The next day, Delilah left her house a little earlier than usual as she had hoped to run into Sebastian on the way to school. When she neared the street that she saw Sebastian turn down, she stopped and waited at the corner. There was a small concrete wall at about waist height that ran parallel to the sidewalk which made a convenient seat for her. As she sat there and waited, she decided to pass the time by watching the traffic go by.
Soon, she realized that time was running late and there was no sign of Sebastian anywhere to be found. She figured that he had probably left for school early and that she had just missed him. Giving up, she headed off with a slight pout. When she arrived, there were only a couple of students in the classroom but Sebastian was not among them. She was a bit confused and began to worry. She wondered if he had gotten sick and wasn’t able to make it to school today. Feeling bummed out, she took her seat and waited for class to begin.
About thirty minutes earlier, Sebastian lay in bed sound asleep. His mother had already left for work which meant that he was home alone. Normally, Sebastian would instinctively wake up before his alarm would but, for some reason, this time he didn’t. What made matters worse was that he had forgotten to set it.
This was unusual for him since his life was an unbreakable routine. He did the same thing every day with little variance and setting his alarm before bed was like second nature to him. However, for some reason, he had failed to do that.
Luckily for him, his eyes began to open and that’s when he noticed the sunlight pouring into his room. Normally, when he got up, the sun hadn’t risen yet so as soon as he saw how bright it was, he knew that something was off. He immediately looked at his alarm clock and noticed that the time was 7:35 a.m., giving him just twenty-five minutes to get to class before the homeroom bell sounded. Knowing that it took anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes to walk there at a normal pace, he came to realize just how little time he had.
He bolted to the bathroom and threw on the shower. He had no time to wait for the water to heat up so he went in immediately. He groaned as the icy cold water splashed against his skin. It got to the point where he began to shiver; however, he knew he had to endure it. He quickly rubbed shampoo in his hair and lathered his body with soap. Just as he was rinsing off, the water decided to warm up.
A few choice curse words later, he quickly dried himself off and then grabbed whatever clothes he could find, not even caring if they matched or not. This was evident by the fact that he wore one white and one black sock but, thankfully, his pants covered them so it wasn’t going to be too much of an issue.
He grabbed his backpack and ran into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and didn’t find much in the way for lunch. He looked up at the clock and realized he had no time to mull it over.
“To hell with it! I gotta go!”
Sebastian quickly patted himself down to make sure he had his wallet and keys. He then bolted out the back door and weaved his way through the wooded area behind his house. After he hit the street, he took off running at top speed, the chilly morning wind blowing through his still-wet hair.
Sebastian didn’t do much in the way of exercise so he wasn’t exactly conditioned for running long distances. The only activity he got was walking to and from school every day. He only managed to stay so thin due to barely eating anything throughout the day. Even after school, he wouldn’t bother with food until his mother came home and made dinner.
His lack of true exercise and conditioning caught up with him about halfway down the main road. He began to gasp for air as he cursed himself for being so out of shape. What made matters worse was that he still felt cold thanks to his wet hair. Not being able to push himself any further, he had no choice but to walk normally the rest of the way but at least, in his mind, he shaved off about seven minutes.
By the time he arrived, it was 7:56 a.m., leaving him four minutes to get to his class. This also meant that he had to climb a flight of stairs and after running part of the way there, his legs were burning and about to give out. Still, he endured and finally made it to his classroom. Naturally, he was the last one there but nobody said anything when he showed up. The only one who paid attention to him was Delilah who had a bright smile on her face.
She was just happy that he wasn’t sick and that her new deskmate had made it. When Sebastian plopped himself down, he let out an audible sigh of relief which prompted Delilah to poke her nose into the situation.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Forgot to set my alarm so I had to run all the way here.”
Well, some of the way here but there’s no way in hell I’m going to admit my inadequacies to another human being. The last thing I need is to be looked down upon by false sympathy to cover up the fact that you don’t care about me at all.
“Well, you made it! At least you can rest a bit now!”
“Yeah.”
Their conversation was cut a bit short since homeroom had officially begun. After attendance was taken, they realized that they had a little bit of time before the first period officially began. Delilah decided to pick up their conversation and asked him a question that took him by surprise.
“So, where do you live?”
Why would you want to know something like that? Expecting me to hand you an invitation or something? Well, forget it. There’s no way I’m ever going to let you anywhere near my house. The last thing I need is to have my daily peaceful life invaded by another human being… and a girl at that.
“On Ambrose St.”
When Sebastian said that, her eyes lit up. Her suspicions were correct in the fact that he lived close to her. The only thing that didn’t add up was that he said that he lived on Ambrose but the street she tried waiting for him at this morning was Sycamore Ave. She began to wonder if he gave her a false answer on purpose or if there was something that she was missing. She wanted to poke the hornet’s nest a little more; however, she knew that maybe she would be overstepping her bounds by doing so. After all, she had only met him a couple of days ago and it wasn’t like they were officially friends yet or anything.
She quickly thought of something else to say but before the words made it out of her mouth, the first period’s bell rang. Their attention was quickly captured by their algebra teacher who began giving out instructions. It didn’t stop Sebastian’s mind from wandering, though.
First, you ask me where I live and then you don’t even tell me where you live? I mean, not that I actually care, mind you, because the less I know about you, the better but that still makes you seem suspicious. Why do I even keep talking to her? I really should just bite the bullet and tell her to mind her own business. It’s getting to the point where I don’t care how I end up looking in front of others. This just needs to stop so I can go back to having peace and quiet in all aspects of my life.
The morning’s lessons passed by and as the lunch bell drew closer, Delilah knew that Sebastian was the type to get up and go rather quickly. She made sure to watch the seconds on the clock tick by and right when the bell sounded, she reached over and tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention. He looked a bit startled which made her realize that she had acted a little too quickly.
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“Ah, sorry for scaring you! I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch together?”
With YOU!? Are you kidding? There’s no way that’s happening!!
“Ah, I’m sorry but I promised a friend that I was going to help him out with something. He’s in a different class so we already set up a place to meet. I have to get going so I’m not late.”
“Ah, it’s okay! That’s sweet of you to help out a friend like that! I hope that everything goes well!”
“Haha, thanks!”
Sebastian grabbed his backpack and headed out. Instead of going to the storage room or the roof stairwell, he turned left and headed in the opposite direction from them both. He went downstairs at the far end of the building and went out a set of double doors to his left. Making another immediate left would bring you to the music room; however, going right would bring you outside to the back of the building.
The school was right on the edge of a rather small public park that the students were free to use during recess. Going out that back door brought you to a small gap in the fence that separated the school from the park itself. Going through that gap would bring you to a small wooded area on the edge of a dead-end road. There was a small stump from a large oak tree that had been cut down the year prior. Sebastian decided to make that his third hiding spot.
Since his hiding spot was on the far edge of the school, it was opposite of where the cafeteria was. The other end of the park had your typical array of benches, a water fountain, and other places where students could just sit and hang out with their friends. This end of the park offered nothing of interest which made it perfect for seclusion. It wasn’t anywhere as big as Preston Park, though so the fact that some students could meander over was still there albeit the chances were pretty low.
Sebastian instinctively opened his backpack and went to pull out his lunch. That’s when he remembered that he was in such a hurry this morning that he didn’t pack one. He muttered an obscenity to himself as he kicked the tree stump with the heel of his shoe in frustration. After letting out a sigh, he pulled his sketchbook out and flipped to the nearest blank page. He tried to draw something but his mind began to wander.
First, I forgot to set my alarm, then I barely made it to school, and because of it all, I didn’t pack a lunch. I’m going to be starving by the time I get home. I don’t want to eat anything when I get home either because then I won’t be able to eat dinner and I’ll have to listen to my mom complain. It irks the hell out of me when she does that!
Speaking of things irking me… that stupid girl who won’t stop talking to me! I practically ran home yesterday just so she wouldn’t bother me on the way out. Now, she knows where I live! Why in the hell did I even tell her? Now that she knows, she’s probably going to want to walk home with me. That’s the last thing that I want to happen right now and… UGH!
Sebastian had made another mistake and began to erase it. As he did, he became even more frustrated and threw his sketchbook on the ground. He looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he were experiencing a headache. Suddenly, another vision flashed in front of him… this time it lasted a bit longer. It was the image of a boy looking back at him with a smile on his face. Suddenly, the smile turned into a frown and the vision disappeared. As if it were instinctual, as soon as he saw that vision, he reached into his pocket but withdrew his hand when it faded away.
Why me? Why does this keep happening to me? The world wanted nothing to do with me so I decided that I didn’t want anything to do with it. I just want to live my life on my terms without anybody in it. I don’t want to be judged for making my own decisions and I certainly don’t want any stupid friends, either, and yet…
Before his mind could continue into a downward spiral, he took in a deep breath and exhaled, his breath becoming a puff of fog in the cold air.
That girl… I’m only being nice to her because I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself. If I showed her my true colors, people would know who I truly am. It’s bad enough that they whisper about me behind my back… I can just imagine what it would be like if I let my true self out there. I’d never hear the end of it.
My wish is so simple. Just… everyone just leave me alone. I’m not the kind of person who deserves any attention. I don’t deserve to be embraced by others.
He let out another exhaustive sigh and checked his phone. While it was a little earlier than usual, he knew that he had a greater distance to traverse to get back to his classroom. He picked his sketchbook up and placed it under his arm. With a low groan, he headed back inside.
After he returned to his classroom, he noticed that Delilah was still sitting at her desk. Like before, she looked happy when she saw him return. Before he could even sit, she fired off a question.
“So, how did it go with your friend?”
My friend? Huh? Oh, that’s right… I fed her an excuse so I wouldn’t have to spend my lunch break with her.
“Everything went fine.”
“That’s great! I’m glad to hear that!”
Sebastian sat down and plopped his sketchbook on his desk. The jolt from throwing it on the ground earlier coupled with the one just now caused one of his drawings to fall out of it. He kept a couple of his favorites in the front pocket of the notebook and didn’t realize that one of them had escaped until it was too late.
“Oh! You dropped something! Here, let me get it for you!”
“Oh, you don’t have to….”
Before he could finish, Delilah had already leaned over and picked it up. Curious, she unfolded the paper, her eyes full of wonder at the sight before her. Every stroke of the pencil seemed flawless, neat and proportioned well. She couldn’t believe how good the artwork looked.
“Sebastian, what is this?”
Ah, nuts. It’s bad enough that I love anime but now she knows it and… wait. Maybe this is my ticket out of this! She seems like a pretty domesticated girl so maybe if she found out that I like something as degenerate as anime, she’ll think less of me and she’ll leave me alone! Let’s hope that’s the case!
“Just an anime drawing I did.”
“Wow… it looks so good! I’ve seen a ton of anime but I don’t recognize the character. Which series is she from?”
WHAT!? She watches anime!? This just blew up in my face! I swear it’s like DnD where I needed to roll a 2 or higher to succeed in a novice event and I rolled a goddamn 1! How unlucky can I get!?
“She’s an original character.”
“She’s original!? This looks so official! Even if you lied and told me she was from a series, I would have believed you! You’re amazing!”
“T-Thanks…” he muttered as he held out his hand as if to ask for his drawing back.
She folded it back up and handed it over where he quickly stuck it back into his sketchbook. Judging by the slight hue of rose in his cheeks, she could tell that he was a little embarrassed over it all. Little did she know that the color in his cheeks was anger.
“So, what’s your favorite anime?”
“I don’t have a favorite. I just watch a show if it’s good then move on to something else.”
“I do the same but there has to be one that touched your heart in some sort of way. For me, it was A Voice of Silence. It’s about this boy who bullied this deaf girl but he came to regret it and tried to make up for everything and become her friend. It was sad and warming at the same time! Have you seen it?”
Yeah, I have. The main character was an idiot. Sure, he became the object of everyone’s hatred when his so-called friends turned their backs on him but he went out of his way to become friends with that deaf girl. The guy had the perfect life dropped right into his lap and he went ahead and messed it all up. What a loser.
“Yeah. It was good.”
“RIGHT!? It’s my favorite movie of all time! I could watch it a million times and still never get tired of it!”
Well, maybe you should lock yourself in your room and do just that. Then, I’ll never have to see your face or hear your stupid voice ever again.
Before he could even respond to that the bell rang, ending his torture; however, that would only last as long as the afternoon’s classes. When the final bell rang for the day, Delilah was right back at it, grabbing his attention before he could even grab his backpack.
“Hey! Since you live in my direction, do you maybe want to walk home together today?”
She just doesn’t give up. She’s trying WAY too hard to be my friend. It’s disgusting. Well, if it worked for lunch it should work again.
“Sorry, but I have a few errands to run for my mom. I’m not going straight home today.”
“No worries! It’s cool that you’re helping out your mom, too. It’s really sweet of you.”
“T-Thanks…”
Sebastian grabbed his things and went to head out but Delilah followed him. With her right on his heels, he realized that couldn’t just bolt out of there and take the normal way home, he needed to make his lie as convincing as possible. When they arrived at the front gates of the school, they both turned right. Instead of going straight at the intersection, Sebastian turned right without saying much of anything to Delilah.
Since he already gave the excuse she figured that whatever his mom needed him to do was in that direction. Plus, after just moving here, she wasn’t all too familiar with the layout of the city just yet so she had no idea that there was absolutely nothing down in that direction except for houses and a lone ice cream parlor. Nevertheless, she called out to him.
“See you tomorrow, Sebastian!”
Sebastian simply stuck up his hand and waved without looking back. Once he was far enough away, he began to think to himself.
Dammit! Now I have to take a long way home. Instead of just going straight, I have to walk around the entire neighborhood. It’s not like it’s just a few streets down or anything… It’s almost four times the walking distance!! It’s going to be at least an hour before I get home and on top of it all, I’m still starving as I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday!
Sebastian kicked a rock into some nearby shrubs out of frustration. Even though he was angry, he only had himself to blame. Had he just accepted her offer and endured it, he wouldn’t have had to go so far out of his way to get home.
What made matters worse was that he was well aware of that fact, too. Angry with himself, he gritted his teeth as a fire burned in his eyes.