Story-Portal

I got into some major trouble when I was a sophomore in high school. I lived in an apartment building near downtown Seattle with my mom. Dad had taken off when I was born, pretty much, and Mom did what she could. She worked long hours and kept up with most of the bills thanks to government aid and such.
I wasn't exactly a hellion, but I sure wasn't an angel. I was in trouble pretty often. I hung around with these guys from the apartment building, three older than me, two younger than me, in a sort of gang. We didn't do serious things, just stupid stuff we thought would prove how manly we were.
Well, one time the next-to-oldest of us got this stupid idea, and we broke into a construction site and one of the oldest guys hotwired a backhoe. We all hopped on and he ended up driving it right through the fence and then the guard shack and then into a couple of cars parked across the street. That was where a couple of us fell off of it. He kept it going but not far. I broke a leg and sprained that ankle and knee, and my back. I couldn't even get up to run, and when the cops showed up I was easy pickings. So was the other guy who fell off and broke his ankle and his arm and had a concussion.
Long story short, after I was treated at the hospital, I was put on home detention and had to wear an ankle transmitter. With a broken leg and sprains I wasn't going anywhere anyway.
It was during the school year, so now I was going to end up way behind. I was already a crappy student and not much above failing. So now I was pretty much doomed to repeating sophomore year. All of my friends were involved with our little caper and were either in jail - the ones who were 18 - or on home detention just like me. Screwed. But I'd done it to myself.
So, about two weeks into my home detention, with Mom scolding me every day, it was about as close to hell as I'd ever experienced. No weed, no other drugs, nothing to do, no one to do anything with... And it was agony getting up to go to the bathroom, and the doctor had been sure to give me the mildest painkillers he could. I couldn't even get a drink from the kitchen without agony.
Then, one day, there's a knock on the door. I decided to let them knock until they went away. They didn't. So I hobbled my way to the front door, pissed as hell, and opened it to see a dork from school standing there. I wasn't even sure of his name. He was just one of the dorky dudes as far as I was concerned.
"I brought your homework," he said, holding out a really old backpack.
"Thanks," and I moved to shut the door without taking it.
"Wanna repeat sophomore year?" he asked as I closed the door.
Well, fuck. I opened the door and looked at him, then asked, "So, what. You're here to save me, or something like that?"
"Something like that," he said. "I asked, and I'll get extra-credits for tutoring you, if you can keep from flunking out of tenth grade."
Figures. Do-gooder. Well, I really needed the help.