J A Y
It wasn't so bad, the wall behind the school. The cold bricks never seemed to cease sending shivers through my body as I leant against them each lunch.
Pulling open my plastic container that kept my lunch, I took out an apple, which I happily bit into.
I hadn't seen Soren at school that day. Most said he'd been expelled, but that was entirely untrue. When your mother is as rich as his, you can pay your way out of anything.
What I didn't understand was why she even put her son into a public school. You'd think someone of their wealth would be in a private school, then again—he would definitely be expelled.
My guess was that he'd just skipped a few classes. Taking my last bite, I threw my apple into the grass and watched it roll under a tree.
"Littering is against the rules, isn't it?"
I jumped as the voice broke the silence I was so used to. Turning to look in the direction I'd heard it from, I was completely and utterly shocked to see Soren leaning against the wall.
"Well, you've never been one for rules." I pointed out, mouth still open eyes wide in shock. "Have you?"
Stupid. Stupid. St—
He turned and looked at me, "Well, You ain't me."
"That's true. Why are you here anyways? You lost?" I asked grinning as I watched Soren turn his head to one side and stare out at the trees.
"You meant to do that?"
"Wha—" I stopped when he nodded in the direction of the tree.
I turned to watch small little birds with bright blue chest attack my apple core, "Yeah... I guess they've kinda learnt."
Soren looked down at me his arms crossed, his face yet again expressionless, "You're saying you sit here every lunch, alone?"
"What's wrong with that?" I said defensively before looking away quickly, hoping he didn't get mad.
"Nothin." Soren grunted before sliding down the wall and sitting next to me, if you could call a one-meter proximity apart "sitting together".
"You like cheese?" I asked stupidly looking at Soren, who turned to look at me with a blank expression.
He shrugged and turn back to look at the birds. I couldn't help but chat away to Soren. He never said anything but I knew he was listening. I don't know what took over me, maybe it was the many lunch times alone but I couldn't stop.
I paused after a while and waited for him to say something but still nothing left his mouth.
"This was fun." I smiled, waiting for him to say something again and ,to my surprise, he did.
"I wouldn't say fun. More like time consuming." His voice was deep but emotionless.
We sat in silence before I closed my container, "I think I should go now. You know, class and all. Well, I wouldn't know if you know about class because you don't go to it a lot...Which doesn't matter because—"
I stopped rambling when Soren closed his eyes and leant his head against the wall.
"Okay." He grunted and started putting an earbud in one ear.
I got up and nodded awkwardly even though his eyes were closed. Walking around the corner, I caught the last of his words followed by a soft chuckle.
"Hey there little blue, you like that apple huh."
S O R E N
Punch. Punch. Punch.
I couldn't hear my ridged breathing; the music was too loud to hear anything. Anything but the annoying thump of my beating heart, which screamed in my ears and clogged my throat.
Punch. Punch.
I could always hear it. Always, Always, Always.
Punch.
Some days I wish it'd just stop.
My left earbud was pulled from my head as someone yelled my name. I continued to punch the bag, feeling the sweat slide down my back.
"Soren, kid. It's midnight. You have school tomorrow." Fleck grabbed the punching bag in way to get my attention, "Boy, you're pushing too hard. You need sleep."
"I do this so I can sleep." I grunted through heavy breaths, each punch time precisely and to perfection.
"That's enough Soren!" Fleck screamed at me, spit colliding with my drench faced.
I took a step back and let my head fall back as I gasped for air, squinting my eyes shut from the pain I felt in my chest.
Fleck pushed a bottle of water in my taped hand, which I opened and scoffed before receiving a hard slap from the back of fleck's hand to my torso.
"Don't drink it so fast you big sod. You'll throw up," He warned before passing me my towel, which I ran over my face and chest.
"Thanks." I murmured as he untied the tape while I drank.
"Stupid boy," Fleck scoffed under his breath as my purple knuckles were exposed, "You punched with these?" He said holding up one of my bare, bruised fists, "Kid, your pain tolerance is insane."
"I forgot," I grunted as tipped the rest of the water over my head in means to cool me down.
"Forgot? You could've bloody well stuff your hands doing this." He gave me a parental looked before sighing, "Who'd ya punch?"
"Some cocky freshman, little shit head." I undid the over hand as I spoke, "Little fucking runt got all up in my face."
I knew Fleck was staring at me straight in the eyes with a penetrating glare but I didn't make eye contact, "Where'd you punch him?"
I shrugged, "A few gut shots... ended up breaking his nose."
Fleck gripped the bridge of his nose, "Kid, you ain't gonna have your mum to bail you out with mon—"
"I don't need her or her money." I hissed, standing up and placing my towel into my bag as I grabbed my jumper.
"Kid, the fact is you do." Fleck argued as I slung my bag over my shoulder. "You can't go around punching everyone and thinking there ain't gonna be any consequences."
I looked into Fleck's dusty brown eyes and grunted, "Just worry about your own life. Mine ain't worth worrying about."
Why worry about someone's existence, who prefers if they weren't here at all?
Walking out the door, I suddenly regretted not putting my jumper on. Warm days have cold nights. I guess that's how some people felt. Warm days: when you're distracted by the world, and cold nights: when you lay awake and dread the days to follow.
Dropping my bag, I pulled the hoodie over my head before continuing down the small alleyway.
I walked alone, the way it had always been.
The way I liked it, yet sometimes I'd wish someone would join me, but no one ever did.
-
A M A Z I NG F A N A R T
By GlueEater