This is a story about the boy who my universe revolves around.
The part about my universe revolving around him is completely coincidental- I didn't choose that, and he didn't actually intend to have this effect on me. It just happened when he start...
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This is a story about the boy who my universe revolves around. The part about my universe revolving around him is completely coincidental- I didn't choose that, and he didn't actually intend to have this effect on me. It just happened when he started attending my high school as a sixteen year old boy in his senior year and ended up making everything revolve around him. Eventually, everything else recovered. My life, however, decided not to, and continued to revolve around him as if it had always been that way. I have to admit, I couldn't imagine it another way now.
But let's start at the beginning.
His mother.
An incredible woman, a fierce lawyer and loving parent. She married his father to become his second wife- he already had a son with his first wife, who had died. They gave birth to another boy shortly after their marriage, creating a lovely little family of four.
It didn't last long, though. His father was still reeling from his first wife's death, and he hadn't quite dealt with the psychological effects of that. He became withdrawn from his relationship with his new wife, and eventually, being the no-nonsense woman she is, she decided to leave him.
The main complication to this decision were the two boys. Though the elder of the two wasn't her son by blood, she loved him just as dearly as if he were her own; possibly more than his remaining birth parent. However, this son opted to stay with his father, not out of love for him but mostly because he was still clinging to the memories of his deceased mother and couldn't bear the idea of moving to a new family.
Of course, the younger of the brothers had shared most of his childhood with his older brother, and while his mother hated to leave him, she couldn't split them up. So she left both boys with their father, and moved on to remarry and create a new family.
She stayed in touch with both of her sons, though (as she thought of them, despite only one being hers by blood). She was skeptical of how capable their father was of parenting, seeing as he was still mourning his first wife and now the destruction of his second marriage. Her concerns became justified quickly- it wasn't long before the man fell into a deep depression, mingled with alcoholism, and began to neglect both of his sons.
The older son, however, begged the younger not to tell his mom. If she found out about their living situation, she would most likely bring them to live with her, and he still hadn't come to terms with his birth mother's death. The younger agreed, albeit hesitantly, and they both lied for years, saying that their father was treating them well.
The older son went to public school, getting a job as soon as he was able in order to provide for himself and his brother. He still clung to the pain of his mother's death, but so did his father (which completely obliterated his ability to provide for his family), and he would often take out his anger at the situation on his first son.
Meanwhile, the younger of the brothers stayed at home and took his schooling online. His father chose to ignore his presence rather than act out against him, which, while not good, did allow him to safely study at home. This homeschooling gave him the freedom to quickly advance through his classes. He was something of a genius in nearly every subject- with the proper teaching, he would have been a brilliant scholar before even reaching adulthood.
Unfortunately, his situation stunted him. Still, he managed to move through his classes at a quick enough rate to keep pace with his older brother, in the hopes that they'd be able to graduate and go to post secondary school at the same time. This would be ideal, as then neither of them would be left alone with their father. The older brother saved money from his job to pay for his schooling, and kept in contact with an aunt from his mother's side, making arrangements to potentially live with her during his post-secondary education. The younger brother assumed that by that point, he'd be able to live with his mother (who he was still extremely close with) as she'd offered financial help or a home with her if he ever needed it.
And then, senior year came around for both of the brothers. Their father decided he didn't want to pay for his younger son's homeschooling anymore, and opted for the easy route of sending him to public school with the other boy, making the excuse that since they were in the same grade, they could go together. In reality, he was more concerned with being able to fund his drinking habits with the saved money. Regardless of the reason, though, he sent them both to senior year together, and everyone- including myself- was blissfully unaware of the chaos this one seemingly simple act would provoke. The chaos that this one seemingly innocuous boy could cause.
His name?
Exander Anderson.
Now, the thing you have to understand about Exander is that he's insatiable. He's tiny and clever and he's never had enough of anything. His mother was his only parent for a long time, and his brother was his only friend. His schooling was pretty limited, and he'd never taken any extracurriculars online. He'd never truly been exposed to the real world before his dad shoved him out into high school.
Well- he had been exposed to some of life's harsh realities. His father ignored him, it was his job to cook and clean every day while knowing that his brother was working way too much, just to be able to support them. He'd been exposed to death and the pain it causes, in seeing how it destroyed his father and made his brother live in the past, clinging to the memories of his mother that echoed around their house. He was on the outside looking in on his mother's new family, her new husband and baby daughter. He was on the outside looking in on happiness that he might be able to have, but he refused to leave his brother; he knew the heart-breaking decisions that make a person who they are.
But no friends. No father, no part of his mother's new family. No teacher who had seen his potential and lifted him up. No joys, only the future promise of something, maybe.
High school is big, and it seems limited to some people. Most people, even. It's simply a test of survival, of how much pressure you can take before you crack. But those people aren't Exander. To Exander, high school was nothing but possibilities. Things he'd never had. And, as previously mentioned- he'd never had many things that weren't inherently negative and limiting. So it's only fitting, it's only the natural conclusion that he would take it by storm. Enter the building and instantly rock the boat as much as possible, rise to the challenge and demolish everything in his path.
Perhaps I'm biased. Exaggerating. He did, after all, take over my entire life before I even realized what was happening. When something occupies over half of the space in your mind, everything about that thing becomes earth-shattering. Even if you never authorized the existence of that thing in your brain, even if you never asked for it to take up so much space within your life- especially then. There it is anyways, pushing you towards the breaking point with every minute movement. And Exander? Everything he does, he does to full capacity. Every moment with him was like careening towards my breaking point.
And yet, I can't imagine my life without him.
This is the story of how he became the centre of my universe.
What do you think of the first chapter? Any predictions for the book? Let me know!
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