Chapter One

Brian Thompson grabbed his backpack as he ran down the stairs of his home, taking them two at a time. He could smell the eggs, bacon and pancakes that his mother was making for his father before the man left for work. He, on the other hand, would have to fend for himself. His mom never made him breakfast anymore. In fact, he was convinced that she didn’t know he was there to begin with. It had been this way ever since he’d started high school. Here he was, seventeen, and still looked over.

Going to the pantry, Brian stepped around Mrs. Thompson to grab a package of strawberry pop tarts. He headed towards the door, taking his keys in hand.

“See you later.” he called to his parents.

Waiting for a moment for a response, Brian realized he wasn’t going to get one. He slipped out of the doorway making his way to his 1985 Honda Civic. Sticking the keys in the ignition, the car rumbled but didn’t start but until the third try, and finally he was backing out of the driveway and on his way to the local coffee shop before making his final stop to school.

With a heavy sigh, Brian drove as if in a trance. It was only Tuesday. There were still four full days ahead of him. It seemed like the weeks never ended and weekends never came. Days merged in to one another without a break. There was never a break. That was exactly what he needed though. An escape from reality to just kick back and relax. Refresh himself and his mind so that he could go back to doing everything full force and actually not mind it anymore.

Before he knew it, Brian was pulling in to the parking lot the Java Jolt Café. He got out of the car, not even caring to lock it up as he walked inside and ordered his usual double shot espresso mixed with milk and some chocolate, vanilla and caramel sauce, iced down in to the perfect mixture. It was enough to wake him up and keep him going for the entire day and even some early hours in to the morning while he finished up his homework. It was just what he needed to give him a jump start to the mornings that he had a hard time even pulling himself out of bed to begin with. It was his every morning ritual.

As the cashier handed Brian his drink, he smiled faintly and thanked her, but she hardly acknowledged his presence as she turned around to wipe down the work station behind her. Taking the drink, he grabbed a paper and retreated to an empty table in the corner of the café. Looking around, it was noticed that he was surrounded mostly by business type people and college students in the half full place. He felt out of place, ducking his head in to the paper to read as he took his first sip of the rich liquid.

In the top, right hand corner of the paper on the front page, there was a bright colorful picture of a sun in a vibrant yellow. Next to the picture were the words ‘clear and sunny.’ Brian looked outside. Sure enough, the sun was bright and high in the sky without a single cloud to cover up its beauty. He hadn’t even noticed until then. It was an unknown pleasure in Ohio to see the sun, only happening sparingly. The other nine tenths of the time, it was gloomy and likely raining, matching his usually somber mood.

“Finally.” Brian breathed, hoping that the sun lasted the entire day. Maybe it would improve his mood. Maybe.

Reading the major stories on the front page, Brian continued to take small drinks of his drink. It wasn’t until somebody tripped, spilling their drink all over him, that he looked up, his shirt and pants soaking wet, the pages of the paper dripping. He said nothing, but he saw a young girl standing before him, holding a near empty cup, trying to stifle a laugh. He recognized her as somebody from his school, in the more popular crowd. A sophomore, if he recalled right.

“Oops…” she finally let out a heartless laugh, ‘Sorry.”

Brian could tell that she wasn’t really though, and without another word, or even offering to help him, she left the café, leaving Brian behind. He sighed, knowing that there wasn’t enough time for him to go home and change, and he’d have to go around school with brown stains all over his clothes. It wasn’t like anybody would notice anyways, and those who did would tease and ridicule him. Just like every other day.

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Making his way though the halls, Brian hung his head low in shame, trying to go by as invisibly as possible. He could hear groups of friends chattering amongst each other, laughing and having a good time in their last free minutes before class started. He listed half-heartedly, and found himself wondering what it would be like to carry on a conversation like that, and have people to fall back on in times of need as well as somebody to call a true friend. Somebody to care.

Letting out a pitiful sigh, Brian reached his locker, putting in the combination just as something hit the back of his head. On the inside, he winced, however on the outside, he refused to let anybody know that it bothered him. It would only provoke them to take things a step further. He’d finally learned that in the sixth grade. And sure enough, after a few more objects were thrust his way, with sinister laughter in the background from his attacker, they finally left, calling him names along the way that he’d heard all to many times before.

“Why do I even bother…” Brian muttered to himself, taking his books from his locker and sliding them in to his torn and tattered blue backpack.

“What was that?”

Brian looked up to see Howard standing next to him. He swallowed as he stood up, forcing a smile for the only person who ever paid any good attention to him. Brian wouldn’t go as far as to say he was a friend, because Howard was on the volleyball team of the school, meaning he was fairly popular. However, he would say that they were acquaintances. Howard had always been nice to him, never caring what anybody thought when he spoke to the loner.

“Nothing…” Brian replied, not wanting to complain to his classmate about his life’s problems and everything that came with it, “Just got off to a wrong start this-morning.”

“I can see that,” Howard laughed politely, “I have a spare change of clothes in my gym locker, if you want to use them,” he offered, “That way you wont have to go around like that all day.”

Brian shook his head, his eyes still on the ground in shame, “No…I um…I wouldn’t want to burden you.”

“Trust me…it wouldn’t be any trouble at all,” Howard insisted, “Meet me after first period by the gym and I’ll have something for you.”

Giving Brian a pat on the back, he walked away. Feeling no real emotion, Brian didn’t know if he should feel relieved or humiliated about being the charity case of Howard once again. He didn’t have much time to really think about it though, for the final bell rang. Groaning, Brian realized that once again, he was late. With that in mind, he began to run down the hallway in the direction of his first period history class. As he swung open the door that had already been closed, Brian hung his head low as me made his way to his seat in the middle of a lecture. He could feel all eyes on him as his teacher stopped speaking. Brian sat, looking up at a handful of his peers smirking, and worse yet, his teacher, Mr. Richardson, staring at him with eyes full of sympathy and a small smile on his face.

“Everything okay, Brian?” he asked kindly.

“Yeah.” Was Brian’s one word response as he pulled out his notebook, ready to take notes

Mr. Richardson paused only a moment longer, concern filled eyes on his student whom he knew was tormented before continuing on. As Brian tried to calm his racing heart, he swallowed away his jumbled nerves and humiliation just as somebody muttered “Teachers pet” somewhere behind him in the form of a cough. Seconds later, he felt something hit his head as soon as the teacher turned his back towards the class. Brian just ignored it as he tried to put all of his concentration into the only class he enjoyed, hoping that he could get through the rest of the morning without being bullied like every other day of his pitiful life. Deep down, he knew it was wishful thinking though. Nothing would ever change. The only thing he had to look forward to were the clean clothes that Howard had promised him at the end of the fifty minute period. Brian rolled his eyes to himself at the thought. How sad his life had become, and it only seemed to keep on spiraling downward towards disaster. He could only hope that somebody would sense his bleeding heart and pull him up before he suffocated on the pressures of being a teen in the cruel world of high school. Brian wasn’t counting on it, for nobody had yet and he doubted anybody ever would.