Burnout

Shellshock

It was finally silent, after hours of waiting, and I finally came out of the box. I didn't know why it took so long for them to settle down, but I didn't feel like asking or anything like that. I reorganized my room to my liking and creeped out of my room, letting my eyes adjust to the light that contrasted heavily to my dimly lit environment. I was starving, one slice of pizza was hardly enough to feed me after an entire day of nothing but working on experiments and machines. I snuck around as quietly as possibly, keeping to the shadows and letting myself blend into the darkness, just to make sure no one would find me. I grabbed a few more slices of pizza and retreated to my room. I just hoped no one would find me. I crossed my fingers and practically started praying as I tiptoed into my room. Once my door was shut and locked, I leaned against it and closed my eyes, silently thanking whatever I may have accidentally prayed to. I slid down the door to sit on the floor (ha, wouldn't you know it? I'm a poet!) and ate the cold slices. I didn't dare open my eyes, who knows what could've been waiting for me in my own room? I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't help it. As a ninja, I always had to think about my surroundings, right? Everyone knew I thought too much, I was pretty sure at least. At least the pizza was good cold too. I finally opened my eyes, letting myself find security in my own room, and picked up a book before getting into bed. It was a book April gave to me since she thought I'd like it, which was so nice of her. She was always so nice and understanding, and surprisingly gentle with everything she did. 

She always had a certain way of doing things that "hit me in the feels", like Mikey would say. She was beautiful, but that wasn't the only reason I liked her. She was understanding and joyful, but knew how to comfort. Just thinking about when she held me in her lap when I'd gotten hurt made me feel giddy, and I couldn't help but let out a tiny giggle thinking about it. She could always bring a smile to my face, no matter what'd happened previously. I knew I had no chance with her, but it couldn't hurt to appreciate her, right? I started reading the book, and it was easy to see why April thought I would like it. It was a science fiction novel about a young boy training with a scientist while also learning to defend himself from his father, and the technology was really interesting to try to understand! Sure, the blueprints were unrealistic and I was sure the author couldn't map out a functioning toaster, but it was interesting nonetheless! I found a heart bookmark in one of the pages as I was reading through and it made me wonder. Did April leave this in the book for me? Was it possible she liked me back? I looked on the back and it had some random name on there. I was wrong, this must've been a library book and some unfortunate person was unlucky enough to lose their cute bookmark. 

I found a way to cover up the name and I hid the bookmark in one of my folders. I didn't want my brothers to know I had something so cute, but I still wanted to keep it. It was technically from April, even if it was completely unintentional, and as such, I was going to appreciate it. I felt sick again, that milk really hadn't been good, and I hadn't even checked the pizza to see if there was anything wrong with it. I finished the book and put it beside a pile of more books that had been completed. That pile was mine, so I was starting a pile to return to April. It wasn't long before I realized that everyone was waking up again, so I once again blocked every entrance into my room and listened for anything that might let me know what was going on out there. 

"Eww, this pizza's bad! There's only one slice left though." Mikey's voice was whiny, as was the case with any rotten food. I already knew it was just my luck to have eaten spoiled pizza, it was stupid of me to have tried to eat anything at a time like that when I knew I wasn't going to pay attention enough. How did anyone think I was the smart one?

"Just throw it out, Mikey." Leo was always acting like a mom, and this was no different. 

"Dude, I think someone ate some of this recently. See the grease marks? They're still fresh, not inside the cardboard yet."