The Hope for Many(Jones Sparrow and ChocolateDreamz)IC

[Jones Sparrow]

Todd Rivers rushed through the halls. He overslept again. He spent all night helping his younger sisters with homework since his dad had to work the night shift. Now he was running through the hall, his messy brown hair looked pretty good. He wore a hoodie, jeans, and some basketball shoes. The last minute bell rang out and Todd desperately tried to fight his way through the crowd to not be late again... his fears came true as he just came in right after the bell. He stood at the door panting like crazy, the teacher looking. "I'm sorry, Sir... I overslept. I was helping my sisters with their math homework and I..." He trailed off, the teacher giving him a look like "Its alright." He took his seat awkwardly, slinging his backpack off his shoulder. "Alright class, please turn to page 546 in your text book..." The teacher said. Todd opened his text book, but exhaustion got the best of him. He slowly drifted to sleep as the teacher gave the lecture.

[ChocolateDreamz]

"Sorry Kris, hon. Your dad won't be able to see your tournament this weekend."

That was the one little sentence that ruined Krissy Pearson's morning. The morning went from good -- for a Wednesday -- to rubbish in about three seconds. Krissy had always been a daddy's girl, even though she never really saw her father, but nonetheless she still loved her father very much. When Krissy was younger the two seemed to be joined at the hip and everywhere that her father went, she went. Then as she got older her father took longer and longer trips, only staying for a few days here and there. Even those few days weren't nice. Mark, her father, was always jittery and nervous though he denied ever acting like this. When Krissy was thirteen she learned that her dad worked with high-authorities and is therefore away a low and "always a danger to the common man".

Krissy had been excited for her volleyball tournament that weekend because it perfectly fell into that small window of when her father would be home. And now she wasn't going to show up. As she sat at her desk in first period, her chin in her palm, a slight.... scowl was on her face. Not a complete scowl, since there was a hint of sadness and not anger on her features as well. She looked down into her lap at her demin jeans, and she picked a lint-fuzz off of her light blue t-shirt. She looked up at the teacher when the bell rang, and noticed how Todd ran in late.

She and Todd had been friends for a long time. Not lifetime friends, but ever since middle school. Krissy noticed, though, that he had been more distant and therefore their friendship was less and less. Krissy had taken it to herself to find out why her friend was distant and she was more than upset to find out that his sweet mother had passed away. She knew his mother fairly well and it was a shame that the sweet woman had to go. Now her and Todd didn't talk much, only once or twice here and there, and Krissy told herself that he was just trying to adjust, that's all. "Todd..." She whispered as the teacher began his lecture, and she nudged the teenager with her foot. Mr. Evans liked to pick on kids who weren't paying attention, and she didn't want Todd to be another victim. Since she sat next to him, simply by chance, her attempts to wake up were fairly easy since she was close.

[Jones Sparrow]

Todd woke up with a start when he felt someone touch and whisper his name. He saw that it was Krissy, one of his older friends... But ever since his mom passed he became distant with her.. Truth he known that over the years he slowly had a crush on her, he did plan on asking her out a while ago, but now that thought was thrown in the back of his mind due to his new responsibilities.giving a weak smile as he sat up, looking up at the board then at the text book. But slowly closing his eyes.

[ChocolateDreamz]

When Krissy saw that Todd was starting to wake up, she gave him a small smile. Yeah you could say that she developed a little crush over him, but that was a long time ago and that flame had died out. She had moved on when she saw that she probably would never be as close to Todd again. She had been hurt by the fact when she realized it, but she soon got over herself. It was never good to dwell on the past. She turned her attention back to the board, though she was too late to notice that Todd had noticed off. "Mr. Rivers. Please answer question three on page 547." Mr. Evans said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Todd with a raised eyebrow. People, once before, would have probably turned to look at Todd, but now not many people such a thing. Krissy bit the inside of her lip, glancing at Todd.

[Jones Sparrow]

Todd stared down at the page, taking a few minutes to piece it out, running a hand through his hair... Just because he slept in class doesn't mean he didnt learn anything. He gave him the answer, and his face was surprised. "Yes... That's correct... Next time you won't be so lucky mr. Rivers..." He trailed off, then started his lecture. Todd looked over at Krissy, giving her a small smile before putting his head back down.

[ChocolateDreamz]

A smile played on Krissy's lips when Todd got the answers right. Why are you smiling, idiot? She thought in her head. Why was she? Because she cared, that's all. She ran a hand through her short blond blond, which framed her face nicely, and glanced at Todd. She smiled faintly back at him before moving her eyes back down on the paper. She couldn't concentrate through the lecture, since she never could. Her mind was always somewhere else and in many different places. Her thoughts changed every few seconds, it seemed. First on the fact that her father was missing out on this weekend, then to the excitement of the game this weekend, back to her father, and then on lecture, and back to the game again. Before she knew it the bell rang and she was shoving her things in her bag like everyone else. As she was standing and putting on her bag, she wondered if she should try -- again -- to make conversation with Todd. All the other times before seemed to somehow fail after just a minute or so.

[Jones Sparrow]

As soon as the bell rang he put his notes into his backpack, got up, and started for the door. As he did so some jocks he used to call friends pushed him out of the way, snickering. He rolled his eyes and kept moving until one of his friends ran into him. Out of all the friends he thought he had, one stayed loyal. He was one of the football players, but actually had a heart. Tyler Bash walked up to him. "Hey man! dude, you look terrible.. you should actually get some sleep." He said. Todd shrugged. "Morgan and Paige needed help with homework..." He said as an excuse. "Whatever man... you do way too much for them and your dad... you need a break. How about we hit a party or something?" He asked. Todd wasn't paying attention. He was too busy looking at the thing he hated the most. A small freshman was being pushed around by a bunch of jocks for not being the most popular. Tyler looked to what he saw and sighed. "Todd, don't do it man...!"

Too late. Todd made his way towards the scene, a crowd forming around them. He made his way through and in between the freshman and the bully. "Knock it off, Josh..." Todd said. The group of jocks snickered at Todd, but due to his low depression, he wasn't afraid of anything. He stared at the jock with no fear. The guy named josh laughed a bit. "Alright, Rivers... If you're not going to get out of the way, i'll make you."

---

Todd was thrown into a bunch of lockers, falling to the ground hard. His backpack came after that then his papers. As the jocks laughed Todd sighed. His eye was now swollen and his lip was bleeding. He grumbled about how much of jerks they were as he picked up his stuff.

[ChocolateDreamz]

Krissy had skirted around the Senior and Freshman because she, honestly, did not want to get caught up in that. No did, honestly, so everyone just avoided it. Let the Jocks do what they want to do. She caught up with a few of her friends, talking to them near some lockers an easy ten yards from where the Jock was messing with the Freshman. The three girls were a bit wary but they just tried to ignore it as best they could. Each girl heard the bang of a body hitting the lockers and each head seemed to turn all at once. Krissy couldn't help but have a sharp intake of breath when she saw that it was Todd. After some of the people walked off she slowly went over to Todd. "Hey, that was cool how you stuck up for that freshman." She said, holding out her hand after a few seconds to help him up.

[Jones Sparrow]

Todd looked up to see Krissy. He finished picking up this things and slung his backpack on his shoulder again. He took her hand, a bit nervous at the touch of it. It has been too long since they've actually had a conversation, and to be honest he missed it.. but family always came first. He gave a small laugh at her remark. "You think so? Most people now make fun of me for it..." He mumbled. If he did that when he was still one of those jocks, they would have stood down, but now they call him a dweeb and a nerd for sticking up for the smaller people.

[ChocolateDreamz]

Krissy helped Todd up, and then dropped her hand back to her side. After a few seconds she moved her hands into her back pockets, rocking back and forth on her heels. This was usually something she did when she wasn't sure what to do in certain situations. At what he said, she shrugged and smiled a bit. "Yeah, I think it's cool how you stick up for people. Not a lot of people are like that anymore." She said, herself being one of those people who didn't stick up for others. "You're kinda like a superhero or something." She said with a light laugh.