True Engineers Chapter 1 FULL PREVIEW

It was two years of hell since Minerva Carston made the decision that ruined her son Orez’s life without her knowing it. She was selfish in her choice, and for the years that followed, Orez had incubated a hatred for her.
It was a normal day that she had decided, as the town mayor, to severely cut the school board’s funding in order to beef up the politician paychecks. Uneasy votes were made, and even if she hadn’t gotten her way, suggesting such a thing as that just for extra money was cruel in thought. Of course, her being the mayor, no one in the school board could do anything after the vote was made.
Well, they did plea for her to change her mind before signing off on the document to transfer the money from the school system to the banks of businessmen. She ignored them ignorantly, and gladly wrote out her signature. She waved the document at the superintendent smugly before commanding them to leave.
As the mayor, she was untouchable from angry parents and now-lower-paid teachers. So, they decided to attack her son Orez in order to get at her. Unfortunately, Ms. Carston was too busy admiring her eldest son Ruoph and fretting over her private-schooled youngest Valerie. So, Orez was completely separated from his mother, physically and emotionally.
Everyday at school since then, Orez was bullied, mistreated, purposely failed, and even suspended for trying to defend himself from the brutish bully Warren Kitch, who flat-out lied and claimed that Orez attacked him first, which was clearly untrue.
But of course, the son of Mayor Carston was always at fault, and he was booted from his education for a week for being savagely beaten by Warren.
It was, as Orez called it, bullcrap, but his opinion was completely overlooked, so he saw no reason to ever stand up for himself anymore. He’d become a sponge for all of the hate and violence everyone wanted to inflict upon his mother.
But every night, Orez dreamed of the possibility that someone he met wouldn’t project their loathing unto him. Even then, he was surprised when that day he longed for finally arrived.




Chapter 1

Every school lunch Orez had was spent alone until he was bothered by Kitch and Co. for a beating session. Naturally, Orez usually dusted off his uniform and made sure his black hair wasn’t all torn out afterwards before heading off to his last class of the day, P.E.
While every other student’s tray was piled with somewhat consumable food, Orez’s came from a special pot which he thought should say, “Sewage Glop,” on the side of it. The thick slime that was slopped onto his tray was perfectly inedible, so he just sat at his table in the corner, wasting away as he stared at his bird crap of a meal.
Three minutes into the lunch break, Orez glanced up at the double doors that led back into the school. A girl with long blue hair was walking in, gazing around at the interior of the cafeteria. He snorted, burying his head in his arms and laying the bundle of bones on the table, his tray pushed very close to the center.
A few more minutes passed. He heard quiet whistles, the common high school male’s mating call, and then noticed the tweets and some whisperings of girls growing more audible each time. Then the room grew silent as Orez felt a slight shake through the table as someone sat down in the seat next to him. He looked up to see the blue-haired girl quietly poking at the food on her tray.
Her eyes were an deep shade of emerald green, and her uniform fitted tightly to the curve of her hips. Orez slammed his eyes shut, not wanting to continue creeping himself out with these somewhat inappropriate observations. He sighed, louder than he meant to, and he noticed through a crack in between his arms that she had turned to look at him.
“What’s with you?” Her voice was much different than Orez had thought. He expected the song-like tone of a princess, not the street-raised attitude of a tomboy. He peered up at her, and she smirked. “Well?”
Orez cleared his throat. “You’re pretty crazy to sit over here, near me. Wont earn you any points to speak to this guy.”
“It depends on what type of points you’re trying to earn.” She returned her gaze to her meal. “If it’s the kind to get all the jocks to stop chirruping like morons, then they are the ‘points’ I need.”
“Chirruping? Pretty intelligent word for this school’s budget.”
“I just transferred here. This school can be as poor as it wants, but it won’t degrade my brain.” She held out her hand to Orez. “The name’s Hannah.”
Shaking her hand and saying his name in response, he couldn’t help noticing the momentary hesitation as she said her name. It wasn’t something important to him, but it pricked at his mind.
“So, Orez,” she began, saying his name slowly, “I’ve rumors about you already.” She looked at him. “You don’t seem like the type of person who deserves the abuse that people here brag and laugh about.”
“Yeah, you’re the first person to realize that. It’s all my mother’s fault.”
She pushed her tray away and rested her chin in her hands, intently watching him. “How so?”
“She’s the reason the school got its giant budget cut. Now, because she’s the mayor and-.”
“If your mother’s the mayor, couldn’t she do something to fix the cut?”
Orez glared at her. “She made the cut for personal monetary gain. It didn’t need to happen. And now, because of it, everyone takes it out on me. Not to mention how she basically forgot I exist.” He exaggerated that last bit, but it was almost completely true.
Hannah smiled, grunting. “So, everyone here is an idiot.”
Giving her a strange glance, Orez frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Because, you are clearly not as much an ass as they claim. They have no foundation for all the . . . activities, for lack of a better, non-violent word, that they perform on you.” She bit her lip, staring over at him. “And yet you put up with it, without defending yourself.”
He gave a fleeting grin before looking away. “Seems you know a lot for your first day.”
“Why?”
He glimpsed her perusal of him, and he turned back to face her. “Because, no one in this damn school gives a ounce of care for me or my family.”
She reeled a little from his sudden vague anger, but returned his look with a hardness of her own. “What about your family? Any siblings?”
“My brother is in college and my sister goes to an out-of-town private school. I’m the only one here to take the punishment.” He leaned back, his eyes darkening as she continued questioning him. He felt a bit of frustration arise with every word she used to prod him for information.
“Why doesn’t your mother move you to a private school?”
“She refuses, saying its already expensive enough having my sis at one and my brother’s school books needing to be paid for.”
“Well, if she slashed the school’s funding, then that is obviously a lie.”
“Either way she won’t do anything about me. I’m just a tenant to her; my personal life holds no value to her.”
She gawked at his answer, and he scowled at her awe. “Your own mother doesn’t take care of you? Why don’t you call child support or something?”
Orez clenched his head, laying it on the table. “Listen, it’s none of your business, so would you just leave me alone.”
She didn’t answer, and instead grabbed her tray and stood, heading towards the trash bins. Orez wheezed, trying to veil his surfacing wrath. If he blew his top, he’d get in serious trouble somehow. As his breathing stopped rasping, Hannah sat back down, completely noiseless.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a few seconds. “I’m not used to knowing people whose lives have been as horrible as yours.”
“Then it’s a good thing you don’t know me, otherwise you might have learned about it.” He grimaced at her, and she flashed an expression of disappointment. She was really sorry, and that rather irked Orez.
A hand slammed down on the table, clattering Orez’s tray. Groaning inwardly, Orez looked over his shoulder at Warren, who disregarded him for Hannah.
“Hey, cutie. You know, this guys a real lame-ass. You’re better off hanging with me and my crew. How about it?”
Hannah’s sorrow immediately evaporated, replaced by annoyance. “Screw off, jock.” Her sharp comment shocked Orez and Warren, who winced shortly before grinning.
“You’re a pretty tough girl, you know. So, come with me and leave this trash to rot like he always does. If you don’t, I might have to break your adorable mug.” He clenched his fists furiously while bearing his grin. His volcano was ready to erupt, something that usually only happened to Orez.
“Tch.” Orez’s clicking tongue drew a fixed glare from Warren. “She told you to screw off, Warren. She looks like she’ll bite if you don’t.”
That got a fist to the face. Orez managed to turn his nose away so it wouldn’t be broken by the impact, but still, the force of the blow sent him sliding across the table and onto the tile floor. Warren stomped around the table, ignoring Hannah as she yelled at him, standing up.
As Warren loomed over Orez, the bell for final class rang, and he snarled, curb-stomping Orez in the ribs. The blow didn’t break any bones, but the air was blasted out of his lungs, and he watched Warren walk away, cackling to his buddies, who gave him props for thrashing up a weakling like Orez.
Dull flashes of pain resounded throughout Orez’s body, and he struggled to get up when a pair of hands grabbed his arms and helped haul him to his feet. The hands belonged to Hannah, who stared at him in wonder.
“I. . . You’re standing after that?”
Orez gave a weak smile that was quickly erased. “Warren’s a jerk, but not as strong as he thinks.” This made Hannah give a small grin, and she patted him on the shoulder before leading the way out of the cafeteria, which was already empty aside from them.
Orez was unaware that he and Hannah had the same P.E. period until they both stopped at the door to the gymnasium. She chuckled, opening the door and walking inside, leaving Orez behind with a sigh of relief. At least now there was someone who wouldn’t peg him with a ball for no reason in class.
Regrettably, Warren was also in the same class, and, standing as high and mighty as possible, he glowered at both Orez and Hannah, who stood near the end of the class line-up.
Coach Cortes was a very tall and athletic man. He liked convincing the superintendent to allow him to teach the students of his classes abnormal activities like foam sword fighting and even obscure games like something called “frenzy flag tag”.
He stood at six and a half feet tall, and commonly wore gym shorts and polo shirts to his classes. Of course, he did wear the occasional tie-and-jacket suit on important days—such as pep rally days and dances he chaperoned (i.e. all of them.)
“Alright, everyone,” he called out, the large gym echoing his voice off the walls and ceiling. “Now, today is a Thursday, and you all know what we do on Thursday’s, right?”
Warren’s loudmouthed shout overpowered everyone else’s as they all yelled, “Dodgeball!” Hannah face-palmed while Orez groaned at the threat of imminent physical bruising by hard, red rubber balls.
Cortes hardly gave a fleeting glance to the line-up of people; he immediately decided who to elect as the team captains. “Alright, Kitch and Bellsong, you’re up.”
Warren and his devotees cheered while Hannah silently walked up from the line. Some stray guys whistled at her, and she scowled, peering back at Orez. Not knowing how to respond, he gave an awkward thumbs up.
“Now, Bellsong,” Cortes continued. “Seeing as you are the new student today, you get first pick for your team. Go ahead.”
Without missing a beat, she said, “Orez.” No one missed the opportunity to gawk at her, especially Orez. While he had partially been expecting it, he still couldn’t believe his ears. But, apparently, Cortes could, and beckoned for Orez to come stand beside his team leader. He did, quietly waiting while the rest of the teams were chosen.
Warren chose to populate his team with all his steroid-pumped buddies while Hannah chose the unnoticed, last-to-be-picked students for her team. Warren got the last pick, ending up with a lithe girl with navy blue hair and sharp gray eyes. Orez perceived Hannah’s slight shudder at the sight of her, and Cortes blew his whistle, signaling the teams to line up on their sides while he placed the five rubber balls on the center line.
He walked away to his seat in between the two bleachers, and waited while the teams situated themselves on their boundaries, ready to sprint for the line of ammunition. When everyone was ready, he raised the whistle to his mouth and exhaled into it, beginning the game.
Orez ran ahead of nearly everyone on his team, Hannah surpassing him by a few feet. He quickly grabbed a ball and dove backwards away from a speeding red blur thrown by one of the enemies. It whirred past his head, parting his hair slightly as it bounced off the glossy wood floor.
He stood swiftly, aiming for a tall boy next to Warren. He whipped the ball towards the boy, clipping him on his knee. He prepared to throw his ball at Orez, but Cortes called him out, forcing him to pass his ball off to someone else. He sat next to two of his teammates, who had also gotten hit out.
Orez turned to see Hannah launching a ball across the gym, slamming into a large boy’s ankle, knocking away his balance and sending him crashing down. He rose and, seeing his team scrambling around, stopped halfway and crawled away to safety.
Hearing a battle cry, Orez rolled to the floor as Warren’s rocketed balls flew directly at his gut. He thumped onto the floor, Warren’s ambidextrous thrown attack missing by hairs. The bull himself ducked as Hannah threw a ball at his you-know-what, it missing and knocking a girl in the hip by surprise.
Hannah rushed over and helped Orez to his feet before they both sidestepped another attack from the other team. Only one ball was on their side, and already nine of their fourteen teammates were out, while the other team had only six out. The person on their team with the ball, a small boy named Gabriel, cowered while Warren and another of his goons launched an attack towards him.
Orez stepped in front of attack, catching the ball that wasn’t Warren’s, deflecting it with other instead. Warren huffed as he stepped back to safety while Hannah scooped the ball that was bounced in her direction. Gabriel passed the ball to a girl named Elizabeth who actually went up to the front lines to fight back.
Orez locked on to the last of Warren’s entourage, and threw the ball at him. He ducked it, but Hannah, seeing his evading maneuver, aimed for him too, hitting him just below the neck. The ball bounced towards their side again, and Elizabeth ran for it, but was hit by another strike from Warren, who took the ball from his last friend. A stray toss also took out Gabriel and the last girl in one hit, and then it was only Orez and Hannah left with one ball each.
Warren and the four others on his team, including the dark girl that was last picked, approached the center fearlessly, feeling a sense of imminent victory, or that was what Orez guessed they were feeling that from their physical movements.
Hannah stepped to Orez’s side and deflected another attack. “What do you think we should do now?” she asked, throwing her ball at a pudgy boy, skimming his loose jacket, and Cortes called it out.
“What do you mean?” Orez asked as he also released his projectile towards an athletic cheerleader, who squealed as the ball hit her in the stomach. “We win. Isn’t that simple enough?”
Warren grabbed the two balls they’d just thrown, and returned them ferociously, one of them barely missing Hannah’s face as she collected another. She ran over to Orez, sliding as a flash of red whipped by her shoulder. Orez jumped over her, catching the ball off its wall bounce, and he turned just as Hannah stood and they both chucked their balls at Warren, who jumped over them, and they clipped the third boy in his legs.
All players that had gotten out were cheering for their teams. Orez even heard Gabriel call his name a few times before one of the girls reminded him of “who Orez was.” Then Gabriel sat silently, and Orez frowned, prompting his knowledge of his mother’s decision that ruined his life to return to the front of his mind. Only Hannah’s warning to duck brought him back in time to avoid Warren’s next assault, the ball targeting Orez’s chest. He spun away, ready to win the match.
Then, the girl that was standing behind Warren charged out, dark blue hair trailing behind her as she jumped over Hannah’s sudden toss. The girl aimed her ball for Orez, and the wild look in her eyes frightened him. Warren blinked as if he hadn’t realized she was there at all, and Orez remembered something he almost missed before.
As the teams were finished choosing their players, Warren never picked the last girl. As if he hadn’t seen her. Everyone else seemed not to see her appear and home in on Orez, and he barely managed to dive away, the ball violently smacking into the floor, making a wheezing as it nearly popped. Orez realized that the ball had been flying fast enough to break his neck if it’d hit.
The girl landed, leaping back as Hannah hurled another ball she had scavenged at her. The ball whizzed past her and Warren, and Orez noticed Warren now aiming at Hannah, who was searching for another ball. He pitched it towards her, and Orez watched as she immediately moved away the ball to another stationary one, almost instantly.
Orez was trying to contain his questions while the game still ran on, only dwelling on it longer as he saw her nervous face. He was ready for the other team to continue their attack, but a sudden wailing siren signaled a fire alarm. The faint smell of smoke came from the cooking class across the hall from the gym’s main entrance, and Cortes stood, ushering all the students out of the class, the dark-haired girl rushing out ahead of everyone else.
Orez looked around, seeing Cortes wait for him, and he realized that he was still as a rock. He jogged for the door, and murmured under his breath as his passed Cortes, “I can’t believe we were down to their last two.”
Cortes mumbled something, and Orez stopped to look at him. The coach’s eyes betrayed a miniscule nervous glint as he spoke. “You should get your eyes checked, Orez. Only Warren was left.”