Monday came all too soon for Craig. As he slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock for the second time, he seriously considered skipping school. His head pounded dully from the after-effects of his father's alcohol. He didn't regret sneaking into his father's liqueor cabinet, just the pain that was a direct consequence of it.

His chapped lips opened slowly and he took in a last deep breath before getting up for the day. His throat burned and the leaking from his nose was becoming very apparent. He sat up in his bed, pushing his comforter to the side and blindly snapping his bedside lamp on. The light smothered his eyes and he had to close them for a few seconds before being able to see.

His room lay around him in shambles. Empty boxes of crackers lay on the floor beside his dirty socks and pants. Half covered by one of his jackets was the bottle of bacardi rum that he had slipped from the cabinet the night before. It's not that he enjoyed drinking, he didn't like the taste of it, or even feeling drunk. It was something that he discovered at the party on Friday night, and the wealth of his discovery was that he could forget.

Drinking let him forget things. Forget the 2 AM beatings from a father who's just come home from the ER, angry to find the TV still on and the kitchen lights glaring at him. Forget the embarrassing stutter he'd developed after his mother left and remarried, leaving him to his father's never-ending accusations, and put-downs. Forget the way he had treated a beautiful girl and made her cry. He could forget everything that made him feel ashamed.

His alarm screamed out again, informing him that another five minutes had passed, and that school would be starting in twenty minutes. He pressed the little gray button on top of his clock and stood up. A draft of cold air wrapped around him and rose gooseflesh on his thin form. He rubbed his arms up and down with his hands while bouncing on his toes and searching his floor for some clean clothes.

He slid into the same pair of pants he had worn for the past three days and picked up his blue baseball jersey. After sniffing it and being satisfied that it passed the stench test, he pulled it over his head and covered the dark bruises on his stomach. He grabbed his backpack and camera bag, and sparing just enough time to grab some poptarts, he left for school.

Being late for his first class wasn't a usual thing for Craig. So as he entered the room with his eyes low and his hair dancing in different directions, he recieved many stares. Mr. Simpson asked for his attention by lightly grabbing his elbow as he walked past.

Craig looked up at his teacher with fear in his eyes, memories flooded his mind and he flinched without noticing. Mr. Simpson quickly let go of the boy's arm after seeing his reaction and leaned down slightly to be eye-level with his student.

"Craig, are you ok? You don't look so good." His eyes searched Craig's face rapidly, taking in the yellow tint of skin and red-rimmed eyes, smudged thickly with dark sleep circles. Craig's eyes went from his teacher's face to the ceiling, then back, then to the side, never able to stay fixed on one spot.

"I'm fine Mr. Simpson, I just don't feel too good this morning. I'm sorry I was late."

Mr. Simpson didn't have time to waste seeing as he was starting a new lesson with his class that period, so he dismissed Craig's sickly features and assured him that he wouldnt' be counted tardy, since he obviously was a little sick. Craig greatfully rushed to his seat, trying to escape the staring eyes. But they wouldn't leave him. They made him feel like he was two years old again and had been found in the basement playing with the 'scientist' switches as he called them, only to find out quite painfully that they were the breaker switches and he had been turning the power on and off throughout the whole house. He slumped lower in his seat, remembering the sprained wrist he had nursed around the house for three weeks after that.

Slowly, one by one, the other students began to pay attention to their teacher, realizing that the information he was sharing with them would be on their next test. Craig noticed the seat next to him was empty. Sean seemed to have taken Craig's idea and skipped school for the day.

Craig sighed and watched the curly tendrils of brown hair above his eyes writhe in his expelled breath. Today was going to be a long day.

AN: Sorry it's short again. But I have school in the morning, so I can't be staying up too late. I'll try and update again in the next few days though....but only if I get some feedback:D