Alec
I grimaced at the smell of mothballs as I opened the closet in my new room. A good, fat layer of dust covered every square inch of the cherry wood floor, and I just couldn't wait to begin cleaning it all up. Note sarcasm.
After deciding the closet would be large enough to fit all of my clothes, I went to go find a broom in the mountains of boxes. I found a box as long as I was tall, labeled 'Cleaning Supplies' in my mother's cursive, and opened it up. Inside, behold, were the brightly gleaming, mass array of cleaning things that my mother had collected over the years.
I picked a broom up out of the mess and carried it back up the stairs to where my siblings and my own bedrooms were, including two bathrooms, which we'd decided to split evenly between the four of us.
Isabelle and Max would take one, since Isabelle used the most time and Max used the least. Jace and I would take the other, since we were pretty evenly balanced. Max had complained about the arrangement for a while, but eventually got over it. The only thing he needed out of it was a place to go to the bathroom and a shower, and he'd gotten both. I don't think he'd mine missing out on a shower every once in a while, though.
I began sweeping the dust out of the room, starting at the corner diagonal to the door. After choking on the dust three times, sighting nearly ten eight-legged insects and having to spend forty-five minutes sweeping dust, I was ready to move back to California.
I did eventually manage to clean out the room, of dust and insects, armed with a broom and a canister of bug-killing spray I found in the 'Cleaning Supplies' box. The spray left a nasty smell though, and I opened both windows to air the place out before leaving and closing the door behind me.
I was going to go downstairs and locate my boxes when a delighted screech reached my ears, the second before I was encased in a hug/tackle from behind.
"You have to see my room, Alec. It look's exactly like my one back home!" Isabelle dragged me back the way I'd came, right into her new bedroom.
True enough, with the exception of the different colored walls, the room looked like a replica of her old one. Minus, of course, the mess. That would come later.
"How'd you get the furniture up here? And all your stuff?" I asked, realizing her posters, lamps and other miscellaneous junk was already set up.
"I paid the moving guy to bring it all up and reassemble the bed and desk. I spent the last hour unpacking the boxes, and set it all up so it looks just like my room back home⦠ah, isn't it amazing?" She smiled at her room, and I gave her a 'You're-definitely-crazy' look before leaving. She, in all of her bliss, didn't even notice.
After checking that the smell was out of my room, which it was, I began the slow process of lugging up my furniture, one or two pieces at a time. After I finished that, I began to reassemble it, which was surprisingly easy. None of it required screws, and was all simple 'Lock-into-place' type of stuff.
After that, I began with my boxes. I could fit all of my stuff into four, almost three, boxes and I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Max had six boxes, even though those two, nearly three, more boxes then mine were basically all games, comics, books, and puzzles.
Two boxes were clothes, and I quickly sprayed the closet with Febreze to get the mothball smell out before putting it all away into the built-in shelves. I flattened the two boxes before beginning to unpack the third box, which was mainly athletic stuff and books. Kind of a way to sum up my life, if you think about it.
To most people, I probably seem like a nerd, hence the books. But in reality, I probably trained as much as an Olympic athlete. I play three sports, but only one competitively. I did swimming and weight lifting, the second of which I'm not really sure even is a sport. The one I play competitively is football, though I probably won't be playing another season since this is my senior year and the season ended last month at homecoming, though I was at a different school then.
Maybe I am a nerd. I don't really think it's that bad of a label, since all it means is that your smarter then the average person and study longer, both of which I am. You might say I sound like I'm bragging, or just plain arrogant, but I think it's safe to say that I'm smarter then the brain-dead teenagers I go to school with, all of who only care about the next time they're getting laid.
After unpacking that, I began on the last box. It was mainly just trophies, albums I'd made and a few rough sketches. The one thing no one, not even my family, knows about me is that I really am thinking about getting my degree in the fine arts once I graduate highschool. I've been sketching since I was about ten, and have been practicing since one kid said my picture was ugly. It had developed from proving the boy wrong to an actual passion, one that I don't think I'll ever grow tired of.
Another thing that no one, but Isabelle and Jace, knew was that I was gay. Closeted, but still gay. I'd learned when I was in middle school, when I learned that I appreciated looking at half-dressed boys in the locker rooms more then I would ever appreciate a girl's breasts.
For a few years, I tried to go back to normal. I would kiss a girl in middle school and go to movies with them, and I slept with girls in high school, but it didn't change anything.
I'd learnt to accept myself as I was a while ago, though I didn't willingly reveal it to anyone. By accepting myself, I mean I stopped trying to change who I was, not revealing it to the world. Isabelle figured it out, and soon after followed Jace, and they'd been fine with it long before I myself had been.
A trophy slipped out of my grip, jerking me out of my self-reflecting reverie, and my hand shot out to catch it. I sighed in relief when there was silence instead of a loud bang, and carefully placed it on top shelf of my desk.
"Alec? Are you finished?" My mom's voice came as I heard her climbing the stairs.
"Yeah. Just putting away a few last things. You can come in." I called, and she did. She immediately cringed, pinching her nose.
"What is that smell?" She asked, and I sniffed the air and shrugged, guessing I'd been breathing in the smell so long that I'd gotten used to it.
"Probably the bug spray I used earlier. There are so many spiders, its unbelievable." I said, putting the last trophy, a bronze one showing a boy in a diving position, away.
"Oh, let me take these boxes. I finished your fathers and my room, and your father is finishing the rest of the house, and I feel useless. Just relax, and I'll begin making dinner soon." My mom said, flattening the two boxes I hadn't yet before taking them out with her.
"Thanks." I called after her, looking around the room. My bed still didn't have any sheets, blankets or pillows on it so I went to get some. I took the stairs down three at a time, the door closing behind my mom just as she went out to go throw the boxes away. I found the things I needed easily enough, and quickly went up to my room before my mom would come in and insist she helped me. I felt like some quiet time right now, and my mom really didn't like silences, whether they were comfortable or not.
After I fit the sheet on, I threw the blanket on, followed by the pillows. I flopped down on bed, sighing in relief. I was finished with settling in, almost. All I had to do was go to school three days from now, on Monday, and I'd be officially settled.
I didn't realize I hadn't fallen asleep until I was being poked awake. I opened my eyes groggily to see Max there, grinning widely.
"Dinner is ready! Mom made a pie for dessert." Max gushed before running out of the room. I could faintly hear his feet on the stairs.
"Coming." I muttered, sitting up. I rubbed my eyes, but it didn't help. I flopped right back into bed, falling asleep before my eyes hit the pillow. This time, no one came to wake me up after Mom told them all to let me sleep.
