School went by in a breeze. All the classes were just introductions. He hated introducing himself. He hated having people hear his voice. He hated the sound of his voice. He hated telling people things they didn't even bother attempting to remember. Introductions were so pointless. He doubted all of the new faces would even remember what letter his name started with after he just told them it. All he wanted was for someone to actually care. The one thing it seemed he could never have; no matter how much he yearned for it.
He walked as slow as humanly possible after the bus dropped him off. He didn't want to go home. Home was worse than school, if that's even possible. He inevitably ended up in front of his door eventually. He gradually opened it and stepped inside. He could already hear his parents arguing and his baby sister crying. What were they quarreling about this time? He made his way to their room. He had two older brothers, one older sister, a little brother, and a little sister. His three older siblings, Benny, Lenny, and Jenny, already moved out of the house as soon as they had graduated. Kenny wanted to do that, too, but that left his two little siblings, Denny, age twelve, and Penny, age seven, alone to fend for themselves against their abusive angry drunk parents. He couldn't leave them.
When he was in their room, he saw her crying on the bed with Denny patting her back. They all shared a room. It was rather small to hold three children. Well, two kids and one adult since Kenny had turned eighteen today. Not a surprise that no one had remembered it. Not even his friends or family had. They only had one bed in there. Though it wasn't literally a bed. It was a mattress on the ground with a blanket on it and two pillows. He always gave the two pillows to his little siblings. He couldn't remember the last time he slept with a pillow or even a mattress with a sheet over it.
"What's wrong, Penny?" he inquired as he rubbed her back.
He was still wearing his coat, gloves, and boots. He had to. His parents never pay the heating bill, so it was always cold every single day in there because it was always snowing where he lived. Penny's head lifted up to look at Kenny. She had tears running down her face, making her long golden blond hairs stick to her face. Her depressed blue eyes were heartbreaking. Did his eyes look like that, too? He wiped her cheeks with his gloves.
"It's okay. I just don't like it when mommy and daddy fight," she answered.
He stayed with them, comforting them, until they both fell asleep. When it was over, he creeped out of the room to check on his parents. They were laying on the couch out cold under a blanket. They must have drank until they passed out. He slowly walked over to them and gently picked up the blanket slightly. Just as he thought, they weren't wearing any clothes. They had sex a lot when they were drunk, which was more often than not. He hoped she wouldn't get pregnant again. He loved his little brother and sister, but he didn't think he could deal with taking care of another child. He felt like a single teenage parent. He turned away from them and made his way to the bathroom. He peered into the mirror. He was surprised to find a zombie-like teenager stare back at him. When was the last time he looked into the mirror? When did he start looking like that? Had he always looked like that? Is that why no one wanted to talk to him? Because he was dead inside? Moisture came from his eyes, but he still looked dead, not sad. He twisted away from the mirror and silently ran back to his room. What had he become?