I got up a little early and decided to go for a run because I couldn't sleep, which wasn't a new problem for me because living with my parents wasn't always peaceful; it got to the point where I rarely slept at night if they were around.
So I changed into my running clothes, checked on Shane to make sure he was still asleep so he wouldn't wake up and notice I was gone, and when I was certain he was sound asleep I quietly left the apartment, gently locked the door with my keys, and then I made my way to reception.When I got outside, I stretched for a few minutes, then jogged for a few minutes before picking up my pace and starting running while reminiscing about our lives with my parents.*Flashback*I woke up to find my father was standing over me, looking down at me with an angry expression on his face. I wasn't surprised by this because it was his usual expression. What had made him so upset that he had to enter my room without asking after I had specifically told them not to do that? As I sat upright, I saw the bottle in his hands and realized that he was intoxicated. Which wasn't surprising?"Get up, you moron, that whiny brother of yours is crying again, shut him up before I do," my father said, taking a sip from his beer; it's been three years since he lost his job at the local prescient, and believe me, this man standing before me was once a good cop and father, but he destroyed his life and ours by getting involved with greedy cops.I rushed out of my room to check on Shane, who was crying as my father had said when I entered his room. I went to sit on the edge of his bed and gently pulled him in for a hug "What's the matter, kiddo? Why are you crying?"His sobs subsided as he responded to my question. "I had a nightmare that you left me here; you and Dad were arguing as usual, but you stormed out the door. I tried calling you, but you did not answer ". Shane said as he drew away, wiping his tear-stained cheeks, "Please, Leo, don't abandon me. I promise not to cause you any problems.""Listen carefully, Shane. I will never leave you. You're stuck with me forever. You're the Robin to my Batman. No one, not even the jerk in the living room, can change that "I explained in a soothing tone as I hugged him tightly before kissing his temple. "Now I need you to go back to sleep because you have school tomorrow. I'll be right there if you need me."Shane took a few minutes to fall asleep, so I tucked him in and left his room quietly so I wouldn't wake him. I went into the kitchen to get something to drink when I heard the front door open and close. When I looked at the time, it was ten o'clock, which meant Denice, our dear mother, had returned from her waitressing job."Hello Denice, how was work?" I asked, I know it's strange that I call her Denice since she was my mother but she lost that right a long time ago, so she doesn't deserve to be called mother or mum by me."Good, how is your brother?" she asked. "He is asleep, he was asking for you today? He wanted to know if you would come for his program tomorrow?" I explained, knowing it was useless to tell her because she was going to say no like she always did."I can't come because I have something to do that day; tell him I'm sorry and that I'll make it up to him later," she said as she took the leftover lasagne I made for dinner from the fridge to warm up."That's what I thought you would say, I don't even know why I bother asking you when you say no all the time" I scoff as I turned to walk away, I couldn't even stand looking at her sometimes"I don't want to argue tonight Leo, I'm tired so give it a rest""You're his mother, try to act like it once in a while so he knows you give a shit about him" I said before working out on her and headed straight for my room.Not only does she not participate in his school activities, but she also ignores him at home and rarely speaks to him, causing the poor kid to believe he has done something wrong that has made her angry with him.Due to their absence in his life, I would be the one to accompany him to school whenever he had any activity that required a parent or both parents to attend, and the excuse they always gave was that they both never had time to come.Which made me wonder why they were so distant from him; he never asked for much, he got good grades, and he behaved exceptionally well for his age, so he didn't deserve the shit they were putting him through.I didn't mind how they treated me because I was used to and tired of their scumbag behavior because my childhood wasn't exactly peaceful either, but Shane deserved better.My father lost his job when I was ten, and it really messed with my head. I began to fail as a result of all of the responsibilities I had at home, and then Denice gave birth to Shane, and I had to care for him as well, which I didn't mind because I loved having a little brother.When I was twelve, my father took me for a drive; it had been a while, so I was relieved that he was back to his old self. After driving for a while, we came to a stop in front of an abandoned warehouse; he got out of the car and came over to my side, dragged me out of the car into the warehouse; as we got closer, I heard loud music and a lot of yelling.In the middle of the warehouse was a makeshift ring and chairs surrounding it, with people seated on those chairs throwing money into the ring where two guys were hitting each other and they were both covered in blood, the fight went on until one of them was knocked out, then the referee announced the winner and stuffed a large bundle of money in his bloody hands.My father placed me in the ring after it was completely empty, locking the door behind him so I couldn't escape. I begged my father fervently for him to open the door but he paid me no attention as he went to take his seat .While I was distracted, a man twice my size entered the ring with me and looked at me as if he wanted to squeeze the life out of me. With nowhere to run, the bell rang, and the man attacked first, but I was able to slip away because I was quite skinny, but I wasn't able to stay away from his clutches for long because he grabbed me and began punching me repeatedly to ensure I felt everything.Fortunately, I survived the match, but when I turned to search for my father, he was with the referee from before, and he handed my father some cash and my father fucking smiled, I was covered in blood and bruises, and that mother fucker was smiling like he had won the lottery.After that night, I began fighting in the void to pay for his drinking problem. And that's how I ended up getting beaten up every last Saturday of the month until I met my best friend Ripper, who taught me how to fight after seeing me get beaten up to the point where I couldn't even walk out of the ring myself, and after a few classes I started winning my matches because he was a really good teacher.I was drawn out of my thoughts, when I heard my Father and Denice fighting again. I put on my headphones to drown out the noise, but I could still hear them arguing, which meant they were going to wake Shane up sooner or later, so I left my room and followed the sound of their voices which led me to the kitchen. I didn't care if they started hitting each other while they were hurling insults at each other in the kitchen. All I wanted was for them to stop shouting."Can you guys tone it down, Shane? School is tomorrow and I don't want you to wake him up.""Sh...ut up you bas...tared and go back to your room," my father said, his words slurred."Leo, go back to your room, your father and I were just talking," Denice said, turning to face me."I really don't care what you guys were talking about, just keep it down," I said, turning back to go to my bedroom."I'll teach you some respect, boy," my father said before I heard a loud crash on my back and found myself falling to the ground. Before I passed out that night, I remember Denice standing there watching everything happen and doing nothing to stop him from attacking me.*end of flashback*When I got home from my run, it was already six o'clock in the morning, so I took a quick shower and went to wake Shane up. I looked around and found him in the bathroom brushing his teeth; when he saw me pop my head through the door, he quickly rinsed off the tooth paste."Hey little man, good morning," I said, and he signed "good morning" before coming over to give me a big hug. "Someone is a little too excited this morning." I chuckled, and he punched me in the stomach.He stuck his tongue out at me before shoving me out the door and closing it. I laughed at his shyness before going to pack his stuff into his bag. So now all we had to do was get ready because we had to leave earlier than expected because I had to get our lunch from Rudy's Diner.After he finished washing up, he went to get dressed, and I went to my room to get ready as well.I chose a pair of black shorts, a black hood, and my black Jordans, and when I was finished dressing, I went to check on Shane, who was wearing the same clothes as me except he was wearing a white hood instead, and when I was sure he and I were ready, we left for Rudy's.When we got to Rudy's, i saw we had time to get breakfast so we had a quick breakfast and i got him lunch and after i took him straight to schoolWhen I arrived at Shane's school, I had to tell his teacher that he couldn't speak and would have to communicate through his phone or paper, and to my surprise, she accepted it without complaint and assured me that she would help him if he needed it as well as try her best to make him feel comfortable, and for some reason I knew I could trust this woman and she would keep her word, so Shane and I said our goodbyes and I was off to my own school.On getting to school I parked my truck in the school parking lot. Before going in I asked for directions to the principal's office from the security guard at the school entrance. I thanked him and followed his directions and found it eventually with time to spare before homeroom.I knocked on the door and heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door, so I opened the door and walked in. The principal was seated at her desk and welcomed me with a smile as I shut the door behind me."Hello, you must be Mr Smith, I would like to welcome you to Riverview high school, my name is Thompson, and I hope you enjoy your time in our school and town." Principal Thompson smiled as she spoke."Um, thanks," I replied, not knowing what else to say."You don't need to thank me, but first you need to find the staff room, which is down the hall on your left. Go in and say you're looking for Mr. Hunter; he will lead you to your classroom"."All right, Ma, have a nice day.""You as well, Mr Smith," Principal Thompson said as she ushered me out of her office.I followed her instructions and walked down the hall, turning to my left; boldly written on the door in front of me was 'staffroom,' so I knocked, entered, and asked the first woman I saw. She pointed to a man in his early twenties, so I approached him, and before I could say anything, he spoke first."You must be Leo Smith; welcome; I'm on my way to address your classmates, follow me so i can introduce you" Mr Hunter said as he picked up some books from his table, motioning for me to follow him, and I did. We left the staffroom room and walked down the hall, passing the Principal's office and two or three other classrooms before arriving at mine.When we walked into a class everyone stopped talking and just stared at the two of us. "Hello class this is Leo Smith he will be joining us for senior year, let all welcome him because he is also new to our school and town,"Mr Hunter said and I felt kind of irritated by this man for some reason, "Leo would you like to introduce yourself""No" I mumbled"I see, so have you a seat then, you can take the empty chair beside Miss Marcos" Mr Hunter said in an annoyed tone as he pointed at the empty chair, I went to my seat I noticed that the Miss Marco he spoke of was the girl from the dinner, Athena.I couldn't believe I was going to the same school as her. I was excited to see her again, but I didn't show it. I sat beside her and said nothing while listening to Mr Hunter's announcements, but after a few minutes of talking rubbish, he left, and then some idiot said something rude from the back of the class"Are you deaf, or do you simply choose not to speak?" The idiot asked mockingly, causing his friends to laugh, but I didn't even acknowledge him, let alone answer his question; instead, I pulled out pride and prejudice and began reading, ignoring everyone around me, but I caught my little waitress sneaking glances at me, which made me feel quite smug.Then I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see some guys standing beside my table."You know it's rude to ignore people, new kid," the guy said, and I recognized his voice; it was the idiot from before, so I didn't bother looking up and acknowledging him or his friends.But then he grabbed my book, ripping it slightly before tos
Weeks have passed, and my silent partner has continued to sit next to me without saying a word. It's as if we have an unspoken agreement between us; ever since he arrived, he has only ever sat next to me. He enters the classroom, sits down, and plugs in his earphones until the teacher enters. I've tried to talk to him, but I can't seem to work up the courage.Last week, the teacher assigned us a task that required us to write a brief poem about anything we wanted and present it in front of the entire class, which was worth a lot of points. The presentations were one aspect of English that I disliked. When I have to speak in front of people, I get nervous, and when I get nervous, I get sick.Everyone took turns giving their presentations until Leo and I were the only two left. I went first, blocking out everything as the words came to me; my poem was about my life and all the pain I'm going through."I am fear and pain, I wonder if those are all I feel, I hear the voices in my head yell
Mr. Olsen, the English teacher, assigned us a poem as an assignment that we were to present in front of the class. I didn't like giving presentations; it wasn't that I was afraid of being on stage; I just don't like talking in front of people. Mr Olsen listened as everyone took turns reciting their poem aloud, Dylan and his friends didn't bother doing the assignment, I never liked guys like them because they think because they are rich, they can do whatever they want, it pisses me off.Athena and I were the last to present, so she took the stage first. She stood up and walked to the front of the class, holding her poem. I noticed that her gaze never left the ground as she began reading her poem to the class.I just stared at her when she was finished because I knew that poem meant a lot to her because I could see it in her eyes. She looked up and around the classroom, observing her classmates' expressions. Then that idiot fucker had to open his mouth and ruin her moment."Way to make e
I got up early today to make breakfast and get everything ready before leaving. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to look for work because, even if we had savings, we couldn't rely on it forever. Another thing on my mind was our parents' death anniversary, which was approaching, and I was wondering if Shane would like to go to their grave and see them; it's been a tradition since they died, but we weren't able to go last year, so I maybe we can go but I would've to ask him first.Due to the fact that I couldn't leave Shane alone at home during his suspension, I decided to skip school for the next three days; it's not like I'll miss anything "Wake up little man, you need breakfast, I'm going out early today to find a job," I told Shane as I tried to coax him out of bed.But instead of getting up he turned to the other side, attempting to fall back asleep. "Dude, get up or I'll wake you up the hard way," I said but got no response so i walked into the bathroom to get a bow
Today marks the fifth anniversary of my parents' deaths. On this day five years ago, our parents died, and Shane lost his ability to speak. Even after five years, the image of Shane hooked up to machines haunts my dreams. Every year on this day, I was in a bad mood, so I rarely did anything except visit their grave. I went over to Shane's room to see if he was awake. I found him sitting on his bed with his hands over his face, and when he looked up to acknowledge me, I noticed he was crying.I rushed over to him. "Are you all right, Shane?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him and pulling him into a hug. I rubbed my hand down his back, trying to comfort him, but he continued to cry for thirty minutes before stopping."Hey buddy, can you tell me what's going on? You're making me worried," I asked quietly, but he looked away as if trying to avoid my question. "I need to know what's going on, Shane. Please tell me," I insisted."Why didn't I just die with them that day, Leo
Two days had passed since Dylan had attacked me in that classroom. No matter how hard I scrubbed, I could still feel his hands on my body and down my pants, so the only good part of the past few days was that Sophia was Back home.Sophia just returned from a week-long visit with her stepbrother, and I didn't want her to find out because she'll get upset because she doesn't want me to be hurt by them. I gave her a chance to calm down before knocking on her door and waiting for her to answer. When the door finally opened, I pulled her in for a hug."Hey, Athena, I missed you so much, what has happened since I left, are those boys still bothering you, and don't lie to me, you know you're a terrible liar" "Nothing gets past you Sophia, yes they do, but it's nothing I can't handle," I reassured her with a smile. I didn't want to bother her because she had a lot on her plate already. She didn't seem to believe me, but she didn't push me."So Uncle Jerry got a new girlfriend again, she seems
When I woke up, I was in one of the school's classrooms, it was dark outside so I couldn't see anything, I tried moving to find my way out but couldn't, then the lights came on and I was surrounded by Dylan and his friends, they were throwing trash at me and calling me nasty names, then the lights went out and I found myself standing in the hallway totally confused.I tried calling out for someone, but there was no response, and I began to panic because I couldn't remember leaving the house for school. Then, as I was lost in thought, three guys wearing Halloween masks emerged from the empty classroom around me. This terrified me because we were the ones here and they were just standing staring at me not saying a word.One of the guys reached into his pocket and pulled out an army knife without even waiting to see what he was going to do with it. I turned around and ran as fast as I could, but the faster I ran, the closer they got, and then the guy wearing the mask from the movie Scream
When I finished cleaning up in the kitchen, I went to my room to get my belongings. I packed everything I needed for work in my bag and went to the living room to wait for Sophia to come from her room. After a few minutes, I became lost in my thoughts.William Sanderson, the school football team's quarterback, was my first and only friend and boyfriend in junior year. I believed he cared about me, but it was all a lie. I vividly recall the day I discovered he was a lying good for nothing asshole.My phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID; it was William, and as I picked it up, a smile spread across my face; his beautiful voice spoke on the other end of the phone."How are things in France, Will?""All right, I guess.""What's going on with you?" I asked because he wasn't sounding like his usual self "I have something to tell you.""What are you scaring me about?" "I'm breaking up with you. My parents said we're going to stay here now because my dad got a job," I said."And you jus