Chapter 1-It's Nice to Dream

Mike woke up as same as any other morning, when he would wake up five minutes before his alarm would go off and annoy him to no end. He would lay there and hope that his five minutes wouldn't go away, so that he could rest and dream again. But his time would be up before he knew it, and it ring its annoying ring, that would make him cringe even if he heard it on TV. He would get up and get ready for school, wishing that school itself could go this fast. He would ride his bike to school, put it in the bike rack, pick up his books from his locker, and go to home room.

This is what Mike was thinking about right now in his English class. It was his last class and he was bored since all he had to do was a 50 point essay about perspective or something like that. He was broken out of his stupor when his teacher yelled to the class, "Ten minutes left!" "Oh crap!" Mike whispered to himself and frantically started writing anything that came into his mind about perspective. The bell then rang a few minutes later, so Mike put on his name on the paper and gave it to the teacher on the way out.

He was heading to his bike rack when his friend Nick came up to him. "Hey." Mike said to him, and so did his friend. They started talking, like how Nick had summer school and how Mike had scraped by. "I can see how I failed, but you almost failed. You, who had As and Bs all through school until you came here. What happened dude? Everybody who knows you is always surprised when they hear you have Ds and Cs." Mike already knew the answer to this question. Nick asked him this whenever he could. "I've already told you about, what now, 104 or 5 times? People always knew me as the smart one, someone they could copy their homework off of if they didn't do it. It made me feel used. I like being average anyway." Mike answered to him. They were at the bike racks now, so they got on their bikes and started riding their bikes home.

They were quiet while they were riding. When they got to the street that would make them go separate ways, Nick stopped and said "Hold on." Mike stopped, and Nick said "When you get home, go onto . I saw their ad last night on Adult Swim. It's supposed to be a show where 20 kids compete for 100 thousand dollars or something like that, and they're accepting sign-ups right now. The website explains it a bit more. I signed up for it last night, and you should too, not that anyone will probably pick us." "Yeah. I've never been picked for anything important, but I'll probably sign up anyway. It's nice to dream." Mike laughed and then said, "I'll see you later, alright." "Yeah, see yea." Nick said, and rode away to his home.

Mike rode away to his house too. When he got to his house he opened his garage door and put his bike away, then he went inside his house. He got a frozen hot pocket, put in the microwave, got out his homework, and started working on it. "Michael. Are you doing your homework?" his Mom asked him from up the stairs. "Yeah, Mom." Mike answered monotonously, and tried to work on his homework. His microwave dinged, so he instead got his hot pocket and started eating that instead, while thinking about what him and Nick were talking about. Mainly about that competition Nick told him about.

Mike wondered why Nick had told him about it. Nick was usually pessimistic about things like that. Him and Nick were always signing up for things they enjoyed, even if it was only semi-likable, but they never seemed to get into anything. Lately, Nick didn't seem to care about anything, even if it was fun. Also, Mike thought it was kinda random that Nick told him that when he was about to leave, almost as if he didn't want to tell him and thought against it at the last moment.

Mike looked at the clock and saw it was already 3:26. Almost an entire hour had gone by and Mike had barely started on his homework. He pushed Nick and his crazy ideas out of his mind and worked as fast as he could on his homework. The garage door opened, so he knew his Dad had brought home Mike's little brother John from school. Mike started to just not show his work on his math so that he could work faster. It worked, because he had already gone halfway through on his work when his Dad and John came through the door and Mike's Mom came downstairs. "Are you done yet Mike?" his Mom asked him. "Almost." He replied, even though he had an essay to write as well, but he was just going to do it tomorrow. Mike sped up on his math and finished it in ten minutes.

He was planning to go play Call of Duty, but instead asked his Mom if he could instead go sign-up for the game show Nick told him about instead. His Mom asked him if it was going to need personal information, so Mike said probably. His Mom sighed, but his Dad said it was ok. Mike looked at his Dad and could tell by his face that he was just humoring him. Mike knew that he more than likely wasn't going to be picked, but Mike was just going to do it to humor Nick as well.

He got on the computer and typed in the search bar what his friend had told him. He found the site and it told him all the information he needed. It said, "The new and upcoming show, 20 Kids, 100 Gs, is a show where 20 teenagers aged 13 to 17 are given a chance to win 100 thousand dollars by competing in various challenges on a deserted college grounds in Washington D.C.. The challenges will be for reward and invincibility from being voted out of the game. Every three days, the competitors who do not get invincibility have a chance of being voted out of the game by either their teammates or other competitors in the game, depending how far the game has progressed. At the beginning, there will be two teams of ten on each side. Losing teams vote someone out of the game, winners don't. At some point in the game there will be a merge of the teams, meaning that most of that time afterward invincibility will become a solo use. Solo invincibility can be given to others, but that means that person can have a chance of being voted out instead. This goes on until three are left, where everyone who was voted out decides who shouldn't go on to the final two. At the end, the final two battle it out in one huge challenge for the 100 thousand dollars. Do you think you have what it takes? Sign up at the link below and try it out now!"

Just reading that made Mike feel pumped up from it and thought that if he got on it he could possibly win. Mike clicked on the link to sign up and was brought to a profile page to put in his information. He filled it out and it read like this:

Name: Michael Huerra

Age: 15

Parents: Bill and Alisa Huerra

Siblings: John Huerra

City/State: San Francisco, California

Zip Code: 94101 (He had to look this one up.)

Address: 879 Coldthrow St.

Where you heard about 20 Kids, 100 Gs: My friend.

Reason you're signing up for 20 Kids, 100 Gs: When I first heard about this show from my friend, I was thinking that there is no way I could be picked. But now, I believe that there is a small chance that I can be picked. I need to win this so I can help pay off the bills here at my house. Because of how bad the market is, the loan on the house is more than the house is worth. The money would help out a lot at the house. We wouldn't have to worry anymore if we couldn't afford the bills anymore, because the 100 thousand dollars would get rid of that fear.

Why you think you should be picked: I think I should be picked because the money would help out a lot back at home. Plus, this is like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never been picked for something close to being special, and this would be a great life experience for me. I know that probably thousands of others have probably already said it, but I think that I mean it more than them. I would play the game good, and not be one of those idiots who try to win the game from day one. I would play with strategy, and I know that people who watch these kind of shows always end up liking the person who knows when to play their moves right. And also when people argue. I will more than likely be parts of arguments, but I will not start playing dirty and become the hated one on the show. Picking me would be a great idea, but you choose who you think would make this game famous the most. I am one those people, and I think I should be on this show.

Mike was satisfied with what he wrote, so he submitted it. His parents called him down for dinner. It was spaghetti with garlic bread. He ate, washed his plate, thanked them for dinner, and played Call of Duty until John came, then they did multi player for a couple hours until it was time for them to go to bed. Mike fell asleep fast.

For the next few months, except for the signing up for the show, everything happened nearly the exact same way. He was bored with school the whole time and forgot all about the game, since he thought he knew he wasn't going to be picked. The last day of school he talked with Nick and then went home. He hadn't failed any classes, but he sure didn't ace them. When he got home his regular weekend routine was transformed into a summer routine, which was sleep, eat, computer, Call of Duty, eat, sleep. At least it was for a couple days. He was playing Call of Duty when his door bell rang. He paused his game and opened the door. People with cameras were there along with someone he recognized, that he had seen before. He asked Mike, "Are you Michael Huerra?" Mike answered in awe, "Yes." So the man said, "I'm from the CBS channel, where 20 Kids, 100 Gs will be broadcasted on. We read your submission and decided that you should be on the show." Mike was just staring in awe. He couldn't believe it. He was picked to possibly win 100 thousand dollars on a game show! "Michael! Who's at the door?" his Mom yelled from upstairs.