by Bob Blanton
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
The Awakening
A New Friend
Revenge
The Stone
Life Can’t Get Any Better
The Tennis Lesson
The Pool Party
In The Game
Emily on My Mind
Experimental Visions
Opportunity Knocks
A Day with Brianna
Race Day
A Day at the Races
Candy Store
The Football Game
Dog Fight
Match Play
Lost at Sea
Charity begins at home
Halloween Nightmare
Halloween Party
Dedication
Matthew And The Stone
By
Bob Blanton
Copyright © 2017 by Robert D. Blanton
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2017
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental
All rights reserved.
The Awakening
As the Boeing Dreamliner started its descent into Toulouse, France, the stone stirred. For thirteen hundred years it had lain dormant; in all that time, no mind had called to it, but now it sensed a presence, chaotic, untrained, but strong. Soon, soon it would call.
A New Friend
Tyler put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder, gripping it hard as he reached out and grabbed his soda. “Hey, how about a drink?”
Matthew gave the Coke can a twist and pulled it free, then he dipped his shoulder and with a slight turn of his body, he easily freed himself from Tyler’s grasp. Stepping away from Tyler, he threw the Coke into the garbage can, “If you want it, there it is!” Matthew stormed up the road, his clenched fists pumping at his side.
Tyler turned back to the group of teenagers, and giving them an innocent smile, “That guy needs to relax, I only wanted a sip.”
Jason ran after Matthew, “Hey Matt! Wait up.”
Matthew stopped and kicked a rock off the shoulder of the road, “One day I’m going to kick his butt. He thinks that just because he’s the big shot quarterback, he can push everyone around.”
“Yeah! That and the fact that he’s older and way bigger than you, doesn’t have anything to do with it.” Jason stole a look back at Tyler. Tyler was by far the largest teenager in their group; at six-foot-two and two-hundred-ten pounds, he was six inches taller than Matthew and at least eighty pounds heavier.
“He doesn’t scare me.” Matthew tried to stand as tall as he could. “I handle guys bigger than him every week in sparring.”
“That’s right; you’re Jet Li. But aren’t you martial arts types supposed to be more Zen like, more the calm in a storm than the storm?”
“Yeah, that’s the theory, but that guy just won’t leave me alone,” Matthew let out a long sigh.
“Well then, you’ve got my permission to kick his butt.”
“It’s just a dream to keep me sane. I’d lose my scholarship if I did. I think the school would take a dim view of me breaking their star quarterback’s arm. But it might be worth it.” Matthew paused as he toyed with the vision of fighting Tyler. Then he stuck his hands in his pockets and started wandering down the road gazing at the ground. His face was still red with anger and embarrassment.
Jason did a quick jog to catch up with Matthew and put his arm on his shoulder. “Come on Matt, don’t let him ruin this trip for you.”
The two boys were almost the same height, even though Jason was more than a year older, but Matthew had the rangy build that presaged more growth to come, while Jason looked more finished and mature.
“Look around you,” Jason swept his hand across the landscape. “Just think, a week ago we were in class back in San Diego, and now we’re in France.”
The vista Jason pointed out was truly beautiful. They were standing on the side of the road outside of Toulouse, France. The sun was just setting over the vineyard, casting long shadows behind the boys. The tour van, idling in the background, seemed out of place in this quaint setting that probably hadn’t changed much in two hundred years. The hills were covered with row upon row of grapevines snaking along the contours of the hills. The vines were laden with small bunches of green grapes. In another three months, the harvest would begin. By then, the grapes would be swollen with sugar and taking on a dark color. The entire region would be bustling with activity as everyone prepared for the harvest. But today it was as quiet as a landscape painting.
“Yeah, I guess it’s pretty hard to complain.” Matthew used his toe to flip another rock into the air and then pivoted on his other foot and kicked the stone with the sole of his foot.
“Absolutely, who wouldn’t want to be in our place?”
Matthew’s face brightened up a little. “I guess we are pretty lucky.”
“Right, so don’t let some jerk with an over-inflated ego ruin it for you. Just ignore him like you would a bad smell.”
“All right, but it’s going to be difficult. Tyler’s pretty hard to ignore.”
“Forget him, Matt. Now we’d better get back to the bus before Mrs. Jefferies notices we’re gone.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, we can make a project out of getting even with Tyler,” Jason nudged Matthew with his shoulder. “I’ll come up with a truly fiendish plan.”
“Sure,” Matthew smiled, “there has to be something we can do.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve done things like this before.”
“You have?”
“I had some practice with guys like him when we lived in New York, the Jockey Club Set we called them. It took special attention to remind them that they weren’t any better than the rest of the rich kids.”
Matthew smiled as he thought about getting even with Tyler. He was tired of having to turn the other cheek whenever the school’s football star got bored and decided to jerk him around. It would be nice to have someone on his side. Just the thought put a little bounce back into his step.
Matthew and Jason walked back to the square and boarded the tour van along with the fourteen other students from Mr. Jackson’s French class. The students were well mannered, especially considering that they had just arrived in France that day. They had flown from San Diego to Los Angeles and then straight to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, arriving at noon after flying all night. It took a couple of hours to clear customs, and then they had boarded another plane and flown on to Toulouse. It was 6:00 p.m. by the time they had arrived, so they had been traveling for eighteen hours when they had crammed into the tour van that Mrs. Jefferies had chartered for them. Now they were on the way to their hotel on the outskirts of the city and had stopped here for dinner.
Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Jefferies, the history teacher, were doing their best to keep the kids in line. The students were well dressed and well mannered, as one would expect of a class from Pacific Coast Academy, a private school in prestigious Rancho Santa Fe located just north of San Diego, California, but they were still teenagers.
Matthew and Jason settled into their seats in the back of the bus while the rest of the class crowded up around Tyler.
The sandy-haired quarterback had taken an entire row for himself. He had his six-foot-two frame sprawled across both seats, leaning against the window, his feet dangling over the other seat and hanging into the aisle.
&nbs
p; “What a jerk!” Matthew hissed under his breath.
“Matt, be quiet, you don’t need to set him off. We need to be cool until we spring our trap.” Jason leaned back and propped his knees against the seat in front of him.
“I don’t see what everyone sees in him,” Matthew said. “He’s such a jerk and not that bright.” Matthew crossed his arms over his stomach and slid down in the seat.
“I think the girls see the reckless quarterback who’ll do anything to score. The guys are only up there to be close to the girls,” Jason whispered. “He does have style, no brains, but style.”
“Why don’t you go up there and join him,” Matthew gave Jason a gentle elbow.
“Cut it out or I will.”
“Sorry.”
“He’s not the kind of guy I like to hang with, but I could stand to pick up some of the women around him.”
“So could I.”
Matthew looked longingly at Emily Stevenson. She was seated in the front right seat of the bus next to her friend, Alex. Both girls were blessed with looks befitting models. They both had slender but shapely bodies, Emily, blue-eyed and blond, while Alex had deep green eyes and black hair. Matthew could get lost looking into Emily’s blue eyes.
“How come we never started hanging together before this trip?” Jason asked. “I don’t think we’ve spoken more than three times before we got on the plane.”
“I kind of keep to myself. Most of the kids don’t want me hanging around since I’m so young.”
“That’s right; I’d heard you were just fourteen. How did you finish the 10th grade already?”
“I started first grade when I was five, my birthday’s November 5th, so I was supposed to wait till the next year, but I could already read.”
“That would only make you six months to a year younger.”
“Right, but they had me skip the fourth grade. I was getting bored in school, so they pushed me ahead.”
“Age isn’t everything, but it must be hard being the youngest person in class. Especially when everyone else is either driving or going to start driving soon. I know I can’t wait to get my license.”
“Yeah, you and everyone else in our class. It kind of eliminates me from a lot of conversations. It’s like everyone’s life now revolves around driving or getting ready to drive.”
“Well, I think there’s more than driving to talk about, like girls.”
“That’s good, especially since we’re bunking together for this whole trip,” Matthew replied.
“Right, we’ve got two weeks to get to know each other better. By the time this trip ends, we’ll either be best friends or hate each other’s guts.”
“Maybe a little of both. After ten hours sitting next to you on the plane, I already know you snore like an old bear.”
“It didn’t keep you from sleeping,” Jason punched Matthew in the shoulder. “I can’t wait to get to the hotel and settle down. I still feel like I’m on that plane.”
“Yeah, I still hear the engine droning,” Matthew rubbed his ears for emphasis.
“Hey, how’d you get a scholarship? I didn’t think the school gave them out for anything besides sports.”
“They only do a few, but I was going to the school on regular tuition for three years when my dad died.”
“Bummer, I heard about that.” Jason stared straight ahead, careful to avoid Matthew’s eyes. “That must have been tough.”
“Yeah it was. Anyway, I’ve got the highest GPA in the school, and I’m the star of the Math Team,” Matthew went on. “I think the school felt sorry for me, and Mr. Shade, the Math Team sponsor, made a big pitch to get them to give me a scholarship.”
“That was nice of him. I hear he’s a pretty cool guy, a tough math teacher, but cool.”
“Yeah, he can be pretty cool.”
“I’ve got him for Pre-Calculus next year. He kind of reminds me of a drill sergeant, but I hear once you get to know him, he’s more like your uncle.”
“He expects a lot out of you. Actually, he demands it.”
“Oh, great. Hey, didn’t your dad have insurance?”
“Yeah, both life and medical, but the medical insurance won’t pay for half the stuff the doctors had to do, so that used up the life insurance. My mom’s still fighting them, but until she can get them to pay, we’re broke. That’s why I needed a scholarship to keep going to PCA.”
“Then how did you get to come on this trip? My dad’s loaded, and he made a big stink about how I’d better improve my French grade because this was going to be so expensive.”
“I used my own money. I work odd jobs as a computer tech and half time as a web programmer, so I make quite a bit.”
“That’s great, but it’s still cool of your mom to let you come.”
“Yeah, she can be pretty cool,” Matthew sighed.
With that, Matthew laid his head back and closed his eyes, remembering the big fight he’d had with his mother about coming on this trip.
“Matty, we’re broke,” his mother said. “We need every penny to pay the bills.”
“But it’s my money, I earned it. I even got the scholarship at school.” Matthew spun the barstool around, so it faced away from his mother.
“I know, honey, but there’s just not enough.” His mother walked up and put her hand on his shoulder. “I don’t make enough teaching to cover our expenses. I need you to pitch in and help out.”
“Mom, I have to go,” Matthew fought back tears. “I’ll keep my job and help out when I get back.”
“I know you will, but it’s so much money. You went to London two years ago with your father. Can’t you wait until things get better?” His mother ignored the tears that were now streaming down Matthew’s cheeks.
“No!” Matthew pulled away from her hand. “I’ve just got to go on this trip.” He jumped off the barstool and stormed out of the house.
They had barely spoken to each other for the next two weeks. It was easy for Matthew to avoid her; she was so busy with the added workload at the university. On top of that, she was fighting with the insurance company and hospital about the bills they’d racked up trying to save his father.
Finally, she’d acquiesced. He’d come home one day to find the suitcase his father had used for business travel in his room. That was her only statement saying it was okay for him to go.
Matthew woke from his daydreaming as the bus rolled to a stop in front of the country villa Mrs. Jefferies had booked for them. It was a quaint old manor house with ivy growing over the entire front façade.
As the teenagers streamed into the lobby, Mrs. Jefferies cautioned, “Be careful with the furniture. I want you to behave as if you were a guest in someone’s home.”
The lobby was filled with antique furniture. Overstuffed chairs and tables were scattered about to encourage the guests to sit and talk. A tea service sat on a 14th Century commode. One of the guests was pouring two cups of tea, which he carried back to the small table where his lady friend was waiting. The walls were covered with tapestries and paintings while the floor was covered with oriental rugs. The students congregated into a corner where the driver was piling their luggage and sat on the floor.
Mrs. Jefferies was taking care of checking everyone in while they waited on their bags. She had paired everyone up to share rooms before they had left San Diego. Matthew and Jason had drawn each other as roommates, which had sparked the start of their friendship.
“Hey Matt, there’s Emily Stevenson,” Jason said. “Want to see if you can swap places with her roommate.”
“Quiet Jason, she’ll hear you. Besides, I don’t think her roommate would think it was a good deal.”
“Ouch, knife to the ribs. Man, you’re cruel. Here I was willing to give myself up so you could bunk with a gorgeous babe, and you knife me.”
“Yeah, like it was going to be some sacrifice rooming with Alex.”
“Sure, Alex is cute and that English accent is dynamite, but Emily’s got it all -- looks
, brains, personality. She’s very popular, and you’ve got the hots for her.”
“Enough already,” Matthew elbowed Jason in the ribs. “Quiet, here comes Mrs. Jefferies!”
“Now students, here are your keys,” Mrs. Jefferies said. “We’ll be staying here for three nights before we move to the barge and start the canal tour. I want everyone to go right to bed, lights out in two hours. We’ve got an early start tomorrow. Breakfast is at 8:30; the van leaves at 9:30 sharp. There’s only one key per room, so you have to make sure you leave it at the desk when you go out.”
She walked over to Matthew and Jason, “Here Matt, you and Jason are in room 22, it’s on the second floor then to the right. That means two floors up, the ground floor is 0. Tyler, you and Greg are in room 8, first floor.”
Matthew grabbed the key and pulled Jason behind him. “Let’s go before you get me into trouble.”
“Okay, okay, quit pulling on my jacket, you’ll tear it.” Jason grabbed his bags off the floor as Matthew pulled him by.
Matthew and Jason climbed the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. It was a quick two flights up. Room 22 was just off the staircase. They unlocked the door to their room and went inside.
“Jason, please don’t tease me about Emily,” Matthew pleaded.
“Sorry, Matt, I was just joking. But admit it, you’re hot for her.”
“I just like her, that’s all.”
“You must be crazy; she’s almost two years older than you and one of the best looking and richest girls at school. No matter how great a guy you are, that’s a lot stacked against you. What makes you think you’ve got a chance?”
“Thanks for the moral support,” Matthew crossed his arms and blew his breath out. “I guess if I want help, I’ll have to go ask Tyler.”
“Hey, lighten up, Matt,” Jason gave Matthew a big smile. “I’m on your side.”
“I know, I know.” Matthew turned his back to Jason. “You’re probably right. I doubt she even knows my name.”
