I never actually went to sleep.
It took me about thirty minutes of tossing and turning before I give up and begin watching a romantic comedy on my laptop. The gentle lights and soft volume lulled me into a sort of daze, and I almost began dozing off. Of course, in that moment my alarm goes off. The beeping is insufferable and the obnoxious noise hurts my ears. With a loud groan, I shut it off a blearily look at my clock.
Whoop-dee-fucking-doo, its seven a.m., and that means the start of not only a new day, but also a new school year.
I have all of my materials ready at least, mostly just consisting of an old backpack and foraged supplies. I glance down at myself and realize I never changed out of my clothes from yesterday, nor did I get a shower. Great, more things to worry about.
I disregard the shower, it would be too much of a pain, but I do change out of my hoodie, silently noting that the front was slightly stiff from tears. I painfully withdraw my right arm from the sleeve, wincing when my bruise gets hit.
Even in the low light I can see it's a dark and angry purple. Looks like it'll be a long sleeved day. Of course, it was a cool autumn day, so I would've worn a jacket in the first place. Now shirtless, I walk over to my dresser and search through my drawers. At least all of my color choices were darker schemes, I didn't particularly care about fashion. In the end I decide on a rather tight grey and black striped long sleeved. Which is hell to pull on, but the sleeves hang past my fingertips. I randomly chose a pair of jeans, all of them look the same anyway.
That being said, I now have to search for shoes. It's too dark to discern the different shapes in my closet, so I snort in defiance and walk over to my bed, where my laptop is still playing the credits to the movie. I use the light to find some ratty converse.
Like I said, I don't give a shit about fashion.
The time is now seven twenty-one, wow that took a bit too long for my taste. I hear shuffling outside my room, then footsteps heading away. I assume that my mom is up, but would she bother to wake me or Nepeta up? Of course not. I exit my bedroom, after plugging my laptop to the charger, and make my way to Nepeta's room.
When I open the door, I'm greeted with a small tackle-hug. The cat-girl had been waiting for me, and she's already dressed and ready for school. I'm glad that she can at least dress herself, I don't want to deal with that.
"Morning Karkitty!" She purrs, giggling slightly. Her cat hat rubs against my thin shirt, shedding a bit of blue fluff.
"Morning Catnep, got your bag ready?" I reply, swinging her up to rest on my hip. She wraps her arms around my neck and nods with a grin, showing off abnormally sharp canines.
"Yes! It is over there," She replies, pointing. I find the bright pink bag easily, and stride over to pick it up.
"And your face?" I ask, realizing that she had handed the ice pack back to me when I had been glomped. She turns her head up so I can get a better look at her, and I nod in approval. There's no sign that she had even been hit. However, I see her gaze go to my cheek, and her eyes widen slightly.
"Karkitty...What about yours?" She whispers softly, brushing her fingers across my cheekbone. I remember that I had gotten punched, and a wince crosses my features as the tender skin throbs.
"It's fine, I'll be alright," I say quickly, setting her back down onto the floor and grabbing her hand.
"Let's get some breakfast alright!" I say as brightly as I can, smiling wide as I can without hurting my cheek any more. She nods wordlessly and follows behind me, slinging her bag over her shoulder. I walk into the hallway, softly shutting her door. The sharp aroma of coffee permeates my nostrils as we continue down the hall and the smell makes my stomach turn. I've never particularly enjoyed coffee, it never helped keep me awake, or put me to sleep. The smell and taste of it disturbs me.
My mom is sitting at the table, sipping a espresso and reading the paper. I see her eyes flick up to me before she wearily turns the page, the loud crackle of the parchment disturbing the silence.
"Morning mommy!" Nepeta says with a grin, detaching herself from me to give my mom a kiss on the cheek. I can tell that she is angered by Nepeta's blatant use of the word mom, but she simply ignores the affections and returns to moping and reading. I turn away without greeting, first opening the freezer to return the ice pack before opening the fridge and grabbing the milk carton. Not only is it low, but the expiration date is getting close as well.
"We'll need more milk soon," I mutter, setting it on the counter. Nepeta grabs two spoons, and a big bowl for me. She holds the smaller bowl, eagerly waiting for me to grab the cereal. I look at our options: Cheerios and...corn flakes. I grimace again, and grab the Cheerios, the perfect way to start a Monday. The box is pitifully light, so I end up pouring the last of it for Nep, leaving the stale cornflakes for me.
While we're eating, I feel my moms' gaze on us, which makes me eat all the faster to get away from her. I can tell she keeps opening her mouth to say something, then shutting it again. When I finish, getting up to put the dishes in the sink, she finally gets the courage to speak.
"Do you...want me to drive you to school?" She rasps, her voice cracking from the yelling last night. I stiffen at the sound, setting the dishes down with a loud clank.
"No, we'll walk," I reply curtly, keeping my back to her.
"But, it's cold-"She begins.
"We'll manage," I snarl, spinning back around to glare at her. I can see the hurt in her eyes, but I frankly don't care.
"Come on Nep, it's time to leave," I mutter, taking her bowl and silverware to place alongside mine. She barely protests as I yank her up and pull her to my room. I only do this so that I can hide my laptop, and grab my own backpack. As an afterthought, I grab my jacket and one for her as well. I brush past my mom, who is staring blankly at the wall, coffee mug in hand.
"Have a good day," She murmurs, earning a snort from me.
Nepeta is silent as we make our way down five flights of stairs, avoiding other tenants as they rush to various places. I spot a few other kids, but all of them are being led by parents, sending a pang of guilt through my chest. The air bites us the moment we step outside, eating through my thick coat and making Nep shiver.
It's late August, but the cool air from the north always came early. I'm glad had grabbed a for the two of us, even if the dark color didn't look right on Nepeta. I'm also glad it's only a few blocks to the elementary school, and only a few more to the high school.
Buses blow past us, along with parents driving their kids, and there are other walkers ahead and behind us. The first day of school seemed to draw everyone out of their holes. All to quickly, the elementary school looms in front of us. I take pity on my kid cousin, who's leaning into me and cowering, and walk her inside. I don't care that I'm going to be a bit late, Nepeta has a death grip on my hand.
There are many other parents consoling children, but I'm the only teenager, for which I'm sort of nervous about.
In only a few seconds, an overly perky teacher rushed over to us.
"Hi there! Who are you?" She asked with a large, white grin. Nepeta clutches my hand tighter (if that was even possible) and cowers behind my leg.
I sigh, fond smile on my face, "This is Nepeta, Nepeta Leijon." The teachers' smile grows larger; it's starting to freak me out a bit.
"Well, isn't that a coincidence! I'm your teacher! I'm Mrs. Aradia, nice to meet you Nepeta and..." she holds out her hand to me, stuttering a bit.
"Karkat, I'm her cousin," I say, shaking her hand.
"Well Karkat! I can take her off your hands, seems like you need to head off to the high school," She says with a wink, gently pulling Nepeta away from me. I curse lowly and nod.
"I'll pick you up, CatNep, wait for me at the front ok," I say, brushing back her bangs and pulling the Cat-hat down a bit more, in response she smiles weakly at me. With a nod I turn away and begin heading out the door, glad to leave the crying kids behind. But that just makes me dread the next six hours even more.
The front of the high school is teeming with teenagers, already forming various groups. I can see the preps, the geeks, the goths, the smokers, but of course the list is practically endless and it's pointless saying them all in my head.
And of course, I have no idea where to fit again.
With a dejected sigh, I begin walking toward the front doors. Already I'm attracting stares, most likely because of the obvious bruise standing out on my cheek, but I do my best to ignore them. I hear a few giggles and whispers, which make me grit my teeth and walk faster. My pocket buzzes as I get a text message, and I remember that I have my earbuds in my pocket. A small sigh of relief leaves me as I pop them in and begin blasting "Dance with the Dead". It successfully drowns out everything, and my gaze reverts to the text message I had received.
To: Karkat
From: Gamzee
hEy mOtHeRfUcKiNg BeSt fRiEnD oUr LoCkErS aRe RiGhT nExT tO EaCh OtHeRs HoNk :O)
Oh fuck, the high, psycho clown. That means I have to deal with him for a whole. Fucking. Year. The song ends, letting the the next track play. There are even more students inside the school, many of them just hanging out around their lockers. I'm still attracting stares, but I'm no longer as affected. I received my locker number at the school registration, so I look at it. 413...that was at the end of the hallway.
I can already see the tall clown slouching over and spinning his combination lock, concentration etched in his face. I let my face contort my default scowl, already pissed off at nothing. I glance at the combination...what the actual hell? 6-20-19 these are some strange numbers. I still continue blasting Get Scared, ignoring everything as long as I can, which is only a few seconds according to the clown slinging his arm around my shoulders.
"What the hell do you want?" I growl, shoving him off and trying to tackle the combination yet again. When the lock clicks I yank it open, and shove my backpack into it. I continue to ignore Gamzee, until he pulls out one of my ear-buds.
"Motherfuckin' best friend, have you heard a fuckin' word I've said?" He drawls, twirling the ear-bud around his nimble fingers. I snarl at him, yanking the other ear-bud out.
"No, and frankly I don't give a shit."
"Aw Karbro don't all up and be like that, just get you chill on," he says, hugging me closer.
"Fuck you, I'm going to class," I mutter, pulling away sharply and practically running away. As if we weren't getting enough stares before. But of course he's able to easily keep up with his long legs. I noticed that he had gotten taller over the summer, he was quite literally towering over me now, my head coming to just below his collarbone.
"Motherfucker, I was askin what was up with your face," He says, a hint of concern in his voice.
"...shit, Nothing," I reply shortly, ducking my head slightly.
"That ain't nothin'," He retorts, brushing his hand over the bruise and causing me to flinch.
"Fuck off ok, I don't wanna talk about it," I snarl, walking into the classroom.
Here's to the start of a new year.
Fuck my life.