The Demons That I See

1

Motivation

My alarm clock wakes my mom up, and I begin to hear her footsteps coming from the hall. Knowing she was going to turn the light on when she opened the door, I pulled my red covers over my head, trying to block the blinding light.

“Wake up Grayson, it’s time for school!”

I only know one person who’s excited for the morning, and thats my mom, Not even dad was as excited as she was. Or at least, when he was with her. I turn my head over, groaning from her bright voice in the morning. I love my mom, I always have, and I always will.

“Ugh why mom, can’t I just sleep the day away?”

I knew her answer was going to be a no, and she gives me the rundown like always.

“You’ll never make it in this world, unless you fin-” 

I cut her off, “Find your motivation for the day, I know mom. The problem is, I am still searching.”

I take the covers off of my head, allowing the cold air to cover my body. My mom leaves the room, leaving me alone in my room. I look back at my bed, fighting with myself to not jump underneath the covers. Glancing over at my phone, I notice the time is 6:30 am, nearly thirty minutes until my bus arrives. I quickly wash up with warm water from the sink, the water turning cold as the air moved around me. I then brush my teeth, looking at my brown skin, black tangled hair, and my brown eyes. I throw on a red polo shirt, some black jeans, and my red and white shoes on for the day. Of course, I wasn’t paying attention to the weather app on my phone, and when I stepped outside it felt like antarctica was right next door. Noticing my neighbor with a coat and cap on, I quickly step inside to grab my orange hoodie in my closet. I hardly go in there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I found a spider on one of my coats. The hoodie fits me perfectly, and I wait outside for the bus, staring at the frost on the grass. My bus then arrives, and I fall asleep. Thank God I brought my pick with me, and I begin touching my hair up from it being squashed by the window I was leaning on. Everyone has their own phone out, making me want to reach into my pocket to grab it. Maybe a random girl on social media sent me a text, or perhaps my friend wanted to talk to me about something. I reached into my pocket to find…..nothing.

“Huh, where’s my phone?”

I have my wallet, along with my keys, and pick however, no phone. I groan at the idea that I left it at home, and I am forced to look out of the window. Everyone is obsessed with their phones, surprisingly though no one actually goes out of their house anymore to see a friend down the street. I mostly use mine for writing however, I will go to the library to write a new poem I’ve been keeping in my head. My friend Jerome then pokes his head above the seat, smiling at how fast I was picking out my hair.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Hey Grayson, do you have your phone with you?”

I sigh, continuing to pick out my hair. “No man, I forgot it this morning. Mom woke me up, and I was rushing out of the house to catch the bus.”

He puts his phone close to my face, “Yeah man, I sent you like five texts trying to get your attention, but you ignored them because-”.

I look at him, his hair was braided, his eyes were the same color as mine, however his skin was a bit darker.

“I don’t have my phone, right.” He chuckles,

“Yeah man, how do you expect to get a girl if you don’t carry your phone with you?”

I chuckle back at him “Says the guy who’s putting on weight”.

We both laugh at my joke, and after a while, we arrive at school.

“Hey man, I’ll catch up with you later” I say waving as I’m walking. Jerome responds,

“Yeah, and make sure you turn in that paper later on, it’s due today”, while pointing his finger in the air.

I shake my head, knowing that I didn’t start on the work yet. The classroom wasn’t big, and about fourteen students showed up for english. I sighed, being the first one to show up for the day. Mr.Gary waved at me, while putting papers on his desk.

“I see you’re the first one to show up,” he says, lifting his head in my direction.

“Yes sir”. I say quietly “I’m always the first one here.”

He then walks towards me,

“Ah, but that shows that you are an honorable student, I’m sure your mother is proud of you yes?”

I laugh “Well proud is one way to put it, although I’m sure she is Mr.Gary.”

He then nods his head, and walks out the classroom to the printer down the hall. The rest of the class shows up, all showing signs of boredom and despair. I keep my eyes focused on the board though, interested in what Mr.Gary has to say. Some of the students laughed, not noticing that their screens were bright enough to see. Mr.Gary takes the phones away each time he sees it, and would stash it in his desk until class was over. One student does it, and then another, and then another.

“Guys this is ridiculous, how often do you have to be on your phones?”

Mr.Gary stops in the middle of the classroom, hands on his hips.

“Everyday I come in here, it’s the same one’s on their pho-”

A text ringtone goes through the class, a student named Riley then pulls his phone out. He looks at his phone, smiling at what he sees.

“You see this guys, this is what a real text looks like”, he says as he turns his phone around.

A pornographic picture shows up, making some of the guys blush.

“Riley that is enough, now hand over the phone!!” Mr.Gary says sounding angry, and fed up over the disruptions.

Riley grins at the teacher, and turns his phone around. His smile then fades, and his eyes begin to widen. One student shouts out,

“That girl took your heart out didn’t it Riley?”

Another, a female student says,

“He’s probably never seen a girl’s boobs before, you know he’s a virgin.”

Then out of nowhere, Riley begins to scream, so much that it can be heard outside of the hallway. My head turns to him, the grin he has is gone, and a face of fear replaced it.