"Can I sit here?" I asked, approaching Tory, who was sitting on top of the school, looking out at the horizon.
"Yes, sit down and make yourself comfortable," she replied, with a slight smile.
I sat next to her and for a few minutes we were silent, just enjoying the view and the tranquility of that place.
"So, Clark..." Tory began, breaking the silence. "Why did you transfer here?"
"I didn't plan on studying at that school," I replied, looking away to the sky. "But some things happened..."
"Did your parents move here?" she asked curiously.
"My parents were murdered...", I revealed, feeling a tightness in my chest.
Tory's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You're kidding, right?"
"No," I said, my voice cracking. "My parents were murdered one night. I came here to study because it was the closest place to where my parents had bought a small apartment to rent. Now I'm alone in this world…"
"I'm sorry about this, Clark," Tory said sincerely.
"Thank you," I said. "And you? What's your story?"
"I live with my mom and my brother," she said. "My mom is sick, so I have to work to put food on the table and pay the rent."
"I'm sorry about your mother. What's wrong with her?" I asked, concerned.
"I don't know what illness she has..." Tory replied, her voice sad. "It all started a while ago..."
"I see..." I muttered. "In the end, it's always about money, right?"
"Yes," Tory agreed. "The problem is always money. If I had money, I would pay for my mother's hospital and she would be cured..."
The bell rang, interrupting our conversation.
"Oh, it's time to go back to class," Tory said, standing up.
"Yeah, let's go. I don't want to be late again on the first day," I agreed.
"Are you late?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah," I confessed, scratching my head. "I'm terrible with directions. I always end up getting lost in these places…"
"Hmm," Tory murmured thoughtfully. "What's your next class? Maybe I can help you."
"It's in room 46, history class," I replied.
"What?" Tory exclaimed in surprise. "I have history now, too, in this room!"
"Really?" I asked, with a smile. "What luck!"
"Hmm, so you know how to smile..." Tory teased. "I thought you never smiled or something. Ever since you met me, you've just walked around with a frown on your face. What's wrong? Do you not like me or something?"
"What?" I asked, surprised. "Of course I smile too. It's just... I don't know, it's kind of weird being in a new school and all. Besides, I'm not going to go around grinning like an idiot."
"I see," Tory said, with a smirk. "Let's go."
We entered the classroom and Tory went to her seat. Some people who were already in the room looked at us curiously.
"Tory Nichols came with the new kid?" someone whispered.
"Hahaha, so you mean she likes men?" another asked. "I thought she liked girls..."
"Shhh, man. Keep your voice down. She'll hear you and hit you," someone warned.
The teacher entered the room and interrupted us.
"Son, you're new to school, right?" the teacher asked. "The principal told me there would be a new student. Could you give me your description paper?"
"Yes, Professor. My name is Clark Filessia," I replied.
"I understand. Please sit down," the teacher said.
I sat in the back window, next to Tory. She was kind of isolated in the room.
"What luck, sitting next to an acquaintance on the first day," I commented.
"He grimaced and said, 'Acquaintance? Hahaha. I practically met you now, you weirdo,'" Tory replied, laughing.
I smiled sideways and started copying the homework the teacher was giving.
A few hours later...
The bell rang, announcing the end of class.
"Phew, it's finally over," I thought. "I definitely don't miss studying..."
"You're already dead on day one? You're weak, Clark," Tory taunted.
"You talk too much, Tory," I replied, laughing. "Maybe I'm just not that big a fan of studying and all."
We packed up our materials and left school together.
"See you tomorrow, Tory," I said goodbye.
"Yeah, bye, Clark. See you tomorrow," she replied.
A few hours before...
"It sucks to have to go back to school again..." Tory thought as she walked through the school hallways. "But I need this. I want my diploma and everything. But I also need to provide a decent life for my family..."
Lost in thought, she overheard some conversations between other students.
"Girl, did you see the new student who arrived today? Wow, he's totally my type...", a girl said.
"What? Seriously? What does he look like?" another asked, curious.
"He has a beautiful and mysterious face... Green eyes and black hair... He's gorgeous...", the first girl described.
"Hmm, I want to see him too, if you're saying he's all that..." the other girl commented.
"What a bunch of bitches," Tory thought, rolling her eyes. "Just seeing a new boy at school makes them fall in love with him. What idiots..."
In the courtyard above the school...
"Phew, a little break from all this...", Tory thought, feeling the wind blow on her face. She sat behind the door, looking for a moment of peace.
While he was resting, he heard someone opening the door.
"!!!", she was startled.
"Hmm, there's no one around here. Great. First day, I'd rather keep to myself," the new boy's voice echoed through the courtyard.
"So this is the new kid those bitches were talking about..." Tory thought, watching him from afar. "Hmm, he's kind of cute..."
"What was that? Are you shy of people, new kid?" she asked teasingly.
A few hours later, at the end of class...
"See you tomorrow, Tory," Clark said goodbye.
"Yeah, bye, Clark. See you tomorrow," she replied, watching him walk away.
"He's a little quiet, mysterious..." Tory thought. "He's also going through a hard time. He just lost his father and mother. I don't know how I would feel if that happened to me... He also told me that he's lonely... I want to talk to him more and know more about him..."
Meanwhile, on the way back home by bike...
"I lived my past life always chasing someone, without a purpose, always down," Clark reflected, pedaling down the street. "Maybe because since I was a child I liked watching movies and reading mangas. I always compared them with my life, with the world I lived in, that gray and monotonous world. Since I was 10 years old, I always felt that way, never liking anything outside of those worlds."
"But my eyes lit up every time I discovered a new story, a new movie, a new manga, a new anime. All of this was magical. I felt like I was in that world, it was magical. But as the years went by, I started to disconnect from those things and everything became gray again. I even hooked up with a few girls, but it was always just that: one night, nothing more, nothing less."
"I never loved anyone in my past life. But I always liked strong women. And meeting one of the girls I liked in my past life while watching TV shows... Hahaha, it was amazing! I held back a lot so as not to seem too excited. Looking like an excited, smiling idiot in front of girls makes a bad impression. Maybe I was a little too cold, but that also suits someone who lost his family a few days ago..."
"I'm really excited for the next few days, hehe," Clark thought, with a smile on his face.
Arriving home, he took a shower, opened his laptop and went to check his finances.
"Hmm, it's definitely adding up. It's already $13,000," he noted. "I'm going to allocate that money to other finances. I need to make $100,000 this month. But to make that money, I'm going to have to take a lot of risks."
"In the stock market, the risk is fatal. But I know the tricks, hehehe," he thought confidently.
"I've already made the attack, now I just have to wait for the profit," he concluded.
For the next few days, Clark spent his days training and going to school, waiting for the right moment to take action in the financial market.
"Man, math class was so boring and hard today, lol," he thought as he came home from school one day. "Today I'm going to find out how much I earned, hehe."
"Hahaha, $87,000 profit!" he exclaimed, seeing the results of his investments. "With this money, I can start thinking about long-term investments. But it's still not enough. I need to earn enough so that I never have to worry about money again."
"With $80,000, I can already set up similar schemes to the ones I did before," he planned. "This time, if my calculations are correct, I will win all of them. Or lose, at most, 2 or 3 trades. My final profit would be around $450,000. It's still not enough, I need a lot more."
"I'm not greedy, I just prefer to protect myself against things that are going to happen," he thought. "In 2008, the world will go through a global financial crisis, known as the subprime crisis. This crisis will be marked by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, one of the most traditional investment banks in the United States, on September 15. I want to make enough money to buy several properties in the United States."
"If I'm not mistaken, there will also be a housing crisis, where properties will become very cheap," he recalled. "Many people, in order to pay off their debts, will start selling their houses, properties and land. And I, as a good citizen, will help them a lot with that, hehehe."
"So I took about $7,000 and invested it in other things. The $80,000 I put into fast-moving stocks, like before. This time it's much easier for me to make money, but with much more risk. I'm cautious that if I lose about 3 out of 10 stocks, I'll still make a profit of $450,000. If I win all 10, I'll make about $600,000. It's unlikely that I'll win all 10, I'm playing with risk. I know what I'm doing, but I also know that winning all the time is impossible. And that's why I'm already preparing myself. Mentally and physically."