Chapter One

Johnny's Point Of V

I ran downstairs kissing my mom on her left cheek before running off outside into the cool autumn air. Living in New York was hard. My family was far from rich. I was made fun of for wearing the same old sneakers five days a week to school. I had a very tiny wardrobe also. 

These days a job was hard to find. More and more people kept going to job interviews. And more and more jobs were being filled. My mom worked at a laundromat. Her salary is very little, but we seem to manage. Seeing her crying at night breaks my heart.

Whoever said life was easy was sure misled. I walked into my school bracing myself for the insults that would come. Oddly enough, none came. I opened my eyes, which seemed to have been closed, and looked around. Nobody was here. I thought back. It's not a snow day. It's not a holiday. So what is it? 

I walked into each and every classroom wandering around like a lost duckling. Which seemed to fit because sometimes I was called ' The Ugly Duckling ' . Finally, I walked into the last place I haven't checked. The cafeteria. 

I walked in. It was empty. Nobody was here. Nada. I sat in a chair thinking about this strange..thing. I was turning my head when I saw something move. My head snapped in that direction. Everything looked normal. I almost turned away until I saw it. A brick slightly ajar. With an eye peeking through.