ONE

My eyes popped open to the sound I dreaded the most, THE ALARM.

It's 6am already?

Was the next question that came to my mind. I sat up on my bed to turn off the alarm that was still ringing loudly. I rubbed my eyes to see clearly before standing up from my bed. As I walked toward my bathroom, my door opened and my mum's head popped in.

"Hey"

"Good morning mum"

"I hope you slept well"

"Yeah, kind of"

"Have you prayed?"

"No"

"Why?"

"I just woke up"

"Better do it" my mum concluded wagging a warning finger.

"Sure mum" I replied cracking up a smile.

I'm sure you can already tell that I never prayed in the morning . My mum only asked once a day which was when I just woke up, so I always had the perfect excuse and I never had to lie.

I took my bath and got dressed for school slower than you could ever imagine while ignoring my mum's constant yelling of "Jason! hurry up!" from downstairs.

I walked downstairs and into the dinning room for my breakfast.

"Bye Jason"

I turned toward the front door and caught a glimpse of my older brother's face before he closed the front door and headed off to work. As I heard the sound of his car fade away I remembered a painful experience that refused to leave my memory.

I was twelve years old and my older brother, Alex, was eighteen and in his second year in the university studying Theater Arts. Alex was my idol and I tried to do everything he did just to please him, but it all ended on the 12th of July, 2015. Alex invited his three friends to the house and they decided to do basketball trick shots. I watched Alex as he skated down the backyard stair rail, jumped off the skateboard when it was near the end of the rail, threw the ball toward the basket and landed on his skateboard that had fallen off the stair rail and was slowly rolling away. He was so sure he made the shot that he didn't even bother to check and the cheers from his friends confirmed it.

I rushed out to the backyard with my skateboard and a basketball yelling "Alex!! Alex!! Get this on video too!". I fell of the stair rail with my skateboard before I got the chance to throw my ball. I spent about a week in the hospital and used a cast for my broken arm for about four weeks. After that everything I had for my brother ended at admiration.

I spread butter evenly on the slice of bread in my palm and covered it with another slice. My mum had already prepared my tea so I began eating immediately.

"Jason! Where is my red bandana?"

I stared at my older sister for a while before responding angrily "How am I supposed to know?"

"You used it for your weird video yesterday"

That only infuriated me more " Firstly, my video wasn't weird and secondly, I returned it! "

" False!! Tell me where it is weirdo "

" I really wish I know where it is " I said calmly, standing up. "So I can burn it!! " I screamed in her face.

" Alright! Not another word from the both of you " My mum's voice yelled from the kitchen.

My older sister, Kim and I never got along well, we couldn't last in the same room for more than five minutes without arguing or engaging in physical combat. We were never found playing or just talking like normal siblings, that was an anomaly for both of us. When we were younger my mum always said that we would be really close when we grew up, but here we were with a worse relationship than what we had when we were younger.

I finished my breakfast as fast as I could, not because I was getting late for school but because Kim was on the table.

" Enjoy your day at school Jason!"

"Alright mum"

I rushed out through the front door and down the pointless stairs in front it. It never made sense to me that we had to climb four stairsteps to open the front door and almost jump down into our home.

I stared at my bike for a while before deciding to walk. The closer it was to first period the more chances there were to start my day happily.

I walked lazily down the street, taking every opportunity I had, to stop walking. I got to school in the next fifteen minutes, thanks to the extensive greeting I exchanged with Mrs Dawson. She was an elderly woman who enjoyed talking about her cat. So I did her a favor when I bumped into her and on my way to school and asked about her cat.

As I walked into the school building the bell for first period rang so I hurried to class without bothering to drop my bag in my locker.

For someone with my social status, it was safer to sit right in front of the teacher. So as I walked into the classroom, I made my way to the first sit in the middle row. The first two periods went by quickly and I managed to avoid trouble by staying clear of my locker.

"... this assignment will be due thursday so I... "

The sound of the bell indicating the end of the third period and the beginning lunch time, cut Mrs Gloria short and nobody was willing to here the remaining part of her sentence.

I headed to the cafeteria and settled down on my usual table at the far end of the room.

' Hey Jason'

I looked up and smiled at the familiar face ' 'Hey Tyler, you seem really happy '

'I am beyond happy '

My questioning eyes followed his every move as he sat down and brought out his lunch.

' What? ' Tyler asked when he noticed me watching him.

' Nothing ' I shrugged ' I'm just trying to process what could possibly make Tyler Peter happy on a Monday morning '

' Sophia spoke to me during Chemistry class today '

' And why would she do that to herself ' I grimaced

Tyler ignored me and continued his tale grinning from ear to ear '... and then she asked to be lab partners '

' Why would she want to be lab partners with you? '

' The real question is why wouldn't she want to be lab partners with me? '

I stared at Tyler for a while struggling to keep a straight face before giving in to an uncontrollable fit of laughter despite the annoyed look on his face.

The remaining three periods of the day went by as quickly as the first three. I hurried out of the school building with a smile of relief spread broadly across my face, School was over for the day and I had managed to avoid trouble completely.

My smile vanished as Tyler joined me near the parking lot with a bloody nose. I knew all to well the possible things that could have happened so I didn't bother asking, we just walked home quietly.