The Unexpected - Chapter 6: Background Check

             Previously, on the Unexpected, Dexter and Sheila arrived at their college school named the University of Philippines-California. It's one of the most innovative universities due to the sheer chaos of students loitering the hallways with their gadgets and inventions. They both need to get past them before they'll become late for the first class period so Dexter called his best friend, Mark Jackson, for help. Being an innovative gamer he's determined to become, he presented his own creation which is a catapult-in-a-box. He chucked Dexter and Sheila to the end of the hallway without knowing the dangers of the flaw in his plan. Luckily, Dexter is smart enough to patch up his hole in the plan with a few spawns of possibly small chemical balls that explode on contact by throwing it to the lockers at the end of the hallway and turn into a huge blob of goop that acts as a cushion for their impact. It worked but this wasn't Dexter's stop so he used the harness and bounciness of the goop as a trampoline and chucked himself towards the pole, grabbing it and spinning towards the classroom door. He landed safe and sound with style, took his seat just as the teacher arrived. Only to get kicked out of the first period by getting exposed by his best friend's big mouth, what will happen to our main man's school life? Find out right now…

             One hour later… "Well, so much for being punctual", I uttered in disappointment while sitting on a bench outside the principal's office in line with Mark and some students who also got caught bringing their prized possessions in the school hallways. Mark is sitting next to me trying to cheer me up and said, "Hey, don't be mad, Dex. I know I messed up so let me make it up to you." "Do that when we get out of this with a warning or a pardon", I replied. This is not the first time I got sent to the principal's office because of our shenanigans. Way back in elementary, we were such a wacky duo that we were called "The delinquent goofballs" because we cause chaos everyday at school. There was the pipe limbo with a pipe wrench where we limbo under the pressure pipes in the water supply room, spin the caps with a pipe wrench and hold them upright on our chests after passing under them. We kept going because none of us have lost to our own made-up game until the pipes were shaking so violently as water came bursting out of the caps and bolts, and ultimately flooded the school along with us and a lot of students and teachers. Even our P.E. teacher got mad at us because his club sandwich got soaked and ruined by our mischief.

             Then there's junior high when we pulled out all of the metal benches in the gymnasium to have our game of Savage Soldiers, where usually two teams of five players shoot it out on a warfare playing field. However, we are not allowed to bring any firearms, even just toys or replicas so we settled with slingshots. We also brought our gear like soldiers and we improvised them with the stuff we get from our garages like my dad's paint cans, tools from his toolbox, and other stuff. Heck, I even brought one of his flex ratchets to use as a throwing knife but it's too dangerous since it can be considered as a deadly weapon so I kept it in my bag. For our slingshot ammo, remember the chemical balls I made and used an hour ago? Well, I used bubble gumballs we bought from a candy store. Delicious, chewy, and very sticky when hit on impact at high speeds. We were having fun shooting each other out until we accidentally hit one of the hanging lights when trying to use an improvised explosive made by a small paint can and a firecracker at the gymnasium rooftop ceiling which got knocked down and broke it. It also short-circuited the wires connected to the hanging light and started a fire. We were in a panic because not only did we create a massive mess in the gymnasium, but we are also destroying school property. We tried to react as quickly as we could by sounding the fire alarm but we forgot to clean up our mess before that, not to mention ourselves drenched in paint from our shootout. We hid ourselves inside the vaulting horse boxes or "Tobibako" in Japanese before the firefighters came to extinguish the fire. We took this opportunity to flee the crime scene undetected but Mark left a trail of paint drops and  footprints because he was hit mostly on the legs, and the paint was still wet so the gym teacher noticed the trail after going back inside the school building to check on the students who are left behind and caught us red-handed for destruction of school property. I was  suspended for a few months which was lucky because my parents were brilliant lawyers and not the corrupt kind. They know how to negotiate with the principal who was about to expel the both of us. As for Mark, well I guess you could say he wasn't so lucky because his dad was on vacation and his mom wasn't around. I never met his mom once and I'm not sure where she went. Mark's dad is always busy with work and he never had time with him other than video calls so he's been taken care of by his grandmother. He dropped out of junior high and resorted to homeschooling which explains his ample time playing video games. As for me, I know I wasn't off the hook without a punishment so my parents put me on ice by writing an apology letter to the school principal and took extracurricular activities to make up for the damages they paid on school property.

             After I graduated high school, my parents booted me out of the house to become more responsible and I'm glad I did because I get to see how serious life is  in the outside world. But before that, my parents thought that kicking me out was a bad idea because all I did was cause chaos but they cannot treat me as a lost cause since I'm a top student, after all. So they decided on letting me stay at an apartment nearest to my college university. That sounds a little bit redundant, don't you think? Anyway, they also left me an allowance that can make me survive a whole year. Don't get me wrong, we are not that super rich. My mom is a court defense attorney while my dad is a tax attorney. In terms of corporate negotiations or just corporate stuff, he can handle them and I learned a lot about what it's like working in big companies from him. As for my mom, she's here to reveal the truth behind every case she encounters. No matter how convoluted the cases are of her clients, she knows how to solve them and save them if they're purely innocent. If they are guilty however, she just throws them under the bus. The truth would either set you free or to jail from her which is why I learned not to lie about my stories to my mom, ever. They are really smart and I gotta say, I'm proud to receive their genes despite the harsh disciplinary actions they gave me. Even my dad cannot win an argument against my mom because she's a real lie detector, kinda like someone I know and suspect. It starts with an A and-- OW! That hurt, I think I got a hit in the noggin. Where was I again? Oh right, so my parents left me an allowance to survive my first year in college. They enrolled me in the University of Philippines-California where it accepts chaotic students but not too chaotic. They've seen my highly energetic potential and decided that this would be a perfect fit for me in college if I plan to study and live alone, and they were right and wrong. I can handle myself quite fairly and survive but at the cost of my habit of buying video game titles and consoles. I'm also a collector who has a thing with nostalgia so I bought a bunch of old games and consoles I've played on before. Because of that, I'm about to go broke and that's why I decided to look for a job that's not run by big companies. Dad always wanted me to not work there because most of them are corrupt and would always screw fresh and underpaid workers like the speck of dust they are. I went to my calling and picked a job that focuses on gaming but found A.L.E.X.I.S.'s job advertisement. Hence, the present day.

             Oh, did I forget about Mark? Yeah, you're right. So, how did Mark get to college with me? Well, he found a scholarship advertisement for students who got expelled. It's kind of a big coincidence, don't you think? Many applied there but they were all rejected for faking to be expelled, except for Mark. He managed to pay his enrollment fees and has his tuition fees covered but he has to pass every year until he graduates, which means he has to pass every exam. Yup, this guy, a flunker, will have to deal with me, his best friend, to teach him to survive college. This is going to be tough, for me obviously. I wouldn't mind, honestly. As long as we're together, we can graduate college, get a degree, and enjoy our lives to the fullest!

             Also, did you hear something? It sounds like someone's shouting to me saying "Um, Dex? Snap out of it!" Suddenly, Mark slapped Dexter in the face followed by another talking. "Get a grip, dude! The principal's waiting for you inside." I replied in dumbfounded astonishment, "Oh, I forgot about that. I guess I'll see you at lunch then." Mark replied back, "Yeah, see you then! Don't get your face slapped again staring into space, you hear me?!" And he left me as he went back to class. Looks like I'm next for interrogation, what's gonna happen to me now?

             To be continued...