Chapter 1

"Jace, it's time to get up," my older brother, Jacob, says coming into my bedroom.

Groaning I push myself up with my arms to a sitting position. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes with the heel of my hands before leaning over the side of my bed to grab the arm rests of my wheelchair pulling it closer to my bed before locking the brakes on the wheels.

Tossing the covers off my lower body, I lift my body off my bed into my chair, settling myself correctly, unlock the brakes before wheeling myself into my bathroom to perform my morning routines.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Jace Martin, I'm a 17 years old senior in high school. I'm the second oldest child of my parents five children. My parents are not together any longer, they went their separate ways when my mom walked out of our lives when my youngest sister Amelia was only 4 years old.

There's my older brother, Jacob, who's 18 years old with dark curly brown hair with dark brown eyes and he's 6 feet tall and built but lean. Then there's me, I'm 5 feet 9 inches tall with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. I have a form of spina bifida called Meningeal, where the protective membranes around my spinal cord, the meninges, are pushed out through the opening in my vertebrae that formed into a sac filled with fluid. The sac doesn't include my spinal cord, so I have nerve damage in my legs but not as severe as someone who has Myelomeningocele where this is the most severe form of spina bifida and they have complete nerve damage from the waist down and are wheelchair bound for life.

Yes, I do use a wheelchair when my legs hurt or feel weak, but I can walk with leg braces and crutches and I'm likely to have complications later on in my life. I also take part in wheelchair basketball and I surf, but my absolute favorite sport is motocross.

Motocross is where people in wheelchairs are performing tricks while in our chairs that are adapted from BMX and skateboarding. Professionals from around the world compete from around the world, and one day I hope to be one of those on the professional level. I'm working on it and most days when I'm at the skate park practicing I'm usually there with Jacob who is on his skateboard as is Amelia and sometimes our dad. Usually when we're at the skate park Abigale and Annaliese are there playing basketball or all five are playing basketball, sometimes dad plays this as well.

While doing motocross I wear either my all black, black and red or white and black helmet or elbow pads because safety first. I have a wheelchair that is specifically made for those who perform in sports called sport wheelchairs, and then I have my everyday chair. The reason for the two different wheelchairs is in case I damage my sports wheelchair I have the one I can use daily and not be out of the use of it if need be.

So, on to the rest of my siblings; there are my three younger sisters; Abigale who's 16 years old with long wavy dark brown hair, blue eyes and porcelain colored skin. Annaliese, whose 15 years old with long wavy brown hair, brown eyes and light skin tone. Then there's Amelia who's 14 years old with long wavy light brown hair, blue eyes and white skin.

My mom has two more children from two different men. There's our oldest half-sister, Noelle, who's 21 years old and she has very light brown hair with some blond highlights, brown eyes and her dad left mom when she announced that she was pregnant with Noelle. Then there's our little half-brother, Gavin whose 9 years old with semi long dark brown hair that's almost black, dark hazel eyes and his dad and our mom are together.

Mom's name is Nicole Hendricks; she's pretty in a mom sense for a 49-year-old woman. She's 5 feet 6 inches tall, short dirty blond hair, pale blue eyes, pale skin and skinny even after seven children. Dad's name is Jason Martin; he's in good shape for a 50-year-old man. He's built, stands at 6 feet 2 inches, his hair color is naturally dark brown but is more white than natural with pale blue eyes.

Re-entering my bedroom, I lock the breaks on my chair before standing and walking into my closet to pick out clothes for the day. Since today is Friday and the school encourages 'Pride' day where we wear school colors, a piece of clothing with the school name on it or the school name with a sport we've played, etc. I find a long sleeve shirt that has the school name and a basketball, it used to be Jacob's but he gave it to me when he grew out of it plus I play basketball but not for the school. Hey, it works though.

I then grab a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. Placing my jeans and shirt on I grab a pair of black socks and sit on my bed before placing them on and then my leg braces since my legs are bothering me this morning before grabbing my shoes and my backpack while heading downstairs using my crutches to have breakfast with the family.

"Hey, baby boy, are you going to need your chair today while at school?" dad asks as he places a plate of food on the table for me as I take care of my bag and shoes on the shelf by the front door, before I sit at the table to eat.

"No, I should be good with just my braces and crutches today, thanks though dad." He hums in response as he sits down with his own food, as my sisters come down to eat with dad, Jacob and I.

"No problem, Jace," dad says as he eats. Looking around at my siblings and my dad, I notice dad is looking at all five of us intently. He finally speaks up, asking us, "What are the five of you doing after school today?"

The five of us turn our attention to dad before anyone speaks. "Skate park," Amelia and Jacob answer then look at me. I nod telling dad I'm going to the skate park with them. Annaliese and Abigale are heading to the mall to do whatever it is they do there.

Jacob and I are both seniors in high school because I was skipped a grade when I was twelve. Instead of entering the seventh grade after sixth, I entered eighth grade, which Jacob was in. Abigale is a sophomore, Annaliese is a freshman, and Amelia is an eighth grader.

"Why are you asking, dad?" I ask, suspicious of his sudden question.

Dad shrugs innocently as he smirks, "I have a date tonight and wanted to make sure all of you had something to do before I went out for two hours."

"Good for you, dad," all of us say at all most the same time causing us all to laugh.

Jacob drives the five of us to school in his gray Chevy Blazer. Heading into the school, my sisters head toward their lockers as Jacob and I head to ours, which are right next to each other. Rounding the hallway I see my best friend, Drake Payne at my locker already. He must have arrived at school earlier than normal.

"Hey Drake," I greet as I open my locker. Placing my bag on the hook that's inside, I pull down my English, Math and Science books, the correlating notebooks along with a pencil before placing these items inside the backpack before slipping it onto my back.

Shutting the locker door, I glance up at Drake with a smile and he smiles back. "Hey Jace, how's it going, man?" he asks as we head toward our 1st hour, which is English.

I meet Drake at the skate park three years ago when I was there with dad and my siblings. He was skateboarding and he saw me watching him perform his tricks for a while before he came over to ask if I wanted to try. He hadn't noticed that I was wearing my leg braces while sitting at the picnic table or my crutches that were leaning on the bench seat beside me. I had to tell him no because I wasn't physically able to because of my condition.

Drake had given me a confused look causing me to stand holding onto the table where I was sitting with dad and Amelia. My sisters were playing hopscotch and Jacob was riding his BMX. Once he had seen the leg braces his eyes widened in surprise and then he was fumbling over his words, trying to apologize.

I had laughed while telling him it was fine, that I appreciated that he will let me use his skateboard to try. That's when dad suggested that he would look into purchasing me a sports wheelchair since I had wanted to play wheelchair basketball and informed he would purchase me elbow pads and a helmet. A week later I had a sports wheelchair, a helmet and elbow pads and I was at the skate park with dad, Jacob and Drake helping me.

If Drake was a gay or even bisexual, I would so totally try to date him. He's very sexy and I'm saying that in a strict observation. Drake's 6 feet 3 inches tall, short dark brown hair that is styled into a quaff and he has captivating blue-gray eyes and he has such a beautiful natural tan. He has such a cheerful personality but don't piss him off because he can be scary when he's angry.

Entering the classroom, we head to our seats in the far back. Sitting down we pull out our books and supplies sitting them down on the table in front of us.

"So, any plans for this weekend?" Drake asks, turning toward me.

"Skate park tonight with Jacob and Amelia and you?" I ask, unlocking my braces at the knees to sit with my legs bent normally.

"Skate Park tonight and the rest of the weekend besides doing homework," he says in his best 'duh' voice. Giggling at his tone of voice but I stop as soon as my bully, Kevin, and his two goons, Jarick and Matt. By now half of the students are in the room sitting in their seats or with friends until class starts.

Kevin glances around the room scanning, once he sees me his lips instantly quirks up into an evil smile. Walking over to Drake and I, his smile grows even larger the closer he comes. "Sup faggoty freak not that I really care?" he sneers kicking my feet avoiding the braces which I'm thankful for even though that hurt since my nerves constantly hurt.

Turning my attention away from the jackass in front of me to my best friend I say "Meet at 5 tonight?" I ask, hoping that Kevin will just leave me alone.

Drake nods in response before turning back to Kevin. "Leave asshole, you have no business here with myself or Jace."

Kevin doesn't even bother to look at Drake as he glares at me. "Shut up, this is between Jacey and I." Before Drake or I can react, Kevin takes my crutches running out the room with them. Without my crutches, I can't walk without someone to help me.

Drake rushes out the room after Kevin, trying to take the crutches back. Where's a damn teacher or staff member when you need one? The rest of the students that are in the classroom didn't move to stop Kevin from leaving with my crutches, they just sat and stared while laughing.

Hanging my head to hide my tears along with the blush that has spread over my face as the teacher walks in several minutes later, Drake still isn't back and I'm becoming worried.