.Chapter 2
What can I say? I'm Tox. I like that name better, so I have all my friends calling me such. If you are reading this, then you should know that I have gone on an inter-dimensional journey through my playstation, into the world of Jak and Daxter.
By now, if you haven't read the first half of my journey, are probably thinking I've gone mad. Well, frankly, I haven't. I did go on a trip to Jak-ville and came back to my world nearly unharmed. I'd say I'm pretty proud of myself.
After I came back from my adventure, I was admitted to a hospital. The doctor said that I had been severely electrocuted (I almost laughed at the utter irony) and suffered from a concussion. They asked me a ridiculous amount of question involving what my name was, where I was from, who my parents were, who my best friend was, and a specific childhood event.
I was tempted to tell them about my adventure but decided I didn't want to end up in a psycho-ward. So I remained quiet and let the doctors make sure I was still fit to live. My only really down fall was when they wanted to do a loud noise/reflex test, to make sure I still reacted the way I did when they tested me before. As it turned out, loud noises did not do me well. They diagnosed me with PTSD, post traumatic stress syndrome. They told me it was normal for people who had been through a traumatic experience (such as being electrocuted to the point where I should be dead) to develop PTSD. They also told me it would go away after some time. I knew it never would.
But enough about doctors and their strangely cold hands. What I want to really tell you about is what happened after.
The first three months were great. I loved how everything was so calm all the time. I loved that I could trust people again. I wasn't afraid for my life every time I walked out my front door. I could talk to a random person and not be afraid of being snitched on. I didn't tell anyone, though. Not even my best friends. I loved them, but I didn't trust them.
So the first three months where lovely. Then the most miraculous thing happened: I got bored! Haha! Yup, that's right, people, I was completely and utterly bore with my life of safety. It's nice to have appreciated those months of not having to worry, but I never realized before how absolutely ridiculous this place is!
I wanted to go back to Precursoria. I never realized how much I loved that place under all that hate. Before, I had been so scared and desperate for something familiar, I didn't take the time to really look and appreciate that place as a potential home.
Hell, what am I saying? That half year I was there, it was my home. It still is. And so, my goal hasn't changed. I still want to go home. The only thing that has really changed is my definition of home.
What made things worse was that my parents had been so caught up in my near death experience, they forgot about their own obsessions. But after a few months, they lapsed right back into them again. For Mom: Cleaning, cigarettes, her 'secret' boyfriend that Dad knows about, and of course work. For Dad: drinking, drinking, sluts, drinking, poker, drinking, and did I mention drinking?
Haha! Welcome to the life of little ol' me!
/-/-/
"Did you do la tarea?" She was tall, blonde, and utterly beautiful. Perfect curves, a smooth face, et cetera. I loved her and hated her. She was best friend.
"I didn't know we had homework." I answered her simply. I, on the other hand, am not beautiful. I have frizzy, mousy brown hair, brown eyes, a weird looking face with fat cheeks, and scar above my left eye. I was ordinary, ugly, et cetera.
"Tosca, your grade is already an 'F', and you're not doing anything about it," she scolded me as she sat down.
"I know Kit-Kat, but I hate Spanish."
"You've hated everything since your accident," she mumbled, not intending me to hear her. I ignored the insult, even though it left an unhappy spark in my chest.
"What was it, anyway?" I decided to humor her.
"La pagina viente-ocho en el cuaderno practica."
"Spanish isn't till sixth period; I can probably finish it in history."
Katy shrugged and dug through her backpack for her lunch. She pulled out the plastic and out with the sandwich. She took a bite and handed it to me. I took a bite and handed it back.
There wasn't much conversation between us today. "What?" She asked.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" I looked over at her.
"You haven't said a word."
"So, usually you get agitated when I talk too much."
"But I hate it when you're too quiet. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," I answered.
"No amazing tale of other worlds?"
"Nope, not today."
"Ran out of stories?"
"I don't think I ever will. I just don't feel like talking today."
She nodded, excepting my answer and handing me the rest of the sandwich. I ate the last three bites and stood. Without a word she handed me the bag and wrapper and I headed for the nearest trash can. It happened to be out of sight from our little quart-yard thing and closer to the main hub of school lunch time activity.
Oh, and look who's standing by the trash can. The world's most nerdiest, weird-in-a-bad-way kid that ever walked the planet. Did I also mention he was very annoying.
He wasn't, in my opinion, worth going to a different trash can just to avoid, however. He saw me nearly immediately and began watching me as I approached. When I simply dumped my trash and kept going, he visibly deflated.
"Hey wait." He ran to catch up to my fast stride.
"What do you want?" I snapped.
"Do you have any money or food?"
"No."
"Can we talk about something? Do you like physics or chemistry?"
"No."
He stopped trying to keep up with and watched as I kept going. It wasn't nearly a second later when I heard the chuckles of none other than a bunch of thugs. I stopped in my tracks and spun around to find that said school thugs were converging on the deflated nerd.
Better to prevent a fight than be involved in one. I waved my hand for the nerd to come closer, he was still unaware of the men that wanted to beat the living snot out of him. He brightened and ran up to me, seeming like a little kid promised ice cream.
"Don't talk to me, don't say anything, just walk," I ordered between clenched teeth. I grabbed his shoulder and began leading him toward the science building.
He opened his mouth to protest but at that moment, caught site of the three scowling bullies. He must have had earlier encounters with these guys because he paled dramatically. He turned with much further prompting and started walking toward the science building. "Thanks," he whispered.
"Think nothing of it and never mention it to anybody."
XXX
Broken Wolf/D.R.M.