Scribble

The beginning

A package comes to the front door, addressed to Dylan Daniels.
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15 year old Dylan lives high school with every other teenager. He doesn't get mail, never, unless maybe the single magazine he subscribed to for a free trial. A package coming with his name on it seemed too good to be true. Dylan never expected what he would get, except he would be doing more reading than he though over the summer vacation.
(C o p y r i g h t e d)

The Beginning

I slumped in my chair, not bothering to even pay attention to the last five minutes of school. I tapped the eraser end of my pencil against the desk, rather annoyingly to others that were actually listening to the long speech of Mr. Farrows speech of making good decisions over the months we all have been waiting for; Summer.

I glanced around, itching to just sprint out.

Five minutes. The clock teased us all. I thumped the pencil against the table again, louder this time.

Someone nudged me with my foot. I turned my head to look at the owner of the nudge. The girl I knew that was named Lily shot me an annoyed look.

I faced foreword, dropping my pencils on the desk. With another glance at the clock, I realized we had three minutes. Three minutes till the break we, most teenagers, wait for for more than half of the school year.

I yawned, tapping my foot against the floor. My gaze would flicker from the door to the clock. Mr. Farrow would have to just drone on, I knew I wasn't the only one not listening.

To prove my point, I stretched to look around casually. Sure enough, the clock seemed to be the celebrity in the class. With a blank journal in front of me, my pencil sketched a pattern on the paper, trying to waste the time.

"Mr. Daniels-"

Everyone shot up from their seats like missiles set off to launch. They were ready and so was I.

His voice coughed out my name, as well as the other students pushing past to exit. I spun around, deciding to say something after all.

"Great summer, Mr. Farrow," I paused, adjusting my grip on my backpack slung over one shoulder. I shot him a small smirk. "Make good decisions, sir."

I made a good decision then: to beeline out of there.

- - -

After confirming plans with friends, I walked home. It never took more than ten minutes to walk from and to school, which was always nice. Especially when the alarm clock forgets that it isn't a weekend. Sometimes it just wants sleep too.

Ten short minutes later, I swung open our wooden door and slammed it shut behind me. Mother poked her head from the kitchen down the hall, she smiled widely at me.

"Dylan! Summer! Weren't you telling me your plans yesterday that you were going to spend time with Melissa and your friends?" Melissa Wilde, the girlfriend, my girlfriend.

I clapped my hands together and walked over, I nodded. "Right, Melissa won't actually. Didn't I tell you she's going to a summer camp?"

She'd frowned, lost in thought. Working almost everyday, it's hard to keep up with a job that takes up half her time and be a single mother.

I smiled reassuringly at her as a frown etched her face. "It's alright, mom." She slowly nodded and went back in the kitchen, obviously angry at herself for forgetting like she had, as she always has.

I decided to go in the living room to greet my 13 year old brother, who has had enough rough times for his younger self. Ryan smiled at me, a silent and rare motion. I plopped on the couch next to him, a smile mirroring his on my face.

"Hey, Ryan, summer already, huh?" Happiness covered his features and I swallowed the sadness, knowing what he had gone through and still is. A silent response was his usual, but the smile was sometimes rare.

Hasn't talked for nearly a year, hasn't laughed once, even if I tickled him. After a huge breakdown, Ryan gave up on talking to anyone. Mom and I knew some of the reason, but the rest was uncertain.

It bugged both of us, but we never dwelled on him. Ryan would tell us, we both knew that. He knew that himself, even if he had to dig a little.

Mom's voice interrupted the start of my new sentence. "Dylan?" She paused, a surprise tone to her voice. "Theres a large package, for you."