The pouring rain drenched Steamy as he stood in front of his house.

He had whispered, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the perfect child you always wanted.”

The sun seeped through Steam-Bob’s curtains as he sat up in bed and yawned.  Walking to his closet, the potato couldn’t decide if he should wear the green shoes, or if he should wear the blue shoes. Steamy shrugged and decided one of each.

As he sped down the stairs, Steamy yelled, “Good morning!”

“Good morning sweetie,” said his mom. “Do you want waffles or pancakes?”

“Waffles, please,” he said.

Steamy’s older brother and sister groggily came down the stairs. Before Steamy could grab his plate of waffles and bacon, his brother snatched the food off of the plate in a rush. This is a typical morning for the Bill family.

“Guys,” Steamy’s mother warned.

“It’s alright, I’ll just grab some breakfast at school,” said Steamy.

Steamy walked to the bus and sat with his friends when he got on. When Steamy arrived at school, he quickly ate breakfast and walked to class. His first class was choir; it was a mandatory class that all students had to take. Steamy didn’t really understand the concept behind taking choir as a class. He knew that he wasn’t going to be a singer for a living. While walking into the classroom, Steamy witnessed that there were only two chairs left in the classroom. Both were on either side of the classroom. He glanced back and forward at the chairs until his teacher interrupted his thoughts.

    “Mr. Bill, please have a seat,” said his teacher.

Steam-Bob nodded and chose the seat on the left. He thought that nothing could go wrong on the left side of the room; that is, until he was picked to be the first person to sing the notes on the board. Steamy doubted himself throughout his whole performance, only to find out that he got a perfect score. Time passed by and Steamy found his legs carrying him to his next class. Before Steamy could reach his class, one of his closest friends, Anna, called his name.

    “Hey Steamy,” smiled Anna.

“Hi Anna,” Steamy said shyly. “You weren’t here this morning.”

    “I know, I missed my bus like an idiot,” said Anna.

    With a straight face, Steamy replied, “You’re not an idiot.”

    “Thanks Steamy,” smiled Anna. “Uh, can we talk about something?”

    Steamy said, “Sure, what is--”

Before Steamy could finish his sentence, the bell rang.

    “I have to go, we’ll talk later, yeah?” Steamy said while walking to his next class.

Steamy walked into the class and saw ‘POP QUIZ’ written on the board in bold capitalized letters. Sighing, Steamy took a seat in the front of the class where he usually sits. Once again, Steamy thought he didn’t do so well on the quiz until he found out that he got the highest score in his class. After that period was over, two more classes went by and it was time for lunch. He met Anna in the middle of the hallway.

    “Hey how was History?” asked Anna. “Did you do well on the pop quiz?”

“Yeah,” said Steamy, “I got the highest score in my class.”    

Anna chuckled, “Of course you did.”

They both sat down at their usual lunch table.

    “Hey… Anna?” Steamy timidly asked.

    Anna said, “Yeah Steamy?”

    Steamy said, “Well, we’ve been friends for five years now, and I was wondering if--”

Before Steamy could finish his sentence, a group of his friends sat down at the table with the two potatoes.

    “Hey, what’s up Steamy?” said his best friend Jace.

    “Nothing much,” said Steamy. “So what’s the big news you’ve been dying to tell me about?”

    Ana cut in, “Oh wait, Steamy, I never finished --”

    Jace continued, “Me and Anna are dating!”

    “Oh,” was all Steamy said before walking away to throw his food away.

    “Was it something I said?” asked Jace.

Steamy walked out of the cafeteria and made his way to his next class which was English. His teacher planned for the class to go to the annual Career Fair that took place in the gym. Steamy thought it was useless since he already knew what he wanted to become. When Steamy arrived in the gym, he walked over to the booth about firefighters to investigate it. He noticed that not too many people were at that booth then he moved on to another one. About six booths later, Steamy came upon a group of potatoes surrounding one of the booths. As he nudged his way through people, Steamy noticed an extraordinary booth. Not the booth itself, the career that this person had. This stranger was a professional Launched Potato. The man explained that he enjoys being launched; in addition, he explained to the kids that having a career doesn’t mean you have to slave over a job that you don’t enjoy, it means that you should do something you intentionally want to do. After the speaker finished, Steamy questioned himself. Did he really want to become a salesman, or is that just what his parents wanted him to become? The Career Fair ended about twenty minutes later, which was plenty of time for Steamy to rethink his own career. It’s finally the end of the day for Steamy as he walks to the bus. He avoids sitting with Jace and Anna for any relationship-friend complications. When Steamy arrives home, he sees his mother and father sitting on the couch watching TV. Steamy turns the volume down so he can talk to his parents.

“Mom, dad, I realize what I want to be in life,” stated Steamy.

His mom asked, “What do you mean sweetie?”

“I mean, I don’t want to be a salesman,” said Steamy, “and I won’t be one even if you guys want me to.”

Now it was Steamy’s dad’s turn to speak, “Well, then what would you like to be son?”

Steamy said with caution, “I want to become french fries.”

“No, absolutely not,” Steamy’s dad almost yelled as he stands up from his seat. “I won’t have a son of mine become an overly fried fast food that vial humans eat!”

“You do not know the history of the Bill family wanting to become french fries sweetie,” said Steamy’s mom. “It’s not what you expect.”

“But mom!” Steamy pleaded.

Steamy’s mother tried to calm her husband down after Steamy argued back, but it didn’t work.

    “No ‘buts’, go to your room!” yelled his father.

    “No matter how much you guys disagree with my decision, I’m still going through with it because I don’t give up on my dreams!” Steamy said before he ran up to his room.

The next morning, Steamy got ready for school and left without saying anything to his parents. Once he got on the bus, he put in earphones to avoid Jace and Anna. Even when Anna tried to converse with Steamy, he just turned his volume up even more. Arriving at school early, Steamy walked straight to his class. The rest of the day consisted of low test scores, for Steamy did not feel like ‘trying’, and avoiding Anna and Jace. Steamy finally came home from school, yet he still chose not to speak with his parents. About four days has gone by, Steamy’s mom is fed up with his attitude; in addition, Steamy’s mother got a letter from Steamy’s teachers about him skipping class, failing tests, and quizzes.

    “Steam-Bob Johnson Bill, what did I say about turning around when I am speaking to you?” Steamy’s mom asked.

“Nothing, actually,” Steamy retorted.

He walked into the kitchen to get away from his mother’s nagging voice.

    “Get back in here!” she angrily shouted. “Why are you skipping class and failing your tests?”

“Because I don’t feel like trying mom!” shouted Steamy. “I’m done trying.”

Steamy’s mother stood her ground, “Then you know what? You’re grounded until you decide what the right thing to do is.”

    “You can’t control my life!” yelled a furious Steam-Bob.

He stomped up to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

    “Do you really think that quitting school is an option?” asked his mother. “What do you think Maya would say?”

    Steamy opened the door, “Don’t you dare bring Maya into this.”

    “If she were still here, do you really think you’d be doing this Steam-Bob?” asked

Steamy’s mother. “She wouldn’t let the love of her life destroy his own to become something so ridiculous.”

Sighing, Steamy’s mom walked down the stairs and noticed Steamy’s dad.

    “Is everything alright?” he asked.

    “No, what are we going to do about him?” she asked her husband, “He has never been disobedient in—well, never!”

    “You know there is only one way he will start behaving again; we have to send him to boarding school,” stated Steamy’s dad.

*Two weeks later*

“I can’t believe they sent me to boarding school!” Steamy stated.

    “Well, get used to it,” said Steamy’s new roommate, Rick, “they’ll always eventually get tired of you.”

Steamy’s new boarding school was about 45 minutes away from Steamy’s home. He thought that the new town he is in is cold and lonely. A breeze blew down Steamy’s back, and he couldn’t take it any longer. As soon as it was dark and all of the lights were out, Steamy snuck out of bed. Before he walked out of the door, Rick said something.

    “Good luck man, you’ll need it,” said Rick.

Steamy smiled and left the room and the boarding school forever. He previously packed all of his belongings in a backpack since he knew he’d be gone for good. It started raining a few minutes into Steamy’s walk. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed across the sky, but that did not stop Steamy. He thought he should stop by his home and say goodbye before he continued his long and dangerous journey.

*Present time*

The pouring rain drenches Steamy as he stands in front of his house.

    He whispers, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the perfect child you always wanted.”

With that, Steam-Bob took off into the woods; that is, his dream is on the other side. After about thirty minutes, the rain finally seized. Steamy sits down on a log to take a break from walking.

    Steamy sighs, “Is this really the right thing to do?”

He instantly gets up and starts pacing around back and forward.

“Maybe they’re right, maybe I should go back,” he continues, “but I’ll only get this chance once.”

    Steamy continues walking and makes it to his destination with triumph. He walks inside of the fast food restaurant, McDonald’s, and makes his way into the kitchen. His eyes glistens with glee as he sees all of the work prospering inside of the kitchen. When Steamy sees other potatoes, he goes to conversate with them.

    “Hey guys, what’s--?” Steamy pauses. “Jace?”

Jace is in a bag full of other potatoes, “Steamy, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to become french fries,” Steamy says. “What are you doing in a bag full of other potatoes?”

Jace says frantically, “No, Steamy, you need to leave; you do not want to become french fries, it isn’t what you expect them to be.”

Right after Jace finishes his sentence, a man grabs the bag that Jace was in.

“Steamy, run!” Jace shouts as he gets carried away.

“How did you get out of there?” a loud voice booms and grabs Steamy before he has the chance to run. He took Steamy and threw him into a large sink.

The man starts to fill the sink with water, and within seconds, Steamy is halfway deep in water.

Once Steamy is completely under water, Steamy notices a bright light with a familiar silhouette in the distance.

“Maya?” asks Steamy.

“Hi Steamy,” the figure replies. “I missed you.”

Then everything was dark.