Chapter 3: School: Day One

Jeremiah woke up the next morning with a headache. He thought for a second his mom, Sarah, was watching him like she did once before. He felt something uncomfortable below himself and looked down. He groaned when he noticed he wet the bed…more like wet the tub. He looked around sighed happily, knowing Sarah wasn't there. He got out of his 'bed', which was a bunch of pillows and a blanket in the bathtub, and changed clothes. The Martins offered him a place to sleep in the boys' room but he refused. He seemed to like the calmness of the bathroom instead. He quietly walked out of the bathroom and saw the twins and their mom sitting at the table. He tugged on Carey's shirt and whispered in her ear. She jumped up and went to the closet, getting extra blankest and pillows and went into the bathroom as Jeremiah shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh! He wet the bed!" Zack suddenly exclaimed; Jeremiah blushed in embarrassment as he lowered his head in shame. Cody reached out to pat him soothingly on the head but he backed away. So he just went into his room and came out with black clothes and pressed them into his arms. He gave Cody a hard stare then retreated to the bathroom. "That kid is nuts!"

"Don't call him that!" Cody snapped as he rounded on his twin. "He's lived a bad life! We have to try and make him feel comfortable around us!"

"He's not even our brother!"

"He is now! And you have to learn to appreciate him!"

"Boys! Boys! Stop fighting!" Carey said as she left the bathroom. "Zack, he is your brother now and you have to learn to live with him!"

"That's just it! He's not! He doesn't even talk to us! All he does is stare, or glare! He doesn't do anything!"

"Listen Zack. I…created him and he has my DNA. You share the same DNA so he's your brother!"

"Ok, ew!"

"Too much information!" Cody agreed.

Inside the bathroom Jeremiah slammed his fist on the door and tried to stop the tears that wanted to fall out of his eyes. They didn't want him. So why did they adopt him in the first place? He should've stayed with Sarah. His life would've been easier. At least she kind of wanted him. She did always say 'I got your back'. Maybe she meant it…Then she must've meant everything else she said too. That must've meant he was a bastard; or an asshole, or a fucking waste of time.

"Jeremiah, c'mon! We have to go to school!" Cody called into the bathroom. Jeremiah quickly changed clothes. He put on a black tank and a black jacket over it, black cargo shorts, and black vans. The bandages were still wrapped around his wrist and his black hair fell into his eyes, like usual.

He opened the door so fast Cody jumped. He rolled his eyes and left the room without saying anything to him. Zack and Cody rushed out of the room after their little 'brother'. They got on the bus and sat with their friends while Jeremiah sat in the back by himself. Once he reached Revolution Lower school, Cody and Zack got ff with him and showed him his class. They said good bye to him and walked to Revolution High School. Jeremiah turned and noticed everyone was staring at him. Probably because a white by was decked out in black and all you could see was his white face and white hands. He ignored them and took a seat in the back,

Once class started he slouched in his seat and stared out the window. No one paid attention to him no matter what lesson they were learning. If the teacher called out him he would glare back until the teacher picked someone else to answer the question. He ate lunch by himself and he didn't really care.

When it was time for art he was a little happy. He could draw really well and he knew that. He closed his eyes as a picture flashed into his head. He picked up the pencil and, with his eyes still closed, he started to draw furiously. The other kids watched him in awe as he drew without looking at his paper. He reached out to the sides of himself and picked up different colors to draw it. He kept some colored pencils behind his ear and one in his mouth. He would replace them with other colors when he switched. Finally he put every pencil on the table top and opened his eyes to look at his masterpiece.

He always drew what he felt on the inside. What does this picture mean? It was a picture of Sarah and Carey. In the background was a big read heart that seemed to pop out of the page. Sarah had a distant, wasted look on her face and she was in the left half of the heart. Carey was in the right half with a genuine smile on her face. She was a little bit bigger than Sarah. What is his heart telling him? He loves both mothers although he just met Carey? He loves Carey more than Sarah? He scrunched up his face and balled the picture tightly in his right hand.

He closed his eyes once again and started to draw. The kids in his class, including the teacher Miss Jane, crowded around him to watch. He was aware but did nothing to make them go away. He needed to make the picture make sense to him. He didn't open his eyes a while after he was finished. He needed some time. He could hear the other students talk abut it but still he didn't open them. He slowly opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw. On the left half of the paper was Sarah. She had the same look on her face as the last picture but she had scars, bruises, and cuts. Her background was all black except for the flames around herself. Then there was Carey.

She had the same smile on her face; but this time she wasn't alone. She was sitting on a fountain. Zack on her left, standing with some bread in his hand; getting ready to fed the ducks that were in the fountain. Cody on her right sitting with his knees brought up to his chest with a smile on his face that Jeremiah can imitate easily. But that wasn't what made him gasp. What made him gasp was the fact that below Carey, sitting on the ground, was himself. Dressed in exactly what he was wearing that day. But he had a genuine smile on his face.

He grabbed the picture and ran out of the classroom. He ran out of the school and just ran as far away as his little legs would carry him. He didn't know where he was going but relied on his heart to take him somewhere safe. He crashed into some people and shrank back as they cast him evil glares. He nearly burst out crying when one man raised his hand angrily but he ran as fast as he could away from him. Eventually he knew that he was going to the Tipton and ran back there. He pushed past guests and employees, getting an angry shout from Mr. Moseby.

He ran up all the stairs to the twenty-third floor. He ran down the long hall until he got to suite 2330 and started to bang on the door hysterically. People stuck their heads out of their rooms and peered at him. He was really crying now and desperately banged on the door. Once Carey opened it he latched himself to her waist and continued to cry. She rubbed his back and hugged him as things in his head slowly made sense.

"Mom," he whispered faintly, so only he could hear it.