Chapter 1: The Start Off
I was up before my alarm even rang. The annoying buzz of the electric clock was usually the only thing capable to raise me from the dead of sleep, but I've been having trouble as of late. Turning to my side, my gaze settled upon the accumulation of nimbus clouds stained pink with the rays of the rising sun. Another day was starting with practiced ease. I have been awaking like this for the past week, feeling so uncomfortable in my own skin like it was actually moving like a disgusting assortment of spiders. I hope I'm not sick again.
I sighed and just rose from the cotton sheets and began the normal morning traditions for a normal day. Another normal day meant stress, disappointment, soreness, and more bickering. I've gotten so use to it I didn't even care anymore, I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I just shook my head trying to rid myself of my thoughts and entered autopilot when I reached the bathroom.
I was suddenly and rudely interrupted from my teeth brushing, "move it Asshole, I need to get ready." My sister knocked me away from the counter and out the door before slamming it in my face. I only stood there. I was older than her by seven years, yet she never showed me any respect. I was even bigger than her but being in blue nighty pants, a Pokemon logo T-shirt, and toothbrush hanging loosely from my mouth cigar like didn't seem to make me very intimidating.
"Jeez little bro, you really must be weak if Melisa can push you 'round so easily," Jack came from his room half smirking; I bit back a growl. He was tall and stacked with muscle, making me look like a toothpick he'd easily chew up a spit out. Even though he was nineteen and in collage, we lived close enough to the school for him to stay living at home. Woop-de-do for me. He always locked me into some wrestling move he'd learned from his team and wanted to "practice" on me all the time.
Speaking of which, I was already eating carpet with my arms painfully pretzeled behind my back. I groaned, if it wasn't for his sports scholarship he would've never been close to reaching collage. He was as dull as a brick if it didn't involve sports. Girls apparently thought it was cute at how ignorant he could be. That was just ridicules.
I coughed out my toothbrush, foaming at the mouth and spraying toothpaste over the carpet, "let me go Jack!"
"Not until you admit your weak and come to the gym with me," he laughed. My only response was more struggling.
The first time he had me go was when I thought he was actually being nice. His friends came with however, they put together a training schedule that was more than impossible for me to do. I bet they're still laughing it up even today after watching me launch off a treadmill and hit the wall sack of potatoes style.
We heard the door open down the hall and Jack immediately released me. He knew not to bring upon either of Mom or Dad's wrath. I slowly rose with him after picking up my toothbrush.
My mother walked by smiling warmly, "morning kids." Jack replied with the same warmth while I only mumbled my own greeting. She suddenly jumped back, as if that portion of the floor decided to turn into molten lead.
"Why's the floor wet," she looked down disgustingly. "don't tell me the dog had another accident."
"Actually, Alex is the one who had an accident," my mother looked at Jack then at me. Toothpaste lazily dripping from the corner of my mouth and brush. Before I could defend myself she had already became upset with me.
"Alex! You're not a baby so don't act like one," She pointed angrily toward the closet, "now go get a rag and carpet cleaner and wash the floor before it stains."
I tried to retaliate but she would have none of it, "don't talk back to me Alex. Hurry up and clean it before it permanently seeps in." I gave a groaned sigh and went to the closet.
"I heard that young man. Honestly, your little sister is more mature than you." I sneered while my back was turned to her. If only she knew.
Both Jack and Mom had already left when I started scrubbing the carpet. My toothbrush hung in my mouth as I scrubbed. Like, where else could I put it? About halfway done the bathroom door swung open and landed a direct blow to my temple. It felt like someone just took a baseball bat to my skull and I yelled in pain which was accompanied with another.
Melisa held her foot painfully, "you asshole! Watch what your doing you damn anal pirate!" apparently the sudden stop at my head made her bang her toe in the door. After more vulgar language she simply walked off for breakfast not even letting me come up with a comeback. Honestly, the mouth on that kid would make a sailor want her as a teacher. She was only ten and already knew more insults than I could even comprehend.
After cradling my head for a while-and muttering curses at Melisa, I finished scrubbing the floor and got ready for school.
The high school was not much better than home. I'm not exactly a nerd, but I knew enough of some anime and videogames that I was labeled as one. That usually meant lonely lunch shifts if I didn't have the same shifts as my friends. This semester I didn't even have the same lunch shift as my acquaintances. In which I mean the group of friends that weren't exactly my friends but I still talked to, if that even makes sense.
During classes I struggle. Being under the category of nerd in the high school food chain didn't make me smart or anything. Algebra eluded me, Biology confused me, and Cooking class was a catastrophe. How in the hell does a teacher expect the class to work together and make a wedding cake, including decorations, and not expect something would go wrong. Were teenagers for fuck sake, and that oven was just asking to be blown up. It was, what, maybe twenty years old? Stupid, cheap principle.
After school, I began making the list of things I had to do not to flunk this semester. This included the days missed when going to school seemed like nothing but a hassle to do that morning. I never liked the thought of going to school after waking up with little to no sleep. That might be mostly my fault with the all nighter videogame playing or anime marathon. Not my fault they make good titles these days.
When reaching home I was left a list of yard work by dad. My brows angrily furrowed, I did lawn detail last week. I went to Mom.
"I know its Jack's turn Alex, but he's training with his collage wrestling team today and cant do it." I call bull crap. This was the third week straight this happened and I was getting tired of doing all the work. Hell, I even do the laundry. Thank whatever god that Mom folds them and not me, if I even touched a pair of Jack's jockstraps I would hurl.
I bet he's out with his friends right now doing whatever adrenaline pumped, steroid filled jocks do in their spare time. But I was afraid to say so since I didn't want a scolding or be contorted into some new piece of art by Jacks hands. Why didn't Melisa have to do an-….. Payback is so sweet.
"Hey mom, why not have Melisa help me. I'll get done faster and she needs to learn more responsibility by doing something productive." My face was outwardly stoke but I grinned devilishly in my mind.
She tapped her chin for a second before smiling wide, "that's a great idea Alex, I never would've thought of that."
A few hours of mowing, weeding, dog poop pickup, and cutting later I returned to my room while Melisa cursed my existence for getting her all dirty. How could I know that the lawnmower would kick up so much dirt in her face (and possibly dog poop). I got a laugh out of it anyway so I was happy enough.
I turned on my laptop and started loading a video. It was a anime called One Piece That grew on me. After watching a few episodes I grew slightly addicted. The characters were very animated (no pun intended) with their actions, especially with each other, yet held a seriousness in some episodes. I found the show quite entertaining.
But due to a series of unfortunate events leading to the destruction of the main computer in our house, I had to give Melisa mine for schoolwork. I honestly thought that Jack would need it more for collage but he didn't seem too interested in homework. At first I thought Melisa only wanted it to mess around online. Boy was I wrong when I checked it while she wasn't looking. why are these schools teaching such complicated math equations! I remember being her age and only having to answer simpler questions, and I found those hard to solve!
This went on for a while until Grandma visited and gave us gifts. She traveled a lot and brought us some interesting stuff. I remember her bringing mom a big ancient jar wielding a painting of some sort of ferocious monster. Me and Jack thought it was awesome, mom and Melisa said it was ugly, and dad laughed while watching our Dachshund (dog breed) cower away from it. The jar now lays in the basement by some old board games of Monopoly and Twister.
Last month was when Grandma came back and gave me a new laptop. I kept telling her how great she was and all she would say was "I know I am". She really was a great grandma, and because of her I can now watch One Piece again….. and maybe finish some late assignments.
Today was finally when I could watch it. Before I started the video to play the intro music mom had called me down stairs for dinner. I gave a sigh and patted the computer. All in due time my new, shiny friend.
As everyone started eating, conversation was quickly struck. Dad was actually here for dinner tonight instead of working late like usual, that meant it was louder than usual. Jack told Dad about him making it into the state finals in wrestling, Dad smiled and said he was proud. Melisa talked about what she did in school and how easy it was to solve the teachers problems. Dad smiled when she showed her report card, all classes labeled with an A+. I didn't believe it.
Who knew my siblings could make me feel more like shit than they already do.
I watched, sitting and blending into the background as Dad threw around the "I'm proud of you" line to my siblings. Mom threw a few in too and that's when I started to feel left out. With all this conversation going on, I felt like a stranger at my own dinner table. A guest that wasn't welcome and was ignored because of it, just to avoid the awkwardness of speaking to them.
I just propped my head in my hands from boredom(and loneliness) and winced in pain. Part of my head was still soft from being rammed by the door. I was about to ask Mom if it could be anything serious, I didn't want to end up having a concussion, but dad called my name.
He was holding a small mountain of letters. When did he get those? I must've zoned out for a while or Dad suddenly got super human powers to move at light speed. He held up a sheet of paper.
"Mind explaining these grades young man," he sounded like some type of investigator, he watched too many old movies. When I looked closer to the paper I could see a jumble of D's and an F.
…..Shit, I didn't think they would mail my grades in so early. Well I'm fucked.
He gave a pretty bad scolding, and I even flinched a few time when he raised his voice when he thought I wasn't listening. Mom sat with us at the table, Jack and Melisa had gone to their rooms but I could still see them poking their heads out.
I listened to everything dad had to say, not once arguing with him. I learned long ago to keep my thoughts to myself. Better to avoid trouble then get myself into it. Staying as calm as I could I waited for the lecture to be over.
"I wish you were more like your brother and sister….." Dad sighed tiredly.
I felt my brain go numb. Did he just say…? Is he using them for a comparison to me? My hands locked into fists and I felt my blood boil. What especially threw me for a loop was the way he said it. Like the disappointment just washed out of him as a waterfall and smacked me full force. Mom seemed to grew really worried as she stared at my features but I ignored her.
"What the hell is that suppose to mean!" I yelled angrily, looking him strait in the eye with a glare.
Dad didn't seem to expect this but answered none the less, "I mean, I want you to try and make something of yourself! You wont go out for sports, you don't try to learn at school, what do you expect to do with yourself after high school!"
I actually hadn't thought of that but that wouldn't stop me, not with how angry I am, "Then what do you expect Jack to do! He cant be in wrestling forever, and he's barely smart enough to even tie his own shoes!" Jack will probably beat my face in later, but right now I don't care.
"Don't change the subject!"
"I'm not! You said why cant I be more like them! So how 'bout I be like Melisa and curse like a sailor everyday and also like Jack, a torturing dumb ass!"
"What are you talking about! You take back what you said about your brother and sister right this instant!"
"No!"
"This is why you fail to achieve anything Alex! You are just blaming them for your own failures and imperfections!"
"Fuck you!"
I didn't see it coming, one moment I was face to face with him and the next I had landed onto the floor, head reeling in pain. He planted a hard right hook and hit my aside the head right on the already soft spot.
I felt ready to pass out.
"Don't you swear in this house young man!"
I could hear my Mom almost screeching, " Don! How could you!"
I felt her help me up and when I finally reached my feet I shoved her off and bolted out the front door. I didn't want to be any where near anybody at that moment, all I wanted to do was huddle up in a corner and cry. Jack's constant bullying, Melisa's disrespect and smartass comments, Mom and Dad's failure to notice and actually help me, and finally Dads disappointment. All of these thoughts came rushing through my brain. I needed to get away.
Thunder could be heard and rain started to pour with no pity to my situation. Stupid weatherman and his faulty weather predictions. After a while I though I heard someone chasing after me, probably Jack with how fast he was catching up.
I made a quick turn into some backyards and jumped a few fences, trying to lose Jack. It was a good idea since Jack couldn't keep up with all the slipping and sliding in the mud he was doing. He was a wrestler not a football player.
Even after losing Jack I kept running, I didn't know what else to do but run. I knew I couldn't run away from these problems but I'll sure as hell try. I could've been running for hours for all I knew and the rain was not letting up. I needed shelter.
Stumbling through the mud and puddles for another half hour, I somehow made it back home. I really didn't want to deal with my parents, but I also didn't want to die of hypothermia. After debating with myself for a while, a white, hot crack of lighting lit the sky and a roar of thunder soon followed. Inside it is then.
Sneaking through the back garage door, I went inside and used the door leading to the basement. It was like going into another world with how dark it was down there. Stacks of old boxes and bags littered the floor that reached as high as the ceiling like mountains. The carpet was neon green with patches of dirt and mud, probably because of me. After searching a while I rounded up as many old blankets I could find to wrap myself up to stay warm and went to the corner of the room to settle down and dry off.
Before sitting I noticed the old jar that Grandma gave us sitting in a clutter of the old boxes and garbage bags. Interested, I climbed over the clutter and settled beside the large pottery. My teeth chattered loudly from cold as I inspected the jar. It was stained black with blood red designs painted in. A blob of grey filled the middle of the jar, sharp protrusions explodeding outwards and morphed it into a visage of an enraged beast.
I stopped my inspection and thought of my current predicament. I was in trouble, there was no questioning that. Dad was pissed off enough to actually throw a jab into my head and argument throwing me further into mental turmoil. The side of my head pounded in pain and I touched it slightly but quickly drew back, hissing through my teeth. If I didn't have a concussion before, I had to have had one now.
My stomach growled hungrily. Great, I forgot to eat while I was at the table. Becoming frustrated with the current predicaments and with no noticeable way out, I slammed my hand against the jar.
'THUNK' 'THUnk' 'thunk'
I glanced at the noise, it came from within the clay pottery. Becoming curious, I grabbed the lid and attempted to lift it off. Key word attempted. It was stuck so tight I felt I'd pry my own fingers off before the lid would even budge. Twisting it experimentally, I hoped it would loosen but that failed as well. Damn! It was like trying to open the jar of pickles left in the refrigerator.
That gave me an idea, I began searching through box's to find something I could use. The search was successful when a pulled out a metallic baseball bat. I held the jar by the lid and raised the bat over my head and swung down.
A slight tap was heard from the bats contact and the lid pulled off easily with my hand. I smirked, exactly like opening a jar of pickles. I dropped the bat and reached into the contents of the pottery and pulled out a banana.
What the…? Why's there a piece of fruit in there in the first place? My stomach gave a growl and I whined, needing some sort of sustenance. In the darkness I could tell the banana was a healthy green color and with no idea of how long I'd be hiding out, I started to peel it. I was concerned with how long the piece of fruit was in there with the jar sealed and all, but I was too hungry to care at the moment.
The first bite I imagined to be heavenly, not so bad that I'd start choking and actual attempt to make my self puke to force the banana out of my throat. Alas, it was not to be and the disgusting morsel slithered down my esophagus. My god it was awful!
I looked closer at the fruit and saw pink polka dots swarming all over the inside. I quickly threw it into the vast unknown of clutter. Crossing my arms, I growled grudgingly to myself, what a shitty day.
The rattling of the door knob made my heart stop. Shit! I didn't know I was loud enough to be heard! Panicked stabbed my heart and I rose quickly to find somewhere to hide. My foot caught on the garbage bags, forcing me to trip head first into the vase.
It shattered loudly and pain raked at my scalp straight to my brain. I lost consciousness and all comprehension turned to nothing. I fell into darkness.
