Story of My Life

There's the sound of my beeping alarm. I wake up and turn it off but it keeps going. I reach down and pick it off the bedside table it's on, I throw it to the floor, I hear it smash on the ground but it keeps going. I lay back on my mattress and I feel a jolt in my mind, I get up and turn of that horrible alarm and it stops. Oh wait, it was a dream, again. I get those dreams at least three times each week. Being only 16, I have learnt, with many years of waking up at the same time as my parents, to pull off the sheets, stand up on to the warm carpeted floor, walk to my right about 4 steps, reach out for the second draw on the left side of my chest of draws, pick out my school uniform, which is already buttoned up, then push that draw back in and pull out the draw directly below only two draws down and get out some socks. I then go over to my bed, sit down and put on the socks then reach up to the shoe hangers above my head and grab off one of my few pairs of black shoes, the only coloured shoe I have. I lean to my left a bit to my side table to grab my black glasses then I walk about 4 steps to my left and touch the doorpost and grab my walking stick. I push the stick against the skirting of the wall to guide me along to the kitchen. I stop at my parent's room to hear them snoring, I keep going to the kitchen.

I activate the home Artificial Intelligence.

"Hey Attilika what is the time?"

"Currently the time is 7:28 AM Monday morning."

"How are we for milk?"

"In the fridge, we have 4 liters of milk."

"And Lastly, what cereals do we have and how much?"

"In the cupboard, we have two boxes of oats, not opened yet, a box of wheat bix, half empty, and a third of a box of those cereal rings. Is that all you'd like to know today master clearly?"

"For now, yes Attilika, thanks."

I push my stick up to the kitchen bench and I reach up to the cupboard and pick out a box of cereal rings, then I put it on the bench in front of me, I reach below the bench and pull out the draw and get out a bowl. I walk over to the fridge about 2 steps, I open it and bend down to get the milk out of the door shelf. I pour the rings into my bowl and then the milk. I reach down to the draw below the bowls to get a spoon and walk over to the table. I hear a splash and keep walking. I sit to eat.

"Attilika, can you please clean that up?"

"Yes, master clearly." I hear a small motor and... "Your mess is gone. Is that all today?"

"Yes, Attilika."

I stand, leaving my empty bowl on the table, and I grab my stick again and make my way to the front door where I meet my two friends.

"G'day Nick ready for school?" They say cheerfully in unison.

"I guess Taslem, Alberto." I reply, unenthusiastically.

We walk past old Mrs. Chapmen's house.

"Can one of you three fine young men please come and help an old lady with her weeds?" She says in a way that only old widows can.

"Sorry grandma Chapmen, we can't today, we have to get to school, " Taslem calls out to her.

As we get to school I hear the principle run over calling, "Oh good, I found Nick before school started. Could you please meet me tomorrow in my office before school starts, let's say about 7:45? I need you to meet someone who has been going to all the schools in the area talking to disabled kids about their future."

My first class of the day has started, Maths, I sigh. Today I have no classes that I like, I wish I could just go home and never come back. The classes aren't the only thing getting me down. I wish I weren't blind, I get teased all day every day either indirectly or not and I can't stand it anymore. I go to my locker and touch my braille combination lock. I turn to the right three times and stop on, then to the left twice and stop on :• (6) and then to the right once and stop on •: (1). I open it and grab out my textbook.

As I walk up the ramp to the entry I hear the teacher inside asking maths equations to the class. Taslem and Alberto are already in there.

"Nick!" I hear Mr. Hurbert yells in disappointment.

"Yes sir, I know. I'm sorry that I am late." I say, putting my head down

"Okay Nick, sit down. Taslem, help him to his seat."Mr. Hurbert says as I hear a screech on the ground. "Okay, does anyone remember Pythagoras theorem?"

"Yep, over here Mr. H." Nero says. "A squared plus C squared equals...um...Bsquared?"

"Nope, but nice try Nero. Anyone else?"

"Yep B plus C equals A."He says so confidently. "Yep, becauseI'm smart and you all are stupid." I hate attitude like that of Chad.

"No sorry Chad I'm not stupid."

"Sorry, Nick? What was that?"

"I'm not stupid." I sigh, I shouldn't have said anything. "The answer is A squared plus B squared equals C squared."

"Very good Nick, but what does that mean?"

"It..."

Chad cuts me off. "What my good friend was about to say was, it means if you'll find what C is if you add A and B together."

"Sorry Chad, I'll take it from here, but you were very close. It means, if you multiply A and B by themselves then add them together you'll find C. A and B being the two sides on either side of the right angle of the triangle and C being the hypotenuse or the angle opposite the right angle." I correct him.

"Well done Nick. And you all were very close." Mr. Hurbert says.

"Mr. Hurbert? Can..." Chad cuts me off again.

"No! Nick...Don't say anything. No one wants to hear you, see you or be near you..."

"That's enough Chad!" Mr. Hurbert says sternly.

"We'll continue this later Nick." Chad comments.

"Oh, how I can't wait for that," I say sarcastically. I hit my head down on the desk and zone out, all their voices fade away.

I'm woken up by the school bell. It must be time for Morning tea. I walk over to my usual spot under the pipes that come out from under the toilets on level three of the school auditorium to eat my lunch alone with my stick guiding me all the way, Taslem and Alberto must have gone to play handball again, I wish I could play with them but I'd never see the ball. I sit here remembering the times at school when Taslem, Alberto and I would sit here to eat and make jokes about the pipes above us. I'm just about to eat my sandwich when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"On your feet smart ass." I sigh, it's Chad again.

"What did I do this time? I was just answering the teacher."

"In class, I didn't get to finish my sentence before you got me in trouble, so I'm going to finish it now. Don't say anything. No one wants to hear you, see you or be near you, no one cares about you, you blind..." He pauses. "...little..." He pauses. "...piece of..." He's cut off by his friend.

"Just do it already and get it over with."

I feel a sharp pain in my stomach, so much so I fall to the ground. I hear the sound of my walking stick sliding away from me and my lunch splattering on the ground. "Oh look, here's a banana. I think I might be a bit kind and leave this one for your lunch." He says, but through all that I don't cry, I hold it in instead to show my strength, but holding it in is the last thing I wanna do right now. "You wait for Chad, one day I'll be able to beat you too," I call at him as the bell rings. I Crawl around trying to find my stick so I'm not late for English.

I push my stick up the ramp as I enter the classroom.

"Oh Nick, I'm just about to mark the roll. Alberto, could you help Nick with his chair?" I can hear the screeching from the chair on the floor. He guides me over to it.

"Now today we will discuss what a haiku is. Does anyone know and wants to tell the class?" Mrs. K Asks the class.

"A kind of Japanese art?" Chad remarks. "Yeah, that's right, I'm so smart." I sigh again.

"Good try, it does sound like it doesn't it Chad?" Mrs. K replies.

"A form of poetry?" Amanda asks.

"Well done Amanda. Do you remember what kind of poem?" Mrs. K says.

"A poem with each line with matching syllables or syllable patterns?" Amanda Recalls.

"Yes, Amanda."

"Hey, Mis?" I'm cut off by Chad telling me to shut up, be quiet or telling me No one wants to ever listen to me. "Mis, are we..." I'm cut off again. "...is there..." I'm cut off again. "...are we... Gee Chad Shut up!" I scream.

"Nick, this is not like you. Come with me outside." Mrs. K leads me outside the door. "Nick, sit down against this wall until the end of the lesson then I'll speak with you."

"Yes, Mis." I say in disappointment in myself.

The school bell rings and I can hear everyone coming out of the door. One of them stops and kicks me over.

"Chad, I didn't even do anything to you except answer a maths question correctly after you got it wrong." I defend myself.

"Okay boys, cut it out. Now Nick, tell me what happened."

"Okay, this morning in maths I came in late, something I never do, and the teacher told me to come in and sit down. He started testing the class on Friday's classwork. This is when it started, Chad here got the question wrong and said that he was the smartest person in the room. I just simply defended my intelligence and told him I'm not stupid and proved it by answering the question correctly. Then at morning tea, I was alone, minding my own business when Chad came up to me and punched my stomach and squashed my food."

"Okay, now you Chad." She says.

"Okay, well in maths I was made to look stupid by this son of a..."

"Chad!" She enforces her authority over him.

"Sorry, Mis. Anyway, so I went up to him during morning tea and decided I'd have a joke with him, so I tapped his shoulder."

"Okay well, I can't sort this out now because I've got to get to another class, so I'm going to send you both up to the principle."

"Yes, Mis." We both say in unison.

We walk up to the principle's office in silence, something I feel I need to break.

"Why can't we get along like we are now any other time?" The only answer I get is a groan. When we get to the principle's office we're told to sit down. The principal asks us what we had done.

"Okay you two, Your teacher called me on her way to her next class. She told me briefly what she believes what happened, but I want you 2 to tell me what happened in your own words."

"Okay, this morning in maths I came in late, something I never do, and the teacher told me to come in and sit down. He started testing the class on Friday's classwork. This is when it started, Chad here got the question wrong and said that he was the smartest person in the room. I just simply defended my intelligence and told him I'm not stupid and proved it by answering the question correctly. Then at morning tea, I was alone, minding my own business when Chad came up to me and punched my stomach and squashed my food." I reply.

"How about you Chad?"

"Okay, well in maths I was made to look stupid by this son of a..."

"Chad!" He enforces her authority over him.

"Sorry, Sir. Anyway, so I went up to him during morning tea and decided I'd have a joke with him, so I tapped his shoulder."

"If I got a dollar for the number of times you two have had an argument like this, I wouldn't need to work here or even work again. If I sort this out here and now this sort of thing will keep happening, I can guarantee that, so I'm just going total your parents."

"Fine, call them..." Chad says. "If they care you'd better be prepared to be sued."

"Alright then Chad. Now Nick, no matter what happens, if you are grounded or not I still need you to come in to meet me tomorrow."