Mercifully, this boy jokingly said something about musical chairs and got up and moved to the back of the room. Crisis averted for now. Zoe made a mental note to fix her emotional mess quickly and vowed to completely humiliate this academic debutante boy of a hunk. No boy was going to rob her of her seat in the ambassador program. No dark-sharp-eyed-soul-snatching boy was going to dethrone her march of excellence.

As the exam week closed, the remaining four students were so happy to leave and enjoy their summer. The results would not be made known until the following year. Mercifully, the boy opted to leave the classroom last. She didn’t have to look at his form through his clothing. She could leave without worry about weakened knees or explaining to her mom that she had not been fooling around with a boy. Why did her mom constantly ask this whenever she was affected by a hottie anyway?

The Results

The day the announcement was made, there was only the three gals waiting by the principal office’s door. The boy was not there. That was good. Maybe if he dropped out, there would be no close finish. He was good. But she was better.

The principal called the gals in and his grin was just a bit too nice for the moment. Once the formalities was done, he announced the score in ascending order.

100

115

135

150

There was a perfect score?!?!!?

Never ever had there been a perfect score before!!!

Who had the perfect score? And more importantly, who was second? The girls were in a nervous frenzy.

Zoe currently held the undisputed top score of all time at 142. She couldn’t count on past results, she had to have the top score. She just had to!

Sadly, because the fourth test taker was not present, thanks boy, the results would be mailed to the homes instead of revealed. Something about being fair to everyone.

Zoe was mad. She needed to know that she had crushed this boy. She needed to know that she was going to get the ambassador position. She needed to know that all her summer prep work was not in vain. She had a reputation to uphold and a perfect track record to keep. There was this unsettled feeling that she was not the top seat. Her math suggested that she wasn’t. She had skipped out one bonus test out of sheer confidence that she had performed flawlessly on the mega test.

The principal quipped, as they exited, that the perfect score was also the only person to ace that mega exam without any errors. Both in the curved grade version and in the raw score version.

Zoe’s heart fluttered and started to sink. Her math had figured she’d get a 145. The last bonus test was administered one day too late to count and it was worth 5 points.(something about weather delays). But the tally said 135 and 150 were the top seats. Did she mess up on the exam? Did that boy ruin her chances?

The anger that welled up quickly caught her by surprised. She was surprised that she was seeing the boy as an enemy for a brief moment. The guilt that washed her was intense. She meant no ill harm to this boy. He was not an enemy. He was just a competitor. Just one that was going to rob her of her ordained seat as the ambassador.

The Letters

Bret sat in his room holding the letter from the school about the results of the test he had taken. This was going to be a very telling day.

School was a wonderful place. He felt like a child in a candy store. He preferred to sit back and enjoy the full spectrum of colors, scents, sales, buzz, and vibe of the experience. There were so many cool people to meet. So many wonderful conversations to hold. So much to learn. Just never enough time.

Bret was keeping his schedule as full as the school allowed while networking to the fullest. Knowledge was everywhere and he was just glad he was a part of it. Being a bit shy about larger social gatherings, he kept his distance most of the time. That allowed him the ability to slip in and out of many social circles and learn way more that way. He was never seen as threat. That was a good thing in his book. He had enough issues in his neighborhood as it was for being so different from others. Being smart was a liability where he lived.

Once the letter was opened, his life would be changing. He needed a certain outcome while his family hoped for another. In the long run, the big picture, it didn’t really matter. But for now, to him, the fate of his life rested in that envelope.

Little did he know that this fate of his would radically change his feelings about many many things he thought he understood.

As he looked at the stamp on the enveloped, he was intrigued by the image of a white wooden ladder. Something in his tummy flipped. He just chalked it up to feeling hungry. The letter would wait, as it was time for a snack anyway.

Dropping the letter on his pillow, Bret didn’t see the sun gleam on the ladder as he headed out the door.

To Be Continued

while this is a tasty preview… the main story will continue in coming updates to the blog. Shooting for daily updates until the full story is told For those who prefer reading the full story in one sitting, when it’s concluded, you can search the tag “Traumatic Ladders” and the site will group them all for your reading pleasure

Below are links to all the chapters… will auto populate the full story as it unfolds

Introducing When Ladders Traumatize - Introductions - Part 1 Zoe is a fierce competitive scholar. Bret is happy go lucky smart guy Somehow, their paths cross. Romance seem ready to bloom, but something goes horribly wrong. Will Karma play a role? Will their competitive ways destroy romance before it even gets a chance?
When Ladders Traumatize Intro Part 2 - Introductions - Part 2 The school board and the principal have some tough choices to make for the coming year. Betty seems to be the only one not stressed about what will be the fate of the principal's choices
When Ladders Traumatize Part 1 - Part 1 - The Story Bret discovers that his top performance does not get him the top earned reward. Zoe gets the gig he was after. Sure, he likes her and thinks she's pretty and all... but... For now, he must get used to the fact he's going on a trip to a mud pit on a farm as a thank you for his hard work. What was up with Bucking Betty though?
When Ladders Traumatize Part 2 - Part 2- The Story Bret, looking for a cool place to escape the drudgery of the mud pit field trip.. finds a cool building with a sweet looking white ladder. As friendly as the staff is, something is really bothering Bret. His tummy rumbles, his thoughts grow weary. Something is off. But what... The weird feeling is proving very distracting. There are so many beautiful women around... he nearly forgets he's attracted to Zoe If only he could figure out what that weird feeling was...
When Ladders Traumatize Part 3 - Part 3 - The Story The gals are teasing him. Bret is sure of this. Why would such beautiful women find him hot while he's in pain? But man were they beautiful. And boy was he in pain. Yet, that white ladder was messing with his head... drawing him... punishing him. Bret felt he was going crazy in a sci-fi vortext. Eventually Bret finds himself inside that mysterious loft. There was a boy in there. The poor fella was scared to death. Also was helpful in getting him away from these overly sexed gals that were all over him on the ladder...
When Ladders Traumatize Part 4 - Part 4 - The Story Something is really wrong. Badly wrong. That boy is not who he appears to be at all. Who is this boy? Why are all the girls only after that mysterious teen in the loft? Bret now needs to figure how to get out of that crawl space. Things are just getting too weird. The pain though. The gals giggling. The boy talking. That S.O.S message . Was it for him? Bret needed answers but he needed to escape more than anything. Especially with this massive amount of pain wrecking his body, survival depended on his ability to escape. But how?
When Ladders Traumatize Part 5 - Part 5 - The Story Just when Bret thinks his nightmare is over, it is not. The boy-ish thing is following him everywhere. Popping up in the worse places. Bret feels like he's fighting for his life while the girl is flirting mercilessly with him. Is he losing his mind? And will he ever get out of this mess? Will he ever get a chance to hold Zoe close again? The reach of that boy-ish thing is hellbent on keeping him in agony, no matter how much Bret fights. Worse, it's night time and everything seems a threat.
Epilogue of Ladders - Epilogue - When Ladders Traumatize Bret, now older, discovers that Zoe has feelings... But, what do these feelings mean? Where does this White Ladder really fit into this story? Will these questions get answered? More importantly, will Bret have his way with Zoe the way he's always fantasized? Is this the end??