I woke up to the sound of thunder. It was the coast: sometimes the days were sunny with blue skies and other times it was a low level storm. The light through my window was grey and moody.
Unlike how I felt. I got up from the bed, grabbed my robe and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I would try my best to look as good as I could with the limited summer wardrobe I brought with me. Since it was early, I could get a good shower before all the hot water was taken by my sisters.

Anything But Down

I didn’t mean to really say that but I guess I thought out loud and there it went. As soon as the words escaped my lips I felt that I should have apologized but a second later I had to wonder why I felt bad.
I mean, she was acting like one.
Maybe it wasn’t a very gentleman way to put it.
“He’s right. You are acting like one,” Skylar exclaimed as she pushed herself closer to me.
“Who the hell are you to talk to me like that?”
“He’s just calling it like he sees it.”
“Fine. I will too. Confused gay boy.”
“Take that back,” Skylar yelled.

Keep Holding On

Pastor Cox said he found me looking like I was silently screaming with my my hands shaking and a contorted facial expression before I collapsed to the floor.

Alone

The woman named Jolene brought out two bins on a cart that also had several clothes hanging form racks.

“There’s a complete bathroom down the hall,” she said. Let’s take this down.”
“Okay,” I replied with a little timidness to my voice. It was almost like my words were swallowed up by my throat. I didn’t know if they were still going to call my parents or a squad of cops. I mean, he obviously knew what happened at school—how I barricaded myself in one office. What was to stop me from doing that here?

Head Above Water

I had gone camping once before that day.
It was in the backyard in a medium-size pink tent with my sister. We made it through the night and then went inside for lucky charms and Saturday morning cartoons.

Having a tent was something I wished I had that night as I woke up with bugs of every shape and size crawling all over me—including a water bug that’s had no issues with sitting on my face.

The First Cut is the Deepest

Title track: Time Machine By Joe Satriani

flashback

8 My Favorite Mistake

7. If It Makes You Happy

V. Every Day Is a Winding Road

IV. Light In Your Eyes

The young maiden sat between her parents as they traveled to a foreign place. She was kept in the dark of their destination. It was only the three of them, as the young lord of her dream has become a disparaging memory. He was to stand beside her…to defend her against the unjust; to fight for her honor and to stay united against the dark foe. Alas, the dark foes were their own families and he bowed in defeat to his father than to renounce his name.

Runaway

The King was furious.
The Queen was mad but stood in front of her daughter as her husband raged across the castle grounds.
The young prince had been banished from the domain, ordered to never return or communicate to the young princess. She made it her life’s mission to talk with the you first prince whenever she was away form court.

“What the hell happened?” Becky asked as flailed her arms at me.
"It doesn't matter, I don't need him, I don't need him to know-I don't care about him."
“That bad, eh?” Christy asked as we walked away from the school.
I looked behind me a few times as I felt like I was being watched.
“He’s still in the hall,” Christy said as Becky took several steps ahead of me before turning around, her arms still flailing about.
“He has this, like, huge welt on his face! Did you kick the shit out of him?”
“I only got one punch in before Marie stormed the room.”

Rotten Apples

When I was seven I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up.
I wanted to be a fire truck.

Seriously,I wanted to be a fire truck: drive around with lights and sirens with firemen to put out fires.

I have a few of those things still. I get to work with lights, sirens, smoke and I kind of worked with firemen, but not from a fire truck; actually from a stage at a club called “Four Alarm”.

I am confident of the future, no matter how it turns out. I made plans that were impossible to carry out, or at least at the times I was thinking about them. I wanted a nice house, maybe made with some advanced materials with a pool, a game room and perhaps a quaint little study. Failing at that, a small dwelling for two, only to have to move to something larger as two became three or more. Sure, I thought of that.

4: “Sunrise”