Burnout
It was a hot mid-April evening, and the pressure was on for the students of Elder High. It's often been said that the sound of the first mental breakdown in the library is the official start of the phenomenon known as "Finals Season." This reality is much harsher for the 3rd year students. They've been on a heavy grind to finish the year strong so that they could have a good shot at their dream schools.
Edward Grenore, or Add as he was nicknamed, was one of these 3rd year students. He was never a slacker. Even going back to his earliest memories, he could remember being called an overachiever, a prodigy, a genius.
Those words served as a bittersweet blessing; they were both an achievement and a burden. And right now, in the midst of the mid-April Finals Season, they were a heavy burden on Add's shoulders.
Add sat on his office chair, his back hunched unnaturally over his laptop. The laptop rested on an old wooden desk that looked like it was stolen from the Elves centuries ago. The only thing that illuminated the room he was in was a bright blue screen and his dim, old lamp he received as his 7th birthday present.
He had spent the entire day rehearsing and putting the finishing touches on his final presentation for AP Physics C. The topic of the presentation had to be under the Quantum Physics umbrella. Countless hours had been spent days before researching Gravitational Waves, and countless hours more had been spent to put together to 40-minute presentation. Even when it seemed to be picture perfect, Add would always find some tiny little flaw in it that irritated him. That tiny little flaw would add another hour to his work. His perfectionism was a cruel slave driver.
The silver-haired boy sat back and looked up at the dim ceiling. He let out a frustrated sigh, as beads of sweat began to form on his face. The room was sweltering and humid like a sauna—fanning himself was futile as the air was just as hot as his skin. To make things worse, Add was a clean freak—sweat was one of his worst enemies. Because of this, he abhorred the humid weather. Why did it have to come here and now? It was so irritating.
Add's head pulsed with pain from hours of non-stop work. He leaned back on his chair, feeling his damp shirt against his back, and massaged his slimy temples with his fingers. The room seemed to heat up with even the tiniest motion, and the headache only grew worse.
And it was at this precise moment that his mother, Grace Grenore, opened the door.
"Edward, dear?" she asked. "Dinner's ready."
"Not tonight, mom," Add replied without looking at her. "Still need to get this done."
"Edward…" she called, her face darkening with worry. She walked in the room and sat at his bed, which was right next to his desk. Looking at his torso, Grace cringed inwardly when she saw that he had lost weight.
A lot of weight.
"You haven't been eating properly, haven't you?" She pointed out solemnly.
"It's not my fault, mom. Finals season is here, and it's my last chance to prove that I'm worthy of going to a good school like the Engineering Academy of Elder."
"Edward… You need to take care of yourself…"
"Mom! I need to do this!" he screamed. Add's eyes widened in guilt after he realized that he had just yelled at his own mother.
"Mom… I'm sorry… I need to do this…" Add looked to his left. There was the framed picture of his father lying on the table, barely lit by the lamp's weak rays.
Asker Grenore was a stout gentleman, wearing an Armani suit and wide glasses that went surprisingly well with his silver hair. He had broad shoulders and sported a confident smile that was outgoing yet elegant at the same time. Add felt his whole body churn. His father was the very image of success, owning what was once the largest Nasod company in all of Elrios. Even though his father died young, Add feared that he would never live up to those standards.
No matter how many times he was called an overachiever, a prodigy, or a genius.
"Edward…" her voice trembled.
Add felt his mother's arms wrap around him. Like Jesus calming the wind and the waves, Grace's touch seemed to calm the riptide of anxiety that tormented her son.
Even if it was for just a moment.
She bent down and buried her face in his damp hair, kissing him on the top of his head. Add closed his eyes and accepted her embrace in response. The room was too sweltering and humid for any kind of contact, but this he didn't mind. He loved it when his mother caressed him. These days it was the only thing that could calm him.
"Take care of yourself, okay honey?" said Grace after holding her son.
"...Okay, mom," replied Add, his stress somewhat relieved by his mother's touch.
Grace got up from the bedside and proceeded out the door. But she held the frame for a bit, turning back to her son who was still looking at her with a smile on his face.
"I love you, Edward," she said with a worried smile.
"Love you too, mom," Add said, feeling a warm smile coming brightening his face. It's been such a long time since he smiled so warmly.
Grace closed the door, leaving Add alone with his demons once again.
The clock struck midnight.
Throughout all of Elder there was silence, yet bells rang deep within Add's soul.
He had 6 hours before he had to get up and leave for school. And he still wasn't done with the presentation.
Not to mention that he also had a final that same day—for Calculus of all subjects! He hasn't even started studying for that, and it's already midnight.
"Aghhh—!" Add began to shout, only to realize halfway that his entire house was probably asleep. Finally, he let out his rage in the form of a frustrated sigh. Although there was a frightening thought that was in the back of his mind: that his rage would turn into insanity. He buried that thought even deeper. It wouldn't help in any way.
The silver-haired student abruptly got up out of his seat, opened the door, and made his way into the kitchen.
The halls were dark, only being lit by lights of passing cars that came sporadically at best. Finally, Add reached the rather tiny kitchen. It was spacious enough for one person, but it would begin to feel cramped once multiple people were in there.
Add stepped into the kitchen, and noticed that the window right next to the dishwashing machine was wide open, letting in the cool smell of petrichor.
Must've rained… Add thought.
He also noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly down to a more comfortable zone. Add smiled when he felt the cool breeze coming in from the window.
Add opened the fridge and began to dig through all of the food that lay in it. He was reaching for the very back of the fridge, where some fruit and other cooking ingredients lay forgotten. Once he found his way through the box of sliced mangoes, the leftover apple crumble, and a container holding an entire rotisserie chicken, Add found what he was looking for. With careful movements he pulled out two tiny bottles each roughly the size of shot glass.
Thank God mom didn't find them… Add breathed in relief.
Add walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He held up the bottles to the moonlight filtering in through the large windows.
"Redline Xtreme Shot," read the labels.
Add flashed a devious yet grim smile.
Now there's nothing stopping me from securing a future for myself! Too bad it had come to this... He thought to himself.
He returned back through the dark hallways to his dimly lit room. Shadows seemed to shift as the lamp began to flicker. But that didn't matter. Add slid the linen curtains to the side and opened up the window, letting in the cool smell of fresh rain accompanied by the bright full moon.
The midnight sky was a deep black canvas, peppered with distant, twinkling stars and a shining moon that hung high above the horizon. Add sat back down on his seat and looked determinedly at his laptop. He will ace the presentation and the final. He will pass this year with flying colors. He will get accepted into the Engineering Academy of Elder!
Add unscrewed a bottle of Redline and downed it like it was a shot of vodka. Adrenaline rushed through his veins like electricity, and Add felt his heart rate rise like a tide.
With newfound energy he continued refining and polishing his presentation. After one and a half hours of perfecting and rehearsing, Add closed a few tabs on his internet browser, finally being satisfied with his work.
But that was only half the battle. As Add shifted his gaze from his laptop to his Calculus notes, he could feel the strength bleeding out of his body. His mind was totally fried, and he could swear there were dying sparks coming out of his head.
No problem, thought Add as he eyed the remaining bottle.
He unscrewed the bottle and chugged like he did before. The power came back, taking him further than his first dose did. The dull feeling of exhaustion was blasted away into the forgotten corridors of his mind.
With bloodshot eyes he clawed painfully through his notes, stopping after each topic to do several practice problems. Add made sure that one of those problems was extremely difficult. By the time he was done studying, Add could see the faintest orange hues rising like a mist in the east. With a faint smile, he closed his notes, packed his bags, and crawled into his bed for a 30 minute nap.
The school bell tolled, its deep rhythms matching a human heartbeat. As the chimes slowly faded into silence, the noise of students scrambling to find their seats became evident.
It was first period Physics, and Ms. Luriel began taking attendance. She noticed some people were absent, but in her mind nothing was really out of the ordinary.
For such a difficult subject, Ms. Luriel seemed so nice and inviting, calming down the students' anxieties with her shy voice.
"I know you guys have… Um… Worked hard on your presentations. You all can take a breather now! I'm sure all of you will do fine! Yeah!"
There was something about her stutter then that was so endearing, and almost the entire class swooned over her.
"Hauu she's so cute!" a female student whispered.
"O-okay! First up is… Um… Edward! Edward Grenore!"
"Ohh yeah Add was up first," another male student whispered to himself.
"... Um… Ano… Edward?"
No response.
"Guess he's absent…" Ms. Luriel commented, marking him as absent. "I'll need to call him about his presentation tonight…"
Realizing that the students were sitting in awkward silence for a good two minutes, Ms. Luriel flinched, a blush forming on her face.
"R-right! Up next is Aisha!"
"Here!" A spunky, purple-haired girl rose from her seat and walked confidently up to the top of the class. Plugging in her flash drive, she loaded up her materials and began her presentation on Quantum Entanglement.
The school day wore on, and the students, especially those in their third year, seemed visibly shaken. Whether it was a failed final or a botched presentation, something weighed heavy on them. The building itself seemed imbued with that anxious energy, as the students sitting outside by the sakura tree could feel the structure looming over them like a leaning tower.
The day drew on, each period feeling like the longest 40 minutes one has ever experienced. Finally, 4th period arrived, and Ms. Ariel took her place in the teacher's desk of Room 331.
Behind her, the chalkboard read "Calculus Final today! 10:00 AM to 10:40 AM! Pencils and calculators only."
Once the late bell rang, she began reading names off of her clipboard to take attendance.
"... Chung?"
"Here."
"Apple?"
"Here."
"Elsword?"
"Aye."
"Eve?"
"Present."
"Edward?"
No response…
"Edward?"
Silence.
"Absent," Ms. Ariel whispered to herself. "I don't know why you'd play hooky on finals day."
"Alright," she began with an authoritative voice. She began handing out stacks of papers, each face down. "Pass these back, don't start until I say so."
There were ruffles of papers, as well is whispers of prayers being heard in the room.
"You may begin."
Ms. Ariel walked to the phone near the door, grabbed it and went outside the classroom.
She took a look at her clipboard, and found Add's home number and began dialing it onto the phone.
Ring… Ring… Ring… Click.
No answer.
"Hello, this is Ms. Ariel. I'm just calling to notify you that Edward is absent for his Calculus final. If he doesn't call me to schedule a make-up exam he is in danger of failing the course, so please take action."
Ms. Ariel hung up, signaling the end of her voice mail.
No one was available to pick up the call. The entire Grenore residence stood still like a ghost town, its gray walls devoid of any life. A breeze flew in through an open window in Add's room and found its way all throughout the house, as if it was a ghost looking for a place to haunt.
They had found Add dead in his room that morning. Grace could recall frantically trying to wake up her son when it was time to leave for school. Then she saw the empty bottles on his desk.
She called the police, and they sent an ambulance to take him to Elder Hospital.
But it was all in vain.
Add had already died before his mother called the authorities.
Based on the results of an impromptu autopsy as well as the two empty bottles of Add's desk, doctors concluded that he had died of cardiac arrhythmia.
"He drank 600 milligrams of caffeine. We don't know exactly when he did, but we know that it was within a span of twelve hours. His body couldn't handle it."
Grace couldn't respond. Instead she just stood there as the shock of her son's death began to register in her mind.
He's dead… He's dead… My precious son is dead… Those words echoed in her mind like the words of a judge, grave and final.
She recalled the words she kept repeating to him; "Take care of yourself."
Why didn't you listen!? Was your life worth a chance at going to that stupid school!?
Grace was barely able to muffle her cries as doctors escorted her out. She sat at the waiting room, her body convulsing with trauma at her sudden loss. As she ran herself dry from crying, she felt the whole world fade to black.
And all was silent.
+ End +
Author's post-notes:
Hope you guys enjoyed this fic. This was written for a writing prompt given by Shota-senpai on his discord server. This fic was based on the story of Davis Allen Cripe, a healthy 16-year old who died (while in his classroom) from cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, after consuming almost 500 mg of caffeine in less than 2 hours. The story was initially found on AJ+ on Facebook, but other sources such as NBCWashington have written articles to confirm that this is a true story.
Please be careful guys. I'm a college student myself, and I have peers who do stuff like this. I came from a high school where students had drug problems just so that they could study all night. Your health really isn't worth that A or that acceptance letter. Anyways, stay safe, and I'll catch you guys on the next one.
P.S. Chapter for Lone Wolf should be out soon. I got lots of time on my unemployed hands :\