Hey guys, back for the next chapter. I'm sure you'll like the ending of this one and won't be able to hold still for the next chapter. Also if you want to keep on track of future updates or some sneak peeks, head on to my Facebook channel and give it a like!
The alarm on his clock beeped loudly, rousing the sleeping Gregor. He lazily stretched in his bed and rubbed his bleary eyes. Blindly he turned on his rooms light and turned off the infernal beeping from his clock. His back popped as he stood up and rubbed his neck. The picture of her laid on the stand next to his bed. She seemed to smile right at him through the photograph.
Gregor grabbed a white shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and his undergarments from his closet and put them on the counter in the bathroom. It was barely lit outside as it was very early out still and everyone was asleep. Quietly he walked over to the kitchen and filled up the coffee maker before turning it on.
He went back to the bathroom and shut the door. After he turned on the shower to let the water warm up, he pulled off his clothes. His new scars looked fresh and tender and stood apart from the collage of older ones. The bullet wounds seemed to make Gregor look even more sinister and intimidating.
When the water had warmed, he stepped into the steamy shower. As the water washed over his scarred and torn body, Gregor sat on the bottom and his back leaned on the cold tile wall. His right elbow leaned on his raised right knee that was brought up to his chest as he silently let the water rinse over him. After a few minutes of having the warm water trickle down his body, he stood back up and washed out his hair and body.
With a squeaky turn of a knob, the water stopped falling. He leaned on his new shoulder and slowly let the excess water drip off his body. If he had the choice to stay in a shower for the rest of his life, he most likely would. For one he could let all of his troubles run down the drain, let the warm water ease his tense muscles, and just sit and think about her. Alas the water would eventually run cold and render the shower useless.
Gregor grabbed a dry towel on its hook and began to wipe his body down. The towel immediately became soaked with water as he finished drying off. He hung the damp towel back on the hook and began to put on his clothes.
The clothes seemed to be very bland compared to today's standard of "style". Gregor couldn't care less about fashion. Besides the fact that his family was never able to afford clothes that were nice, he didn't see the style in clothing necessary or important. His own personal looks or worries were the last thing on his mind.
After changing, Gregor went to the kitchen and poured a cup of black coffee into a disposable cup. With his phone, music player, and photo of her in his pockets, coffee burning in his hand, headphones in his ears, and bag slung across his shoulders, he was ready to leave.
The air was very cool as it pelted Gregor's face. Compared to yesterday's weather with its scorching heat, this was absolutely beautiful. Clouds of steam rose from the cup of coffee and through his nostrils. His arms showed goose bumps that ran to his shoulders, but his face refused to show any emotion as always. It was very early in the morning, so it is likely the weather would drastically change.
He reached his school early, and not a soul was around. The front doors were still locked and the only people who seemed to be inside were the janitors and a handful of teachers setting up for their classes. Mr. Milan, the ceramics teacher, was most likely there as well to prepare the clay.
Gregor sat on the steps and slowly sipped at his coffee. Neither Raf nor Angie would arrive anytime soon, so all he could do was sit on the ice-cold cement and wait for someone to eventually open the door.
It was well over a half an hour before students began to arrive. By then, his coffee had long been gone as he silently stared at the photo. A girl that was an underclassman walked past him, her eyes stuck on him. The girl pulled out a book with a black cover which was currently the new "Harry Potter" of books where a girl is forced to fight to the death with a bunch of other teens. She peeked at Gregor from behind the pages of her book, thinking it would seem like she was only innocently reading.
Ms. Rhodes' car drove up to the school's parking lot. The car was just as ugly as she was, with an old and faded pale yellow paint and terrible brakes whose squeals sounded like some Hollywood car chase scene. She hopped out of her car carrying a large box of donuts along with one of the pastries in her mouth. Gregor's eyes met her own and she stopped in her tracks.
The donut sticking out of her mouth dropped and she scrambled for it. The comical scene made the girl with the book chuckle. Ms. Rhodes straightened and glared at the girl, who looked back down at the pages. After fishing out her keys from her ugly burgundy purse, she unlocked the front doors.
Gregor watched as Ms. Rhodes and the girl with the book, who was still stealing glances at him, go into the school. He decided to wait until either Raf or Angie arrived at school instead of going inside. They seemed to take their sweet time getting to school, most likely getting breakfast as some fast-food joint like McDonald's.
As usual, the students entered the school with their routinely glances at Gregor; except today was different. Their stares were neither cold nor demeaning, but rather seemed like they were looking at something incredulous and unbelievable. In a way it seemed to annoy Gregor even more than the old glares.
Not only did the students seem to be different, but the school's atmosphere seemed changed as well. The air felt nicer for some reason, but Gregor found that he missed the old melancholy and slight morose feeling instead. He preferred that nostalgic gloomy and vile touch in the air, not this giddy and upbeat mood. It made him sick, but I guess when someone as notorious as Tyron and a multitude of gang-bangers gets kicked out of the school they have tormented relentlessly, one can't help but feel rather exultant. In this case, practically most of the school was after they found out what they had done. Humorous how they once looked up to Tyron, but now after they heard the story, they despise him.
Gregor looked past all the gawking faces and spotted Raf and Angie walking towards the school. Raf was listening to music and used his hand to pretend to play the drums with the song while Angie was staring hard into an open textbook, only pausing to look up to see where she was going.
"Hey Greg, been waiting long?" Raf asked after he stopped his ridiculous drumming of his hands and turned off his music. Gregor slid off his headphones and responded with a shrug.
Angie hushed them, not looking up from the book. "Be quiet please! I need to study for my test in my first class!" She then began to walk away slowly as she used her finger to keep track of where she was reading.
Raf turned to Gregor after he briefly watched Angie step away and let out a laugh. "She always is like that when it comes to tests! I guess that's why she's in such advanced-placed classes." Gregor silently nodded in agreement.
The school bell rang out its annoying tone that echoed throughout the school. As usual, kids began to migrate from the quad and cafeteria to their classrooms. Teachers who arrived late scrambled to their classes to let the students in. A student who was eating a breakfast sandwich inhaled the rest of it and hurriedly ran to her room.
"Geez, already? I just got here and the bell rings! And to think I left early as well!" Raf huffed. He re-positioned his bag and gave a friendly nudge to Gregor. "I got to head to Mrs. White's class before she scolds me again, peace!"
Gregor nodded back as Raf headed towards his class. Once Gregor entered into own, the room fell silent. All of the students had their eyes focused on him as he sat down. Their gazes were not judgmental as usual. In a way, he missed that feeling.
Each of his classes had the same vibe. He would walk through the door, the room would fall silent, and they would gawk at him throughout the rest of the class. At one point a little note got passed at him. He had gotten a secret admirer and the note basically said that they loved how brave he was. The bell to end that class rang and Gregor tore up the note in front of the students and shoved it down the trash. A girl in the back of the room gave a shocked gasp.
As Gregor began to head to the cafeteria during lunch, Raf wrapped his arm around his neck. "Hey, what's up mister famous?"
Gregor nudged off Raf's arm and raised an eyebrow.
"You're the talk of the school right now," Angie said as she appeared behind Raf, "everyone in my classes brought you up at some point."
"Angie! How was your test?" Raf asked, completely changing the subject nonchalantly.
She gave an annoyed sigh. "It was absurdly easy! I honestly didn't need to study!"
"Watch out! We got a badass over here!" Raf exclaimed, raising his hands above his head. Angie let out a laugh and punched him in the arm. Gripping his arm where she had punched, Raf made a sad face and began to whimper.
"Quit your crying you pansy!" Angie teased. She turned to Gregor. "Things don't seem to be in your favor though."
Gregor narrowed his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" Raf asked for Gregor. The three arrived at the tables in the cafeteria and sat down.
"Gregor has become infamous now. A few people said Tyrone's friends were going to attempt something towards him." Angie explained as she opened up her backpack and brought out a lunchbox.
Gregor put an arm on the table and rested his cheek on his palm. "So what?"
Angie's eyes grew wide. "'So what'? What the hell do you mean 'so what'? Do you even understand the fact that you might be in danger?!"
"Yep." Gregor said with closed eyes. A flabbergasted look was on Angie's face that looked almost humorous.
"Relax girl," Raf responded, "if Gregor can take on three gangsters by himself and still live through a bunch of bullets being blasted through him, then a couple of petty punks should be no problem!"
Angie scratched her cheek with her finger and gave a doubtful look. "I guess so…"
"Nothing to worry about!" Raf said with a smile and thumbs-up. All of a sudden, a large fumbling sound came from him. "Well, except I worry about my growing hunger! I'm going to go get some lunch, be right back!"
As Raf got up to head to the snack line, Gregor noticed that Angie was staring at him as he walked away. He also noticed her eyes were dilated as she stared at Raf. Angie noticed that Gregor was staring back at her, blushed, and quickly turned away while taking a bite of her lunch.
Raf came back carrying a variety of sweets. He sat down at the table, tore open one of the wrappers, and inhaled its contents. "Ah, the wondrous smell of powdered-donuts! Want one?"
Gregor opened an eye and saw Raf offering him one. He hesitated at first, but took one of the white sweets and gave a curt nod as a "thank you". Raf handed the package of donuts to Angie with a smile. With a rather noticeable blush, she took one and returned his smile.
A few clumps of powdered sugar fell to the lunch table as Gregor held the donut in his fingers. He took a small bite and slowly munched on the sweet. Angie ate the donut in one bit and gave an "mm" in delight.
"Thanks Raffles!"
"It's no big deal!" he replied with a laugh. He finished the remaining donuts just before Gregor finished his. The rest if lunch went by with Raf and Angie conversing while Gregor tuned them out and focused his attention on the carved-in letter "L" on the table. The school bell rung and the students let out exasperated groans.
"Damn, the lunch bell rings too early!" Raf complained as he crumpled up the wrapper to the donuts. "You want to meet up with us after school Greg?"
Gregor slightly shook his head. "Can't."
"Oh that's right, you've got to see Dr. Hindler for a checkup today huh?" Angie asked. He nodded in agreement.
"What for," Raf asked as he stood up and stretched. Gregor put his hand on his prosthetic shoulder and shrugged. "I got you."
The two bid farewell to Gregor with Angie praying his checkup yielded good results. School passed the same as it had earlier ON TODAY. After the final bell had rung, Gregor packed up and walked past the crowd of staring eyes and gossiping lips to the doors that exited the hell of school.
"Welcome back mister reckless." Hindler said to Gregor as he stepped into the room. He was scribbling something on his clipboard that was incomprehensible. You would think that over eight years of college education would eventually perfect your handwriting; not have it look like someone was having a seizure while writing something. "How was your first day back in school?"
Gregor responded with a "how-do-you-think-it-went" look. He took a week break from school before he returned today. Hindler laughed and gestured for Gregor to sit in a chair. As Gregor sat, Hindler took a sip from his coffee and pulled out a few files.
"That bad, huh?" Hindler asked as he raised Gregor's arm in a few different positions. "I'll assume people left and right were gawking at you. Please remove your shirt."
The coldness from the doctor's stethoscope came a bit unexpected to Gregor as it touched his bare skin. Hindler would listen to his heartbeat and jot down the numbers on his clipboard. He then examined Gregor's stitches to see if any needed to be replaced or cleaned if infection had occurred over the past week.
"It seems like you're completely fine. Your body doesn't show any signs of rejection to your artificial limbs, your stitches are perfectly clean and intact, and I assume you can move around with no difficulties." Hindler stated after examining Gregor. He then began to pour another cup of coffee.
"That can't be healthy…" Gregor responded to his doctor.
Hindler raised his eyebrows at the fact his patient just spoke, but then smirked. "Trust me, I'm a doctor!" He gave a fist pump. "Yes! I've always wanted to say that! Want some?"
Gregor couldn't help but give a slight smile and shrugged. "Sure."
"How do you like it?"
"Black."
Hindler stuck his tongue out at the comments as he poured a separate cup for Gregor. "Blegh! I prefer drowning my coffee in cream and sugar. I hate it black!"
"That's racist." Gregor joked, a smirk on his lips.
"Looks like you have a sense of humor after all!" Hindler replied with a laugh. He handed him his cup. "Hope you like it strong."
Gregor nodded and sipped at the coffee, his expressionless face returning. The strong bitterness of the coffee was delicious. Both remained quiet until both of their cups were drained. After he returned the cup, Gregor began to get ready to leave.
"You don't technically need another mandatory checkup for the most part, although I would like to see you for another one just to keep my mind at ease." Hindler said as he finished scribbling down some notes on his clipboard.
Gregor gave another smirk as he handed his empty cup to Hindler. "Like me that much?"
"Oh totally," Hindler responded, taking the cup, "I just can't help seeing you take your shirt off." He immediately looked around to see if anyone else heard that since anyone who did would automatically think the doctor was some type of pervert. There was a sigh of relief and he laughed hard. A chuckle even came from Gregor.
There were no news reporters or vans around as Gregor walked up the steps to his house. He had been with Dr. Hindler for over two hours and the sky was already beginning to grow dark. The cool air was carried by a brisk wind that ruffled his hair. Both of his parents' cars were parked outside, so they were home much earlier than usual. An annoyed grunt came from him.
Gregor opened the door to his house and saw the entire family sitting on the couch. They had been conversing, but stopped once he entered. Boots gave a toothy grin and waved at her older brother. Lizzie gave a sad smile to Gregor.
"Hey." Gregor said as he walked past the family's staring eyes, returning Boot's smile with a faint version of his own. He opened the door to his room, shutting it behind him after he entered. His sling from his backpack slipped and the bag dropped to the floor. Gregor felt exhausted from the long day, and his fatigue overtook his body as he lay on his bed. With the picture of her out on his chest, his eyes began to droop.
Three loud knocks came from his door right before he drifted to sleep. He sat up and gave a slightly angry groan. The only thing he wanted to do right now was sleep.
"Gregor, come out. We need to have a word with you," said his mother's from behind his door. Her voice sounded upset, but he paid it no mind. He stood up, placed the photo back into his pocket, and opened his door. Grace stood at the foot of the door waiting with her arms crossed.
She looked terrible. Dark lilac circles and begs underlined her eyes. Her once brunette hair was now littered with streaks of gray. Wrinkles had replaced her once youthful skin. In only a matter of five years, she looked like a shadow of her former self; which was what Gregor exactly was.
He followed her back to where the rest of the family was. His father had his fingers crossed over each other as his chin rested upon them. Lizzie preoccupied herself by fiddling with a piece of material from the couch. Boots was drawing stick figures on a piece of paper.
"Have a seat." Gregor's father muttered with a serious tone. Gregor wondered why a family meeting was so unexpectedly called. Had the school expel him for fighting? Did something drastic happen because of his actions? He sat down.
"Me and your mother have seen how these last few years have changed you." His father continued, eyeing Gregor. "We've been thing of taking you somewhere that might help you."
Military service or juvenile detention was the first things that popped up in his mind.
Grace took a seat as well. "I'm rather against the idea, but your father thinks it will be in your best interests."
"Definitely juvenile detention." Gregor thought.
"So by the end of this week," His father responded, "we'll all be taking a trip back to New York."