White Trash Mouse

All poems contained herein are written by and copyright ME. Theft is for losers. Create your own.

The characters in the story are Seniors in high school and both are 18 years of age.

* * * * *

Chapter One: The Notebook

Noise filled the halls of Redwood High; people talking or shouting, lockers slamming, heavy textbooks being dropped. Rainer Aceto groaned under the weight of his book bag, filled to overstuffed with large, hefty books on history, law, science, and politics. He hadn't even bothered trying to fit his advanced algebra book in with the rest; that he carried beneath his arm, with his English notebook. The amount of homework he had was disgusting. And Rainer had a report card in his backpack with several Ds and an F. His parents were going to kill him.

"Hey, Rainer!"

He lifted his head and squinted down the hall. His best friend Paul and several of the other guys he hung out with were waiting for him. Rainer sighed. They'd want to go party tonight; it was what they wanted to do every night. When he did go with them, he was the designated driver. I can't go out tonight, Rainer thought. I absolutely have to get my homework done and I need to study, too. Not that he really wanted to go anyway. He didn't really like partying.

A blur of motion off to the side caught his eye. As Rainer turned, something collided with him, causing him to drop his book and notebook, and stagger backwards. Loud slapping noises reached his ears as books and notebooks crashed to the ground. A high, breathy voice squeaked out frantically.

"Oh, no! No, no, no! I'm gonna miss my bus!"

Rainer peered down at the girl kneeling on the floor, quickly gathering up her books. He recognized her, vaguely at first, as a girl who was in some of his classes. Black hair was pulled back into a knot at the base of her neck. Glasses tipped to the end of her nose, threatening to fall right off her face. Her jeans were worn and faded and her shirt looked like it was several sized too big. Mouse, Rainer thought. That's what they call her, for some reason. She did kind of remind him of a mouse, huddled there on the floor, scrambling in her panic to not be late.

"Here," Rainer said, swooping down and picking up one of her books.

She gave him a quick, shy smile and grabbed the book. Forcing herself to her feet with her arms loaded with books and notebooks, she turned and continued her wild flight down the hall. Shaking his head, Rainer bent to retrieve his notebook and textbook. That was why he was glad he had his own car. It meant that he didn't have to worry about being late for the bus.

Only a few more months, Rainer thought, as he opened his car door and dropped his backpack in the backseat. But if I can't get my grades up, I won't be graduating. In a way, he felt bad about turning down Paul and the guys, but it was a relief to not be their designated driver tonight. With the amount of homework he had, he certainly
couldn't afford to take time out for partying.

*****

Rainer shut his law book and sat back with a groan. He stretched, cracking his knuckles, and glanced at his alarm clock. The bright red digital style numbers showed that it was eight thirty. Aside from a break for dinner, he had been doing homework all night. There was still forty math problems left to do and a short essay for his English class. Rainer reached out for the composition notebook he used for English homework and opened it up.

He blinked a few times, then rubbed at his eyes. The colored writing sprawled across the pages was definitely not his. Flipping through the pages, he was certain of it; he didn't have pens of these colors, namely royal purple, fluorescent pink, peacock blue, fiery red-orange, and deep cinnamon red-brown. Instead of English homework, the notebook was filled with lines and lines of poetry. Opening to a page with blue writing, Rainer scanned the lines curiously.

'Pieces of dreams that fall,
Bleeding out of the sky.
Brought back to the edge of this place,
This reality I dare not face,
Can I catch my falling dreams?
Before they bleed me dry'

It seemed a little awkward to him, but there was also something appealing. As though the person writing was just putting down the first things that came to their head by way of their heart. Rainer flipped to another page, where the ink was the soft cinnamon brown color and read the poem written there.

'Imprisoned rage within
Confines of bars and chains
No loving heart be found
Beneath chilled exterior
Sweeping winds come down
Off glaciers
Once in a while
They might be colder than
Those eyes
Mask of stone over
Mask of ice over
Mask of steel
Beneath was flesh
Soft, the real thing
One strength might pull away
Those masks kept over skin
Like shields
But to like is not to love
And love could melt flesh
Melt ice
Soft love
Love that does not strangle
Might chase away demons
From hidden hearts'

Rainer sighed softly and thumbed idly at a sketch of a rose, colored in with pink ink, in the margin of the notebook. Sounds like your own is very lonely, he thought, tapping on the notebook. But how the heck did I get this? Flipping to the front of the notebook, he was pleased to see an address scribbled there. More importantly, the words "Property of Mouse" were stamped in dark red above the address. That explained how he had gotten it. It also explained where his own notebook was.

Glancing over at the clock again, he wondered if it was too late to go over there. There was no phone number, and besides, he needed that notebook. His English assignment was in it. Rainer picked up the notebook, threw on his light jacket, and headed downstairs to tell his parents where he was going. They hadn't been happy with his report card and he had to show them the notebook before they would let him go.

*****

"Oh no! Where is it?"

Mouse rifled through her backpack frantically, but she couldn't find her notebook. She knew she'd brought it with her, and her best friend, Kara, confirmed having seen her with it earlier in the day. I dropped all my stuff in the hall when I ran into that guy, Mouse thought, tossing her backpack aside. Maybe I dropped it…but I could have sworn I picked it up.

"Here it is," Kara said.

She'd pushed aside a pile of magazines that Mouse had moved while looking. Sighing in relief, Mouse reached out and took the notebook. She opened it and frowned. The many colored inks she was expecting were not there. Instead, plain black ink covered the pages. Groaning, Mouse dropped the notebook and flopped back on her bed.

"What?" Kara asked. "What's wrong?"

"This is not my notebook," Mouse replied dejectedly. "This is someone else's."

"Must belong to the guy you said you ran into," Kara said, reaching out and taking the notebook. She opened it, and gasped softly.

"What?" Mouse demanded, sitting up.

"This belongs to Rainer Aceto!" Kara explained excitedly. "Oh, wow, and he's so hot too! I can't believe it!"

Mouse rolled her eyes and snatched the notebook back. She glanced at the name written inside and groaned. Great, this belongs to pretty boy, she thought. Scowling, she gave herself a light slap on the wrist. Knock it off, girl. Remember, you can't judge people you don't know. Sometimes it was difficult for her to not jump to kneejerk conclusions; she'd been through some bad things with people.

"I think this is his English homework…" Mouse muttered.

"Oh, man!" Kara exclaimed. "He's going to be in deep if he doesn't turn that in. I heard someone saying that his report card was horrible this
quarter."

Mouse grinned. Now that was an interesting bit of information. She was contemplating what would happen if Rainer failed the year when the doorbell rang, startling her. Her parents weren't home and it was late; who could be visiting at this hour? Scowling, Mouse padded out of her room and to the door, jerking it open. For a moment she just stared at Rainer, who stood in the doorway, holding out her notebook.

"This yours?" Rainer asked.

"Uh," Mouse stammered. "Y-yeah. Um. Yours is upstairs. Uh. Hold on. Just a minute."

She backed up, chewing on her lower lip. Great, Mouse thought, I sounded like a complete idiot. She turned to find Kara watching with raised eyebrows and a smile. Kara was her best friend, but the girl had a love of gossip; hearing it and telling it. Mouse could just imagine what she'd say in school tomorrow about this.

"Stay here for a moment," Mouse told Kara, scowling. "Let me get that notebook."

As she headed back into her bedroom, she could hear Kara and Rainer talking. Kara was also not a very tactful person. She was asking him questions about his report card and what he intended to do about it. Rolling her eyes, Mouse grabbed the notebook and headed back out into the living room.

"Here," She said, shoving the notebook at him and grabbing hers from him.

"Thanks," Rainer said. "You're Mouse, right? You wrote the uh…I mean…"

Oh great, Mouse thought, feeling her cheeks go red. He read my poems! Why can't I sink through the floor right now? She nodded mutely and reached out to close the door, not caring that he was still standing in the doorway.

"Hey, wait a minute," Rainer said, reaching out and pressing his hand to the door. "You get really good grades, don't you? Maybe you could help me."

Mouse narrowed her eyes. "No."

"Come on, why not?" Rainer asked. "I'm not asking you to do my homework for me, just, I dunno…tutor me or something."

"You're rich," Mouse retorted. "Can't you just pay the school to give you good grades?"

Rainer frowned. "Forget I said anything."

He turned, pulling the door closed behind him. Mouse blinked. Is it just me, or did he seem upset? she thought. She turned to find Kara staring at her. Oh, crap, Mouse thought, groaning inwardly. He had been upset. Great. Guess I've got two pop quizzes and an apology tomorrow. At least I can study for the quizzes.