Ryan:

Merda, I cursed again in my mind.

            I wondered if Hendrix had a silly sense of humor, because he wasn't funny to me right now. Ugh, he seriously had to pick me? Our of everyone in the group, he picked me in the back? Either he hated me or he liked me a lot that he wanted to see what I had brought to the batting plate. I had a song, I'm just not really sure if I wanted to perform it in front of the entire class. Okay, I had sung to some of the children at the orphanage to help them sleep but that didn't mean I was good or anything. I could be mediocre, a regular Joe.

            But he wanted me.

            I felt my cheeks flush red again as I felt a dozen pairs of eyes look at me. Great, center of attention once again. Thanks, Mr. Hendrix, I appreciate that a lot.

            In case you didn't realize, that was sarcasm.

            I gulped and sat stiff, looking at Hendrix, shaking my head from side to side to make it look unnoticeable. He just smiled and laughed, beckoning me forward with his tail tip. I bit my lip, and sighed, getting up from my seat.

            "Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Please say your name, the name of your song, and who it is by and then you can begin. Cue the band whenever you're ready."

            I nodded and sighed again. I stood exactly where Hendrix stood and looked at the ground then back at the students. This might help me get away from my stage fright but this was barely twenty students, what if one day I had to stand in front of a crowd of thousands?

            I got queasy at the thought.

            "My name is Ryan masters and I will be singing 'Move Along' by the All-American Rejects." I stated.

            Hendrix nodded and smiled, beckoning me on.

            I nodded and gave the band three seconds.

            Three...two...one...

                Nothing.

Nothing came out of my mouth. I tried to find the words for the song but my mind just completely shut down on me. The band had started the song then had ended completely once my cue for the vocals didn't come. They looked at me, the class looked at me, and Mr. Hendrix looked at me. With all their attention focused on me, my mind was shut down, permanently.

            What was wrong? Why couldn't I find the words? I knew the lyrics like the back of my hand and could recite them backwards (total lie). Sweat dripped from my forehead, matted under my arms, and my body was unnoticeably shaking from some weird cold in the room only I could feel. It was like someone had muted me with some sort of universal TV remote designed for humans (oh, if only that was true) but used it on me. Mr. Hendrix noticed this and walked over to me.

            "Is everything okay, Ryan?" he asked in a gentle tone.

            My throat felt dry and sandpapery but I tried to form words. "Um...I...uh...I..." and sounding like a total loser, I had shut down in front of him, again.

            He looked to the class then back at me, my head hanging in a way of defeat. "It's okay, Ryan. You don't have to preform right now. Perhaps early tomorrow morning before the exam, okay? I understand what it is like to get cold feet."

            I gulped, trying to get some form of moisture down my throat. "S...sure." Was my only word, unable to summon anymore.

            He sighed then patted my shoulder. "It is alright, Ryan. Go on and take your seat." He said, gesturing to my seat. I sighed then slumped over to my chair, getting looks from the entire class along the way, just as I sat down. "Alright then...Mr. Beaver, will you please take the floor next?"

            Agent Not-So-Secret Double 007 nodded his head then walked up to the mike, looking just as confident and smooth as he sounded when he talked. Now, I wasn't a mean person by nature, but I really hoped he would choke just like I had. However, I highly doubted it considering just how confident I already knew he was.

            Hendrix went back to his spot on the wall and coiled himself back into a spring-shape. He was probably disappointed in me, and I couldn't blame him. I had choked. I may have been a good singer--not good or bad--but I never thought I would actually choke like that under pressure, even if it was slight.

            That was when I met Hendrix' eyes again. I noticed something I hadn't before. It caught me off guard so much that I almost gasped.

He had golden eyes.

The rest of the day didn't get any better.

            The first block finally ended once everyone finished their songs. I wasn't glad that I didn't get mine done with, the bell literally rang at the end of the last song. I grabbed my bag and books and began to leave the room. The Twins, Thomas, and Jamie followed me and told me they had gym second block. Well, at least I had friends going with me. I'd rather not walk these halls and wonder if any other teacher was going to give me that weird look Hendrix had.

            Golden eyes...just like mine.

            That was weird, but then again I was weird as well. Could just be a coincidence that he had the same color eyes as me. But they were so much like my own; they had the same glow to them, the same shine, and the same color. There was something about his look that...I don't know, I just couldn't get it out of my mind. It had creeped me out just as much as Fake-Justin Beiber did.

            It took a few minutes to walk to the gymnasium, but we took our time. Once we arrived, there were a lot of students waiting in the bleachers, talking and conversing and gossiping. I could make out a few of my friends and smiled, I knew I wouldn't be fully along in this. As long as one of them was around, I felt safe and secure. I made my way to the section that had the name Vladmir on the front. The others had the other teachers, so now I was kinda alone. I sat down quickly and set my books down, waiting for things to get underway.

            It didn't take long to get things started. The bell rang and soon we were greeted with a loud blow-horn that rattled the room, piercing our eardrums like someone scratching on a chalkboard. Was that really necessary? It hurt and my ears rang for a few moments, but everyone took a few notches down on their talking. I looked to see a guy in his late twenties most likely holding the horn. He wore black sweatpants, a red hoodie, and running shoes. He looked fit and was lean; he had dark short hair that swept to the side and sunglasses.

            Next to him stood a Growlmon wearing the same outfit, except his hoodie was black. His silver hair was put into a frohawk and he had his arms folded across his chest. He stood a few inches under the human guy but he looked just as strong and built as his partner.

            I failed to clarify this in the beginning, stupid me. They could be gay or not, but by "partners" I mean they were chosen for each other. There's this thing in the world called the P.D.U--Partner Digimon Unification--and let me explain.

Basically, once the war had begun, we were losing badly. It had started fifteen years ago and somehow we were still holding out, but we were still losing badly. There had been so much death, destruction, and utter obliteration of cities that we had almost given up and surrendered to the Shadows. But, in the wake of our almost surrender; two people came to the White House one day. They both were clad in white robes with hoods covering their faces. One was a man and the other was a Digimon, but we do not know who they are since they kept their identities a secret.

Here's the kicker: they said they foresaw an ancient prophecy that dated back thousands of years before time was even recorded. They spoke these exact words, which still have the world aweing at to this day.

A child and Digimon of gold will stand,

When the world is brought to a close end.

They will reclaim the peace and justice of the lost balance,

And end the suffering the world had suffering from the Shadows.

With those words spoken, they gave the President a sort of device unlike we had ever seen before. They called it a Digivice, a sort of bonding link to the Digimon from the "Before World" as the two robed figures had said. They called the world a place where the Digimon begin from when they are bonded to this device. The Digimon bonded to the device is said to have no personality, no traits, no emotions or feelings until the device is passed into the palms of another. When that happens the Digimon is said to come from the Before World and carry on the traits of the partner who bonded with them, and it has to be human, not Digimon. The Digimon that were born from their parents were born like humans, except the Digimon in the Before World we said to be sleeping there for millennia, waiting for a human partner to claim them.

We had all been confused at the time; some even argued that that wasn't possible. But once the two figures said of a Digimon and his power with the power to save the world, everyone, even the President, listened. The golden Digimon was told to have sacred powers and abilities that also passed onto the human bonding with them. They called those two the "saviors" of the world, the ones who would end the war. But the golden Digimon wouldn't bond with anyone; they said it had to be of someone with "certain ancestry" in their blood. It would be only then that the golden Digimon would appear and bond with its human partner.

But that was twelve years ago, three years into the war and we were already losing. But the G.M.A.F hadn't lost hope, even if millions had already. They believed the hooded figures and their story.

I kinda believed it too.

So, in lieu of that, many Digivices were crafted and handed out to schools, for only children above or equal to the age of fifteen could unlock the bond with their Digimon. I don't know why, the cloaked figures just said that. An adult actually tried and failed, miserably. Many tried and only teens at that age could do it so we went with it.

We still did it, Digivices were crafted and given. I could have guessed the guy's age wrong, he could be in his early twenties as well. I finally noticed the red Digivice strapped to his side. Whoever he was, he had taken the P.D.U but wasn't the destined kid chosen to protect out world.

Millions have tried, and millions weren't chosen.

He finally walked forward and looked all of us over, like we were a bunch of prisoners needing to get out of our cells. Too bad he didn't have a club or something.

He had something better! A microphone!

"Welcome to Physical Education, maggots!" he exclaimed over the mic, which screeched, making us cup our ears. "My name is Coach Vladmir Calvin and this is my partner Parker Calvin! Whoever has me for their coach, stand!" he ordered in a way that made me gulp.

A few dozen students stood up, maybe around 37 or something around that. They all looked scared of Vladmir; some of them were looking at Parker who stayed still as his human partner walked up and down the bleachers. I looked at him closely, I think he saw me looking and stared back. I felt my body get cold again, his eyes were squinted as he bared his teeth a little but he smiled. I gasped this time, not even caring if a few others heard me and turned to look.

He had golden eyes as well.

It had made my skin crawl and my body tingled just a little. That made two in a row in just barely ten minutes. It was both freaky and scary to me; I thought I was the only one with golden eyes in this school?

He looked away for a second and resumed looking at the students that his human partner eyed with curiosity. I gulped as he called the standing group and told them to follow him and his partner to the Firing Range. No, we were not going to use guns (that is a stupid thing to think) instead we use a more...primitive method.

That's right, bow and arrows.

Bulls-eyes are impossible for many, but apparently not me.

            Vladmir led us down to the Firing Range, which had me impressed. It was large and next to the football field. I could see a dozen wooden targets with a white pathway marked in a line right to the bulls-eye. It read, twenty feet, forty feet, sixty feet, eighty feet, and finally one-hundred feet. I hoped we had some redneck hunters in class, and, if not, then otherwise Coach Vlad was going to see us struggle just to string the bow. I'm sure a lot were going to shoot their arrows to the ground even before they got to the twenty foot mark.

            We followed Vladmir to a small area set up from the range, there were two tables with 36 bows and quivers set up already, with a sort of leather vambrace. He told us to each take a bow and proceed to the target he assigns us. I took the bow and quiver and a leather vambrace proceeded to the target dubbed 9. I had two others behind me, I knew who they were but I had no clue if they were any good or not.

            I never held a bow in my life, so I'm sure I was going to miss...horribly.

            We had to wait until the rest of the class to go to their targets for us to start. Coach Calvin and Vladmir took their own bows and strung them, walking towards the center of the group, firing their arrows straight at the targets. I watched as the arrows soared through the air and hit the wooden circle at the far end of the field. It was the red circle right around the yellow dot in the center. They looked us and smiled, it was like they didn't even put any effort into shooting.

            "All right, freshmen," Coach Calvin yelled to make sure we were listening. "This is how you shoot a bow and arrow. Listen carefully because I'm only saying this once. First, find out which eye is your dominant one, you determine that you determine which arm is better suited for holding the bow. All of you are wearing your vambraces? Good, you won't get string-skinned." He demonstrated as he gripped his bow and patted his vambrace. "Once that is done, assume the proper stance in which you are perpendicular to the target; make sure to stand up right and full of pride. Once you have your stance, take an arrow and place it on the arrow rest, this is called knocking the arrow and prepping it for fire." He took the stance he had explained and took a bow from his quiver, placing it on the arrow rest he had described. He seriously looked like he was about to make some magic with that. "Make sure to use three fingers when pulling back the arrow--index finger above the arrow and middle and ring below the arrow. This is called the Mediterranean draw or "split finger" as some call it. Once you have the fingers correct, raise your bow while pulling back the string in a fluid and quick motion." He quickly made work of the positioning of the arrow and drawing of the bow. "Now, use your dominant eye and focus on nothing but the target. Once the target is in your line of sight, keep your grip tight on the bow and release your finger's quickly so that you won't accidentally cut off your finger."

            He re-did everything he just said, from the eye, to the stance, to the arrow-knock, to the pulling back and lining up, to the actual firing stance. He made it look so easy, like he's done this a million times in which he probably does this every day. He let the arrow soar again through the air, landing perfectly in the line between the yellow and red, not so much a bulls-eye but so close.

            "Easy, simple," he stated then told us to take our own stances.

            To take this class, you had to have a certain level of strength to pull the string back and hold it there while you aimed your bow. If you didn't have that strength then you couldn't participate. Simple.

            I took my place in the back of the two other's with me. As soon as everyone was ready, Coach Vladmir called us to begin shooting. At an instant, a dozen arrows shot forward, some landed a few feet in the ground while others went a little far past the 40 foot mark. Other than that, no one else really got that far.

            The second dozen of students took their stances, some actually finding it hard to string and shoot. Those who struggled fumbled quick and only got their arrows a couple of inches in front of them. Wow. I was really hoping for the best I at least got it a few feet in front of me or something. Rather not shoot and get it just falling down where I had strung it.

            I took my position and breathed out a sigh of anxiety as I strung my bow, but kept it aimed at the ground. I was really not feeling good about this, but I knew I needed to at least prove I could do something.

            "Shoot!" Coach Calvin ordered.

            Immediately a long row of arrows propelled themselves forward, some soared just as far as Coach Calvin's arrow, even more actually imbedded themselves into the target, but it was the blue ring mainly--the ring circling the red. I saw a hint of pleasure go through both of the coaches as they nodded in approval. I was impressed myself as I aimed my bow at the target and pulled the string back.

            "A fluid and quick motion," I thought to myself.

            For some reason, my body felt different. I don't know why, there was this tingling feeling as I began to aim the bow. My body seemed to be moving all on its own, like someone was pupperteering me. No explanation could be said, other than I felt like this was a familiar thing.

I felt my body began to relax and ease up on the stress that I had been working up since the beginning of the day. The muscles in my arms relaxed but kept the string pulled the same way, I felt my sight only focus on the target ahead of me. Nothing else seemed to matter, not even the brightness of the sun. The wind blew from the left in a minor gust, and that's when I moved my bow a little to the left, maybe about an inch or so. I breathed slowly but somehow kept my bow in the same place it was before. I felt calm, collected, and at peace like someone was guiding me from afar, giving me direction.

My only chance at redemption.

With a quick movement, after feeling another gust of wind blow against me, I let the arrow go. It watched as it cut through the air with precision, gliding like it was over water. It made a nice whirr as it began to move in the direction I needed it to go in, making it nicely sink the metal tip into the wooden target.

What made me go stiff again was the fact that it landed in the center of the target, dead center of the bulls-eye. I gulped and stared wide eyed at the target, praying deeply that no one was looking at me like I had just killed a guy. Sadly, once I turned my head, I saw the entire class's eyes on me. They stared in awe, maybe thinking I was even a bigger freak than everyone took me for.

I met Vladmir's eyes and gulped once more. He took off his sunglasses and revealed another surprise that caught me-off guard. It wasn't his or his partner's smile that crept across their faces, of hell no. It was something I had already seen twice today. And it creeped me out every time.

Golden eyes, just like his Digimon partner.

I was too into their eyes to even notice the claps and cheers the others threw my way. I didn't care about their applause, even though a couple were my friends, I kept my gaze on the coaches and gulped for maybe the hundredth time today.

I was ready to die right after P.E. but it wasn't because I was gasping for air or that I was tired (even though I really was). No, I was ready to leave because I wanted those glowing golden eyes off of me. Hendrix...Coach Vladmir...Coach Calvin...who was next? The principle? Man, I was just ready for all my teachers to have those eyes, but I wasn't ready for the same stare they gave me. The stare, single-handedly, had to be the freakiest, creepiest, and most disturbing thing I saw all day.

            Think about the stare a stalker gives you, now multiply that times ten and you get a weird stare that makes quiver.

            I ran out of the P.E. room quickly, not even caring that I left my friends behind. I'm sorry, but I did not want those coaches staring at me with those eyes anymore. I just wanted to get to lunch and forget about those eyes and get something in my stomach. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was before my stomach had begun to growl like a wolf at the end of the lesson.

            I made my way to the lunch room, which was huge of course like everything else here in this preppy-like school.  I grabbed myself one of the school chicken sandwiches, some Sun Chips, and a bottle of water. With that, I set out to find a table, which wasn't hard at all. I saw my usual group of friends clustered around a few rows of tables, talking each other up. I could see a few French fries thrown across the tables with some laughing coming from the thrower.

            I saw Travis and Alexander talking to one another, it didn't look good from that loud in Travis's voice but that was him of course. Shut him up and he just talks louder, I wondered if they used his voice to make blow-horns.

            "You're insane! The Harlem Globe Trotters are the best!" Travis protested to Alexander.

            "Okay, okay," Alexander sighed, his arms were folded across his chest and he sat there with the straightest face and the most. He could make one of the best gamblers ever with that face.

            He saw me and smiled. "Finally, you're here, I thought I was going to be alone during Travis's speech about how great and awesome the Globe Trotters are." He looked to his right, eyeing the other's that sat next to him as they just whistled and now found interest in their water bottles.

            I smiled and seated myself. "Sono con te." I said. (I'm with you.)

            I heard Travis groan. "Ugh! Do I not have support at this table?"

            Alexander laughed. "I guess not, my friend."

            Travis just stuck his tongue out at Alexander, which made us both smile and laugh. I loved it when Alex pushed his buttons.

            I was about to take a bit out of my chicken sandwich but a loud horn stopped me dead in my tracks, making me drop my sandwhich back onto my tray. Either the universe didn't want me to eat or it just hated me. Hmm, I seriously thought it was a little of both, not even kidding.

            The horn made me cover my ears just because it screeched through the room with a thundering echo. Everyone else did the same thing I did, I heard many scream while others groaned loudly. The sound reminded me of lighting, a baby crying, a firetruck blaring its horn, and a bird screeching. It was not at all even remotely close to plesant and it made my ears ring again.

            Once it stopped, we all turned our attention to where the sound came from. There standing was Coach Vladmir and a lady with a Lalamon hovering next to her. The lady was dressed professionally in a black pin-striped suit and black high heels. She had light brown hard that was tied into a perfect bun behind her head while she wore brownish sunglasses. She was shorter than Vladmir was, but she still looked kinda scary. I was relieved to see that she didn't have golden eyes like Vlad did. I wasn't relieved when I saw that his stare was back on me.

            Dude, seriously?

            She smiled and walked forward, speaking as she walked. "This is an announcment to all freshmen and few sophmores, due to our intercom not working properly, I now have the pleasure of telling you all in person about tomorrow." She cleared her throat before going on. "Now, starting tomorrow, all fifteen-year olds who are enrolled her for the semester will be taking the P.D.U. exam. All students of that age will be required to go to first block and take the exam. It will be second block where the exam is finished, whereas all students who take it will be unified with their partners. Do not miss this day, for if you do you will not be able to take this exam again. This is a once in a lifetime opportuinity to bond with your very own personal Digimon that is like you in every way, and I'm sure you want to meet them as badly as they want to meet you.

She turned back and continued to speak again. "All students of that age will need to be at school no later than 8:05 A.M. sharp, so do not be late for the teachers do have the power to keep you from taking this exam. I warn you all to take this exam as serious as possible, answer your questions truthfully with heart, no lying will be tolerater for we do have very long records of you. Any exam that does not fit your said personality will be burned and you will not take the exam.

She stopped and began to speak again. "I expect all students to be here tomorrow at their designated times at their first block classes. Do not be late, that will be my only warning for those who think they can come in late and expect to take this exam. I will not allow it, nor will I tolderate it. Now, please enjoy your lunch."