By my nature, I’m not really a talkative guy. I avoid the spotlight, because I’ve never liked the idea of my every move being watched. I reflect this in football, in school, and among my friends. This didn’t make much sense, because I’m from a time and place where being in the spotlight was practically a prerequisite.

You see I live in the type of town people picture when they imagine my generation. A bunch of upper middle class white kids wasting their time on, as my grandpa refers to it, “The Face-Book”. Partying is our favorite past time and no weekend is considered complete without heavy drinking. Since the oldest of us are eighteen, you may see the problem with this plan. So in this era of everyone knowing everything about everyone else, my silence and observant nature make me stand out like a sore thumb. But I kind of like it if I’m being honest.

Now the thing about everyone knowing everyone else is that there’s no mystery. The new kid at school is picked clean of any outside information, and within weeks, they are one of us. There is one person though, that I met, who decided to break that mold. His name was Marcus Baker. I was I guess the person you could call his best friend. That being said, I basically knew nothing about the guy, until the end that is. But while he is a major player in this story, he isn’t the only one. But you’ll meet the others in due time. Now in the story, I’m going to spend a good amount of time describing each of the major players.

One more request of you, and I know I’m throwing a lot at you on the first page, but please bear with me. Every single one of the main characters has good qualities, and they have bad qualities, I included. Please refrain from judging them, or if you absolutely have to, do it at the end, when all the events are over.

So for now, just sit back, read this, and enjoy the book, or if your English teacher is making you read it, it’s not on Sparknotes. I already checked.




“Donny, could you come downstairs for a minute?” I looked up from my book and glanced downstairs. It was my mom calling me. Putting down the book I was reading, I slid down the steps, into the kitchen. My mom stood in the kitchen, trying to keep an eye on Shannon and her boyfriend, while remaining unobtrusive. She leaned over to me, making sure the two lovebirds didn’t hear.

“I have to run out,” she began uncomfortably, “Could you keep an eye on Shannon and Jimmy while I’m gone?” I almost laughed. My mom was a firm believer that one boy and one girl who are teenagers should not be alone together. She was somewhat embarrassed about it however, and liked to do it without people noticing. I nodded, and went up to grab my book. Yes, I read for pleasure. Don’t judge me. Anyway, my mom left, and I sat down on the kitchen table and read. It was hard to concentrate though, with Jimmy and Shannon laughing and talking in the next room. Finally, I gave up, and put the book down. I walked to the fridge looking for food, and in doing so; fell in full view of Shannon and Jimmy in the living room.

“Hey, Donny, how’s it going?” I looked up to see Jimmy staring at me.

So we’ve reached our first major player in the story everyone. Jimmy Russell is my sister’s boyfriend of six months. He’s pretty stereotypically all-American. At six foot one, he’s tall, with brown hair and eyes. Jimmy is a star quarterback and being looked at by all different colleges. He manages to give you a compliment, while still being condescending, and of course, he’s dating my sister. Around me, he always acts like the perfect boyfriend, but the two of them seem to break up every other week. He always tried to be friendly to me, but I think that’s because on the football field, his life rests in my hands.

“Not too bad” I grunted noncommittally. I didn’t really have anything against the guy, but I always found it weird how friendly he wanted to be. I mean, come on, man, you’re dating my sister; I’m not supposed to like you.

“Donny, you are such a good conversationalist” Shannon said rolling her eyes. Now we’ve reached the next major player in the story, Shannon Finnegan, my sister. She doesn’t look like me, in that she’s tall and thin with blonde hair. With everyone but me, she’s exceptionally nice, and I think the only reason she can be difficult with me is because I’m her brother. If Jimmy is the All-American guy, Shannon is the All-American girl. She’s a cheerleader, which might make some people think she’s soft. But she only does that to stay in shape for basketball, and I learned a long time ago, she wasn’t meant to be anything but the center of attention.

“Good to see you too, Shannon,” I grumbled. She gave me a smirk, and I tried to forget that we were related.

A little time had passed when Jimmy came up to me. “Donny, I’m going to the new kid’s house after practice, why don’t you come too?” oh that’s right, the new kid. I had heard about this kid in hushed whispers, but no one really seemed to know anything about him. The word was he was playing football this year, so I might see him at the first day of practice today. Not that I, at the moment at least, particularly cared.

“Sure,” I said in a friendly enough way. I hadn’t been to that many parties this summer, but for whatever reason people liked to have me there. Normally I went with the other linemen, but we could very well end up there anyway, and it wasn’t like Jimmy and I would hang out if he was taking my sister. So I agreed.

When my mom arrived home, I left to go to Calabrese’s house. Calabrese was a friend of mine, and he would drive me to practice today. I rolled up to his house in my mom’s minivan, trying to go unnoticed. Unfortunately, all four other linemen burst out of the house to greet me. Calabrese, returning starter left tackle and only seventeen year old I’ve ever seen who has more hair on his face than his head. And he has a lot on his head.

“How’s it going, Irishman?” If you couldn’t tell by the name, I am second generation Irish American. And of course, my parents managed to find the one suburban town in the north east with three Irish Catholic families. Not that, at this day and age, anyone really notices.

“Not too bad,” I said