The 8-ball
Chapter 5
Welp.
School today was a complete drag, to say the least, it’s as if time decided to halt in its tracks, or take a coffee break..
Is what I would’ve said if I were conscious enough to experience the monotonic bore-fest that is the public schooling system. Alas, my brain was far too out of it to care. I’m set to finally ditch this school with my graduation in a couple of months. Currently, I’m only taking three classes to gain my last few credits; which is to say, at this point, I couldn’t give a rats ass about my classes anymore. And all three of my teachers couldn’t either. Though out of all three of them, Mr. Lee, my Language Arts teacher, doesn’t give a rat ass if I pass or fail. Which, I honestly don’t mind. Heh, I don’t care myself enough to mind.
While Lee doesn’t care if I fail, my other two teachers don’t either, but in a different way mind you. My Spanish teacher, Mrs. Green’s a lovely elderly lady who’s been around with the school for years. She’s taught a multitude of students, always trying to have reasonably friendly relationships with everyone in her class. She’ll boost grades, and stay with people after class if they’re lagging behind, according to her; Spanish isn’t something people should stress over, as long as her students try, they’ll all pass. Which for me means, as long as I keep my grades up, I can sleep through the entirety of the class. And keeping grades for that class up isn’t a challenge in the slightest, especially with Google Translate.
My last class is by far my favorite, not because it’s Environmental Science, what do you take me for? A historian?
Okay, nevermind, I don’t even know what that means. No, It’s my favorite class for a plentitude of reasons; Ms. Flores, the young Hispanic woman who teaches my Science class, keeps all the guys awake, including me; well, all the straight guys at least. She’s an absolute bombshell, and only being twenty-six adds to her appeal. Often coming into class in light, comfortable, clothing; her shapely young body is noticeable in some compacity with anything she wears. Even when Ms. Flores needs to have on her lab coat, the hourglass shape of her young, fit body is unmistakable. For my fellow bros in the room, one-third of the class is spent trying to outline the shape of her bod in whatever she decided to wear for the day. Another third is spent taking visual snapshots of her light bronze cleavage whenever she bends forward to tap away on her laptop, and of her perky rump whenever she’s turned around facing the whiteboard. The final third is spent trying to make sure she doesn’t notice any ogling, whenever some guy gets caught she scowls at the culprit, and the next day her chosen attire is a lot more restrictive. And no one wants to be ‘that guy’ who always ruins the fun.
Ms. Flores is actually one of Zoey’s best friends; they met back in Pre-school and stuck together all the way till graduation. Only going separate ways after school, Zoey went off to be a cop, and Ms. Flores wanted to be a teacher. Even though they went to different paths in life, they still meet up to hang out on the regular. And since Zoey and I have such a good relationship, I grew to become a friend of Ms. Flores as well; she’s comfortable with me calling her Teressa, her first, name when we bump into each other outside of school. Which in all actuality doesn’t happen that often, unless I’m with Zoey, but it’s still good to know she sees me as more than just one of her students. Though, to be fair, she lets all of her students call her by her first name outside of class; so I’m not sure if she sees me as that much different.
The fact that she looks like she could be a Hispanic actress, mixed in with her young age, just draws people in; everyone in the class wants to do good, if only so that her smile of appreciation could imprint itself into their brains so they can jack-off to the image later. Well, that’s why I try to get high marks at least.
The same goes for my elderly Spanish teacher; she’s so gosh darn nice, no one could bear to upset her by failing the class. Maybe Mr. Lee should take a few cues from my other two teachers, sometimes being kind is enough of an incentive on its own. My regular school day is simple, try as hard as I can to stay awake through Mr. Lee’s class to avoid being yelled at, sleep through the entirety of Spanish, then use all of the energy I regained from Spanish to sink in Ms. Flores’ curves without being too on the nose. Rince and repeat.
But do you see why I’m not too keen on showing up to school every day? What’s the point? The only fucking positive is Ms. Flores, and even her nice bod can only do so much for me; I’m doing great in Spanish, having to show up for that every day is entirely unnecessary, and my grades for Science are fine. The only class that I have a chance at failing in is Language Arts, but that’d only happen if I were to miss multiple days in a row. Yesterday was the first time in almost three weeks where I wanted to sleep in, so why the fuck would Mom not let me rest my eyes!
“Wait, what?”
Did I hear what I think I heard? Before I left for school, the voice told me, ‘When did I ever say I hid all the clues in your house?’ The fuck does that mean? Of course, I’d assume it left all the clues in my house, where else would it put them—Oh, oh god. Did it? It wouldn’t.... It did say something about spending the night out on the town, did it leave clues all over the city!? If that’s true, then finding them’s going to be a lot harder than I anticipated.
‘Easy kid easy, you’re over thinking things. I didn’t leave them all over the city,’ The voice interjected my thoughts, ‘I scanned your mother’s memories and placed down clues in the areas she most frequents.’
“Which...would mean the house right?”
‘Meh, obviously, but she doesn’t stay in the house all day now does she? Come on kid, stop freaking out and use your head. I’m gonna ignore you now, and get back to Tetris.’
“Places she frequents? So you mean places like our local Grocery Store? Or, the Hospital she works at? You do know that I can’t easily access those places right?”
Nothing. My bedroom’s full of complete silence, save for the tweeting of the morning birds, and is that? I hear something else—It’s a low sound, like a murmur, but it sounds like—The Tetris theme... Is that thing actually playing Tetris!?
School ended with the ring of the bells, everyone ventured out of the classroom and into the hallway, with annoying laughing and mild chit-chatting loud enough to drown out my thoughts. So loud, in fact, that my brain almost didn’t register Ms. Flores gesture me over to her table after waving goodbye to a student, she was conversing with moments earlier.
“Mr. Brooks,” She greeted me with a smile, “It’s good to see you! I heard about what happened yesterday, I’m pleased to see your okay and in one peace.”
“How many people heard about that!?”
“Did you not know? It was on the news, something as indecent as that doesn’t just happen without anyone reporting on it. Your sister was a hero, who knows what could’ve transpired if she didn’t act.”
“Yeah, Heh—” I say with what probably sounded like one of the top four fakest laughs ever. “Who knows.”
“That being said, I understand that my class might be considered monotonous to some, and after what you went through the other day, it’s perfectly reasonable for your thoughts to lie on other things; but I’d very much appreciate it if tomorrow you’d try to pay more attention to the lesson.” With a smile, she added, “You’re so close to graduating, just hang in there. I was in your very spot a few years ago.”
Well, that’s a surprise, I must’ve spaced out during her lecture, you know you’re out of it when you don’t even notice you were out of it in the first place. It’s because of that ball, and it’s ludicrous game, the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. I lived most of my life not believing in magic or anything of the like, and one day this ball comes in and changes everything?! Can that really happen? I guess today I’ll find out, though, I might be setting my expectations too high. After thinking about it during the ride here, and half of the time in school, I came to a conclusion, that yeah, I’m not delusional. Okay, I might be delusional, but I didn’t see things, the ball, it talked to me. And now I find myself believing what it said about the ‘game’ and the ‘clues’ to be real.
Waving adios to Ms. Flores, I head out to where my taxi is waiting. You see, I have my license, had it for a while actually. Problem is, my family only has two cars, one’s my dad’s, and the other’s my moms. And since they both rarely ever let me drive them, I’m stuck to paying cabs or calling up Zoey if it’s important.
Hopping in the car, I nod to the driver, at this point I’m one of his regular customers. And with a rev of the engine, I’m we set off. For once in a blue moon, I’m actually excited to be heading home!
I kick my bedroom door open with a huff and sling my bag onto the bed, practically spilling its contents in the process since it was never fully closed. In my haste to get back home that was the last thing on my mind; now that I’m back, with the house to myself none the less, it’s time crack open my latent animal instincts and go hunting for some paper.
Mia, typically, gets out of school two hours after me, maybe three if she decides to hang out with friends. I’d probably hang out with my mates too, ya’know if I had any. Starting up conversations isn’t my strong suit and what’s the point of making friends anyway if my graduation is just over the horizon? Only the most pristine of friendships stay after school, and I’m sure as hell not going to be making those anytime soon.
Meh, it doesn’t matter. Besides, if I keep monologing to myself, it’ll be nightfall before I find any cards. For now, I have two to three hours of undisturbed hunting. And just like childhood, I should make the most of it before regret sinks in.
I walk over to the bed and plop my ass down with a sigh.
So the voice said it hid the cards in places my mother frequently frequents, If that’s true, which I have no reason to believe it’s not. (Actually I do have many reasons to not believe any of this shit, but I’m a hopeful guy okay?) Then it probably hid some of them in areas I can’t easily reach, the Hospital my mother works at, for example, she’s often found in places that I simply don’t have access too. Does that mean those clues are unobtainable? I’m thinking too far ahead, it said the more cards I find, the more control I’ll gain over her, so maybe once I obtain enough I could have her help me find the harder to reach clues.
Though, to get there, I’ll have to find my first clue. Which, come on. I lived in this house for more than half of my life, by now I’d know this place more than that magical 8-ball. Finding the first cards going to be easier than taking candy from a baby!
In my defense, it’s incredibly challenging to snatch candy away from a baby when their parents are nearby.
I went through the whole day without finding jack fucking squat! And here I thought I knew the place like the back of my hand. Guess I don’t know my hand as well as I thought I did; did I always have this scar back there? Huh-
The house was in fucking shambles after I was done with it, each room looked as if a tornado swept through it, okay I’m overreacting a bit. The first two hours of my search went peaceful enough, I started with my own room. Checking under the bed, in my drawers, closet, under my freaking pillow. Nothing, nothing, nothing, and nothing. My search then moved to the family room, nothing. The basement, nothing. The exercise room, nothing. Game room, nothing. Sunroom, fucking, nothing!
Did I ever mention I live in a big house? Yeah, well, I do. My dad’s an engineer, one who typically works far from home, out of state. Though, recently he’s been close enough to come back to the house each night. He’s making a significant amount of money each month. That, plus the cash mom’s making from her own high-paying job, helps to afford this above average abode. But even though we have money in spades, both of my parents refuse to spoil any of their kids. Whenever Mia or I ask for some cash, if we don’t have a good reason, they’ll always say something on the lines of, ‘When I was your age, I had to work for what I got.’ That type of shit. I’m not saying they’re wrong, but still, trying to get money out of them, even though they’re practically swimming in it, isn’t worth the effort half the time.
After searching through the guest room’s closet, I decided to check the Kitchen, being one of the most active places in the house, there’s bound to be a card in there somewhere. And there honestly might’ve been one there. Sadly, I couldn’t properly check, because right as I entered. I heard the front door unlock, Mia came bouncing in with three of her friends. They practically took over the place. And more importantly, the kitchen, circling the table they were chatting and laughing, ignoring my presence altogether.
When I spoke up, “Hey hey hey! Can you guess quite down.”
“Mom said they could come over to study,” Mia said without even looking towards me as she searched through the fridge. “Leave before I tell her you were distracting us.”
“Wuh—You’re distracting me!”
“From what? You’re not even cooking anything, why are you even in here? Get out of here or I’ll—”
“Whatever.”
Whenever she pulls the ‘Mom-Card.’ Nine times out of ten she wins in the end, so I gave up in that argument. Even though, they’re not even studying! They’re just talking about some movie and gossiping about people from school.
Mom came back an hour later. When I heard her car pull in I dipped out of Exercise room for the second time, I was double checking under the mats in there, hoping I’d find something. That room was the farthest from Mia’s chattering in the kitchen so they wouldn’t notice what I was doing. But alas, when mom came back, I had to call it quits and hightail it to my room. She’s not one to quickly forget, once we cross paths she’ll bring up what happened the other night about her panties, and that conversation definitely won’t end well. Best to just avoid her altogether, at least until I find a trigger that could be used to ease her wrath.
Wensday — Day 2
I decided to keep a log of how the ‘game’ unfolds, it would be pretty neat to look back on how many days has gone by.
But yeah, I ended up falling asleep in my room. Originally I planned to hide out in my bedroom, until my mom went back out, since dad’s back in town I heard they were going out for dinner. But nope, that never happened. Something must’ve happened at work to cause him to cancel. After coming to that conclusion, my urge to hide in my room like a hermit crab multiplied. Now she’ll be pissed about me stealing her panties, and dad two-timing her. I spent the rest of the day searching my room, to no avail, doing homework, and finally jacking it to pictures on Zoey’s Instagram; god, I’m a horrible younger brother.
I blazed through school, the same way I always have, struggle to stay awake though Mr. Lee’s lecture, sleep though Spanish cause no one gives a shit, and use Ms. Flores’s fine figure to wake me up again. The only difference was that at the back of my mind, I was thinking of the ‘game.’
For now, I’m currently back home.
I need to think smarter, yesterday I was too ‘general.’ Only looking under furniture and shit, I need to open my eyes and imagine to myself, if I were a magical being in an 8-ball, where would I hide my clues.
I decided to check Mia’s room since she’s at school for another hour. I refrained from going in here earlier cause, well, I honestly didn’t have a plan before. I first checked under her dark blue bed, nothing. Opening up her closet, I pull over the chair at her desk to get a good look at the top rack. I find two shoe boxes and a blouse she must’ve thrown up here. Taking down the boxes, I place them on her desk to check inside, lo and behold. They were shoes. They look new, but I can see why she never uses them, she loathes the color pink, and these sneakers are practically radiating pink energy, whatever that means.
Whatever, there’s no card in there, so I pack them back in the box and check the other one, and—there’s nothing in that one. You know these boxes would’ve been a great place to hide a clue, I never would’ve looked up there! Okay, well I did, but that’s beside the point. The 8-ball did say it would be easy at first and slowly get harder. If this is what it calls easy than I can’t imagine what hard would be.
Okay, whatever, I closed both boxes and go for her hamper, picking it up with both arms and flip its contents onto the carpet floor. I hope down to my knees and search through her dirty clothes like a man gone mad. Mia’s a sporty person, she’s part of the school’s track team and’s actually one of their fastest players. So her hamper relates to her high-moving lifestyle. Most of the clothes are slightly damp with sweat, her aroma getting stuck to my hands as I sweep through the pile. I pick out her sports bra, and not being able to help myself, bring it to my face to force her sent into my nostrils. I’m getting way too aroused by this goddam, I wish I could keep this bra, I poke my tung out and lightly dab the inside of the of the cup, imagining her breasts being tightly pressed against this very fabric, it’s almost as like I’m licking her actual tits, almost...
I dropping her bra from my face, I pick up a black pantie from the pile, I never knew how much of an enjoyable experience it would be to dive into her dirty clothes. I know I said it already, but I’m a horrible brother. Hell, I could jump into this pile of her dirty clothing and easily fall asleep. But no, I have to find a card, and it’s not like I’m not even doing this ‘game’ for my sister, I’m after mom, maybe I could write Mia’s name down later If this game is actually legit. But right now, I’m starting to doubt myself again.
Is this whole thing real? Someone might be pranking me, what if this is a sick joke fro Mia herself? She might’ve been able to place the 8-ball in my room, maybe connect a-
No, no it’s not possible, the thing was reading my thought’s, hell, it even sounded like me. How is that even possible!?
Click
Is that?
“See you guys tomorrow!”
Fuck. Mia’s back! Looking over at the time, yep. I lost myself in this sea of clothing, completely forgetting about what I was doing, fucking shit!
Diving out of the clothes, I pull a bra out of my hair and clump all of her clothing in a tight bear hug, lifting it up causing the pile to press into my face more precisely one of her panties. I dropped the load back into her hamper, deciding to keep something as a prize, I snatch her black pantie and shove it into my pocket.
Spinning around, I prepare to bound out of her room when I glance over to the right. Fuck! Her shoe boxes! Rushing over to her desk I grab both boxes, yank them off and dash over to her closet. I curse to myself when, in my rush, I knock over a jar of pencils.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Okay, I’ll get back to that, right now I need to put these boxes up. Luckily I left the chair in Mia’s closet, so I manage to get the boxes back where they belong with ease. As I hop down, I sift my gaze over to her desk to see how much carnage I made in my rush, surprisingly, not much. Her pencil jar didn’t have too much in it, only a few pens and pencils, and at the bottom of the jar a small folded piece of paper—Wait a small folded piece of paper!? Did—did Mia put that there!? Or is this one of the 8-ball’s clues?
Only one way to find out.
The front door opens mear moments after I slam mine shut, I immediately lean back against the door and slowly slide down unto the floor. Lifting up the folded paper into my vision, I carefully and quickly open it. This can’t be Mia’s doing, the 8-ball showed me how neatly folded the cards were, and this—This looks just like the ones I saw two days ago.
As I unfold the paper, I see-