After a few years, I figured out how to get my GED. Mostly to get out of being tortured by Judah for 4 more years. After I got out of high school, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do.
"Do I start applying for colleges or do I have to wait?" I thought to myself. I opened my laptop and opened the Google search engine. I began typing into the search bar "How to get into a good college." Various websites popped up, showing lists of the requirements needed and how to apply. "applying for something like Harvard is going to be hard and expensive. I need to go towards smaller colleges." I thought.
An email prompted in front of me, interrupting my thoughts.
"Dear Mike Schmidt,
You have been accepted by Stanford University on a scholarship! You will be presented with more info once you have accepted and completed the form below. We hope that you accept our offer and have a great rest of your day!
Sincerely, Jonathan Anthony Levin."
"Stanford University?! That's one of the most prestigious schools! And they are asking for me?" I thought to myself, barely able to contain my excitement. I didn't even bother mentioning this to my foster parents, they most likely try to ruin it. Even though I had a scholarship from them, how am I going to get there?
"I mean I took an SAT but that was the beginning of high school, how am I qualified?" I thought. I clicked the form below which answered my questions. The form displayed the admissions test as well as the SAT scores I did in high school before I got out. I tested pretty high, especially in the robotics area.
"Dang, I got a 1600 SAT score. I'm not sure if that's good." I thought. "it even says I'm first in line to get enrolled into Stanford University." I said loudly. After reviewing my results, I emailed Stanford University back with an admission form for engineering. Then one thought struck me.
"When did I even apply to the college?" I said, whispering to myself. Another thought struck me.
"How am I going to get there?" I have a car but the university is located in Silicon Valley.
"Well, I do have some money from doing some odd jobs." I thought to myself. "Honestly, it might be enough." I snapped out of my thoughts and began packing up my stuff from my room. There was a knock on my door.
"yeah?" I said, stuffing a few T-shirts in a bag.
My foster dad opened the door with my foster mom behind him. "Hey, I wanted to say, we are kicking you out." He said coldly. "You are taking up too much of our time and money and you're a nuisance." He added.
"that's ok," I said, putting my laptop in my bag carefully. I looked at him and smiled. "I've been accepted by Stanford University on scholarship, so I don't need to rely on you anymore."
"Well, just in a nick of time," he said. "you'll be gone, finally."
"I know but I'll go to college unlike you," I said, brushing past him and my foster mom.
"Excuse me?" he said, offended.
"You heard me, Dave," I said, grabbing my keys and heading towards the door.
"Now you listen to her-"I closed the door before he could even finish his sentence and got inside the car. "Time to start a new journey," I said, putting the car into reverse.
A couple of months later
Beep. Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Click.
I hit snooze on my alarm clock. 7:30 AM, it read. I began with my morning routine: working out, showering, brushing my teeth, and eating breakfast. I always made sure to finish before Dad got up, It was a habit that never left me. The few past months have been hard, nobody wanted to hire a 15-year-old to do work around here so I had to do a lot of labor-intense or odd jobs. I finally managed to keep afloat but looking for jobs isn't as easy as I thought. Aside from that, I have finally been able to get to Stanford University. At first, many people were confused as to why a 15-year-old was walking around campus and acting as if he belonged there but they learned to just accept it and crown me the youngest student to step foot in a college like this.
I always ensured I was never late to class and finished my work early or on time. This time, my school experience was different. Teachers loved me for my outstanding work, I made a couple of friends, and everything was quite peaceful with the bullying aspect. My only problem was money. I've been looking up ways to make money or just apply for jobs in general.
"Wow." I thought, "There are many ways to make money even staying at home, some of these positions are good, starting at 28 dollars an hour but I have to get my certifications, which everything costs money".
I then saw an Ad for a guard needed at a pizzeria, I looked at photos of the place and the name seemed strangely familiar
"Have I been here before?" I thought.
I clicked on the ad and it read.
"Pay starting at 18 dollars an hour! No experience is needed!"
"No experience you say?" I thought to myself. I signed up for the job and a prompt came on the computer screen.
"The owner of this ad will contact you sooner or later, thank you for applying!"
"Alright, I guess." I thought as I closed my laptop screen. I got ready for my class and started to head out when I got a message on my phone.
"You've been hired! Contact us as soon as possible to discuss the hours and location" The message read.
"Damn, must be desperate, but it'll have to wait till after school," I said as I started to head for my lecture…
I was in a robotics lecture, staring blankly in front of me, It is my favorite subject area due to the fact I did so well in it but more importantly, I've grown very interested and fond of it. However, the photos of the restaurant still rest in my mind.
"The place seems familiar, but I can't grasp what it is," I thought to myself.
"And those are 7 ways servos can lock up." The professor said, interrupting my thoughts.
"In summary, dust, overheating, the bearing, overloading, or winding can be the main causes of why servos lock up. Now, your project for the week is to study and use servos in a robot with a research report on why servos are commonly used in today's world. That's all, class dismissed." The professor concluded.
I snapped out of my daydream state, gathered my books and papers, stuffed them in my bag, and headed out.
"I think I can laze on it until Wednesday, it's not that hard to do." I thought as I walked past the popular girls who were chattering nearby.
"Hey!" one of them yelled out, I kept walking, thinking it was for someone else. "Hey, you, in the blue t-shirt!" she said. Hearing "blue t-shirt" stopped me in my tracks.
I turned to her. "Yeah?" I asked. She wore a white tank top, with those fuzzy dress pants. She looked like every frat girl with their Stanley cups and knick-knacks.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come to my party later tonight?" she asked, blushing slightly and biting her nails shyly.
I thought about it for a moment, "a girl asking me to come to a party? That's rare." I thought to myself. I remembered that I had a job interview to attend and studies to focus on. And usually, parties with frat guys and girls end badly.
Although she was very attractive, I still didn't fall for the trap.
"Sorry, but I can't" I responded, declining politely. "I have to study for this exam coming. I also have a job interview."
"Can't you just skip one day?" She said, making a sort of puppy-eyed face.
"As I said before, I have to study for this exam and a job to go to, besides, I think my future is more important than a party," I said, smiling at her.
"Thanks for the invitation though!" I said, walking away.
"Ugh, whatever. Your loss" she said, rolling her eyes. Her attitude changed. I ignored her and headed back to my dorm. I closed the door behind me and threw my backpack at my chair. I did not want to go to some random party, I'm such an introvert.
"Finally, home at last," I thought to myself. I sat on my couch and turned on my phone. I began dialing the number to contact the company that hired me earlier today. It rang two times before they answered my call.
"Hello?" I said, waiting for an answer. There was silence on the other side of the phone until I heard a man on the other side respond.
"Hello! Are you the person that I hired today?" he asked in a formal voice.
"Yes sir, I am," I responded politely.
"Good, my name is Henry Emily, but you can just uh, call me Henry. I'm the co-founder of this restaurant and the founder of this place is named William Afton. What's your name?" he asked.
"My name is Mike Schmidt, I'm currently in college but I'm here to get some money since I have spare time and necessities to pay" I replied. I started rubbing my knees in the process, due to nervousness.
"Ahh Mr. Schmid- "he paused for a second then spoke again. "You said your name is Mike Schmidt?" He asked again.
"Yes Mr. Henry" I responded politely. "Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"No. not at all, just curious. Uh anyways, the pay starts at 18 dollars an hour and your job here is just to watch the place and ensure nothing is being messed with. Should be nice and simple." He added.
"Alright sounds good, where are you guys located? And when do I start?" I asked.
"Oh, right. Uh, we've been needing a night guard for quite some time now, I guess you could start today, let's see, perhaps midnight?" He asked with hopefulness evident in his voice.
"Uh, it's a little tight but I think I can make it work," I said, with a confident tone.
"Alright, well you got the job then, you can uh, clock out at 6:00 AM and be on your way, I'd suggest getting some sleep right now actually but I uh, I'm not going to tell you what to do you know." He said sounding a bit nervous, but I shrugged it off.
"Sure, and who's going to train me?" I asked.
"Oh right, uh. There will be pre-recorded messages on the phone that train you for each night, but I uh, doubt there will be anything serious. Mr. Afton should be there to give you the keys but I'm not sure about that part, he's a busy man sometimes." Henry spoke.
"Oh okay, well I'll be there at midnight tonight," I spoke.
"Excellent, you have a good rest of your day, or I guess your night." He laughed awkwardly. He hung up the phone and I sat there, excited that I got a job, I headed to my bed to prepare for my new job. I set my alarm for nearly midnight, lay down, and tried to sleep.
"The restaurant seems creepy but what's the worst that can happen?" I thought to myself as I slowly drifted asleep.