"I wish I could always feel like this" Chris said. Chris was Collin's best-friend since age seven. The boys were in their open field. They found it a day they were biking and it became theirs. In the field they had Chris' uncle, Dan, build a tree house for them out there. The tree house wasn't sturdy enough for the two now grown boys. It was meant for children. No matter how young they felt.
"High?" Collin replied. The two were smoking cocaine. It was one of their first times too. He wanted to know the buzz, the freedom of it all. They promised each other only once, but for Collin this was his third time. He could never keep his promises, which resulted him into being an absolute liar. He hated liars and hypocrites, and he was both.
He just never realized it.
"No, infinite" Chris smiled. The drug had a different effect than it did on Collin. Chris had a burning dance on the inside of his skin. It felt like the Icy-Hot he put on after every football game. His heart had a slow rhythmic beat that lifted his spirit. He was sitting on a cloud rising. It felt like a thin layer between heaven and earth. It was indescribable. He forgot about his test he should be studying for on Tuesday. He forgot about the guilt for inhaling the drug. All that mattered was the feeling right here and right now.
Slam
The textbook hit the ground making a thud. The shock woke him up. Everyone's eyes were laid on him, and everybody"s snickering was directed at him too. Drool was on his homework, smudging his writing. He didn't think it could become anymore un-legible, he was proven wrong.
"I asked you a question, Mr. Jarvis."
"Can you repeat it please?" He still hadn't learned the teacher's name. Whoops he thought, even though he could actually care less.
"Collin, what was the Trail of Tears?" The teacher smirked thinking the boy was caught. That lesson was a chapter ahead nobody knew the answer except for well...
"The route taken during the enforced removal in 1838 of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to Oklahoma, a thousand-mile death march on which the Cherokee were allowed to bring little if any food or shelter, and on which at least 4,000 Cherokee died." He said without skipping a beat. Collin loved history, he loved knowing how things were different in the eyes of others. How technology evolved. He made different stories about the villages and everything that could go wrong. Things did go wrong too, but the future still remained bright. Not everybodys sadly.
Mr. Caluchio had to blink twice, regain his composer, and swallow down his pride to say "That's right, see me after class."
Collin shrugged and sat through the rest of the lesson Mr. Caluchio was teaching. He knew it all. No body knew that he knew it, because not once did he answer a question that was being asked around the room. He didn't need to be known as a 'Know-it-all' or the 'Teacher's pet' especially after that stunt.
The bell rung, Collin gathered his homework and just sat in his seat. His teacher walked over and sat in front of him. Mr. Caluchio was young, not fresh out of college young, but like a 28 year old young. He had brown hair, stubble on his chin, and gray eyes. He had a deep voice too, it just made his job more accurate to him. If that even makes sense.
"How?"
"I've read this entire textbook already and the next addition," he paused "can I go now?"
"No, and why didn't you say anything? You could be placed into a higher level course, it would appeal more to colleges" Both knew this. Collin just never did anything about it because, he won't be able to go to college anyway.
"Doesn't matter," he breathed out. He felt he would be here for awhile.
"Of course it matters son, a better college better future,"
"No it doesn't, first of all that's a load of bull okay? Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, none of them went or finished college. Second of all, I don't have the privilege to go to college, my family is spending that money on this school. Third of all, I'm learning the advanced material on my spare time I don't need a bald man with a nice tie, and a flimsy piece of paper telling me he went to a nice school, lecturing me something that I love turning and turn it into something I hate," Collin was past angry he wanted to snap and throw the desk across the room. He hated how this teacher got under his skin within a matter of seconds.
Slowly the teacher smiled and pinched his lips together trying to hide it. "I like you Jarvis."
"Can I go?" Collin asked again. It was lunch time and had skipped out on his oatmeal this morning. All he could think about was the mystery meat, getting away from the nosy teacher and hoping the bathroom stalls were empty. The teacher nodded, stood up and left.
-
Meatloaf shouldn't be qualified to be served in school cafeterias. He could be eating a horse and would never know. The tomato paste on the top looked crunchy. For a private school they could definitely afford better cooks. Collin stood in line with a kid that had broad chin and muscular shoulders. His schoolmate was impatient and pushed Collin forward, a bit too hard.
"Come on wimpy, get up,"
"Sorry," He replied meekly. He grabbed a pudding cup, a water bottle and left with haste. He scanned the cafeteria for Cassidy or another lonely kid, and didn't see anyone. Stalls it is again.
On the way to the boy's restroom he tripped on his shoelace. There in the empty school hallways, the funky substance was splattered all over his uniform. Fantastic. Now he didn't have a lunch to pick at, he didn't have a fresh shirt, and he didn't have one friend.
"Collin, what the hell man?" Cassidy said walking towards him. The halls were empty just them two. Fantastic. Where was she at lunch? Correction. All week?
"Come on I have another uniform shirt you can wear," He nodded, he didn't have the energy to yell at her and he really needed a new shirt. The two walked the halls trailing the smell of lunch meat. At the east wing they arrived at Cassidy's locker. She spun her locker combo 29-09-02. Collin tried memorizing it because he knew this won't be the last time. Opening the locker it almost hits him square in the face. A 'sorry' slips out of her voice quietly.
"Here, strip off the mystery meat and put this on." She hands him the regalia which he gratefully takes and hands her the old one. He stares in her locker and doesn't see any books. Just clothes, cosmetics, love notes, photos, and a mirror. The photos are of Cassidy and a boy. A photo-booth strip and others of the same happy couple. Cassidy notices him staring at her locker and she just smiles. While she's distracted with herself he puts on the clean shirt.
"It's my boyfriend Jackson's shirt. It's a tad big on you. And my textbooks and other stuff are in his locker, we're showing each other that we're committed to each other and well yeah." She's very fond of him. It was obvious. He didn't know him and he didn't care much to either. If she was happy well, it didn't effect him actually. Also if she thought sharing a locker with someone was being committed to a relationship and a step higher of trust than whatever. He didn't see it as that, all he could see was that there was a very compacted locker that a girl and a boy shared. It just benefited her really.
"Where have you been? I didn't even see you in history,"
"Oh well I kinda skip that class. It's Jackson's free period so we kinda,"
"TMI Cassidy. I don't need to know the dirty. Just saying you should start going back to that class. You're going to fail if you don't".
"You can always just help me study for the big exams. I know how much you love history" It was true. But he would not like to spend an hour of his time to attempt tutoring an airhead.
"Cassidy just go to the class, kay?"
"Whatever,"
-
It was the last period of the day. He had PE. Fantastic. That should become his catchphrase by now. He dressed in his attire and it was time to workout. The stench of sweat surrounded him. Gross. He couldn't even look at the girls when they jogged because it was all guys in this class. I did not sign up for this. Collin looked around the gym and saw many males working out on the weights and treadmills. Some on the balls making fun of them and bouncing. There even was a boy flexing in front of the mirror too. What a tool.
A spot opened up on the treadmill so he slowly approached it. He could walk for the class period. Perfect. While walking towards the treadmill a bald, black man with aviators around his neck approached him. He held a clip board, he appeared to be in authority of the place. Must be the coach.
"Okay you're the new kid, you have to be. I mean you put your shorts on backward," Looking down he realizes the logo for his name is on the back of his right thigh, instead of the front of his left.
"Now that you've realized that, we need to find a sport for you to finish half of this class, since you came in the second semester." I can't do sports. I'm total shit. Running, strength, and energy are all things he lacks in. Finding an actual sport that Collin could be 'genuinely okay at' would be impossible.
"Your last school says you tested extremly low in.... everything. So we're going to build up that muscle son. You might have good eye-hand coordination. Lets try badmiton, golf, or swimming?" At least they're not impossible sports. Right?
"Follow me," Coach had a higher voice than what you expected. It made him not too scary for Collin. He took Collin outside to the football field set up a tee for him and handed him a club. "try it." As the coach gave him instruction of bending the knees, containing good posture, and not to take his eye off the ball. He still couldn't hit the ball. After seven more attemps the tee was broken and the ball had only rolled foreward two feet.
"Okay that's not for you. Lets try some badmitton yeah?"
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