really want to do that?” Tom asked.

“Not really, but there just aren’t that many alternatives. I can’t go to college. Hell, I can’t even be a prostitute. No one is going to pay me to sleep with them,” Dan answered with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders.

“Don’t say things like that. It’s not true. Plenty of guys will pay you for sex,” Tom said shaking his head.

“Eww! Don’t even think that,” Dan said in a disgusted voice.

Laughing at Dan’s reaction, Tom said, “I’m serious though about you having alternatives.”

Tom was heading to college, but hadn’t decided upon a major yet. It was a close race among Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Dan had no doubts that Tom could major in any of those subjects. He was the smartest kid in the school and that was not an opinion based on his grades. Tom was the only person in school to have a perfect score on the SAT.

Dan asked, “Have you decided on a major yet?”

“Not yet. I figure I don’t have to declare my major for at least a year. The first year of all three programs is basically identical. I’ve got to take Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, English, and History. I hope I’ll know enough to make a choice after taking the introductory courses,” Tom said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I’m sure that you can major in all of them. I can just see you earning three degrees at the same time,” Dan said with a grin. He knew that people didn’t do things like that.

The pair of friends walked to the parking lot talking and teasing each other. Reaching their cars, Tom stopped at the trunk of his car and opened it. He reached in, pulled out a stack of papers, and handed them to Dan.

“I downloaded some articles from the web last night. I thought you might want to read them.”

Dan took the papers from Tom and looked over them. The pages were held together by thick heavy clips. There were three articles and they were almost thick enough to be books. It took him a minute to puzzle out the words without the colored overlay that helped him read. Taking his time in making out the words, he read the titles aloud.

“The Facts Of Life. The Pursuit of Happiness. Take Control of Your Life. What is this?”

“We’ve talked in the past about what we wanted out of life. I ran across these articles on the web and realized that they captured the essence of what we’ve talked about. In fact, they go way beyond what we’ve talked about. I thought you might want to read them,” Tom said.

He knew that Dan struggled to read, but his friend had always read anything he had given him. Dan wasn’t dumb, he just had a hard time reading.

“Why?” Dan asked with a puzzled frown.

Hoping that his friend would take his advice, Tom answered, “I thought they might help give you a direction in life. We have been drifting through life without a real goal. I’ve been reading these, and I’m finding that they are helping me organize my thoughts on what I want to do in life.”

Tom’s comment about drifting through life wasn’t entirely accurate. For the past six years, Dan had focused on getting through school. Having achieved that goal, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.

He rolled the papers into a tube and said, “I guess you’re right. I am drifting through life. I just don’t see the breadth of opportunities for me that you have. I mean, you’re the smartest guy I know. You can do anything. Me, I’m not all that smart.”

Shaking his head, Tom pointed in the direction from which they had just come and said, “Kim is a pretty woman, but she’s never learned how to be an attractive person. She’s a bitch ... good looking, but a bitch just the same. I’m a smart guy, but I’ve never learned how to be intelligent. I’m lazy ... smart, but lazy. You’ve worked hard to get through school and you’ve learned how to deal with nasty people. Between you, Kim, and me ... well, you’re the one that is most likely to accomplish something.”

“You’re just saying that,” Dan said dismissing the comment. Tom was always saying things like that to him. He swore that Tom had decided that his role in life was to build up his self confidence.

“No, I’m not. You’re a good guy,” Tom said.

So many people dumped on Dan, but his friend never got nasty back. He was always helpful even to the people that treated him poorly. He knew that if Dan found Kim Parker by the side of the road with a flat tire that he’d stop to help her. It was just the way Dan was wired.

“Well, I don’t believe it,” Dan said.

“Just read those articles,” Tom said gesturing to the roll of papers that Dan was holding in his left hand.

He hoped that they would help his friend find a direction in his life. Once he left for school, there would be no one to help Dan when he was down.

“Okay,” Dan said with a frown.

It would take him two months, maybe more, to read that much material, but he’d do it for Tom. Last summer, Tom had insisted that he read Watership Down. It had taken him all summer to read it, but he had enjoyed the story tremendously.

Satisfied that Dan would do as he promised, Tom said, “I better get along, now. I’ve got to get to my job at the video store.”

“Can you come over to my house, tomorrow?” Dan asked.

“I can’t. I’ve got tons of family coming to watch me walk the stage. My grandparents are coming in, this evening. My Aunt and Uncle are coming tomorrow. My parents are taking us all out to dinner Saturday to celebrate. I won’t be free to go much of anywhere until Sunday night,” Tom said.

Tom’s family was really good at celebrating occasions. Tom’s eighteenth birthday party had lasted three days, since it involved trips to three different amusement parks. As Tom’s best friend, Dan had been invited along. He had really enjoyed that little adventure.

Knowing that Tom was going to be very busy, he said, “I understand.”

“However, my parents are throwing a little pre-graduation ceremony celebration on Friday night. Why don’t you come over?” Tom asked with a grin.

He knew that Dan wouldn’t be able to refuse the invitation. His parents threw really great parties.

“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” Dan said with a smile.

Pleased that Dan was coming to the party Tom said, “Outstanding! I’ll see you there.”

Dan watched Tom drive off in his car feeling a little envious. It wasn’t the bad kind of envy, it was more in the line of wishful thinking. He wished that his life was as problem-free as Tom’s life. He knew that Tom had his problems, but they seemed minor in comparison to his problems.

Dan had never had the opportunity to take a part-time job after school. He didn’t have time for after school clubs, sports, or scouts. He spent the whole time between getting home from school in the afternoon, and going to bed at night, working on homework. He was thin and pasty white from spending so much time studying.