Subject Me To Life [Book One] ✔️ *EDITING*

Chapter Twenty-One

*Edited* Not proofread*

Chapter 21— There it is:

The crisp wind blows the light brown strands of hair that escape my bun away from my face. I don't bother and try to brush them back, knowing they'll just end up in the same place I'd removed them from. My feet pad in a rhythm with Rey's paws as we jog along the empty sidewalk, the sun just beginning to rise— a reminder that I haven't been to sleep since I'd arrived at my house last night.

It happens often; not sleeping I mean. I could go nights without sleep no matter how exhausted or tired I am. I can stay up for days in a row not drifting off once— not even for a couple of minutes. It's exhausting, but I'm used to it now.

There are bags under my eyes and I yawn so frequently my jaw's started to hurt. My body is aching with the need to rest, but unfortunately I just can't. Jace had mentioned a while ago that I had something called chronic insomnia, a sleeping disorder of some kind apparently. I don't really care for the diagnosis much— it turns out there's a lot of shit wrong with me, so I never actually bother to keep up with it.

I'm not sure how long I've been jogging for, before I end up on the run-down looking side of town. I suppose this is what people would class as the 'poor' area.

The paint on most of the house's exteriors is chipping badly; the garden's overgrown with litter strewn across the lawn. Trash cans overflow with rubbish that has begun forming a pile on the ground; cars that look to be old and broken-down are parked outside the unkept house's on the uneven sidewalk. A few people's windows have been smashed and badly put back together with duct tape or sealed with rotting slabs of wood. The air is smokey and smells funny, my nose twitching at the bad odour.

I've lived in places like these before. Most of the residence were either druggies, deadbeats, or alcoholics. People only end up in the part of town like this when you they've lost completely everything, or have nothing to begin with.

I continue to jog through the streets and back to my part of town, noticing the drastic change in atmosphere and appearance. Fuck, even the air smells better.

I get ready for school and spend the remaining hours reading over some new words Dakota left me last night. I mark a few that I struggled with and tick the ones I'm confident about (which is surprisingly the majority of the page), then look up the meaning for each one.

Not only is the blonde boy helping me improve my reading and writing, but he's also trying to expand my vocabulary and help me understand the meaning of much more complex words.

Honestly, he isn't a bad teacher, I'll give him that.

When I pull up to school, the parking lot is packed with cars and filled with students. I don't recognise anyone, not even the ones who look to be seniors like me. I don't pay much attention to people really, not bothering to commit them to memory or bother remembering their names. They're more like background actors in a movie to me— Fucking irrelevant.

I walk through the swarm of South-Raven High students, my bag slung over my shoulder lazily. I trudge up the stairs yawning as I walk through the open entrance, making my way to my locker which fortunately isn't too much of a trip from where I am.

Just as expected, Lilah is there waiting for me with a cup of something in her hands. Landon is leaning against the lockers opposite mine, while Zeke stands next to him talking animatedly about whatever is on his mind as his hands move wildly in front of him. Gray has one of his arms against the top of my locker and over Lilah's head as he whispers God-knows-what into her ear, causing her to blush and giggle.