5:30 AM.
It was like he was rolling over in his grave.
Stringy blonde hair hung in squinted hazel eyes. The bags under his eyes heaved heavier than he had ever imagined. Today he got what, an hour of sleep? This summer was going by too fast, and his sleep schedule was all messed up.
It wasn't Insomnia. It was the Internet.
Online gaming was rad. World of Warcraft, MapleStory, whatever FusionFall was. He didn't even care what he would play. Wizards 101 was one of them, too. And he'd stay up all night pounding away on the keyboard, he was like the master of all online gaming. And of course, there were those times when his best friend would play all night, too, which was totally awesome. Though that was only until recently, since now that best friend of his had a new girl to impress. Pff, how lame.
Well, a pretty girl at hand would be pretty great.
Though, his constant references to memes and rage comics didn't help with this addiction. That just made him look like even more of a loser.
Taking hold of his smartphone, he pressed the home button. The unnatural light practically blinded him, as if he wasn't already having vision problems from looking at a screen in pitch darkness all hours of the day.
Two text messages.
Kevin Stoley: (1:43 AM) Bradley, I hope you're asleep.
Kevin Stoley: (2:50 AM) Dude, it still says you're online. Whatever, I'm going to bed, I'm not waiting up any longer for you.
That taught Bradley to check his phone way more often. Okay. 'Whatever' . What a snarky asshole. Of course he really couldn't mean that. Kevin Stoley was his absolute best friend, since what, 4th grade? Inseparable nerdos who like Star Wars and video games too much. That's totally what they were. They've heard it all.
"God, you guys are such melvins."
"What are you, faggots? Go make out with each other."
"Wow, what losers. Go back to China. And you, go back to your home planet or something, weird alien kid."
And then there was his sister, who would leave rude comments about him being a "twerp" or a "dork" or "freak".
But he was just Bradley. That certainly wasn't going to change. Not now, not ever.