Secrets: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 1) Read online

  THE HERO CHRONICLES:

  SECRETS

  BY TIM METTEY

  Copyright © 2012 by Tim Mettey

  All rights reserved. Published by Kenwood Publishing Group.

  KENWOOD PUBLISHING GROUP

  www.kenwoodpublishinggroup.com

  Cincinnati, Ohio

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment from this “stripped book.”

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievable system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For more information regarding permission, write to Kenwood Publishing Group, Attention: Permission Department, 11060 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.

  ISBN-10: 0-9885425-0-1

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9885425-0-1

  To my wife, Chanin, and my four beautiful daughters:

  Olivia the Brilliant, Cora the Leader,

  Noel the Caring, and Ashlyn the Loving.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  When I first started school, it was discovered that I had a learning disability that affected my reading and writing, making school very difficult.

  Several people in my life stuck by me and helped me along the way. Thank you to my mom and dad for not treating me differently and pushing me to excel; my wonderful teachers and tutors (Mrs. Rush, Mrs. Richardson, Mrs. Stark, Mrs. Lacks, Mrs. Wolfe, Mrs. Kitchen), who spent countless hours helping me; my friend Karen, who encouraged me with her excitement for what I was doing and told me the story was good even when I wasn’t sure; and my editing team for getting my book ready to be published. Also, if it weren’t for my wife, Chanin, I would have never put my thoughts down to make this book happen. No matter what I faced, she just simply told me to write, and so I did.

  Lastly, I would like to thank the men, women, and children who have risked something for others. These true heroes are represented in our police officers, firefighters, EMTs, first responders, military, and many others not listed. These individuals risk their lives every day for us, and for that I thank them.

  I hope this book shows that no matter what struggles you may face, anything is possible. I am living proof of that.

  CONTENTS

  1. That Day

  2. Moving

  3. Factory

  4. Registration

  5. Tryouts

  6. Spectators

  7. Angel

  8. Party

  9. The Deal

  10. Elle

  11. Henry J. Theasing

  12. A Date

  13. The Visit

  14. Hope

  15. Vanderbilt

  16. Anniversary

  17. Court

  18. Dance

  19. Dinner

  20. Snowflake

  21. Tina McBride

  22. Emergency Exit

  23. Split Personality

  24. My Way

  25. The Past

  26. First Date

  27. Cora’s Sacrifice

  28. Thusians

  29. The Race

  30. Too Late

  31. Recovering

  32. Elle’s Story

  THAT DAY

  CHAPTER ONE

  October 10

  “Randy, you better get over here or you’ll miss the bus,” I yelled across the street. Randy was walking out of his front door, breakfast in hand, late as usual. The bus brakes squealed at the stop sign just up the street. Randy darted over the lawn and across the street just in front of the bus.

  “Randy, I have told you a million times—don’t run out in front of the bus. Next time I will have to report you,” said our bus driver, Mrs. Burgeous, with a stern look as we scrambled aboard.

  Mrs. Burgeous had short grey hair that looked like a neatly placed beehive. She was always nice to me, mostly because I followed her rules. Randy sat two seats behind me. I sat in the very front seat, right behind Mrs. Burgeous and next to a tall blonde girl named Lindsey. She was two grades older than me and was at least a head taller. She was normally talkative, but today she wasn’t paying any attention to me. She just stared out the window toward the sky, listening to music.

  “Good morning, Alex. How are you today?” Mrs. Burgeous was looking at me in the big mirror that bus drivers use to see what is happening on the bus.

  “Well, Mrs. Burgeous, I’m excited for school today.”

  “Well, bless my stars! That has to be a first. Why are you excited?” she asked.

  “Not really sure. Just feels like it is going to be a great day. And, the school is serving pizza and fries for lunch.”

  She laughed. “Well, that sounds like a good reason to be excited, and I bet you have gym today also.”

  “Yes, I do. How did you know?”

  “I’m a good guesser,” she said with a big smile. I leaned back and noticed that Lindsey was staring at me, looking very serious.

  “Alex, did you see the clouds with the lights in them?”

  Before I could answer, Randy blurted out from behind us, “What lights, Lindsey?”

  Lindsey didn’t turn to acknowledge him. She just stared at me, waiting for my answer. “No, I didn’t see anything like that,” I said.

  “Well, there are strange lights in the sky that look like clouds with rainbows trapped inside. I hope I can see them better when I get to school.” She looked back out her window up toward the sky. I leaned over closer to her, but from my seat I couldn’t see anything.

  The bus slowed down over the two speed bumps right before the E.H. Greene School’s parking lot. I was always jealous of the kids in the back of the bus because the speed bumps sent them flying into the air.

  “Okay, fifth graders, this is your stop,” Mrs. Burgeous said loudly. The brakes squealed, slowing us to a stop right between two other buses. I got up and stood in the aisle, waiting to get off. I was first in line with Randy right behind me.

  “So do you think we will see those lights that Lindsey was talking about?” Randy asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Not sure.” I looked over at Lindsey. She was still in her seat looking out the window, fixed on getting another glimpse of the clouds. Mrs. Burgeous opened the doors to the bus, and I quickly got off.

  Before I had a chance to look up, Randy was pointing at the sky. “Look at those things! Cool!”

  I looked up and saw them. Lindsey was right about what they looked like—clouds with swirling rainbows trapped inside.

  DING! DING! DING! DING!

  The high-pitched bell rang and I hurried to class.

  **

  Paying attention in class was harder than usual. Everyone was talking about the lights, and I couldn’t stop thinking about them either. My teacher, Ms. Rush, was the only other thought that entered my mind. She was so beautiful. I wished for her to be my girlfriend. I daydreamed of picking her up in a shiny red sports car and taking her to a nice restaurant like Applebee’s or somewhere like that. If only I was older.

  “Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor?” Ms. Rush’s voice shattered my daydream. “Could you please tell me the capital of Ohio?”

  I looked down at my book, hoping the answer would jump off the page at me, but nothing.

  “Mr. Taylor, please pay more attention next time. Anyone else?” She looked around the room. Several hands jumped into the air around me. “Ms. McBride?”

  “The capital of Ohio is Columbus.” Tina McBride was a big time brown-noser. She always knew the answers to all the questions and never did anythin
g wrong. If only I sat by her, I would at least get some help during tests.

  “Very good,” Ms. Rush said.

  DING! DING! DING! DING!

  The bell rang for recess. I hurried to the front of the line to go outside. We walked down the long hall lined with our red lockers and then out the door to the playground. The rest of the school was already outside at recess. Instead of playing, everyone was standing and looking up at the dazzling rainbow clouds. The teachers were gazing along with us. Some of them had cameras and were taking pictures of the sky.

  “Mark Siegel, Tina McBride, and Alex Taylor, please report to Ms. Rush’s classroom,” blared the outdoor PA. What did I do now? I thought as I walked through the doors back inside. Down the hall from me were Mark and Tina. I ran to catch up with them.

  “Are we in trouble?” I asked.

  “Well there’s no way I’m in trouble,” Tina said, “but you and Mark probably are.” I glanced at Mark, and we both gave her a nasty look. We all walked into Ms. Rush’s class. She was sitting at her desk in the front of the room. She looked up with a big smile and waved us toward her. I was relieved to see her smiling.

  Right then the ground started to shake, knocking us sideways. Ms. Rush’s expression turned to one of complete terror. The walls and floor began to move violently in different directions, and there was a loud sound like a train coming down the hall behind us. The ceiling and walls started to fall in on us. A metal beam fell and grazed my leg, cutting through my pants and into my shin. I turned and ran toward the exit. I was being thrown in every direction, weaving in and out of parts of the ceiling. The lockers had come alive, shifting back and forth, dancing off the walls. Several of them had worked their way into the middle of the hall, making it difficult to get through. The intense sounds were like nothing I had ever heard. I was right next to the exit when a large piece of the wall fell. I jumped over it and went through the shattered door to the outside. I got away from the building and turned back to see it still shaking.

  “We made it!” I yelled, but I was alone. Tina, Mark, and Ms. Rush were still inside.

  MOVING

  CHAPTER TWO

  Almost Five Years Later

  The doorbell rang. I opened the door just wide enough to see who was there.

  “Is your mother home, young man?” A short elderly woman stood before me, hunched over, holding a walker for support.

  “Yes, she is. Just a minute, please.” I shut the door. Cora was standing right next to me.

  “There is an old lady outside who wants to see you,” I whispered.

  Cora opened the door. “Well, hello, Mrs. Phillips. It’s so good of you to come on such short notice.” Cora turned to me. “Nicholas, please finish packing your room.” She walked out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. Mrs. Phillips must be the new owner of this house, free of charge.

  I had been calling Cora “Mom” for years, but it was still weird to say it or hear others say it; she’s actually my mom’s sister. Before I started calling her Mom, she insisted on being called Cora. Not Aunt Cora, Auntie, or anything else—just plain Cora. I still call her that when no one else is around, but in front of others I always call her Mom, because that’s how it has to be for now.

  I looked at the large window in my room and could clearly see my reflection in it. I barely recognized the person I saw. I was no longer a little kid. I was now stuck somewhere between a kid and an adult. My hair color had changed from blond to sandy brown. I had grown at least a foot over the past five years and was skinnier than when I was younger. No matter how much I ate, I didn’t gain weight. I was hoping I would grow taller than the average 5’9” that I was, but there was no sign of me growing taller any time soon. So average is what I would have to settle for.

  I looked past my reflection at the moving truck sitting in the driveway with boxes stacked neatly around it. I hated moving. Every year for the last five years, we have moved on August 10, which was tomorrow. I was getting really tired of it.

  “Nicholas, please come down here and help me,” Cora yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I looked out the window one last time and walked through my empty bedroom and down the stairs.

  “Grab those boxes by the door and put them in the truck. I would like to leave at 5 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning.”

  I had changed a lot over the last five years, but Cora hadn’t at all. She was still slender and beautiful like she had been plucked out of a fashion and beauty magazine. The only thing that changed was her blonde hair—every other day a new style or color, but each as beautiful as the last. I was finally taller than her, but she still seemed larger than life. Always in control. Perfect in every way.

  We had perfected a routine that made moving easier for us. We would pack the evening before and leave early the next morning. This would eliminate any questions from people as to why we were moving. This was one of the ways we stayed unnoticed. I put the rest of the boxes into the truck.

  “So what do you want to get to eat tonight?” Cora asked.

  “I don’t care. You pick.”

  “Nicholas, don’t be that way. I know you don’t like to move, but you know why we have to. Let’s go to Rukker’s. I know you like that place, and you can drive! You need to practice more so you can get your license when we get to our new home.” She tossed the keys to me. She definitely was trying to cheer me up because we never drove the truck into town unless it was absolutely necessary.

  The drive into town was normally a treat, but tonight it wasn’t. It was just another sad reminder that I would be gone tomorrow, never to return to this town.

  Rukker’s was packed. It had its normal line of cars waiting around the corner for the drive-thru. This was the first place where Cora and I ate when we moved here exactly a year ago. It was an odd choice because it’s literally covered in used gum all over the outside. Cora had her standards and this did not pass. But it was our little tradition on the last night to always eat at the same place where we had first eaten when we moved to that town. When we moved here, Rukker’s was that restaurant. I don’t know why Cora wanted me to pick where to eat tonight, because I knew this was where we would go.

  I pulled into the packed parking lot and found a spot.

  “Nicholas, I’ll wait in the truck,” Cora said, staring at her pink leather planner that had all of our life in it. All of our important information was in there. It was what she used to organize our lives.

  “What do you want me to get you?” I asked.

  “I’ll take a Rukker Burger, no pickles or mustard, please.”

  “Do you want something to drink?”

  “Oh yes,” she looked up, “a chocolate shake. Can’t forget that!”

  The line inside was as long as the one outside. I made eye contact with Andy. He was short and skinny with red hair and a lot of freckles. Andy was the closest thing I had to a friend here. I had made sure that I gave him no reason to be friends with me, but he was persistent, and so he was my first “kind of” friend in a long time.

  “Hey, Nick! I get a break in five! Don’t worry about the line; I’ll place your order and meet you out back. The usual for you and your mom, right?” Andy said it so loudly that the entire line turned back to look at me. Red-faced, I nodded yes and walked out the front door. I got back to our truck, not sure if he was going to get our order right, but it was better than all of those people staring at me while I told him what we wanted.

  “Food will be ready in a couple minutes,” I said. Cora nodded, barely even noticing I was there. She was still staring at her planner, deep in thought. After a couple of minutes, I walked to the back of the restaurant. Andy was standing there with a bag of food and a large chocolate shake.

  “Here’s your food, and I even remembered your mom’s chocolate shake that she loves so much! So what are you doing tonight, Nick?” Andy asked, giving me a punch on the arm.

  “Well, nothing really,” I quickly replied, avoiding eye contact and hoping he wouldn’t su
spect anything.

  “What’s wrong with you, man? You look like your cat just died or something.” Andy laughed at his own joke. I didn’t know what to say. Cora never let me tell anyone that we were moving. She thought it made things easier not to tell anyone so that there wouldn’t be a lot of questions for me.

  “Well, I got bad news, Andy. I’m moving tomorrow.” The words just came out. I don’t know what I was thinking or why I told him. Cora was going to kill me.

  “What? You’re messin’, right?”

  “No, seriously, my mom got transferred. They want her to be there as soon as possible. The moving truck is already packed and ready to go first thing in the morning.”

  Andy grinned at me. “Well, I guess we will have to make this a night you will never forget then, won’t we buddy?”

  “No, I can’t,” I said. I took my bag of food from him and grabbed the chocolate shake sitting on the wall next to him.

  “Um, yes you can and yes you will and that’s that! I’ll be by at 8:00 to pick you up.”

  “Do you know where I live?” I asked.

  “Eh, I’ll figure it out,” he replied.

  Andy walked in the back door, leaving me alone holding the bag of food. I stood there for a minute stunned. I felt a sudden wave of panic set in. What was I going to tell Cora? I had broken one of the main rules.

  Driving back home with Cora was complete torture. I almost ran two stop signs. I hoped that she wouldn’t look up from her planner to talk to me. Hiding anything from her was next to impossible. Her motherly instincts had become fine-tuned over the years.

  We got home and Cora continued to study her planner as we walked in. I put the bag of food on the table in the empty kitchen.

  “Nicholas, where’s my shake?”

  “Ugh, I forgot to bring it in. It’s in the truck. Sorry, Cora, I’ll go get it.”

  She looked up from her planner. “Nicholas, is there something wrong? You’ve been acting strange the whole ride home.”

  “No, everything is fine. I just hate moving day.”

  “I know you do, but everything will be fine.” She walked up to me and put her hand on my face. “I promise.”