Ascension (The Ascension Series) Read Free Page A

it’s first so I can get this crap outta the way. Alright, John, Clark, I’ll catch you two later.”
    Clark and John took a look at their schedules and each noticed they had the same first period, Mrs. Tessler for History class. They walked together down the hall and into the classroom. It was a large standard room with full scale posters of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King on adjacent walls. The teacher was standing by her desk, flipping through notes as other students walked into the room. Clark and John both took seats next to each other on the side of the room closest to the door. They wanted to be the first ones out.
    Eventually, all of the students made their way into the classroom and each desk was occupied. Mrs. Tessler introduced herself and passed out a syllabus for each student. As she went over a large list of class rules, Clark’s eyes began to glaze over. John tapped him on the shoulder and he awoke from a stupor. Clark looked around and noticed the teacher was still rambling. So he opened up his notebook and began doodling. It took him a few minutes but his doodle progressed into a stunning illustration of a wolf as John watched him draw the eyes, ears, nose, body, and tail of the creature in blue ink.
    “That’s excellent,” John whispered.
    “Thanks,” Clark whispered back.
    After a few more doodles, the class was over but not before Clark received a text message from his girlfriend. And a text or two from Sarah was usually enough to get him through another droning hour of class. Every moment he spent with her strategically widened his grin and filled him with the type of infatuation that only teenagers feel. He couldn’t wait to see Sarah again and her latest text message was to assure him that she’d see him during lunch.
    When the history class was finally over, Clark parted ways with John and headed directly to computer class. In the large computer lab, he sat between two boys he knew.  One of them was Andrew Lockman. Andrew was a stoic brown-skin boy with long curly hair. He was a perceptive street-smart kid with a distinctive dress style. Andrew always wore polo shirts tucked into khaki pants. He never left home without a rosary around his neck, and sometimes a second dangling from his hip. He lived just blocks away from John in the region’s poorer neighborhood.
    When Clark sat down, he exchanged a friendly greeting with Andrew and told him about the party he was planning for Saturday.
    “Where’s it going to be?” Andrew asked Clark.
    “Haven’t figured that out yet but I’ll know tomorrow. I’ve been racking my brain all morning for possible locations.”
    “When you find o ut, let me know. I’ll be there,” Andrew said. “I just got a job working at a grocery store after school but I’m still free on the weekends.”
    “Cool,” Clark said.
    “And besides,” Andrew continued, “I’m graduating after this semester so it won’t be for long.”
    “Are you going to college?” Clark asked.
    “I think so,” Andrew answered. “Certainly if I can get on a sports team.”
    “I know the feeling, man,” Clark told him.
    The class bell rang and a rugged middle aged man with a tattered briefcase entered the room. It was Mr. Kelsey. “Yes!” Clark quietly murmured. Andrew grabbed a hold of the rosary around his neck and smiled.
    They were happy for one reason: Mr. Kelsey was notorious for being a teacher who didn’t care what anyone in his class did. You could play PC games on your computer, surf your favorite websites, or text all of your friends and Mr. Kelsey just didn’t care. The teacher passed around the syllabus and Clark took a quick look at it. The paper stated that Mr. Kelsey only gave one assignment per month. Once you were done with the assignment, you were free to do whatever you desired. After handing out the papers, Mr. Kelsey sat back at his desk and sipped from a conspicuous bottle.
    “Hell yeah! Mr. Kelsey is so awesome,” said the sophomore kid