"Son, saying a man with a strong voice, are you awake?"
A young man sitting in the back of a car, opening his eyes with an obvious fatigue:" Yes, I am awake now, thanks to you, dad!"
"How can you sleep after being on that stage with your big trophy in your hands? I am so so proud of you!"
The kid yawned and with a sleepy voice said:" It was not such a big deal, it's just another empty trophy to put on my wall."
Actually, it is a big thing for our guy. Let's get to know him better, don't you think? His name is Kieron, a very charming guy, always with a smile on his face, showing the whitest teeth you could ever see. His hair is dark like the coal, and his eyes are shinier and more blue than the sea, very well built, tall and with a very warm voice that could melt you down with the smallest try. Only his beautiful mind could make his physical appearance fade away and just his presence could create a better opinion of yourself when he cheers you up, because his optimistic and bright side is very contagious! School was for him the best part of the day, because he excelled at every subject and he spends time with his friends. Nothing could bring him down. Also, he doesn't have time to get bored, due to his big and very crowded schedule. Monday is poetry and literature day, every time he went to this club, he always found a way to melt the girls' hearts with his soulful pieces of writing; Tuesday, is "Movie Night" at one of his friends' house, his unbreakable squad is always there for him, his friends, Claire Blackwood (aka "The advice giver"), Roxy Miles (aka "The alibi"), Amanda Thompson (aka "The girl with the food") and Mary Valentine (aka "The clown of the squad"); Wednesday is the Science club, where he is the president of the group and founder; Thursday is the "Help the community" day, where he helps the elders and teaches orphans math, sciences and literature; Friday is the IT club, where he is trying to develop different kind of programs in the medical field for the poor; Saturday he practices swimming, where is the State's champion; And finally, Sunday, his favorite day of the week, the "Angelic Night", the night club where him and his squad spends the Sunday night. With such a program, who could ever get bored?
Our Kieron is soon to turn 16 years old, the most beautiful age of teenagers. Some of the people say that at that age some things could happen, but our Kieron doesn't think for a second that something enormous could happen to drastically change his life, well, that is yet to be seen.
Kieron is now going home with his dad, the fatigue in his mind, and also the will that he's put into winning the trophy in the trivia contest, made him to think about getting home faster. He was looking through the window and he was looking in the distance at the shadow of the fallen sun, covering the ground and leaving only some kind of sparks of light from the cars. The weather was talking to the people with an angry voice, shouting with fury from the dark clouds. Looking outside, when a thunder stroke, for a second he saw floating in the air two silhouettes with wings, trying to bring each other down.
Amazed by this view, he blinked and everything disappeared.
"Dad, did you see that thing on the sky?" Asked him, still trying to recall that moment.
"That lightning? Yeah, it was very big, wasn't it?"said his father with a relaxed voice.
"No, I mean, other things...?"
"No, all that I saw was a "big light"! Haha, you should sleep son, get some rest, I think you are exhausted."
"Maybe you are right, dad!" Said Kieron with a very low voice, thinking that if what he saw was an illusion of his tiring day.
The car parked home, Kieron opened the door, entered the house and he went straight to bed. It didn't take him long to fall in the world of dreams.
Above the sky, flying, is this night's fantasy. He is dreaming about flying above the sunny clouds, making turns and loops, with the hands pointed forward, he is smiling and feeling a big level of adrenaline combined with ecstasy. Nothing could break this beautiful timeless world. But, something started taking over the world. A dark star covered the sun and all the clouds were transformed into floating shadows. Disorientation conquered our hero. Fear and thrills held him under their control, and he couldn't do a thing. Two dark specters with chains tight him up and made him fall down to earth. Tears, screams and fright could be read on his face. On the way down he started screaming:"HELP! Someone please, please help me!"
He was on the point of touching the ground. In that moment, he woke up from the dream, exhaling faster and deeper. The sweat on his face was shining in the obscure light of the night.
"It was just a dream! Thanks God!" Exclaimed him with a big relief took of his shoulders.
The shining day remembered him that day was a new one.
"Son, please come down, the breakfast is ready!" Said his dad from downstairs.
"I'm coming!" Said the boy.
On the table, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Jasmine, saying:"We'll be in the front of your door in 30 minutes, are you ready?"
"Yes, I'll grab something to eat and we'll meet" he replied.
He got into the bathroom, he was washing his face and when he was on the point of washing his teeth, he looked into the mirror and he saw a darker reflection of himself, even though the lights were turned on. He shouted from the first floor:"Dad, did you buy a new kind of mirror?"
"No, it's the same one from the first day in this house" replied his dad.
"Oh, ok..."
"Why?"
"Never mind" told Kieron, still looking through the black mirror with a long and sharp look, still trying to find out what is happening lately.
Going down the stairs, he stopped for a second. He felt a strong pain on his back, in the upper side of his back more precisely. With his left hand, he leaned himself on the wall, trying to inhale and exhale faster, thinking that this way will make the pain go away. For that time, it worked. After that moment of pure agony, he went down straight to the kitchen.
"There is my soon to be celebrated boy!" Told Frank, Kieron's dad, with a joyful voice and a big smile. He hugged his son and shook him while he said:" That's my champion! I'm very proud of you son!"
With a smirk, blush and with meek eyes of his face, Kieron replied:" Thank you dad! I won't disappoint you!"
"Son, no matter what you do, you will always be my son and I'll love you! I am already proud of you, no matter what you do!" Told Frank, with a serious voice, the pride for his son could be seen in his strong look.
"Thank you dad again! You are the one who inspires me!" Said Kieron, with all his gratitude in his words.
"So, tell me, what are you going to do for your birthday tomorrow? You know is your special day!"
"I think I'll go with my friends in our favorite club. I don't want anything so special, just my friends and some music."
"Good son!"
The door bell rung. Some laughter could be heard behind it.
"Come on Kieron! You are not ready yet?" Shouted Roxy, with happiness that could be felt.
"I'm coming now!" Shouted Kieron with the face pointed to the door.
" Eat this sandwich on the way to school and take some money for lunch, you don't want the girls to be waiting for you!" Said his dad, handing him some money and throwing him a blink and a laugh.
"Thank you dad! Have a nice day" Told Kieron while he got out of the house, with some food in his mouth.
"Hey hungry man, eat slower! Or you'll get fat!" Said Claire, with humor covering her soul and making her one of the most joyful persons that Kieron knows.
"Come on Claire, you know that even if he wants to, he can't get fat! Haha!" Said Roxy, touching him on the shoulder.
"Hey hey hey! Since when started all these attacks at my weight?" Said Kieron with an ironic tone.
"Since when you stopped eating my vegan cupcakes!" Said Amanda, giving him some blueberry cupcakes, baked in that morning for the squad.
Kieron took a bite from the cake and said:"These are so good! I need the recipe for these, I will cook some for the elders."
"Hey, sorry to "disturb" your recipe-sharing time, but we will have to cook a dousing of these if we are late to the history class!" Said Mary ironically, scared by the history teacher, Mr. John Basil, one of the most strict teacher you could ever see.
"Ok then, let's go to school" said Claire to the squad.
In that day, in Los Angeles, their city, was a wonderful day. The rays of the sun contoured the beautiful lines of the trees. Everybody on the street walked with joy inside of them. The birds flew above our characters, singing with joy their beautiful song.
It was a calm day, very unusual for Los Angeles at that hour of the day, it was like the calm before the storm. It was a quiet day, way to quiet for this city. Kieron started feeling dizzy, disoriented. He started sweating faster, but outside was not that warm of a day, just a typical day of November.
They finally reached the front stairs of their High School. On the way to the class, they met someone.
"Hey, there you were Kieron! I missed you babe!"
This was Emily, Kieron's girlfriend. Wherever he goes, she's there. That poor girl feel down in the trap of Kieron, his soul is the strongest cage someone could be stuck into. He doesn't like her as much as she does, but, believe it or not, Emily is Kieron's first girlfriend. They have been together for over an year now, and Kieron keeps it this way, just because it is his longest relationship.
"I'm here sweetheart! I missed you so much last night, but I have been exhausted after the contest and I slept the moment I got home! Sorry I forgot to talk to you..." Explained Kieron to Emily, holding her hand and looking in her eyes with a true feeling, but pity for her, it is a fake look!
"It's alright, I am happy I see you now!" Replied his girlfriend.
Claire and the other friends from the squad saw that moment and looked away from them. They knew the real feelings of Kieron, even though he is always denying. They want the best for him, in the end, he is their best friend, and they want him to be really happy, to find someone good for him.
All of them had gone to the class, before the History course started. In the room, the students were socializing. The teacher entered the room with an angry face on. He was bad-tempered.
"Why is so much noise in here?" He asked." This is a public institution and you should properly behave! Now, let's make the presence: Blackwood, Claire!"
"Present" Replied Claire.
"Carson, Alex!"
"Present"
And the presence continued until Kieron.
"Sumner, Kieron!"
"Present" Replied Kieron, smiling.
"Why do you have this attitude?" Said the teacher with anger.
"What attitude?" Told Kieron surprised.
"Did you make your essay about the Roman Empire?"
"Yes, there you have it Sir." Said Kieron while he went to the front desk, and after he handed the teacher his project, and the teacher checked it, Mr. Jonh didn't say a word anymore, but in his mind he was thinking how could he catch him without homework.
His friends saw the event and started laughing, but covering their mouths, because they didn't want to be seen by the teacher, knowing the reaction of the teacher.
Mr. John always was against him, and no one knows why, because Kieron is an example for the rest of the students, he always know what to say when he is asked, and always give other pieces of information on the matter.
The class ended, the squad went down the hallway, laughing, chatting and enjoying their time together. They were going to the cafeteria. It was lunchtime.
The queue for ordering food was very long, but one of the kids let him in front of him, because Kieron helped him with his project on the muscular system for the biology class. He was very lucky, in that day, it was "Lasagna day". The smell of the pasta tickled his nose. The smell of the baked cheese and the smell of the tomato sauce danced in the air, in full accord, they filled the room and the people from the end of the queue could only imagine the taste.
After he bought him some pasta, he went to a table.
On the way there, his back hurt him very bad, and in that moment, he let the tray with food fall down. He started shaking and screaming of agony down on his knees, with the hands on his hair and his veins got bigger, his face was wrinkled from the shape of his mouth . He was screaming from the bottom of his lungs, tears fell down his face, and all the people in the cafeteria just watched him.
A boy from the other end of the room saw our poor Kieron, lost in the middle of an ocean of pain. He got down on his knees, in the from of Kieron, holding his head with his hands while Kieron was still screaming and crying. After the boy got Kieron closer to him, the crying stopped and Kieron stayed calm with his hands in his palms. He raised his head up, and with a fog covering his eyes, he saw a guy with deep green eyes, full lips, a smile on his face, feeling a big relief in his mind.
"Thank you so much for helping me! I owe you one!" Said Kieron with gratitude.
"Hey, you don't need to thank me, I did what I would do for anyone!" Said the boy with green eyes.
"May I know at least your name?"
"Yeah, my name is Michael Smith, but everyone calls me Mike." Replied the boy.
"Nice to meet you Mike, I am Kieron Sumner!"
"Nice to meet you too" said Mike, while he shook Kieron's hand.
"See you some time, Kieron!" Said Mike while he was heading to the door.
"See ya!" Shouted Kieron to the boy with green eyes.
Everyone went away, like it didn't happen anything at all. The girls saw Mike and how handsome that boy was.
"Kieron, are you ok?" All his friends said in the same time.
"I'm ok!" Replied Kieron with a smile on his face while he was staring at the door.
Claire knew what happened with Kieron, she had a feeling about his smile, but she didn't want to say a thing.
The day almost ended, and all could Kieron think about, was that pain of his back. On the way home, he admired how the night was growing, and he admired how the sun went down so slowly and the dark shadow started conquer the human space.
"What are you thinking about?" Asked Mary.
"I am thinking about what happened today..." Said Kieron, with a low voice.
"Are you all right?" Asked Roxy.
"Yes, now I am ok and now I wish I could get home faster." Said him.
They continued to walk home silently, and all of them thought of today, in a way or other.
He finally got home, he had his dinner with his dad, and Kieron thought of not telling his father about today, he knew he would be worried. He went into his room and took off his t-shirt. Rotating each arm, his was looking from the front into the mirror. With his right hand he scratched his and felt something unusual. He turned his back to the mirror and saw scars like he was cut with a knife. Both of them were each on a side of the back, in the upper area, both of them were vertically traced down. He didn't remember about those scars, making him worried about them, and then he knew that the pain was caused by those cuts. He took some alcohol, some cotton balls, and started to pour it on the places. The alcohol caused him pain, but it cleaned the wound. He patched them and then he put his shirt back on.
When he turned off the light, in the mirror could see light, and turned with his back against the mirror, saw his scars glowing. He got closer to it and stared at it. The weirdness of it made him think that he has illusions, and he thought of getting some sleep. So he did and he went to bed, and feel in the wonderful world of dreams.