Chapter 1
The alarm clock went off at 7:00 a.m. An arm flies up to hit the snooze button and retreats back under the blanket, the alarm disregarded. Seven minutes later it goes off again. A guy looks up at the clock and frowns at the time and decides to get out of bed. He throws open his blanket and an item falls on to the floor. He puts his feet on the ground and picks up the book he fell asleep reading last night. He puts the book titled “KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this wonderful world” back on his pillow. He stands up and walks up to his dresser and grabs his cellphone that has been charging all night and takes it into the bathroom with him.
He turns on the hot water and undresses. He turns on the song “Something's Gotta Give” from All Time Low and gets in.
He starts singing the song and lathers up while trying to suppress his feelings from the night before. He can’t hold back any of the feelings. They shoot out of him like a faucet and he starts crying.
Why the hell would he be crying you may ask? Simple, the answer is stress.
If you wanted to know WHY he is stressed, we are going to have to dig deep into this current year. Well, I’ll explain you the story of his life right now.
You see, Ryan has been trying hard this year to graduate. He was held back a year during his freshmen year of high school and has worked his ass off this first half of his senior year to get back on track and to be able graduate with his friends. His girlfriend just broke up with him and this has partially devastated him.
Not just that, but another reason he’s taking up so much extra work to get back on track is his grandmother’s health is failing. She wants to see him graduate before her time in this world is up. She has helped him out with so many things these past two years of school. He wants to make her proud.
You would think with so much dedication to a goal this guy would be perfect to have as a friend, right? Well yes and no. It depends who you ask.
Ryan is not perfect by any means. In fact, the guy is a “Monster Energy drinking, ADHD having, socially awkward closeted emo kid gamer”. (Say that five times fast)
He’s impulsive and goes with the first thing that pops into his head without hardly ever giving it a second thought. These stats can be both a curse and a buff. Depending on the situation. But everyone who meets him in general likes him. The man knows how to get results.
This generally isn’t good for relationships, however. He has been slowly messing up and a lot of girls only want to be friends with him. Not date him. This is the reason he is currently crying in the shower. He has just lost his girlfriend who has been secretly been cheating on him these past three weeks.
In the shower he tries to stay strong and continues singing along. Deciding to stay in there for another minute, he gets out and dries off his short auburn hair. Ryan was a skinny, clean shaven 5’ 11’’ white male with a crew cut that grew out and had a widow’s peak. His hair cut was for the Military role cosplays he does in his spare time. His last hair cut was three months ago. Ryan looks in the mirror and screams. “Fuck it! We’re doing it!” he said while screaming over the music. He dries his chest and walks into the hallway naked and into his room.
He goes into his closet and pulls out a special box.
Today was the first day back to high school of the new year. Christmas just came and winter break was over. It being January in Florida, winter is almost just a myth here. He puts on black shorts and a lime green Digital Camo shirt. He bends over and dumps the box onto his bed. That box contained his Halloween costume earlier this year. In front of him was a Halo 4 Master Chief costume. He puts on his socks then starts putting pieces of the armor set on his body. Ryan leaves the chest plate off for a little bit and puts on his black work boots. Finishing the look with his gloves.
He bends over and grabs the chest plate completing the Halo outfit. After grabbing his Halo motorcycle helmet out of his closet and grabbing his keys, he closes his laptop that had an episode of Star Vs the Forces of evil paused on it and salutes his Konosuba Novel on his bed. He walks outside and starts up his Yamaha R6 and lets it warm up. He can't believe he's actually going to show up to school like this. If he gets arrested, he’s just going to end up as a Florida Man meme.
(Remember earlier when I said he was socially awkward? Well this should be an example of some of the crazy things he is known to do out of impulse.) Ryan really doesn't care; he needs some sort of drama or excitement to distract him from his breakup last night. He puts headphones in his ears and slides his helmet on. J, his father, comes out and sees him before he leaves.
“I heard you screaming earlier. What's wrong? Also why are you wearing that?” His father asked out of concern.
“She’s been cheating on me and just broke up with me last night. I am so upset right now that's one year thrown out the window. I'm going to school dressed just like this to cheer me up. Who knows I might become a hero or become a meme either way I need something to take my mind off this pain I'm feeling dad.” he replied with a depressed tone.
“I love you son, don’t get too upset on this failed relationship. There are plenty more you are going to experience in this lifetime buddy. Anyway, I need go to work. Take care and don't get in trouble at school please. I love you Ryan. I'll see when I get back home tonight.” His father said while walking to his truck.
Ryan tightens down the strap on his motorcycle helmet and pulls out his cell phone.
He puts on a random song and puts his phone in his pocket. He kicks up the kick stand and pushes his bike back. He revs the bike a few times and puts it in first gear. Ryan adjusts his mirror and sees his Master Chief helmet in the reflection. He looks badass.
He feels a little bit better and sets the mirror back in its default position.
He takes off out of his driveway and drives twenty miles per hour down a dirt road full of potholes. He makes it a game by swerving around them. Once on the main road, he takes off and gets up to fifty miles an hour in a thirty mile an hour zone.
He modified this armor to be specifically ridden on a motorcycle. Ryan’s not worried about it falling apart. He slows down to twenty miles an hour at the end of the road and meets up with a whole bunch of his friends who are waiting for the bus.
He pulls up and shuts off his bike. Ten kids come over and talk to him. He lifts up his visor and they realize that it's him.
“So, you're really going through with this Ryan?” one of the kids asked.
Another kid took out his cellphone and took a picture of him on the bike.
“Let this be known as Ryan's craziest stunt ever!” The kid screamed while patting the back of his armor.
“Oh, I'm bound to turn some heads at school Brandon.” Ryan replied.
“You’re probably going to become a meme buddy!” One of the girls shouted with laughter.
Three other kids took a picture of him. Brandon pulls something out of his pocket and hands it to Ryan. It was a necklace that he originally gave his girlfriend. He retrieved it for him. Ryan takes the necklace and opens up the ends of the cord and puts it around his neck. With his helmet still on, Ryan clips the other end of the court back together and conceals it under his shirt. The necklace said “Carry Me! “and had a picture of a knight carrying a Princess in his arms.
Brandon doesn't say anything else. He taps him on the back and walks toward his own girlfriend.
Ryan pulls down his visor and pulls out his cellphone and puts on the song “Game Over” From Falling in Reverse.
He takes off doing a wheelie and the kids cheer and laughed their asses off. It's not every day you see Master Chief doing a wheelie. He comes around the corner and stops at the next stop sign. School is only four miles away. He waits for his turn and takes off on the main road. He gets the bike going up to fifty-five miles an hour and stays in his lane. Ryan turns the volume up on the song with his free clutch hand and rides in peace all the way to school.
When he comes up at a stoplight a few cars next to him roll down their window and try to confirm what they are seeing. Ryan is jamming out to the song on his bike. It doesn't matter what people see right now; he's just waiting for the red light to change. When the light changes, he's accelerates normally and gets ready to turn into his school.
He turns left and heads straight to the student parking area. After parking his bike, he takes his keys and undoes his helmet strap. He pulls off his Halo helmet and walks straight into the main building with no fucks given. Upon entering there are tons of kids laughing. The distraction is working, he feels slightly better now. Kids want to get a picture of him in the hallway. He poses with the helmet off and teachers don't quite know what they are seeing at this point. He walks to the other side of the building where his locker is, and tons of people are gasping and laughing. With school starting back up after winter break, he left his backpack in the locker on the last day before the holiday. He grabs his backpack and loads up his books. Slinging the bag over his shoulder and walking straight to his first class with his helmet by the chin strap in his left hand. A lot of girls strongly insisted that he stop and take a selfie with them. This ends up almost making him late to his first class. Upon entering, the teacher laughs and shakes her head. She knows seniors are going to start pulling pranks soon, so she doesn’t even ask about what he is doing.
The bell rings and she starts teaching her history lesson. Coincidentally she’s doing a history lesson on the ancient Spartans. Everybody immediately turns their heads and looks at Ryan. He just shrugs his shoulders and awkwardly gives two thumbs up.
The whole class erupts into laughter and he just smiles. He starts to pay attention to the lesson, but he slowly starts to fall asleep. This armor was hugging him in a way it felt a little too relaxing. He falls asleep during the lesson and suddenly the bell rings and class was over.
Alerted and panicking, he immediately grabs his stuff but has this weird dizzy feeling in his head. He has an extreme déjà vu like feeling but ignores it. He puts his books away and heads straight to his next class. Ryan passes his school’s resource officer, who looked slightly shocked with no idea as to what was going on, gives him a thumbs up and says nothing while passing by him.
He doesn’t really want to know. This is the sixth costume he has randomly worn to school outside of Halloween. Last year he came to school dressed as Bender, from Futurama. Also, earlier that year, as a Pirate. His freshman and sophomore year costumes were a blur to him, but he remembers one of them being a Panda suit. The resource officer wasn’t too concerned about Ryan’s costume choice. However, with all the school shootings going on in the country, he’s going to be put on all the teacher’s radar today. Knowing Ryan all the way back from middle school he wasn’t at all worried about Ryan doing something stupid. He won’t worry about him unless someone says something to make him worry.
Not long after passing him, Ryan is surrounded by more girls and they are more aggressive then the last batch. He quickly gets the selfies done with them and bursts through to the other side of the wall of people. He enters his math class not a second too soon before the bell rings.
The attention he is getting feels great. If only everyone wasn’t so aggressive about getting a selfie. He doesn’t want to be late to any of his classes.
Upon entering his math class, the teacher sees him and can’t hold a serious face.
“Master chief, can you explain to me what you are doing on this ship?” The teacher asked in a joking tone.
“Sir, finishing this Square”. The whole class erupts in laughter.
The teacher almost dies from laughing and tells him to take a seat. One of the quirky metal head girls, two rows over, waits for a quiet moment and asks Ryan a question.
“Hey Ryan, do you know what the ladies like?” She shouts.
Ryan smiles and responds: “Ladies like armor plating.” He said while flexing his arms.
The class bursts into laughter again.
This math teacher was cool as hell. He too knew that the Seniors are about to start pulling pranks. He rolls with this gag Ryan is pulling.
“Okay, do me a favor Ryan, put the helmet on and keep it on.” The teacher asked.
This cheers Ryan up a little bit more, this teacher was awesome.
One of the kids from the bus stop is sitting right next to him. He leans over and whispers “Congratulations you just became a meme.” He said while showing him his Snapchat. He sees stories from other people in the school posting pictures and videos of him.
Ryan now knows people are going to have a bounty on his head for the next class change. He thinks of a plan to not be late to gym.
The teacher starts a lesson with some algebra problems. He looks at Ryan with the helmet on and asks him “If a plasma rifle hits you and we know it does 12% damage to your overall shield, and we know your shield can take 4000 points of damage how many more times do they have to hit you, if your shields were 80% stronger?” Again, the class erupts into laughter. Ryan tries to process the question but doesn't quite understand. Everyone pulled out their phones to record him as he gets up and walks to the board. He writes down 4000 over 12%, plus 80% and tries to solve the problem.
The teacher shakes his head. “I am sorry, but that answer is wrong.” He said with a proud tone for the attempt Ryan made.
Ryan replies back: “I left Cortana at home today. I have to do all this math and navigation by myself. But honestly, I wouldn't even let them hit me that many times. I would have obliterated them all and would be t-bagging them as we speak.” He said out loud. Suddenly realizing what he said, he took off his helmet and covered his mouth in shame. It’s too late the whole class is laughing. The teacher shakes his head and ignores his accidental “poor choice” of words. The teacher pulls him back up to the board and shows him how to do this complex problem.
The teacher then gives him another question. “If it takes four UNSC Marines, eight hours to service a pelican how long will it take eight men to service a pelican?” Ryan sighs, and puts on his helmet. He takes the expo marker and solves the problem. The class cheers when he gets it right. The answer was 4.
Ryan sits down and the teacher pulls another classmate up front for another problem. He pays attention for the rest of the lesson and doesn’t fall asleep and does the assignment the teacher gives out. Later, the bell rings and it's time for gym.
He knows he should dart straight to his next class. His friend already showed him snapchat. It’s a fact that everybody IS going to be looking for him. Ryan takes his helmet off, packs up his books and darts out the door. He goes a different way he normally would go to try and avoid going through the north hallway corridor. He slips outside and takes the long way to the back of the gym. He walks into the locker room and puts down his backpack. The guys in the locker room are getting a crack out of this joke. One of the kids ask what the deal is with the Halo armor.
This being the first kid to actually confront him about it, Ryan doesn’t really have an easy explainable answer as to WHY he's really doing it. Sure, he could say “Because my girlfriend broke up with me,” but that wouldn’t be laughable anymore. Actually, that will make him a target of bullying. He comes up with an open response.
“I made a bet with somone. That’s all I’m going to say.” Ryan replied to the kid.
The guys burst into laughter and one of the short fat kids falls over. He was laughing so hard that he hits his head on the edge of the locker. That kid immediately covers his mouth. Blood seeping out. He just knocked out a tooth. The other guys shift their attention to him. He freaks out. The tooth is in his mouth. He pulls it out and runs out of the gym. The coach then comes in and sees everyone ready. He does attendance and calls the guy’s name who just ran out, everyone tells him he just knocked out a tooth. The couch brushes this off as something that’s not his problem and ignores it.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
He sees Ryan in his suit and asks” Whats the occasion?”
“Trying to win a bet sir. Can I keep this suit on?” He asked sincerely.
“Fine, I’ll allow it. Just don't pass out in it.” He said while putting up his clip board. He then orders everyone outside to run laps.
Ryan grabs his helmet and puts it on. He just wants to conceal the fact he’s going to be wearing headphones. He walks outside with the rest of the class and they all meet up at the field. The others were cheering “Master CHIEEEEEEEEEF!” Ryan puts on the song “Raised by The Wolfs” From Falling in Reverse and starts jogging around the track.
The armor was warm, but with it being winter, the incoming cool air kept him comfortable. He wasn’t going to pass out. Two miles of jogging later, he gets pulled off the track by one of the coaches.
He takes off his helmet carefully and tries to conceal his headphones back underneath his shirt
“You need to go to the deans’ office”. The coach told him.
He sighs with relief and a hint of caution. Obviously, he's going to get in trouble for wearing this. “Oh well, I didn't expect to go the whole entire day with this on,” he thought to himself
Ryan walks back to the main building and to the dean’s office. Inside the office was the kid that just knocked his tooth out with laughter.
“Mr. Glasser, please take a seat.” The dean said.
Ryan takes a seat next to the other kid. He doesn't know what's going on. He assumes this is going to be something about the Halo suit he's wearing.
Suddenly, a lady walks in. She walks over to the kid and checks out the damage.
“Ryan, he said you knocked out his tooth in the locker room.” The dean explained calmly.
Ryan’s mood suddenly changed.
“Wait, I did no such thing” He replied.
“Bro, you pushed me into the locker door, and you head butted me with your helmet. You knocked my tooth out.” The kid said.
Ryan takes a deep breath.
“Bro, did you hit the locker harder than it looked? Because that’s not how it happened. You laughed so damn hard after the guys asked “why I am wearing this suit?” and I replied with “I’m trying to win a bet”, you fell over laughing and hit your mouth on the edge of the locker.” Ryan said calmly.
“No, you shoved me and hit me with your helmet.” He said in an angry victim tone
“Want me to shove you into that desk and head butt you with my helmet right now? I’ll make that lie you made up, come true you fucking idiot!” Ryan yelled.
The boy stands up to Ryan like he’s ready to fight. The dean then stands up and gets ready to intervene. Ryan quickly analyzes the situation. He puts on his helmet and accidently hits the play button on his headphones. He can hear the song “I’m Back” From Dope playing through his headphones and gets right into the short fat kids face and unplugs his headphone jack. The song is now playing at full volume on speaker.
The other Kid can see his Reflection in the golden Tint of the helmet and with Ryan’s “Boss Fight” music playing the other kid who now looks terrified of Ryan.
“Look at how much of a big boy you are. You want to go right here? I’m all armored up! I’ll take you out like the Prophet of Regret! Come at me bro!” Ryan shouted over the music. The kid gets ready to throw a punch, but Ryan jerks his head forward and scares the kid. The kid’s mother then comes and pulls her son away.
Ryan backs up and lets the dean get in between them.
“Take your son and get him out of here. I’ll deal with Glasser.” He ordered her.
Ryan sits back down in his chair, throws his feet on top of the dean’s desk, and says “G.F.G.” to the kid while flicking him off behind his helmet. This kid was terrified of how crazy Ryan was. Ryan had zero fucks given today.
The dean then gives Ryan a serious look. Ryan takes off his helmet and places it on his desk. The song was still playing max volume. With the stare the dean was giving him due to the lyrics of the song, Ryan digs into his pocket and pauses the song. The dean reaches over and takes his phone from him.
“Are you kidding me!?” He asked him.
Ryan takes another deep breath and removes his feet from his desk.
“Look, I’m sorry for how I blew up on that kid. He lied about that complete situation and I snapped. I did not have a good winter vacation. Let’s settle this now, but please give my cellphone back to me at the end of day before I have to go to work. Please.” Ryan said while looking into his eyes.
The dean walks over to his chair sits down and tries to figure out what he needs to do.
“Before you say anything else did you see me physically touch him while I was in his face?” Ryan asked firmly.
“No, I didn’t.” The dean Replied.
“Good, I’m safe then.” Ryan Shot back
“No, you are not. I need to write you up for intimidating a student, cursing, and also violating the dress code. Sadly, I also heard you say you're armored up. Now I have to get the resource officer in here to check you for weapons.” The dean stated.
Ryan laughed. “I'm not hiding anything. You can do what you need to as a precaution but let's cut to the chase, did I actually hit him in the locker room?” Ryan asked while taking off his chest plate.
The dean dials the resource officer and asks him to come down here.
“No. Two other kids said he fell over laughing. I was trying to get both sides of the story from you two, but you kind of messed that up by pulling a “Leeroy”. I was going to explain to his mother he was caught in a lie. Now, I have to take action because you intimidated him. Plus, one of your teachers ended up sending me an email how you accidentally said something inappropriate this morning in class. Look, you pretty much brought this on yourself. You're a nice kid Ryan, and everyone likes you, but I have to uphold school policy.” He explained while the school resource officer walks in.
“Mr. Glasser had a confrontation with another student. I need you to check him for weapons. He also mentioned he is “Armored up” before the confrontation, so I need you to check that too.” The dean instructed.
The resource officer looks at Ryan and rolls his eyes.
“Stand up”. He said, instructing Ryan to face the wall. He picks up his chest plate and feels it. It was a Combination of plastic, fiberglass, and neoprene. It was freshly reinforced with fiberglass recently. “It’s just plastic. It’s not bullet-proof armor at all. But this thing is ridgid”. He responds while inspecting the chest plate.
“May I ask what he did?” He asks.
“He was getting ready to get in a fight with a student.” The dean responds.
“This thing sure would block a punch.” The officer said while setting the chest plate down.
The officer does a check of his pockets and doesn’t feel anything. With all the pieces covering his body he just pulls out a metal detector wand and scans him.
“He’s clear.” The resource officer said.
The dean breathed out a sigh of relief. He secretly thought this crazy kid was ready for war.
“Where is your locker and your backpack? The officer asked him.
“My backpack is in the gym. My locker is next door.” Ryan replies back.
“Come with me and show me.” The resource officer ordered him nicely.
The resource officer walks with him to his locker. Ryan opens it up for him and he goes through it. It turns out to be clear and he shuts the door.
“All right now take me to your backpack.” He asked nicely with a “Why are we here” tone to his voice.
The two walked down to the locker rooms. Ryan was not wearing his plate chest, His black under skin of the suit was just showing with the other pieces still attached. They walk into the locker room and grab his backpack. The officer quickly goes through it and everything is clear. He then escorts Ryan back to the Deans office. Ryan quickly summarizes to him what just happened as they walk back.
Upon entering the deans’ office, he tells Ryan to sit down.
“All right I got the paperwork all settled out here. I'm suspending you. But that's the least of your problems. Because of the fact this is a suspension this means you cannot walk during graduation in a few months. Also, I have to pull your parking permit. I'm sorry I have to do this, but I can't make any exceptions.” The dean explained.
Hearing the news that he can’t walk during graduation was a critical blow to Ryan. He thought he was just going to get detention for this. Suddenly he feels a violent burning rage from within, but keeps his feelings hidden.
“Please hand me my cellphone. I need to make a call home.” Ryan stated in an angry tone.
The dean hands him his cellphone and Ryan puts it in his pocket. He bends down and picks up his chest plate and slides it on and locks it into place. Ryan is now secretly dead inside. He is trying to be calm, but this “Rise, Fall, Rinse and Repeat” of a week is too much for him.
He’s crying on the inside. He just lost the right to walk during graduation. His girlfriend just broke up with him after one year together. He can’t ride his motorcycle to school anymore and this whole situation stemmed from the kid that lied about how he knocked out his tooth. Ryan doesn’t say anything and just signs the paperwork. While signing his punishment forms there is a war inside him brewing. He takes partial responsibility for him wearing this suit to school. What was a harmless prank, attracted a total asshole that has turned this whole day into a total nightmare.
“This can’t get any worse,” He thought to himself, but the tears started coming out.
Ryan thought hard to himself. His dad is going to kick him out of the house if he can't see him walk the stage during graduation. His father has been talking about how his dying grandmother wants to see it before she dies. This news is going to devastate her, along with his father. Suddenly the tears start crashing down on the table. He can’t hold in this rage anymore.
Ryan starts shaking. The dean and the resource officer pick up on the change of his body language.
“Are you okay?” The resource officer asked. He was now worried with how silent he got.
“Ryan are you okay? Please talk to us.” The dean asked. He too was worried about the change in his behavior.
“Let’s just go get my parking sticker off my bike. I’ll be fine.” He whimpered through the tears.
They both knew he was upset.
“Ryan, I dealt with you in middle school when you were in your emo stage. Look, I’m willing to lend you support if there is something going on. To be honest your scaring me.” The resource officer said sounding really concerned.
“No just come with me and let’s get my sticker off my bike.” He said while picking up his backpack.
“No, leave your bag here.” The dean said.
Ryan takes his keys out of his bag and puts them in his pocket.
“Let’s go.” Ryan said with a hint of anger.
The other two follow him outside to his bike. When he gets into the parking lot, he pulls out his cellphone. He calls his job and his boss answers. The other two listen to his conversation.
“Hey, its Ryan. Can I come into work early today? I am having a bad day at school and I need to let off some steam. I’ll move things in the rear and hit the shelfs that Sarah didn’t want to do last night.” He asked him in a distressed tone.
The boss takes a deep breath and tries to figure out what to say next.
“Listen, Ryan. I just got an interesting call from my wife. She said my son had been beat up at school and he lost a tooth. Also, the person who did it, tried to fight him in the dean’s office. Wearing some sort of combat suit. It’s even more interesting when I found out the name of that certain person.” He said with angry tone.
There was an awkward moment of silence just then. Ryan just realized this now got even more personal
“Look, yes he laughed so hard in the locker room, and fell over and hit his mouth on the edge of the lockers. But I never touched him. He made up a story, and a lie on what really happened. I been having such a good day and he ruined it. I just had a breakup last night and I wasn’t in a good mood when he made up that story.” Ryan tried to explain without letting the tears out.
“Even if you didn’t hit him in the locker room, you still threatened to smash his head against the deans desk. You also got face to face with him and threatened to headbutt him.” His boss said with extreme concern.
“Look, I lost my Girlfriend of one year, I just got suspended from school, and I just lost the right walk during graduation. Something I'm going to probably be kicked out of my house for and or get disowned because my grandmother is dying, and her biggest wish is to see me walk that stage. Now I can’t ride my motorcycle to school anymore. Currently, I am filled with emotions and thoughts that would scare the living shit out of you if you could see and feel them from my perspective. I’m not okay right now! This all stemmed from your son lying! If he could just admit he was a klutz this could have been prevented. Instead of setting me up with that bogus story.” Ryan said letting his true emotions be seen and felt.
The resource officer’s heart is now racing. There are so many red flags everywhere from the conversation he’s having with his boss.
“Look, the answer is no. I don’t think I want you on my team anymore. If you went off on my son under pressure, imagine what would happen if that happened in front of customers. I don’t need you punching a customer because they get annoying. Your shit list, now I don't need you anymore. Just come grab your stuff later today and my best advice honestly, I suggest going for a run it'll help clear your head. I will have your papers ready to sign when you get here.” Suddenly the line hangs up.
Ryan freezes. He shows no emotion, he just blanks out. He then leans over the back of his bike and places his face on the rear seat. The black seat was warm sitting in the sun. He starts screaming at the top of his lungs into the seat cushion. He takes his left arm and slides it underneath the seat. There was a sharp rail there. He feels a sharp edge and applies massive amounts of pressure from that edge on his wrist. He then pulls his arm back with a hard jerk. He just felt that edge slice open his skin, and with the pain he feels now it was a pretty big cut. He can’t see it, but he keeps his hand under the seat area while he continues to scream. He can’t take this anymore. He hates his life.
“Why does my life always have to fucking fall apart! Everything is going to shit! I am going to lose everything now!” He said while letting the tears flow. The dean walks away. This scene of Ryan’s discord is too much for him to bare. Hopefully, the resource officer can fix this. Besides, he and Ryan are good friends.
Ryan stops screaming his heart out and starts crying heavier. The resource officer calls on the radio for the guidance counselor to get out here immediately. Ryan is about to lose his mind. At the same time, he is unaware what Ryan has just done.
Even being trained in conflict de-escalation, he wants him to talk to her because he knows she’s less intimidating. He also knows Ryan will not ask for help until it’s too late. He knows how unstable Ryan got in Middle school six years ago. He knows Ryan isn’t a violent person. Hell, he even knows that Ryan can’t fight, but he’s seen what he can do to himself.
He forces himself to stop crying and slowly pulls his hand out. He slides one of his armor gauntlets over the cut and starts pacing around his bike. He starts chanting lyrics from the song “Happy Song” From Bring me the Horizon under his breath as he paces and tries to calm down.
“Ryan, what’s wrong? Bud, I really want to help you. What just happened?” The resource officer asked.
“I just lost my job! That motherfucker who just lost a tooth just added even more torture to me now! I should have knocked another tooth out for him lying about me. Not just that my homelife is now royally fucked. You don’t understand how much pressure I am at home to graduate. I’m going to lose it all now. I just hit 18 over the break! I’m not legally entitled to live with my dad anymore!! He could kick me out now if he heard about how I lost the ability to walk on stage during my graduation!” Ryan said while picking up his helmet. Suddenly the guidance counselor comes out and the resource officer walks away to go brief him on the situation. Ryan then looks across the field and sees a familiar face. He sees his ex-girlfriend making out with somebody else from the locker room earlier.
Suddenly Ryan’s suicidal switch was flipped.
He digs into his pocket. He plugs in his headphones and puts them in his ears. He puts on the song “What My Heart Held” from We Came As Romans and grabs his helmet.
He puts it on, grabs his keys and with a super quick motion, puts them in the ignition. He immediately hops on and kicks up his kick stand. He lifts up his visor and shouts. “I’m fucking done with this miserable life. Nothing is going right for me and I’m ready to see if there is a god or not. Fuck this world!” He screamed.
He then pops down his visor and doesn’t even secure his strap. He rides up over the curb onto the grass and hauls ass down the fence line away from the resource officer. The resource officer takes off running after him but it’s too late. Ryan was already back on the concrete. He makes it to the stop sign and turns onto the main road. He dumps his clutch and guns it, feeling the pure power of the bike in its power band. He’s never opened the bike up like this before.
“Go for a run he said! It will clear your head he said! Sounds like a fucking plan!” Ryan said as he blows through a red light at fifty-five miles per house. He then turns the song on full blast and shifts gears. Now going eighty miles per hour and blowing by another red light. He comes out the other side unharmed. He shifts gears again and is now at one hundred and twenty miles per hour and this ride is now getting scary. He shifts into sixth gear and brings the bike up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. The world is now a blur at this speed. Something he has not experienced before. But he has only one goal right now: Suicide.
Between his mom leaving him, his social awkwardness, just hitting 18, and a ton of other issues the fuse has been lit. He’s not going back now. He wants to know how fast he can get this machine before he crashes. “Highest score wins” He said under his breath.
He passes a cop going the opposite way, but he is not worried. This is a one-way trip. His mind is focused on the tempo of the song. Dodging cars ahead of him and wondering why the bike is mildly wobbling. This is surprisingly thrilling to him. He gets the bike up to one hundred and sixty-five miles per hour and that’s all the machine has to give him. He holds this speed on the stretch of straight road for about twenty seconds. Satisfied at his adrenaline rush and reaching top speed on his bike he suddenly doesn’t feel suicidal anymore. He feels at peace with himself now and laughs at the fact his armor he modified himself is able to hold up at this speed. He smiles and lets off the gas. Suddenly, he heard a loud honk coming from his right. Ryan slams on his rear brakes and does an emergency downshift causing the bike’s chain to snap. The bike tail slides out and he gets tossed off his bike and bounces off the soft median. He starts sliding on the ground, but his momentum throws him into the path of a ‘No U Turn’ sign. His body slams into the sign and the bike goes off into the woods. The whole world goes dark around him.
However, to people who just witnessed him crashing, the world didn’t go dark to them. They run over to him and discover his motionless body with blood everywhere. The chest plate stayed partially intact but for the most part was shattered. The rest of his coustume was in pieces and bloody. His helmet was still attached to him somehow, but severely damaged.
Paramedics arrived shortly after, but there was no reviving him. This was not a good way to die. But then again, no matter how you look at it, there is no good way to die.
Some people would think this is the end of Ryan’s story, but oh no. Hold on tight, the story of Ryan Glasser has only just begun. What lies ahead of him is his Afterlife. Life may have been a bitch but, he’s about to learn a lesson on the value of life and how precious it really is.