The R - chapter 1

"Richard, Get down here this instant! You'll be late for school, and I am not driving you if you are!"

'Dad, give me 5 minutes'. I pulled the covers to hide my face, hoping he wouldn't come charging in and literally pulling me out of bed like he did almost every morning.

I REALLY didn't want to go to school today; it happened to be a friday, and in my world Fridays and Saturdays were stay-in-bed days, where I literally just sleep the whole day and don't give a care about anything in the world.

But to dad, every day was work day. He owns a famous music company, which pays him a lot of money for selling music and instruments; every day he has to be there, taking care of the business he owned-

"Richard!!"

I groaned as I slowly got out of bed, and I started to put on a pair of jeans when I realized it happened to be a school day. 'Oh well', I thought. I guess it was another day to wear the suit and tie.

I hated dressing up every morning, unless if it was casual clothing (which I rarely could wear; dad never allows me to wear casual clothing around the house). My school has a uniform, and If we don't follow it, we're sent home for the rest of the day. Yeah, school's pretty strict. Well, it's supposed to be strict; it's a school for rich kids like me. It has a strict education system, and the teachers don't allow anything from outside of school unless if it was school-related.

But you gotta admit... I look pretty hot in a suit and tie.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right; dad used to be a famous musician back in London, but one day he just quit the band; he said the music business just wasn't meant for him. So, we moved to America and started a life there. His music sold half a million copies, and he decided to use part of that money to buy himself a music store, which turned later into a music company-

"Richard!"

"I'm coming, dad! Just wait!"

Oh, and by the way, my name isn't Richard; it's actually Rickey. I don't know why dad likes to call me "Richard" , and I remind him a million times that I prefer to be called by my real name, "Rickey". "Richard" is so dull and boring; "Rickey" is more exciting.

But he never listens to me.

"You've got 30 seconds to be down here!"

I kept staring at myself in the mirror while getting dressed up. My red hair was all over the place; I chuckled to myself, wondering what people would think of me going to school all dressed up with psychotic hair-

"Rich-"

"I'm coming, okay!?"

I had to brush my hair quickly before dad would come and pound me. When it was satisfying to me, I rushed downstairs into the kitchen, where I found dad waiting impatiently for me.

"Finally decided to get up," he asks me with an irritated tone as I try to make myself something quick to eat for breakfast. "Do you know how late it is? We only have 15 minutes to be out of this house an on the road! Richard, you are NOT making me late again-"

"I won't, dad," I tell him, stuffing a piece of toast inside of my mouth.

He sighs before speaking. "Richard, your shoes are untied."

I knelt down and quickly stared tying my fancy shoes, then quickly rushing out the door with my book bag out into the car.

This is not the first time this has happened...Yeah... i'm kind of used to being rushed in the mornings now.

Dad must've been going over the speed limits, and he just kept ranting about me all the way to school.

"Richard, you're 18 now, and you need to learn to take responsibilities. What if you had gotten a job and you get fired because you're always late every morning? You should be happy you've still got a year before you're a senior."

That's just about the only sentence I listened from him; the rest just made me sleepy. In under 5 minutes, I was there, and I felt relieved that I made it to class just before the bell rang. My teacher didn't even notice me run into the classroom and sit in my desk, and that made me feel like a ninja...

but I didn't feel like one once everyone noticed me and began to stare at me for over 5 seconds.

"What," I ask, "Haven't you ever seen a redhead before? Stop staring!"

I acted like everything was normal from that point on.

It was a normal day apart from what happened this morning. I hardly listened to any of my teachers, and when I would listen all they would say is "Blah, blah, blah," in my head. I doodled a little in one of my classes, and I was caught by the teacher. He showed the picture I drew to the class, and I felt lucky I wasn't terribly laughed at. The picture I was trying to make was of a ninja on a motorcycle, and I pretended the man was me, riding far away from here as possible.

Instead of taking notes, I tried making up my own language so I could understand the teachers better; i'm not saying I don't know what they're talking about, it's just a little joke I made that says "I really don't care".

"So... I heard you were nearly late for class."

It wasn't until around lunch time that I heard that voice.

"Oh...hey, James," I reply back to the blonde with the glasses. James was the only friend I had who always dreams of playing the drums and being in a band. He knew my father used to be in the music business, and he would sometimes ask me if I was ever going to be in it, too.

'Nah,' I would tell him. 'I don't really want to play music or be in a band, or whatever.'

He takes classes that teach him how to play the drums, but he never actually lets me hear him play.

"You overslept again, didn't you," he continued.

"Only a little," I lied, causing him to chuckle at me.

"A little? Pfft!"

He sat down next to me, and he began to eat his lunch. He must've not been very hungry, because the only thing he had on his plate was a sandwich. Well, I wasn't hungry at all, even though I only had a piece of toast for breakfast.

"Did you listen to any of the teachers today?"

"Listen," I chuckled. "You know I can't listen to a person talking for a whole hour!"

He began to laugh. "I didn't either; it's so boring here... I wish I could become a bird and leave this place, y'know?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Tell you the truth, I don't want to live this fancy, rich life; I just want a normal, casual life... I want to go to a normal school with normal kids! I don't want to dress up all nice everyday just to go to school, and... no," I chuckled, "I'd still want the money"

"The money is great," he agrees, "I feel the same way about living a normal life, but I kind of like it here... well, I only like it here for the music courses," he chuckles.

"You're lucky; I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what i'm gonna be or where i'm gonna go, or-..."

"Well, dreams sorta come naturally; they can come late or early. All I know is that they're destined for us, and i'm sure yours will come soon."

"Maybe...I just don't know when."

It started raining right after school ended, and dad didn't look too happy when the rain started pouring and soaking up my hair along with my suit.

"Try not to get the fabric wet," he tells me right after I get inside his car and sit down next to him.

"We're rich; we can always replace it," I tell him sarcastically.

We were quiet the whole way home, but something about dad seemed odd. He had a slight smile on his face the whole time, like he was hiding something from me.

"Oh, Richard, leave your shoes by the doorstep," he tells me right after I enter into the house. I sigh, then I start to untie my shoes and lay them beside of the door. Did I mention he's also a "clean-freak"? One little stain on the carpet and he goes insane.

"Richard, come here for a second, I want to show you something."

Dad showing me something, for once? This was new.

I did as I was told and I met with him in the living room. He had a slight smile on his face as he began speaking to me.

"Remember how I said I'd get you a gift for your 18th birthday?"

"That was 4 months ago, dad..." I remind him, irritated by the fact he never did give me anything for my birthday, because he had forgotten! He's always forgotten my birthday, ever since mom died; that's another thing I really dislike about him.

"Well, I was cleaning up my office a little bit today, and I came upon something from my past, and I want you to have it."

He reaches into the pocket to his suit, and he takes out a box. He takes the lid off the box to reveal a necklace.

He takes out the necklace and he holds it out for me to look at. It was a necklace with a red and white guitar on it. I remembered dad telling me about it; he used to wear it at every concert he performed at.

"Dad, I don't wear jewelry; besides, if it's from your past, you can keep it-"

"No," he refuses. "I want you to have it. Please, Richard, it would mean a lot to me if you take it and you treasure it."

I could tell he really wanted me to have it. Even though he irritated me a lot, I could never break his heart. Sighing, I take the necklace, and I glance at the glass reflect the light in the room. i noticed on the back of the guitar was a "C". "Thanks, dad," I tell him, leaving him and going upstairs to my bedroom, where I can sleep the rest of the day.

"You don't even have to wear it! Just keep it, Okay? And Richard, Don't stay up too late! You have chores tomorrow," dad shouts to me.

I didn't even care about the necklace, so I just threw it in the trash; but I felt guilty after that, so I took it out and laid in on my drawer. But I noticed something Peculiar when I took it out from the trash;

The "C" that was originally encrusted on the back of the guitar had become an "R".

"You're crazy," I tell myself before falling asleep.









‘Dad, give me 5 minutes’. I pulled the covers to hide my face, hoping he wouldn’t come charging in and literally pulling me out of bed like he did almost every morning.

I REALLY didn’t want to go to school today; it happened to be a friday, and in my world Fridays and Saturdays were stay-in-bed days, where I literally just sleep the whole day and don’t give a care about anything in the world.

But to dad, every day was work day. He owns a famous music company, which pays him a lot of money for selling music and instruments; every day he has to be there, taking care of the business he owned-

“Richard!!”

I groaned as I slowly got out of bed, and I started to put on a pair of jeans when I realized it happened to be a school day. ‘Oh well’, I thought. I guess it was another day to wear the suit and tie.

I hated dressing up every morning, unless if it was casual clothing (which I rarely could wear; dad never allows me to wear casual clothing around the house). My school has a uniform, and If we don’t follow it, we’re sent home for the rest of the day. Yeah, school’s pretty strict. Well, it’s supposed to be strict; it’s a school for rich kids like me. It has a strict education system, and the teachers don’t allow anything from outside of school unless if it was school-related.

But you gotta admit… I look pretty hot in a suit and tie.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right; dad used to be a famous musician back in the 80’s, but one day he just decided the music business just wasn’t meant for him. His music sold half a million copies, and he decided to use part of that money to buy himself a music store, which turned later into a music company.

“Richard!”

“I’m coming, dad! Just wait!”

Oh, and by the way, my name isn’t Richard; it’s actually Rickey. I don’t know why dad likes to call me “Richard” , and I remind him a million times that I prefer to be called by my real name, “Rickey”. “Richard” is so dull and boring; “Rickey” is more exciting.

But he never listens to me.

“You’ve got 30 seconds to be down here!”

I kept staring at myself in the mirror while getting dressed up. My red hair was all over the place; I chuckled to myself, wondering what people would think of me going to school all dressed up with psychotic hair-

“Rich-“

“I’m coming, okay!?”

I had to brush my hair quickly before dad would come and pound me. When it was satisfying to me, I rushed downstairs into the kitchen, where I found dad waiting impatiently for me.

“Finally decided to get up,” he asks me with an irritated tone as I try to make myself something quick to eat for breakfast. “Do you know how late it is? We only have 15 minutes to be out of this house an on the road! Richard, you are NOT making me late again-“

“I won’t, dad,” I tell him, stuffing a piece of toast inside of my mouth.

He sighs before speaking. “Richard, your shoes are untied.”

I knelt down and quickly stared tying my fancy shoes, then quickly rushing out the door with my book bag out into the car.

This is not the first time this has happened…Yeah… i’m kind of used to being rushed in the mornings now.

Dad must’ve been going over the speed limits, and he just kept ranting about me all the way to school.

“Richard, you’re 18 now, and you need to learn to take responsibilities. What if you had gotten a job and you get fired because you’re always late every morning? You should be happy you’ve still got a year before you’re a senior.”

That’s just about the only sentence I listened from him; the rest just made me sleepy. In under 5 minutes, I was there, and I felt relieved that I made it to class just before the bell rang. My teacher didn’t even notice me run into the classroom and sit in my desk, and that made me feel like a ninja…

but I didn’t feel like one once everyone noticed me and began to stare at me for over 5 seconds.

“What,” I ask, “Haven’t you ever seen a redhead before? Stop staring!”

I acted like everything was normal from that point on.

It was a normal day apart from what happened this morning. I hardly listened to any of my teachers, and when I would listen all they would say is “Blah, blah, blah,” in my head. I doodled a little in one of my classes, and I was caught by the teacher. He showed the picture I drew to the class, and I felt lucky I wasn’t terribly laughed at. The picture I was trying to make was of a ninja on a motorcycle, and I pretended the man was me, riding far away from here as possible.

Instead of taking notes, I tried making up my own language so I could understand the teachers better; i’m not saying I don’t know what they’re talking about, it’s just a little joke I made that says “I really don’t care”.

“So… I heard you were nearly late for class.”

It wasn’t until around lunch time that I heard that voice.

“Oh…hey, James,” I reply back to the blonde with the glasses. James was the only friend I had who always dreams of playing the drums and being in a band. He knew my father used to be in the music business, and he would sometimes ask me if I was ever going to be in it, too.

‘Nah,’ I would tell him. ‘I don’t really want to play music or be in a band, or whatever.’

He takes classes that teach him how to play the drums, but he never actually lets me hear him play.

“You overslept again, didn’t you,” he continued.

“Only a little,” I lied, causing him to chuckle at me.

“A little? Pfft!”

He sat down next to me, and he began to eat his lunch. He must’ve not been very hungry, because the only thing he had on his plate was a sandwich. Well, I wasn’t hungry at all, even though I only had a piece of toast for breakfast.

“Did you listen to any of the teachers today?”

“Listen,” I chuckled. “You know I can’t listen to a person talking for a whole hour!”

He began to laugh. “I didn’t either; it’s so boring here… I wish I could become a bird and leave this place, y’know?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Tell you the truth, I don’t want to live this fancy, rich life; I just want a normal, casual life… I want to go to a normal school with normal kids! I don’t want to dress up all nice everyday just to go to school, and… no,” I chuckled, “I’d still want the money.”

“Yeah, the money is great,” he agrees, “I feel the same way about living a normal life, but I kind of like it here… well, I only like it here for the music courses,” he chuckles.

“You’re lucky; I don’t know what to do with my life. I don’t know what i’m gonna be or where i’m gonna go, or-…”

“Well, dreams sorta come naturally; they can come late or early. All I know is that they’re destined for us, and i’m sure yours will come soon.”

“Yeah…I just don’t know when.”

It started raining right after school ended, and dad didn’t look too happy when the rain started pouring and soaking up my hair along with my suit.

“Try not to get the fabric wet,” he tells me right after I get inside his car and sit down next to him.

“We’re rich; we can always replace it,” I tell him sarcastically.

We were quiet the whole way home, but something about dad seemed odd. He had a slight smile on his face the whole time, like he was hiding something from me.


“Oh, Richard, leave your shoes by the doorstep,” he tells me right after I enter into the house. I sigh, then I start to untie my shoes and lay them beside of the door. Did I mention he’s also a “clean-freak”? One little stain on the carpet and he goes insane.

“Richard, come here for a second, I want to show you something.”

Dad showing me something? He must be hiding something from me…

I did as I was told and I met with him in the living room. He had a slight smile on his face as he began speaking to me.

“Remember how I said I’d get you a gift for your 18th birthday?”

“That was 4 months ago, dad…” I remind him, irritated by the fact he never did give me anything for my birthday, because he had forgotten! He’s always forgotten my birthday, ever since mom died; that’s another thing I really dislike about him.

“Well, I was cleaning up my office a little bit today, and I came upon something from my past, and I want you to have it.”

He reaches into the pocket to his suit, and he takes out a box. He takes the lid off the box to reveal a necklace.

He takes out the necklace and he holds it out for me to look at. It was a necklace with a red and white guitar on it.

“Dad, I don’t wear jewelry; besides, if it’s from your past, you can keep it-“

“No,” he refuses. “I want you to have it. Please, Richard, it would mean a lot to me if you take it and you treasure it.”

I could tell he really wanted me to have it. Even though he irritated me a lot, I could never break his heart. Sighing, I take the necklace, and I glance at the glass reflect the light in the room. i noticed on the back of the guitar was a “C”. “Thanks, dad,” I tell him, leaving him and going upstairs to my bedroom, where I can sleep the rest of the day.

“You don’t even have to wear it! Just keep it, Okay? And Richard, Don’t stay up too late! You have chores tomorrow,” dad shouts to me.

I didn’t even care about the necklace, so I just threw it in the trash; but I felt guilty after that, so I took it out and laid in on my drawer. But I noticed something Peculiar when I took it out from the trash;

The “C” that was originally encrusted on the back of the guitar had become an “R”.

“You’re crazy,” I tell myself before falling asleep.