Ascension (The Ascension Series) Read Free

later this year.”
    “Tight schedule,” Clark said.
    “Yeah,” Sarah agreed, “But it’s worth it. I’m on my way to Prom Queen and that means I’ll need a king.”
    Sarah pulled out her schedule from her jacket pocket. Just as she did this, Charles and John joined them.
    “Clark, Sarah─ how’re my two favorite lovebirds doing?” Charles cracked.
    “Doing good, Charles. Nice to see you,” Clark said before turning to John. “And good to see you too, John. How’s everything going?”
    John brushed his blonde hair out of his face and half smiled. “Things are decent.”
    “So are both of you coming to Clark’s party later this week?” Sarah asked them.
    “Yeah!” Charles and John both said together.
    “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Charles continued. “First Clark gets a girlfriend, now he’s hosting a party. My boy’s all grown up.”
    “Shut up,” Clark laughed.
    The enthusiastic Principal Hayes approached the four of them with a warm greeting.
    “Goo d morning!” Principal Hayes waved.
    One by one, he shook each of their hands. He paused b efore he shook each hand while placing names to faces. “Clark O’Sullivan, Sarah Ryan, Charles Welsh, and John Ahern.”
    “Am I right?” Principal Hayes asked with a smile.
    “Yeah,” Clark said.
    “Wow, you’re good at that,” Charles told him.
    “Clark and Sarah,” Principal Hayes addressed them first, “Very good grades last year. Keep up the good work.” He turned to Charles and John. “You two could use some work.”
    “I’m on it, Principal Hayes,” Charles said. “It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new year. I promise that GPA is gonna be higher than ever before.”
    “I hope so, young man,” Principal Hayes said sternly. Then he turned to John. “You too, young man?”
    “Oh, yes sir,” John said. “I’m going to give my best.”
    “Well then, I’ll see you all later.” And with that, Principal Hayes swiftly turned to another cohort of teenagers to greet and interrogate.
    “Alright guys, I’ve gotta go,” Sarah said. She turned to Clark and elaborated, “I’m going to see one of my friends right before class so I’ll see you later today.”
    She kissed Clark and he stared at her until she was out of sight.
    “Clark, you gotta tell me , man,” Charles said, “how’s she in the sack?”
    “I’m not about to disclose my sex life to you, dude.”
    “Come on, man,” Charles joked , “I wonna hear all the juicy details.”
    “She’s not just some random chick,” Clark told him bluntly, “That’s my girlfriend.”
    “So this is what love does to a man?”
    “You’ll never know, Charles, you’ll never know.”
    “What’s that up there?” John interrupted their banter and pointed to a flyer on the announcement board.
    “I nformation about tryouts next week,” Clark said. “I really want to make the team this year.”
    “Don’t worr y man, you’ll get it,” John told him.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t make it last year,” Clark said.
    “As I told Principal Hayes, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new year,” Charles said.
    “Yeah, b ut you were lying,” John laughed.
    “Yeah, that may be true. It’s unlikely my GPA will increase any at all but that doesn’t mean some pretty big changes aren’t about to occur. I’m calling it now. This is our year.”
    “There’s just a lot of pressure,” Clark admitt ed. “And I really need this.”
    “ If being liked is what you want, that’s what this upcoming party is for. You’re going to be the coolest kid in this school besides me,” Charles said. “And I’m gonna send out a message to every site I visit. So don’t worry about it. For now, just divulge the details about the cheerleader you been tappin’ every night.”
    “No!”
    Charles looked at his watch and took a peak at his schedule. “Alright, alright. But I’m going to get it out of you later. I gotta go. First class is Pre-cal. It’s gonna kill me but at least