"Every day's the same, slightly worse than the one before, or does that make every day different?" said Arthur to himself. 

Arthur made it a habit of asking himself pointless questions. The answers are as meaningless as the questions themselves. To him, the difference between meaning and meaninglessness is insignificant, or maybe the difference between them itself has no meaning. 

"I've always existed between meaning and meaninglessness, so I find some meaning in the meaninglessness. Oh no, I'm getting too contrived for myself." Arthur said.

The setting sun hit the coastline, making it a beautiful yellow color as Arthur walked past. The water crashed against the sea wall and receded into the ocean. Arthur's daily walks home were peaceful, the calming sound of the sea, and the vibrant color of the sunset always soothed him. Today was a day like any other, but no matter how great something is, eventually, it becomes monotonous. Slowly but surely, everyday becomes the same in the life of a loner. At the end of the sun-drenched road was Arthur's apartment complex. The apartment complex that he lived in was a large, newly built beige building. The building had four floors, of which Authur lived on the third. 

Authur walked up the metal stairs of his apartment complex until he reached his floor. He saw his neighbor, Mr. Harris, watering his deceased wife's flowers. When Mrs. Flowers died, Mr. Flowers sold their house and rented a room in this building. The only things he brought with him were two potted plants that belonged to his wife. Every day at five o'clock, he waters those plants.

"Authur, my boy, how was your day?" he asked with his usual chipper attitude. 

"The same as usual, Mr. Harris, the same as every other day," Authur replied.

"Authur, one day you'll understand, my boy," replied Mr. Harris.

Authur didn't care much for getting to know other people. But he made a point of getting to know Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris was a short older gentleman; he was still taller than Authur but quite short. He had thin white hair and always wore Hawaii shirts.

Although Mr. Harris was the only neighbor that he cared for, he knew about all his neighbor's lives. His apartment had thin walls, so he knew more about his neighbors than he would want to. The girl above him that has loud sex with a bunch of different guys, the man that beats his wife and probably sexually abuses his daughter, and the pretentious musician who only plays and listens to 70's progressive rock, Authur knew them all. He cared about all of them, if ever so slightly. Although he knew everything about them, none of them knew anything about Authur, except Mr. Harris and the girl who often cheats. To them, Authur is no more than a quiet college student that lives next to them. Uninteresting, apathetic, useless, and talentless are the words he would use to describe himself; he is a self-proclaimed loner, with no friends.

Authur took out his keys and opened his apartment door. His apartment had a small kitchen and private bathroom, so he had nothing to complain about in terms of accommodation. In his apartment, he had magical girl posters on his walls; he had shelves filled with figurines. The only things he had in his room were a bed, a PC, which he used to play games, a gaming chair, and a desk to study. Every day he would sit behind his desk and think, every day, he would do the same thing. 

"Easily forgotten just like the other seven billion forgettable people and just as unremarkable as them," Authur said.  

"Do I exist, if no one remembers me, do I exist. When everything I've done is gone, did any of it happen?" Authur said to himself.

"What difference will one less forgettable person make, what differences will one less failure make none?" Arthur thought to himself. 

He asked himself more meaningless questions; the meaning of his questions lies in the meaninglessness. Authur got up from his seat and headed out to the superstore like he did every day.

Darkness was descending on the bustling college town; Authur went to the superstore to pick up his usual dinner, cup ramen, and doctor pepper. The streetlights swatted away the darkness that engulfed the town. The street was full of students enjoying their youth, partying, and having the time of their lives. He covered his head with the hood of his jacket as he walked down the street. 

"This is not the college life that I was expecting, it's nothing like people made it out to be, well, for me at least," Arthur said to himself.

Arthur heard loud music playing from a distance the closer to the superstore got the louder the music got.

"Michael must be having a party again," Authur said.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Michael has the biggest parties on the street; he doesn't care who he's disturbing or inconveniencing, but some might say that is the essence of youth.

"Man, that's annoying," Authur thought to himself. 

Deep down, Authur knew that he was lying to himself. He longed to go to those house parties, get drunk, get into trouble with friends, enjoy his youth; Authur wanted all these things, but he would never admit this to himself. He felt like he has something to prove to himself. He believed he was above that; he thought that he wasn't the same as them, that he was different. He never tried to make friends, he believes that he has too much pride to be friends with them. In reality, he doesn't have friends because he is a coward; he is scared of the unknown; he's scared of everything. He was more animal than man, only acting on instinct, he put his goals before everything, over his happiness, over his wellbeing. 

Authur eventually reached the superstore, the store always smelt clean. Authur can't remember a day when the store wasn't clean, every day the store is clean. 

He got his usual, cup of ramen and a doctor pepper. 

"Every day's the same, I do the same thing each day; I'll buy something else today," Arthur said to himself.

He walked down the spotless isles of the store until he reached the hardware section. He decided on buying some rope, just for the sake of being different. 

"Authur! How unusual to see you here!" the cashier said. 

The cashier lived above Authur, her name was Alice, and she took the same English class and Authur. Alice was also the girl that lived above him, who cheated on her boyfriend weekly. Alice was about Authur's height, if not slightly taller, she had short black hair and a high voice.

"Sure unusual to see you here," Authur replied.

Alice scanned Authur's items and bagged them.

"My shift will soon be done, wanna walk home together?" she asked him.

"Sure, I'll be waiting outside," he replied.

Authur took his bag and walked outside of the store and waited for Alice.

Alice's shift finished, and she came outside to meet Authur. They began to walk down the dark street.

"Man, Authur, how do you do so well in all of your classes?" Alice asked Authur.

"I never leave my apartment, so all I do is study, play games, and mas.........., read," Authur replied.

"So, you spend all your time masturbating in there, interesting," she said with a chuckle.

"Authur, I have a report to finish, can you please help me? Alice said with an emphasis on the please while batting her eyes.

"No, you have to learn to do stuff without my help," He replied.

"Please, I'll give you something extra special this time!" Alice said.

"This is the last time, please learn to do stuff by yourself," Authur said.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed. 

Authur and Alice passed the house that was playing loud music.

"Authur, why do you never come to parties?" Alice asked.

"I don't want to go to anything," he said.

"Not like you can go when you're not invited," Alice giggled.

Authur tried to hide the fact that he is never invited to anything, but he failed.

"How about we go together after we finish the report, you can stay out late, right? It's a Friday, you can stay out late, right?" asked Alice.

"Sure," Authur replied.

Authur and Alice eventually reached their apartment, where Alice's boyfriend was waiting outside. Alice's boyfriend was Michael; he grabbed Authur by the collar and shoved him to the floor. Micheal's friends came out from behind him.

"Michael, wait!" Alice Shouted to her boyfriend.

"Shut the fuck up, Bitch!" Michael shouted as he slapped Alice to the floor.

"We're gonna teach this punk ass bitch a lesson, boys, that lesson will be to not fuck with my bitch," Michael said.

Micheal was under the assumption that Authur was sleeping with Alice. Although he wanted to sleep with her, he never got the opportunity. He would masturbate to her moans every night, but he never so much as touched her.

"What did I do to deserve this, no good deed goes unpunished, I guess?" Authur asked himself.

This question was slightly more useful than his other questions; he didn't have to search for meaning in this one, it was inherently meaningful. He thought to himself that this is what he gettings for agreeing to help Alice in the hope of sex. A sad, desperate virgin that masturbates to his neighbor's moans, this is probably exactly what he believes he deserves.

"Something special, my ass, this is probably the special thing I would be receiving? I'm such a fucking loser," Authur thought to himself.

"Well, at least today will be different!" he shouted before he was promptly knocked out.