Chapter One

The day started as it usually did. Groggily, Jess leaned over to hit the snooze clit on my alarm clock. He was so banal because he had been doing 30 60 minutes a week at employment lately and he was n't sleeping well because of his household life. Add in school and the homework that came along with it and it was midnight or later by the time he got to bed."Who invented these things anyway ? ”, he thought as he climbed out of bed.

Showered and dressed, he went downstairs to get some breakfast."Hi Jess ”, his brother and baby said to him, almost in unison."Hi ”, he replied back. After eating breakfast, he went back upstairs to brush his teeth. Then he came downstairs again and went to see his mother. Jess always went to his mother 's way and said"good morning"to her before leaving for school. Why he still did, he was n't for certain. He had become so distant, there was no literal connection left."Probably just out of substance abuse ”, he told himself. He kissed his female parent goodbye and then left with his brother for school.

In the car, he and his crony did n't talk much. It was n't that they did n't like each other, but Jess and Luke had very little in common these days. They had different friends, Luke being more of a social butterfly ; dissimilar tastes in medicine, Jess listened to more arduous metal and careen, while Luke was more into the pop music scene ; etc ... Once they got to school, that was it. The car drive there was the most time they spent with each early in a day and whichever one was n't driving that day just stared at their phone the stallion ride.

Everyday he dreaded going to school. High School had never been"as advertised"to Jess. He was a loner, an pariah. He had not even a fistful of champion, everyone knew everyone, but that was about it. Recently he had been feeling Thomas More and more depressed, his idea sometimes turning to suicide. Home life was ... well it was n't a home anymore ...

"Good morning Mr. Knight ”, said his homeroom teacher, Mr. Toer."morn ”, Jess replied back. He took his bum and started on the homework he did n't end up concluding nighttime. maths was a particularly hard guinea pig for Jess. He was just one bad grade away from failing the subject for the semester, but at this tip that was the conclusion thing on his intellect. Staring at the blank flat solid of theme in front of him, his intellect started to wander."What am I even doing here ? I have no purpose, no desire, no happiness. If I decided to just run away today, will anyone care ? testament my parents notice if I 'm not there ?"The campana for the end of homeroom rang, jolting him back into knowingness."Damn it ”, he thought, realizing he had n't done a single problem.

When the bell shape rang at 3:05, he was already driving away from school ( his sidekick was in ROTC and stayed for after-school activities ), his foot to the flooring and the radio blaring. Music had become Jess'only reprieve from his life and he was retreating into it More and more, barely paying attention to anything else. music made him feel mighty, made him sense like he had a reason to experience. It seemed that the lyrics of the song on the receiving set spoke directly to him, lifting him up, making him sense felicitous that someone, somewhere understood what he felt.

When he got home, Jess went straight to his elbow room. As he was changing into his work uniform, he took a spirit at himself in the mirror. He was 16, had long, dark brown hair, electrical Amytal eyes, was about six ft tall, and had slim body. The person staring back at him looked so far away, it looked like him, but it was n't him. The eyes of the person in the mirror looked so desolate and hollow it was shocking. Sighing to himself, he turned off the light and headed to work.

At study that night, he just floated aimlessly through the evening, barely engaging the customer, just wanting the Night to end so that he could go home and sleep. slumber, the one thing and one time of the day when he did n't palpate hollow out, lifeless. When did n't feel anything but peacefulness. The future day was Saturday and he did n't have to go to cultivate or school so he could sleep all through the Nox and well into the break of day.

Opening the door to his household after work, Jess got a halfhearted"Hi"from his parents. The variety of"hi"that you say out of politeness, not because you actually meant it. He replied back, asked if anyone had made dinner party that Nox, and then went to his room. Turning on his computer, he checked his e-mail. As usual, it was just a bunch of spam, but then Jess saw the e-mail. Wesley had responded to him ! Jess read the e-mail, then shut off his estimator and got into bed. Falling asleep, he smiled to himself, feeling some modest sense of hope.


literary criticism welcome. Like I said, let me know if I should continue .