WORLD CLASS SOMEBODY
by
Jay C. Rehak & authors around the world
WORLD CLASS SOMEBODY
is going to be written by students from around the world. This book will be published on CreateSpace (Amazon.com) in June 2018. ANY STUDENT from around the world is invited to submit a chapter. This book is a GLOBAL COLLABORATION amongst students who do not know each other, but share a common humanity. To submit, simply send me a 2 to 5 page chapter based on the idea below.Here's the idea. Fifteen year old Lucas Conrad Fitzsimmons III is a sophomore in high school at Sojourner Truth High School in Chicago. One day, Lucas (His friends call him "Fitz"-- most other people call him Conrad - very few people call him Lucas) is bored out of his mind in an English class as his teacher explains the difference between "it's" and "its." Fitz pulls out his phone and while he is looking for an interesting app to play with, a pop-up ad comes on to his screen. It says, "Are you sitting in a boring classroom? Click Yes or No."
Fitz clicks "yes" and before he knows it he has downloaded a new app called "WCS" (World Class Somebody). Without reading the fine print, Fitz agrees to a 30 day free trial of the app. As soon as he clicks on the app, he is immediately transported into your classroom and he is YOU. TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ALIKE SHOULD EMAIL me at jaycrehak@gmail.com for more information about this WORLDWIDE PROJECT BASED LEARNING EXPERIENCE. (It's free, BTW)
Your job is to write a 2 to 5 page story about a new student from the United States who comes into your classroom and temporarily becomes you. He is still himself, but he is inside your body and hears the thoughts you have, feels the things you feel, knows the people you know, speaks the language you speak. YOU are the only person who knows that Conrad is inside your body and mind and is experiencing YOUR LIFE for a day. You write your story from Conrad's point of view. That means you write the story as if YOU were 15 year old Conrad Fitz from Chicago, IL and you are suddenly a fifteen year old male in your body. What would that be like?
Imagine how Conrad would think if he were inside your body and mind for a day. He's from Chicago. He's smart but his knowledge of cultures outside of his own city and his gender are very limited. (He's never been outside of Chicago.)
RULES: 1) Make sure Conrad doesn't die.
2) Conrad will spend one day or LESS in your school/home/neighborhood and then when he hits the TRY AGAIN button he enters someone else's chapter.
3) Conrad is not violent but whoever he embodies might be (this could be a cause for emotional conflict)
4) Conrad can be scared, but he can also be amused
5) Conrad can fall into love or deep like, but it can't last
6) Conrad wears whatever you're wearing. The only thing he has of his own is his PHONE. EVERYTHING ELSE IS YOURS
7) The PHONE APP works sometimes and other times it doesn't.
8) The WCS app can never bring him back to Chicago AS HIMSELF. It always sends him to a NEW, Random place that YOU have no control over. Once Conrad successfully hits the TRY AGAIN button, your chapter is over.
IDEAS: Try and tell a story where Conrad is in your body when you are having some kind of conflict. This can be personal, interpersonal, emotional, physical, financial, spiritual.
Tell a story that allows Conrad to know what it feels like to be you. Make him empathetic to your life circumstance, but make sure your story has a problem.
REMEMBER: Stories are only interesting if they have problems.
CHAPTER ONE:
I'm a world class somebody. Really, I am. You've probably never heard of me, but maybe you've been me. Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe I've been you. I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but it does. Stay with me. Understanding this might be a matter or life or death for you. That may be overly dramatic, but I've been through a lot, and there's a possibility I might wake up and be you someday, and you couldn't stop me from saying or doing things you ordinarily wouldn't say or do. Let me explain.
I remember it like it was yesterday, but it wasn't. It was late September, almost three o'clock in the afternoon, it was during my English class, it was the last class period of the day, and I had absolutely no interest in knowing the difference between "it's" and "its." At the time, I wanted to raise my hand and tell the teacher, Ms. Glass, to give it a rest and call it a done, but I knew she liked to talk until the bell rang at 3:15 so I let her drone on. I was a sophomore at Sojourner Truth Magnet High School in Chicago, IL, which doesn't mean much, but you may as well know it because what I'm about to tell you may affect your life or it may have already affected your life. Seriously.
So on that day, I pulled out my cell phone and started looking at random apps. I accidentally came upon on a free app that was called "World Class Somebody" or WCS for short. I thought it was going to be a video about something stupid happening to somebody, so I figured since the download was free, I'd check it out.
Of course, before I could download the thing, I had to agree to whatever the agreement said. It was about 5 pages long and I didn't have time for all that, so I clicked, "I agree" as soon as I had finished scrolling through the legal mumbo-jumbo.
A screen popped up immediately after I hit the "I agree" button. The screen said, "By downloading this application, YOU agree that whatever and wherever this application takes you is not the responsibility of the developers of WCS or its global affiliates." Yeah, yeah, yeah. I clicked, "I agree" because all I wanted to do was see a video of something that would make me laugh or get my mind off of English grammar. All I was trying to do was make it until 3:15 so I could cut out of school, go home and jerk around on my computer.
So I hit, "I agree" again and ANOTHER screen comes up and says, "This application is still in its Beta testing. Developers continue to tweak it as necessary. By hitting this button, you acknowledge that you understand this software application has not yet been fully tested." Again, I'm like, "yeah, yeah, yeah, enough already." I clicked, "I agree" again and decided if they asked me one more time to agree to anything I was going to play Candy Crush instead.
This time, when I hit, "I agree," things changed. BIG TIME. After I hit, "I agree" that last time, I'll never forget the feeling I got. I've felt it a lot since then, but that first time, OMG, it felt like the room was spinning in a juice blender and I was in the middle of the room trying to hold on to something, anything. I tried to look around, but all I saw were all kinds of colors and what felt like jello all around me. I closed my eyes because I thought I was getting sick and that I might pass out. I wanted to yell out to Ms. Glass that I was sick but I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. Fifteen seconds later the feeling left me and the colors and the jello that surrounded me suddenly turned into something really weird. It turned into a high school French class in Oslo, Norway and I was sitting in a desk in the middle of it. I looked at the clock. It was just after 1:30 PM, Norwegian time. So evidently there was some kind of imperfect time warp happening. As bizarre as that sounds, that's not the strangest part. The strangest part was this: I looked down and saw that I was wearing a skirt and my body had changed. I was Agnetha Hansen, a fifteen year old girl who evidently had very few friends in her French class. She also spoke very poor French.
I looked around the room again and then looked down at myself one more time. I was definitely not me, but I was still thinking like me. I mean, I was this Agnetha kid, and I kind of thought like Agnetha. I mean, I knew who her friends were (although she didn't seem to have many and I really didn't like them when I met them) but she had no idea that I was suddenly her. I mean, she (Agnetha) was daydreaming in her French class as much as I was in my English class back in Chicago, but now I was her. I mean, I was inside her. Thinking like her, talking like her, dressed like her. I was her. I was just me being her. It was bizarre. The teacher, Ms. Larsen, asked me something in French and I didn't answer her. Not because I didn't know what to say, but because I was busy trying to figure out what was going on. Of course, this annoyed the teacher, and so she asked me (Agnetha, me as Agnetha, I guess) something about the weather. I said, "C'est un peu venteux, mais sinon c'est gentil." (which means, - It's a little windy, but otherwise nice outside) and everyone laughed. Evidently, although it was windy in Chicago, and quite nice, in Oslo it was raining pretty badly. What did I know? I'd only been there for less than a minute. Why did I say that? a voice inside my head said to me. Evidently Agnetha was wondering what had gotten into her. Of course, she had no idea it was me.
When Ms. Larsen told me I was wrong, I apologized in Norwegian. Now, at the time, I didn't speak Norwegian. I was a guy from Chicago who spoke English and that was it. But suddenly, as Aganetha Hansen, I was fluent in French, Norwegian and English.
Anyway, when the bell rang, one of Agnetha's friends came up to me and said, in Norwegian, "Where'd you come up with that answer?" Her friend's name was Bodil Olsen. and she was cute and she knew it, so I kind of blushed but was sort of disappointed because I don't like that in a girl. Anyway, I said in Norwegian, "It's the first thing that came to my mind."
Bodil shook her head as if her friend had just embarrassed herself in front of the whole world. It bothered me that instead of trying to make Agnetha feel better, she was trying to make her feel worse.
"That was embarrassing, Ag," Bodil said, seemingly rubbing it in.
"I'm over it." I said for Agnetha, although I could tell that she (we) were feeling embarrassed by our mistake. I wanted to make Agnetha feel a little less self-conscious, but I could see she was very shy and not confident at all. Her friend Bodil was someone whom, it occurred to me, was good at making small problems worse.
We walked together to our next class, and I kind of kept sort of staring at everything, wondering what was going on, trying to figure out if I was in a bad dream or something, when Bodil asked me, "You okay, Ag? You seem kind of out of it."
I wanted to scream that my name was Conrad Fitzsimmons from Chicago, but I knew that made no sense so I just said, "I feel a little sick."
"Are you pregnant?"
"No, I'm not pregnant." I said. Bodil knew I wasn't pregnant. I knew from Agnetha's thoughts that I had never been with a boy in my life and she knew it. No one ever seemed to look at me twice, so there was no reason for Bodil to ask me that except to remind me of the fact that I had never even been kissed. She also knew that I was afraid I would never be kissed. Ever. I wasn't the best looking girl in the world. As a matter of fact, if all the fifteen year old females in the world were lined up, beginning with the worst looking to the best looking, I'd be at the front of the line. (At least that's what Agnetha thought.) Bodil knew this so her question wasn't serious or funny.
Before I knew it Bodil was taking me towards the bathroom. I was intrigued by the idea of looking at myself in the mirror, but I decided to check my skirt to see if I still had my phone. When I reached into my pocket I felt what appeared to be a phone. When I pulled it out, I was stunned to see that it was mine. Somehow I had travelled through space and had become Agnetha but I still had my phone. Where did I get that? I heard Agnetha think. So I was part me and yet I was part her.
At the time, I thought being another person might be fun, but when Bodil started talking about her boyfriend and how great he was, I got a sick feeling and decided I wanted to get back home. I thought it might be the teleporting, but it was something more. Agnetha liked Magnus, and yet her best friend was going out with him. I was conflicted and didn't want to go through all the drama. I figured if I hit the "Return to Home" link on the app, my English class would be over and school would be done. No harm, no foul. Just a short teleporting to Oslo for a laugh and then done. So I told Bodil I'd catch up with her in a minute then pulled up the "WCS" app and looked for the link that would get me back to Chicago. It wasn't easy to find navigate (If I ever meet the creators of the app I'm going to tell them to their faces that their navigation sucks). When I finally found it, I clicked on "Return to Home" and waited for the blending colors and the feeling of being in the middle of a giant pile of jello. Instead, nothing happened. I looked around and I was still in the hallway of Oslo Videregående Skole, I clicked the link a few more times and still nothing. Finally, after half a dozen times banging on the link, a message came up saying, "This link is not yet operational. Check back soon."
What the... I thought and so did Agnetha. I thought it in English and she thought it in Norwegian. Then I searched the app and found a button that said, "Fresh Start." I wasn't sure what it meant but figured it was better than being stuck in a girl's body that felt uncomfortable for both the girl and me. I was about to hit the "Fresh Start" link and see where it would take me when Bodil grabbed me by the arm. She dragged me into the girls bathroom, (the first time I'd ever been in one- I wasn't sure at the time but I now know Norwegian girls bathrooms are pretty much the same as other girls bathrooms around the world) and I stared at myself in the mirror. I wasn't wild about Agnetha's thick black glasses. Her face had a little acne on it, maybe a little too much makeup, but overall, I thought she (we) looked good.
"You going to throw up?" She asked impatiently.
"I don't think so."
"Then quit staring at yourself and let's go. Magnus is waiting for me." Bodil said.
"I'm coming." I said, nauseous because Agnetha liked Magnus so much. I figured I had to meet him before I left.
No. you don't! Agnetha said to me, inside of her head. But I ignored her.
As Bodil and I went down a set of stairs and out of the school towards the street, we both suddenly caught sight of Magnus. He was about six feet tall, and he had an earring in his left ear. He looked like a tough guy, but he spoke like an angel. (Agnetha's thoughts, not mine.) Bodil kissed him when we got close, and I saw what I thought was a look of slight discomfort in his face as he looked at me while she did this. I thought maybe he liked me and wasn't able to say it. Maybe he couldn't say it without hurting Bodil's feelings. Maybe I was just making it up because I was looking at Magnus with a fresh perspective. Conrad Fitz's. Maybe I should be with Magnus but somehow Bodil had caught his attention first.
"You want to get some coffee?" He asked Bodil.
"Yes!" I said with a little too much enthusiasm. What are you doing? A little voice said inside my mind mind. It was Agnetha. She didn't exactly know what was happening, but she sensed that her thoughts and actions were being highjacked by me. Bodil looked at me (Agnetha) with surprise. I realized Magnus was talking to Bodil, and not me. Magnus smiled at me and said, "Great! Join us!"
Bodil looked at me angrily. "Don't you have to study for a math examination tomorrow?"
I thought about it for a minute, and because I knew everything Agnetha knew, I realized Bodil was right. I did have a big math examination coming up. Inside her head, Agnetha was screaming for me to say, "Yes, I do have math homework and I have to go," because ordinarily, Agnetha would agree with her friend and let the two of them be together. Alone. But now, I was inside Agnetha and I wanted to get coffee with Magnus. Maybe there was something between us that Agnetha was too afraid to explore. Or maybe, because she was Bodil's friend, maybe she thought it best to leave it alone and not let Magnus know how she felt. Being inside Agnetha, I was 98% in agreement with everything she said, did or thought, but a small percentage of Agnetha was now Conrad Fitzsimmons, and I thought, Why not go for it?
Because Magnus is her boyfriend, not mine. Agnetha screamed inside her head at me. But I ignored her. This bothered her a great deal and she kept screaming inside her head, Who are you? And how did you get inside of my brain? As I walked I told Agnetha the story. I told her that I was Conrad Fitz from Chicago and somehow I was temporarily in her mind and body and there wasn't anything she could do about it until I left. I said this to her inside of her brain so no one else could hear it. She couldn't believe it, and I completely understood, because I couldn't understand it either. But that's the truth, I said finally to her.
When we got to the coffee house, I ordered a latte, Magnus paid for it (!) and we all sat down. I couldn't stop looking at him. Agnetha, inside her head kept screaming at me, I don't know who you are, 'Conrad' but get out of my life and stop staring. You're embarrassing me. I tuned Agnetha out and continued to look at Magnus. He noticed my staring and blushed a bit, surprised by the attention I was giving him. Bodil was not amused. "Are you okay?" She asked in Norwegian.
I kept looking at Magnus but said, without looking at my friend, "I'm sooooo good." No you're not; no I'm not! Agnetha cried in her head, Stop it, please!
This made Magnus laugh, but Bodil said, "What's wrong with you?"
"I just feel good, is that so terrible?"
"Why do you keep looking at Magnus when you're talking to me?"
Because some idiot from Chicago has hijacked my brain! Agnetha wanted to say out loud but couldn't, as I was in charge of her mouth, not her. Instead, I said:
"Something's gotten into me, I suppose."
"What?"
"Something." I said, as if I didn't know. But I did know and so did Agnetha. Agnetha had me inside of her.
"Well, get it out of you. You're not acting like you. You're acting like you're crazy, isn't she Mag'?"
Magnus just stared back at me. I thought he liked me, but he couldn't say it. That's what I thought. Agnetha saw it, too. But Magnus didn't say anything and Bodil was getting angry. I got up from the table and smiled at Magnus. "I've got to go, but see you later, hopefully."
"Yeah. This was fun! Let's do it again," he said, laughing with his back to Bodil. Then he nodded at me like I was somebody. Somebody worth getting to know. Mission accomplished, I thought.
Bodil was furious. I didn't want to push it any farther, so I pulled out my phone. I stared at the screen through Agnetha's thick black glasses. It took me a minute to find the app and another forever to find the link that said, "Fresh Start." Good luck, Agnetha, I thought, and then I heard her say, Thanks, kind of. Then I tapped the app and this time I saw the blending colors and felt the jello surrounding me. Fifteen seconds later I was in.....
This is where YOU TAKE OVER.
Write a 2 to 5 page story (double space, size 12 font) in which Lucas Conrad Fitzsimmons III becomes you. Again, he thinks, acts, dresses, talks and looks like you. Give him a problem to solve. Relationship, physical, financial, emotional, educational, etc. Have him either help to solve the problem or put you on a road to solving it. The idea is this: Conrad is going to travel throughout the world and BECOME young people for a day. He should be a positive force in your day. Not SUPERHUMAN, but he has the freedom to do what he wants and say what he wants and think what he wants because he knows he can always hit the "Fresh Start" button on his phone. At the end of your story, have Conrad hit the "Fresh Start" button and then end with a line something like this. -- I tapped the WCS app and yet again I saw the blending colors and felt the jello surrounding me. --
Remember: the more interesting and REAL the problem, and the more interesting the resolution of the problem, the more interesting your chapter will be.
The secret to writing a good chapter is to make it a real problem and make it a real solution. Not all problems are fully resolved. In fact, none are. All we ever do is take the journey towards the solution. So, let Conrad take over your mind and body for a day and see what solutions he comes up with to your real or imagined problems. All stories are assumed to be FICTION although most stories are based on some element of reality.
Here are a few writing rules to remember. Talk to your teacher if you don'y understand them:
1) Your story is written in FIRST PERSON (That means Conrad is narrating the story.
2) Tell your story in the PAST TENSE. (Only use PRESENT TENSE when a character is talking) Here's an example. I wanted to go home, but instead I said, "I like New York." Note that the words wanted and said are PAST TENSE words, but when the character speaks, (see the word LIKE) it is in the PRESENT TENSE.
3) If your character is THINKING, but his/her thoughts in italics.
4) Use quotation marks when a character speaks, and keep all of the punctuation inside the quotes. For example, I said to the doctor, "I am sick." NOTE that the period is INSIDE the quotation mark.
Write me if you have questions.
You can also find more information and helpful tips using my book, How to Write a Class-Sourced Novel.
Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you.
