A tall brick building stands atop one of the many hills of Pine Lake, Colorado. It's a dismal location for the kids that attend, but from the outside it doesn't look half bad. But on the inside, it's decrepit and almost rotting away. There are a total of eight bathrooms and six of them don't work. The heat doesn't turn on in the winter, the AC doesn't turn on in the summer, and everything's dirty and old.
It's a sunny and warm September the 7th, the first day of school for everyone at Walden Middle School.
One little boy arrives later than the rest, stumbling up the front steps and pushing open the doors. He takes off his grey beanie, smoothing out his silky blond hair. He looks up, showing big blue eyes. This is Oliver Daggit, only 9 years of age. It's his first day of 6th grade.
He looks around nervously, never having been inside this building before. The front hall is old and dusty looking, with rows of grey lockers on either side of him. The floor is made of cracked linoleum, and a few florescent lights hang from the ceiling, casting an irritatingly bright glow on the hall below. Oliver steps forward, looking down at the paper schedule in his hand. He has Math first today, in room 232-C. He cringes, knowing math is his worst subject, but heads off to find his classroom anyways.