Hello hello everyone! This is my first piece of writing that I will be putting up here on fictionpress! This was originally a piece written for my writer's craft class so that's why I don't mind putting this particular work up on the internet. I'm not planning for it to be published. Please excuse the lame title as I am one who cannot come up with a decent and/or coherent title for any of my writing! Also, I spaced it as you would see in a novel , my teacher hated to have spaces between paragraphs like most people do on and here. So as they say...deal with it! And now for something completely different. PLEASE REVIEW!!

Night of the not so living dead!

"Slam!" Books, papers, and other school supplies soared through the air. Sam fell backward to the hard floor onto his backside.

"Ouch!"

The hallway was filled to the brim with students, all of whom carved a path around the fallen boy. Sam scampered up gathering his binders and school paraphenalia.

"You should be careful Sam," a voice came from beside him.

A tanned hand reached out and began picking up the remaining sheets of paper. Sam looked over-it was Daniel; Dan for short.

"You're a real klutz you know," Daniel handed him the small stack of supplies.

Sam brushed his wild chesnut hair from his eyes with the hand not holding the books.

"Don't rub it in."

They stood up in order to prevent a disaster in which the two of them were trampled by a crowd of people.

Sam had all the grace of a newborn colt and the appearance to match. Everyday held a new door, wall, pole or person to run into. It had nothing to do with his clothing either which consisted of khaki shorts, a bright t-shirt and white trainers. So much for my lucky shoes Sam thought to himself tucking his hair behind his ear again so it wouldn't hang in his eyes like it always did. He had to see so he wouldn't walk into things.

"Did you do the homework from math class?" Dan pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

A shake of his head sent Sam's hair into a frenzy that nearly blinded him.

"I forgot. Can I copy off of you?"

"You're gonna owe me," Dan sighed, "again."

Daniel's auburn hair stuck up like he had just rolled out of bed and came to school without so much as brushing it. His eyes were like cold grey stones framed by charcoal glasses. Dan's skin made Sam think of going on vacation-it was always tan. His clothing fit well, the pants and shirt didn't hang off of him like Sam's did. Today he was dressed in a white kangaroo jacket with a quote from a funny but offensive television show scrawled across the chest and a pair of faded blue jeans.

"I have soccer practice so I can't play video games today," Dan glanced at the clock overhead as they passed by.

"I know already! It's Tuesday. Tuesday equals soccer practice. I get it."

"Sometimes I'm not so sure."

The bell rang-the fifteen minute break in the morning was over. Class would begin in five minutes.

The classes at Midtown High School were each one hour long and fifteen minutes with five minutes in between. School ended at three o' clock sharp-almost half an hour later than every other school in the district. Sam had math, art, lunch, gym and english like most of the rest of his peers. He and Dan had lunch, math and gym class together.

The two boys made their way down the hallway to class. Kids from older grades cajoled them as they walked past; they had pantsed Sam at least four times in the first week alone; nobody bothered Dan.

Sam and Dan sat down in their assigned seats beside each other. As Sam copied his friend's homework their classmates entered the room and made a mess of everything.

Books flew off the desk making a smacking sound as they fell to the ground by Sam's feet. Every time he bent to pick them up again the class tough guy knocked them away again.

Lank, dark hair hung in a dirty curtain across one of the sunken eyes and pallid skin. Barry was a hulking monster whom's voice sounded like a cross between a soprano opera singer and gravel in a blender. He always wore barry pants and a variety of grease stained t-shirts.

"S'wrong Sammy? Can't do yer work?" Barry laughed and punched Sam in the shoulder.

"Shut up and leave him alone Barry," Dan slammed his hand on the desk.

The height difference between Daniel and Barry was such that the red head had to look up to talk with Barry. Sam was minutely taller than Dan but even he was dwarfed in comparison next to the colossus.

"And what're you goin' t'do about it you four eyed toad?"

Daggers pierced the air as the two warring teens glared at one another. The class was chanting "fight! Fight! Fight!" but nobody dared move. Out of the blue the teacher stepped into the classroom halting all activity. For now.

The class dragged on pulling all present into the warm embrace of slumber. Sam was resting his head on his desk. The cool wood of surface pressed against his cheek. Dan was chucking little pieces of paper at him, the brunette had a growing pile of tiny balls of paper covering his work table.

Sam picked up one of the misshapen spheres and flattened it out on his desk. It cheerfully ordered him, in Dan's neat printing, to wake up. He ignored it and went back to his nap.

By the time class ended San had a veritable paper bank around his arms. He swept it onto the floor and fled the scene with Dan trailing behind. Probably to clean up the mess he made Sam mused as he leaned against the doorframe.

"You are slo-ow Dan. Hurry up!" the brown haired boy stuck his head into the classroom.

Dan grumbled as he threw the paper away and gathered up his books.

"Maybe if you helped it wouldn't have taken so long."

Sam moved to assist his friend but tripped over his own feet sending himself falling to ground. At least this time his books hadn't flown everywhere. He got to his feet.

"You'll be late for art class if you wait!" Dan gave the brown haired teen a push.

Luckily Sam didn't trip this time and actually managed a shrug.

"Oh well."

By the time lunch rolled around Sam's stomach was growling like a caged animal. Daniel wasn't faring much better. Regardless, they brought their bagged lunches to the cafeterua and sat in their usual spot right by the doors.

The two devoured their food within ten minutes depsite the fact that the entire lunch area was full, loud, and people kept coming over to talk to Dan. In just half a year Dan had been prmoted to one of the most popular guys in school; he was always going out with friends and girls always asked him out. Even now another girl was fast approaching, sliding through the gaggle of teenagers toward the pair of boys. Sam bit back a groan. Girls always cried and tried to convince people to do what they wanted-it was annoying.

"Can I talk to you Daniel?" she was pretty. Long eyelashes and short brown hair with a slim figure-to say Sam was jealous was the understatment of the century.

Dan turned his steely eyed gaze on her but shrugged, "yeah."

"Would you...you know, go out with me?"

Sam could predict what she would say if she was accepted or rejected. The reaction was always the same.

"I'm not really interested in relationships right now," Dan stared at her in a way that always meant business-girls never argued with that look.

"O-oh. O-okay. Well...bye!"

The entire two second conversation annoyed Sam. It was irritating to see Dan just flout every single attempt a girl made to date him especially since no girl ever asked Sam out.

"Uh...You're just not...confident enough you know?" they always said that. Yeah right Sam thought to himself.

In any case Dan largely acted as though he hadn't just been asked out for the millionth time this month, he just went back to talking about the video game he was playing.

"You really are annoying you know," Sam rested his chin in his hands with a sigh.

"Am I? Why is that?"

"Because you just...are."

Dan shrugged, "are you jealous or something?"

"No! Why would I be?!"

"'Cause you secretly love me and can't bear to see a girl ask me out," the red head grinned even as Sam reached over and knocked the empty waterbottle sitting on the table into his face.

"You wish."

The chesire cat smile didn't falter-Dan looked quite proud of himself. Sam just scowled in return.

"I have to go to the library," announced Dan as he started to stand up.

"Yeah whatever. Go yourself."

He would punch the other boy if he wasn't so sure that Dan could beat him in a fist fight. But he doubted that his friend would ever hit him back. Instead Sam just made faces at the quickly disapearing figure of Dan.

The red headed boy was gone for the rest of lunch and they didn't walk home together and Dan didn't call after soccer practice like he usually did. Fine. Don't call me. You're the one who always calls me anyway so fine Sam was reading comic books and turning the pages so quickly one of them ripped. Stupid Dan. Does he have any idea how many rumours that could start?!

As he finished reading the last of his new comics and was just starting to play some video games the power winked out. It's not even storming...Sam blinked a few times to get his eyes adjusted to the now blackened room. He groped around blindly, acutely aware of the fact that he was home alone without a flashlight. If he could just find his beside-"crack!" Well at least now he had found his night stand.

Sam reached into the drawer and pulled out the penlight he kept in there so he could read comic books at night. He twisted the top of the tube but no life saving beam of light was emitted from the end. What?! I just changed the batteries yesterday! He smashed the side of the cylinder a few times but still there was no heavenly light. Sam gave up on the flashlight and crawled towards the bedroom door when out of the darkness..."scratch.Scratch. Scratch."

The sound was coming from outside his house. From right outside his window. He wasn't about to turn around and look to see what was making that noise! "Scratch. Scratch. Scratch." A tremor ran through his body, his hands found the door and his legs pushed him upward. He was standing now but there was still no light.

"What is going on?!" Sam cried aloud.

The hall was an empty tunnel leading to who-knew-where. He stared into the darkness. Even if there was nothing there other than carpet and doors leading to other rooms entering the portal was impossible.

But Sam stumbled a few times but didn't fall. He kept a hand on the wet wallpaper. The boy yanked his hand away as the tinny stench of blood clogged his nostrils. This time he jumped away and tripped on an object lying in the middle of the floor. He fell. A sharp pain that diminished after a moment shot through his shoulder as it connected with the wall behind him.

"Ow! Stupid wall!"

He finally had a destination in mind after lingering in the hall for a few minutes-the basement. The epitome of darkness, evil and all things of a scary nature. But that was where, in every scary movie he had seen, the circut breaker was. Mom and Dad will murder me if they come home and all the lights are off... he tried to think happy thoughts. Like how he had almost beat that game he and Dan had been playing but fear still clawed at him.

"Saaaammmm," the ghostly voice called from downstairs.

"Oh nooo!" he wailed covering his ears with his hands.

There's a ghost downstairs, blood oozing from my walls, and something scratching at my bedroom window! How could this get any worse?!

"BANG! BANG! BANG!" hollered the front door.

He jumped with every knock but managed to get to his feet even though his legs felt like rubber. Sam had to go downstairs, he had to stand up for himself and he had to get the lights turned back on before his parents came home!

He shivered-it was suddenly cold. Didn't the TV say that's a sign that a ghost is around?! Sam moaned but kept moving forward. While his parents were at work it was his responsibilty to keep the house neat, tidy and most of all, free of ghosts. Even so, the sound of his own socks making a shuffling sound on the ground as he walked made him wary. Sweat was rolling down his face and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end like a cat's.

"Sam," the breathy voice sounded like it was whispering to him.

He peered out from behind his veil of long hair to see, at the end of the hallways, in the bathroom, a white, misty...thing dancing towards him!

"AHHHH!" he screeched and took off running down the rest of the corridor, slid down the stairs and into the front hall.

His heart was pounding so hard it sounded like the front door being knocked on and he was breathing heavily. He held a shaking hand to his chest as he sunk to the floor with his back pressed against a wall. There was no more banging coming from the door and no more ghostly voices luckily.

Finally Sam was able to get to his feet and move into the living room which held their couch, sitting chairs and a coffee table; Sam didn't trip over anything this time. There was a large window in the front of the room, right now the curtains were obscuring the outside. Sam made his way over and pulled them away to reveal...nothing.

"Wha-at?! The lights are on everywhere else!"

He squared his thin shoulders; there was no way he was going to let ghosts and monsters turn off his lights and no one else's. It wasn't fair. What am I, a Grade Eight? This is not over!

Sam stormed over towards the door that would lead him to the final battlefield. The basement. He threw open the squealing door and glared into the black abyss. Sam stomped down the stairs like a stampeding elephant. I guess I shoulda brought some candles... Seeing as he was in no way a bat or a radar machine he stomped back up the stairs, found some candles in the kitchen and returned to the battleground. How am I supposed to see if I don't light them? I didn't bring any matches... Again he walked up the stairs giving up on the loud stamping and found a book of matches again in the kitchen. He prepared to fight valiantly against the ghouls and ghosts.

He struck a match and lit his candle. A small aura of light encircled him, dimly illuminating the surrounding area. His old hockey stick was propped against a wall; he hadn't played hockey very long. Pucks flying at his face going one hundred miles an hour wasn't his idea of fun. Sam walked on. He saw the year old football sitting on a pile of baseballs, soccer balls and hockey equipment all caked in dust.

Sam half expected to find a myriad of monster but instead he only saw things from his past. Packed away in boxes. And the circut box hanging on the wall, lonely and grey.

He was flicking switches in rapid succession but nothing was working yet. Candle wax was falling to the floor with a hollow "drip." Why aren't any of these working?I'll just have to stick with it... Sam thought to himself.

Finally a whirring sound echoed throughout the house as the power turned back on. Light poured from the doorway and cascaded into the blackness in a waterfall. He ran upstairs-was it really real? It was like entering what people described as heaven and it took all his willpower not to fall to his knees and cry like a baby. How do you like that?!

"Huh? I beat you stupid ghosts, I'm not a chicken!"

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

He didn't jump or run away. He answered the door.

Dan stared at him from outside like he had had second thoughts about knocking. Sam just grinned at him and tried not to let on that he had actually been afraid of the door just not too long ago.

"What is it?" Sam remained calm.

"Huh? Oh, the lights were off in your house...I knocked earlier and I called but I just got the voicemail I guess. Is everything okay?"

Sam let his friend in and flipped on a few of the lights that had stayed off in the living room. He glanced at the answering machine-one new message. Huh. That's weird...The power was off.

"Everything's fine!" he finally answered.

"It won't be if you don't do the homework from math class," Dan sighed.

"I was just about to do it actually..."

Dan raised his eyebrows, "what a surprise, did you get abducted by aliens or something?"

"Yeah, right."

Sam was walking down the hallway at school when he spotted a kid not unlike himself picking up scattered school supplies. He stopped amid the river of people and bent down to pick up a few remaining items and handing them to the person. He walked away and caught up to Dan whom was just down the hall waiting for him outside of their first period class. Barry was already there. Waiting to send his books flying.

Sam set his binder and textbook down and looked at the kid, who wasn't that much taller than Sam after all. Barry stared back for a minute before knocking the books off the desk.

"What is-"

"Pick them up," Sam friend cut his friend off and stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Wh-what?!" Barry managed to sputter out like a dying car.

"You knocked them off, you can pick them up," Sam stood his ground.

The monster off a boy bent down and scooped up the books from the floor. He handed them to Sam.

"Thanks," Sam grinned. He didn't think Barry would be giving him any more trouble.

The teacher strode into the classroom and prepared to start the lesson. Sam opened his books and prepared to listen. Math is my worst subject so I guess I should try to pay attention...

As he and Dan walked home there was a loud "thump". Dan was on the ground his glasses askew and his backpack had miraculously flipped over his head and was resting on the sidewalk next to him.

"Ow! I guess I caught some of your clumsy germs," Dan fixed his glasses and laughed.

"I guess so."

Dan got to his feet and bent to retrieve his knapsack. Sam snatched it from under his nose and slung it onto his other shoulder with a grin.

"Wouldn't want you to break something butterfingers."

"Yeah yeah."

Sam messed up the already mussed red hair on Dan's head just because he was way taller than his friend. And they headed for his house with the faulty wiring, the tree that hid Sam's room from prying eyes and of course, the bathroom with the sheer white curtains that danced in the wind.