I awoke in my room, shivering and shaking with sweat. Great, I thought, another nightmare. I stretched out, standing up to my full height of six feet, and stretched my awkwardly long teenage arms. My legs hit the floor heavily, and I quickly and fluidly picked up and put on my glasses. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. I turned and opened the blinds to my bedroom window, then changed from my pajamas into my usual set of day clothes; a dark cyan t-shirt, a pair of black sweatpants, and two non-matching colored socks. I proceeded to go into the bathroom right down the hall. Once I was done, I headed back into my room, grabbed my flip-phone, and shoved it it into my pocket as I hurtled down the stairs. My father was packing his own lunch, and my sister was making four portable mugs of coffee. I meandered into the kitchen, and began to make myself some oatmeal. “Morning, Dask.” My father said with a smile. He turned back to his oatmeal.
The silence in the kitchen was normal now. It wasn’t unpleasant; everyone was tired and wanted to simply get going for the day. My dad was a really funny and caring guy, and had gotten myself out of tons of difficult places. My sister was always there for me, too, and gave bullies a piece of her mind whenever they messed with me. I sighed as I grabbed my own finished mug, and took a protein bar from the cubbard. I thought about it for a second, then grabbed a second bar and made myself a baggie of Frosted Flakes.
I may be thin, but my god, I can pack away food like there’s no tomorrow.
I went into the living room, and I waited for my sister to come in. My dad was first, as always, and he had to leave almost immediately. I gave him a hug goodbye, and so did my sister. I pulled out my tablet from my backpack and worked on my book for a few minutes. I managed to pound out five pages before my sister was done. He walked in with a donut in one hand and her coffee in the other. We put on our shoes, and walked out into the cold Minnesota weather. All I needed to wear was a heavy sweatshirt, since I was a living heater, and hopped into the back of her Camaro.
The drive was another 15 minutes, and she asked me a couple times how my book was going. I told her pretty good, since I had five chapters done. I was working on it the entire ride there, and was glad when we went separate ways. I always preferred to be alone, and it was also one of my worst fears. Funny how that works sometimes.
I pondered my life as I walked to my first hour class, and I wondered if anyone would ever really care enough to help me when I needed it. The memories of my innocence being destroyed in my earlier years haunted me constantly, and my mind was a roil of doubt, sadness, and madness.
I thought about my immediate family, and how my parents loved me despite being divorced. My sister cared for me deeply, as well, and so did my mom’s new date. I thought about how lucky I was to have a caring family,
Then I thought about how none of them could truly understand me, and I became saddened.
Walking down the hall, I ran into my friend, Ajuka. I immediately shoved those negative emotions down, so as to not scare or upset him. I put on an oddly convincing, fake smile. “How’re you doin’, man?” Ajuka asked. His smile was wide, and his stance friendly.
I sighed. He doesn’t understand. Never will. At least he’s kind to me… I thought.
“Not much, man. How about with you?” I asked, plastering on that fake smile and confident stature.
“Well, I got the newest game for the PS4. Man, it’s so awesome…” he droned on about it for a little while. I used the time to try and turn my thoughts positive. I tried, and failed. Looks like today’s going to be one of those days, I thought to myself. I tuned him out completely, and began to walk. He walked with me almost automatically, as he always did, and we headed down the hall to our shared first hour.
When we got there, we were greeted by our favorite teacher, Mr. Rikter. He was extremely nice and caring, and if anyone even thought of bullying in his class, then they’d be treated with three days’ detention at bare minimum.
We sat down, and I decided to engage in the conversation which was currently one-sided. We talked for a solid twenty minutes, until the bell rang and class started.
Mr. Rikter may not have tolerated bullying, but that isn’t to say that he didn’t have his fun with his students.
“Alright, class. Who decided to stay on the crapper for too long?” He asked the class. There was a steady laugh, and it grew when a kid who I didn’t know ran into the classroom, practically dragging their stuff. “What a shame. I sure hope you didn’t soil yourself, Eddy.” Another round of laughter, even from the kid. We all knew it was in good fun, and it was a highlight of our day. “Today, we’ll be learning a bit more advanced algebra. Open your textbooks to page 239, if you will…” I zoned out soon after the lesson began. I sketched a little bit in my notebook, then wrote out a couple of notes to fix sections in my story that I remembered. I glanced up occasionally, writing down anything I thought I might need, then proceeded to do the homework in ten minutes. He handed out a sheet of practice, and I finished it quickly. I set it off to the side, and continued to sketch and take notes. Math was my best subject, after all; it didn’t worry me too terribly much that I barely paid any attention to the lesson. If the need be, I would just read a quick section from the textbook.
The class ended sooner than I expected. Must be early dismissal today, I thought. The bell rang, and me and my friend parted ways.
I was now the only one by my side; I didn’t even have lunch with my friends. I sighed. Walking down the hallways, I noted how the brick was laid, the evenness of the gaps in which the plaster holding it together lay. I then turned my attention to the floor, eyeing the handiwork. All of it had been done very well, and it came through when someone as detail-oriented as me passed through and was pleased with it.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m very detail-oriented. I find a lot of comfort in patterns, and I look for as many as I can to keep my mind off of darker thoughts.
Sadly, those thoughts would soon plague my mind...
The silence in the kitchen was normal now. It wasn’t unpleasant; everyone was tired and wanted to simply get going for the day. My dad was a really funny and caring guy, and had gotten myself out of tons of difficult places. My sister was always there for me, too, and gave bullies a piece of her mind whenever they messed with me. I sighed as I grabbed my own finished mug, and took a protein bar from the cubbard. I thought about it for a second, then grabbed a second bar and made myself a baggie of Frosted Flakes.
I may be thin, but my god, I can pack away food like there’s no tomorrow.
I went into the living room, and I waited for my sister to come in. My dad was first, as always, and he had to leave almost immediately. I gave him a hug goodbye, and so did my sister. I pulled out my tablet from my backpack and worked on my book for a few minutes. I managed to pound out five pages before my sister was done. He walked in with a donut in one hand and her coffee in the other. We put on our shoes, and walked out into the cold Minnesota weather. All I needed to wear was a heavy sweatshirt, since I was a living heater, and hopped into the back of her Camaro.
The drive was another 15 minutes, and she asked me a couple times how my book was going. I told her pretty good, since I had five chapters done. I was working on it the entire ride there, and was glad when we went separate ways. I always preferred to be alone, and it was also one of my worst fears. Funny how that works sometimes.
I pondered my life as I walked to my first hour class, and I wondered if anyone would ever really care enough to help me when I needed it. The memories of my innocence being destroyed in my earlier years haunted me constantly, and my mind was a roil of doubt, sadness, and madness.
I thought about my immediate family, and how my parents loved me despite being divorced. My sister cared for me deeply, as well, and so did my mom’s new date. I thought about how lucky I was to have a caring family,
Then I thought about how none of them could truly understand me, and I became saddened.
Walking down the hall, I ran into my friend, Ajuka. I immediately shoved those negative emotions down, so as to not scare or upset him. I put on an oddly convincing, fake smile. “How’re you doin’, man?” Ajuka asked. His smile was wide, and his stance friendly.
I sighed. He doesn’t understand. Never will. At least he’s kind to me… I thought.
“Not much, man. How about with you?” I asked, plastering on that fake smile and confident stature.
“Well, I got the newest game for the PS4. Man, it’s so awesome…” he droned on about it for a little while. I used the time to try and turn my thoughts positive. I tried, and failed. Looks like today’s going to be one of those days, I thought to myself. I tuned him out completely, and began to walk. He walked with me almost automatically, as he always did, and we headed down the hall to our shared first hour.
When we got there, we were greeted by our favorite teacher, Mr. Rikter. He was extremely nice and caring, and if anyone even thought of bullying in his class, then they’d be treated with three days’ detention at bare minimum.
We sat down, and I decided to engage in the conversation which was currently one-sided. We talked for a solid twenty minutes, until the bell rang and class started.
Mr. Rikter may not have tolerated bullying, but that isn’t to say that he didn’t have his fun with his students.
“Alright, class. Who decided to stay on the crapper for too long?” He asked the class. There was a steady laugh, and it grew when a kid who I didn’t know ran into the classroom, practically dragging their stuff. “What a shame. I sure hope you didn’t soil yourself, Eddy.” Another round of laughter, even from the kid. We all knew it was in good fun, and it was a highlight of our day. “Today, we’ll be learning a bit more advanced algebra. Open your textbooks to page 239, if you will…” I zoned out soon after the lesson began. I sketched a little bit in my notebook, then wrote out a couple of notes to fix sections in my story that I remembered. I glanced up occasionally, writing down anything I thought I might need, then proceeded to do the homework in ten minutes. He handed out a sheet of practice, and I finished it quickly. I set it off to the side, and continued to sketch and take notes. Math was my best subject, after all; it didn’t worry me too terribly much that I barely paid any attention to the lesson. If the need be, I would just read a quick section from the textbook.
The class ended sooner than I expected. Must be early dismissal today, I thought. The bell rang, and me and my friend parted ways.
I was now the only one by my side; I didn’t even have lunch with my friends. I sighed. Walking down the hallways, I noted how the brick was laid, the evenness of the gaps in which the plaster holding it together lay. I then turned my attention to the floor, eyeing the handiwork. All of it had been done very well, and it came through when someone as detail-oriented as me passed through and was pleased with it.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m very detail-oriented. I find a lot of comfort in patterns, and I look for as many as I can to keep my mind off of darker thoughts.
Sadly, those thoughts would soon plague my mind...