Summer essays. Only the brew of Satan was capable of such an act. There was no other reason why this idea had been invented in the first place. Summer was to enjoy oneself and basically do nothing until the hectic life at school kicked in again. Not that Erik had done much stuff during summer though. Since his family had moved he lived hours and hours away from his old friends. The only contact he had was online and for some reason that didn't quite do it. So instead of being that quiet follower in a group of 2 friends he'd spent his days half naked in front of fans (because fuck it was hot here) and reading books until he got bored. Nevertheless the boy had postponed summer homework for his brand new school until the last minute and now he was sitting behind his desk at three in the morning, hopelessly trying to come up with something.

Sleep was only for the dead.

He took another sip of his lukewarm coffee before staring at the blank piece of paper on his computer screen again but sadly the urge to just throw the monitor out of the window was still present. The assignment was for Religion. Too bad that Erik wasn't even religious but apparently it was a mandatory class at Crowby's so he just had to sit and take it as a man for a whole damn year.

It wasn't that Erik was a disaster with writing essays, oh not at all. The only problem that stood in his way of finishing this damn thing was the fact that the subject of the essay wasn't even about religion. If it had been the case Erik would've just spent an evening bulshitting about a higher being and all that crap those teachers loved to read from their non-believing students. No, the thing was that the subject had to be his life.

Yes, his life.

"Write a 3-4 pages essay on your personal history. Keep the focus on yourself and include moments of great personal importance."

What was there to say? He hadn't even lived for two decades. He was born, got a baby brother, had an uneventful childhood and they moved. The end. The most life-changing event in his boring and meaningless life was actually the moving at the beginning of summer. His little brother once had to be rushed to the hospital because of appendicitis at the age of five…. Not that that had been so horribly life changing, nor did it have anything to do with his own life.

In conclusion: Erik had no idea how to start.

He didn't even know this teacher. For all he knew he could just wing it by talking crap that teachers appreciated like he always did without having to worry this much. Give him any other topic and he could present you a seven-page essay on the sleeping habits of sloths if he wanted to, the process of how knitting a scarf worked; anything but this. He was 17 for god's sake, what was there to tell of a 'life story'? Grade A student Erik Nilsen would rather die than turning in an essay about his life because it was of such horrible quality. Then again, wasn't the whole 'grade A student' thing the little label he wanted to get rid of? New school, new opportunities? He wanted to ditch the image of the scared fragile boy who never dared to be a minute late for class, let alone skip one; the boy who never had any real friends besides a kid who just conveniently took violin lessons with him or a girl that everyone considered twisted while Erik liked the label eccentric more.

He turned around on his chair for a while, eyes locked on the ceiling fan that had stopped working from the second they had walked in here 2 months ago and still wasn't fixed. No, this was going to change at Crowby's; or that was the plan at least. He would be more social, engage in conversations for once in his life instead of just sitting, listening while silently judging. Erik just hoped that things would work out for once. He honestly didn't look forward to getting to share a room with someone else he didn't even know until they sat on the bed besides yours. He sighed, took another swig of his coffee that had become cold by now. Coughing for a second, he decided that he needed a new and warm one if he ever wanted to finish this essay by tomorrow. The due date wasn't until 3 days from now but something in the back of his mind told him that he wouldn't have much time to actually work on an essay once he arrived at Crowby's tomorrow. After stretching a bit more than was actually necessary, Erik silently opened the door to the hallway and tiptoed his way downstairs, careful not to wake either his parents or his little brother as he made his way to the kitchen where his thermos was located.

Once downstairs he found said younger brother hunched over a bowl of cereal with his ipod playing a song loud enough for Erik to hear the buzzing from where he was standing.

Neither of them spoke while obviously aware of each other's presence in the narrow kitchen while Erik poured himself some coffee that had been kept warm in a thermos. Black with no sugar, only the pure bitter taste of caffeine.

It wasn't until he leaned against the kitchen counter that Emil pulled out the earpods, song still buzzing through the small speakers.

"You shouldn't be awake at this hour." Erik started speaking with both hands firmly grasping the warm mug.

Emil just looked up unimpressed from his last bite of cereal. "Neither should you."

He couldn't help but smile a bit at that statement, "I have homework that I need to finish."

"Before school starts?"

He nodded as his lips found their way to the warm drink again.

"What's your excuse?" Erik then asked while Emil put his bowl in the sink, letting water fill it to the brim. He made a gesture for Erik to scoot over so he could store the cereal box back where it was supposed to be.

"Just nervous, couldn't sleep." He finally replied with a small sigh as he leaned against the counter right next to his brother.
Another sip of coffee. "You'll be fine, don't worry."

Emil just chuckled a little with crossed arms, staring at his bare feet that looked so much more interesting than this conversation. Erik knew it was just his basic shyness, even around people he was comfortable with. He himself wasn't the one to talk here. Mostly he refrained from talking unless people asked him something and more often than not it always ended up being a remark of some sorts. Lack of social skills apparently ran in the family.

"Have you seen the uniforms?" His younger brother asked as he placed both hands on the counter to lift himself up. With a small thud he sat there, now much higher than where Erik was standing who was still silently sipping down his coffee. It was a good feeling, the way he felt that warm string of liquid slithering its way to his stomach and warming him from the inside out. "No, no I haven't. Didn't dare to check yet to be honest." He replied honestly with a small sigh.

"They look horrible…."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, blue, brown and white. The worst are the chequered pants."

"Dear god…."

Small and quiet laughter from the both of them followed after which they both went silent again. Erik didn't need to inform Emil how scared he actually was, that he was just as nervous as him. The homework had been a nice cover-up; he knew that. If it hadn't been for the bright shining screen of his computer he probably couldn't get a decent night rest either because of the stress.

When he was all out of coffee there wasn't an excuse anymore and he bid his little brother goodnight with the small advice to at least try and get some sleep as well. Both of them had a big day tomorrow after all. There was a reason why he didn't want to pay attention to the boxes and trunks in the hallway.

He lay silently in bed, just like he always did. Erik wasn't the kind of guy who moved a lot during his sleep; or well, that was what he heard from other people. Emil turned out to be the kid who snuggled in a burrito of blankets, clinging to everything and everyone while Erik just took hold of his pillow and didn't move for the rest of the night. Feet kicked the remaining blankets from his body as his head cocked to the right, watching the movement of the curtains caused by the welcomed cool summer breeze. It was hot, so unbearably hot here and silently he wondered if the dorms at Crowby's would have air conditioning or else his body would melt away before classes would start.

Unconsciously his mind drifted to the essay again while he closed his eyes in a ridiculous attempt to get some sleep. He really hadn't done anything useful with his life so far. Maybe this new school was for the best, his old friends only slowed him down anyway. He would find more interesting people at Crowby's and with some luck they could show him what living was really about. No more violin practices to avoid human contact or stuffing his head with useless information about mythology. This new school year meant a different Erik.

Because honestly, there was a reason why there weren't essays about people like him.