Turnaround

Chapter 1 - A normal life

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone! ^_^ *clears throat* Here it is - My very first attempt at my own story. I'm more than a bit nervous, but I hope you guys like it. I'd like to thank @MarsBride007 for inspiring me to f.i.n.a.l.l.y try writing. You're awesome!! If you guys like it, feel free to give it a like. So here goes... 

"I'm coming!"

I hate mornings like these. Every morning I've ever overslept would turn out much like this one: shoot out of bed, dress in the same boring school uniform I've been wearing for the past year and a half in high school, choke on cereal from inhaling my food in record time, brushing teeth and gathering everything I needed before my mom gets a seizure.

"Hurry up Al, you're going to be late!" my mom called from the front door where she stood waiting to drive me to school.

Alex, that's me. Or just Al as my parents and close friends usually call me. I'm a pretty average guy - that is to say a gay guy, living in the closet, beating myself up every other day, because of my 'somewhat' conservative upbringing. Welcome to my life...

I grabbed my bag and headed to the car where my mom sat waiting. I hastily climbed in, buckled my seatbelt and settled in for the quick ride to school. We lived about five minutes away, which is pretty convenient I guess, seeing as I can sometimes get in an extra five minutes of sleep without it affecting my punctuality all that much.

"Bye sweetie! Enjoy your day and I'll pick you up after school," my mom said, fishing her sunglasses out of her handbag and putting them on before waving goodbye.

"Will do mom. See you around two thirty!" I waved back, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking into the building on my way to my locker. I stuffed all the books I won't need for my first few classes in my locker and headed outside to the spot where my friends and I like to sit.

I liked our new spot. It was on the stairs leading up to the tennis courts with a couple of large shade trees away from too much school traffic.

"Hey Al!" Linda called out, jumping up to give me a hug like she did ever since we were in kindergarten.

"Hi Lin" I said, hugging her back and sitting down next to Tate.

"Hey there, bud" he greeted, looking up from his Biology handbook.

We had a written Biology exam today. I've always found the subject particularly interesting so I didn't have any major problem preparing for the test. Tate on the other hand was, shall we say theoretically challenged, always way more interested in spending hours on end in front of his TV playing video games.

Personally I've never really caught on to the whole gaming thing. I've always preferred to listen to my music, singing along for the most part of my days. Other than that I spend a lot of my time in front of the piano, practicing pieces for the small school orchestra. I also loved spending time in the garden and baking. Most people would call me tediously boring, but hey, I love my hobbies so I couldn't really care all that much about what others think.

"I hate tests." Tate moaned. He gloomily paged through his book, looking like he was going to pop a vein or two.

Sally sat chatting with Yvonne. Those two have always been joined at the hip, but we all loved them to death – always there for comic entertainment.

"Hi Al!" Yvonne called to me, sitting with her legs thrown across Sally's lap.

"So I was thinking, seeing as we're all going to need a bit of relaxing after today, we could all hang out at my place after school!" Sally said.