A Not so Normal Day

I woke up to the sound of an alarm ringing in the table beside me. Its constant noise irritates my still sleepy mind. I reached for my phone and turned off the alarm. The scent of eggs come from the kitchen outside. I forced myself to wake up and get ready for school. I rubbed my eyes and walked towards the bathroom.

The water that morning was cold. Cold enough to shock you awake in the morning. I washed my face to the ice cold waters to remove my drowsiness. I looked in the mirror to see a chubby young boy wearing a look of sadness.

I looked away at disgust. That isn't me. I am not you. I'm better than you. These words echoed through my mind. The mirror showed all the imperfections. My chubby cheeks, the dried lips, my ebony black hair uncombed for months. This enraged the perfectionist in me, yet I do nothing about it.

I walked towards the kitchen and found my mother holding a pan. She was cooking eggs but to my surprise, it was burnt. I look at her trying to ponder as to how this happened. She gives me a sorry look.

"Work called while I was cooking eggs. Next thing I know they were burnt."

"I'll just have some bread this morning."

I'm too tired to talk to my mother. Her always being gone has taken its toll on me. I was used to her absence in my life. It had been like this since the day we moved here. Nothing has changed since then. Everyday thinking I would spend time with my mom, ended up in disappointment. Eventually you just learn to live with it. "You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up. I can take you in my car if you want."

"I'll be fine walking. I'm going now." I leave the house in a hurry. I didn't want an awkward car ride to school. I was fine walking just like normal. The roads are always packed with cars whenever I walk to school. But the noise of the engines of the car were always drowned whenever she arrived.

Whenever Elaine arrived just at the corner of the street, I could focus on nothing else. She was my best friend for a good reason. She could silence the surroundings, as well as my thoughts. I felt at peace whenever I was with her.

Her bright smile made the morning bearable. She would always call out my name whenever she spotted me. I felt like I wasn't invisible to her. Whenever she looked at me with her jade-green eyes, it felt like she saw everything inside of me. Her eyes reminded me of Michelle. A long lost friend who was the reason I've lived for this long. Maybe the reason why Elaine was special to me was because she reminded me of her.

Regardless, I couldn't let my emotions get the better of me. Elaine already had someone she loved. A boy that was popular and smart. His name was Drew. And he was the captain of the Acting club.

Drew and Elaine were childhood friends. Knowing each other from their rich families, of course they would be close. Drew was the star student in our class. Adored and regarded as the King of the school, his arrogance is pride is longer than his dirty blonde hair that's shoulder length. Ever since he played Romeo and Elaine as his Juliet 2 years ago, they were considered the power couple of the whole school.

When he tied his hair up and wore the medieval clothes for the play. No one was able to remove their gaze from him. His chiseled jaw and his thick eyebrows could make even a man flutter. His acting was also unparalleled, his performance stayed in everyone's mind for years.

I was only the scriptwriter. Merely someone who writes what he sees fit. I could never be the Romeo in Elaine's life. I would never be someone who would be able to match Drew in terms of talents. Yet I wanted to beat him so badly. Someone like me could only dream of doing that. Dreams… dreaming...

I was daydreaming. But where?

A loud thud came from the front desk of the classroom. "If you wanted to sleep so badly, then go home!" the teacher exclaimed. She didn't point any fingers, but everyone knew who it was directed at. I fixed my posture and sat straight, trying to act like the warning wasn't for me. The teacher looks at me and sighs.

Class continued like normal, with an occasional disturbance coming from the outside, the sounds of running in the dirt repeating again and again. We would also have to run. I dreaded that. We went to the lockers to begin changing into our PE clothes. The stench of puberty enveloping the room. I changed as quickly as I could, making sure no one was looking.

We headed outside and found the girls already there, sweat dripping from the clothes. It was our turn to run. We started taking laps around the field, and I was falling behind. I could feel the neglection of exercise all throughout my body. I felt like I was being toasted alive.

I turn my head to see some of the girls laughing. I looked away ashamed. This is why I hated PE. I saw Elaine as well, but she paid me no mind and was just talking to the other girls. We headed to the shower room next to remove the putrid smell of the sun and sweat of teenage boys.

I found a spot in the showers that was empty. I grabbed my soap and shampoo and hurriedly went to that area. There was no one there but me. Until a guy uses the shower next to me. The guy was tall, had a very athletic body. No doubt about it. It was Drew. I glanced quickly to make sure it was him. That masculine face… Yup. It was Drew. The guy I was jealous of was just beside me taking a shower.

I hastily finished showering, I didn't want to be beside THAT guy. I changed clothes and headed to the library. I didn't have work today so I decided that studying would help me feel like I was smart enough to challenge Drew's intellect.

I spot a girl holding multiple heavy books walking towards the door. A loud crash was heard before she could open it. I offered my hand to the girl and she grabbed it. I pulled her up and asked if she was okay. She nods and kneels down to grab the books that were scattered across the floor.

I knelt down as well to help her. While I was helping her pick up the books, I couldn't help but notice her green eyes. Her hair was ebony black and her eyes shone like emeralds in the light. She reminded me of someone. Someone I promised I would never forget. Someone that gave me hope.

The girl spots me looking at her. She was silent. It was like she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Marcus?"