At The End Of The Tunnel

3) Down Memory Lane

Song: Detention by Melanie Martinez

***Trigger warning: Use of homophobic slur***

Kai Carter (POV)

It was Saturday morning, meaning I had work in the morning and detention in the afternoon. I turned to look at my alarm clock to see that it was five am, and as usual, I got next to no sleep.

I got out of bed and started preparing myself for the day. Work don't start until eight thirty, but there was no way I wanted to wanted to stay in that house any longer.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face, then put on some clean clothes and made my way downstairs.

Thankfully my parents were nowhere in sight, meaning that they were probably still sleeping. To be honest I don't really give a shit where they were as long as they are not bothering me.

I took my bag and quickly made my way out of the house before I was spotted by my sorry excuse of parents.

I got on my bike and decided to head to the park. I really liked going to the park this early in the morning. It is usually void of people and really quiet, it's the perfect place to go to clear my head and paint.

When I arrived, it was just as I expected. Not a single soul in sight. I took out a blanket from my bag and opened it in the grass so that I could sit. I also took out a blank canvas and some acrylic paint and various paint brushes and started painting.

Painting always put my mind at ease, it was relaxing and comforting. My painting was about a sad girl swinging on a tree, with grey skies and mountains in the background. I used alot of dark colors like blacks and greys in the painting. The colors I used reflects on the mood that I'm currently in, and right now I was in a grey mood.

I was so lost in the strokes of my brush that I didn't even realise how much time had passed and that it was almost time for me to head to work. Not until I was distracted by the sound of chattering in the distance.

When I looked down at my watch, I saw that it was already ten past eight, leaving me only twenty minutes to get to work. I quickly packed up my stuff and started on my way.

When I arrived, I was happy to see that I was ten minutes early. I pushed open the door and entered.

Miss Marther emerged from the back to see who it was. When she saw that it was me, a huge smile took over her face.

"Good morning darling." She said giving me a tight hug. "Jesus Kai, what happened to your face?" She asked as she carefully sized me up.

I forcefully smiled down at her. "I walked into a wall."

"Oh god, you must be in so much pain. Why didn't you call I could have given you the day off." She said with a look of worry embedded in her facial features.

"It actually doesn't really hurt." I truthfully said.

"Well dear you can't serve costomers looking like that. Come to the back with me and we'll see if I can help you cover it up." She said grabbing my hands and dragging me to the back.

I just smiled and followed her along. She then pulled out her makeup bag and mixed some different colors on my face. She pulled out a mirror and handed it to me.

"See, that looks much better." She said motioning towards my eye. It did look better. It looked ten times better, even though though the makeup didn't one hundred percent match my skin tone, it still looked better than a black eye.

After thanking her I made my way to the kitchen to put on my apron and got my notepad and pen to start taking the orders of the people I just heard come in.