Grievances And Other Things

There's Something Going After Me

The alarm clock rings, and I attempt to refrain from brutally disassembling it. I wake up, feeling burnt out, and glare at the wall in front of me. The only thing that keeps me mildly happy is that today's the semifinal of the school's Battle of the Bands. I hope it's Transcendence who win. I get out of bed, almost crawl to the bathroom, and sigh. After getting ready and noticing that I need to touch up my roots again, I nearly fall down the stairs. I put my same toast in the toaster, drink the same orange juice, all the same as usual. Nothing special, nothing different. No excitement here. I grab my bag and wander to the bus stop. There's a certain chill in the air, a definite sign that autumn is here. I look around me. The leaves are starting to change colour. The greens slowly get replaced by reds, oranges and yellows. Slowly, the leaves will start to fall to the ground, collecting there, leading to people cleaning the wonderfully colourful leaves away. Only for the cycle to begin again in spring. Kind of poetic, if you think about it. The bus arrives and I hop on. After meeting Skyler in the bus, we arrive at Beacon High, with the rather pretty redbrick building containing the entrance hall demonstrating to everyone that this is a palace of learning. An academic garden of Eden, an educational palace. We waltz to class as the teacher gives up, apparently it's too hot to concentrate, so we're allowed to practice for the battle of the bands. Penelope gets out her notepad and scribbles. We all go to the hall with the instruments and Chloe assaults a guitar with her riff. "Those words of yours, they have no meaning..." Slight tonal change there, Chloe. "Empty vessels yet so damn revealing..." Skyler beats the drums. "Hollow phrases, getting you by..." Penelope strums her guitar. "But your listeners can only ever sigh..." Lyle attacks the keyboard. "Speak the truth, give us reality... Not just verbal decorations, please... We want what's really damning... Not just the latest product banning..." It appears to be an attack on the news. I feel like Captain Obvious now. Class ends, the rest pass by uneventfully, with all teachers seemingly overheating, and then we get to the battle of the bands. The opening act ist a trifectum of the last bands standing. Transcendence, Serious Business and Factory Girls. One of the Factory Girls begin. "Seems like I'm a not the real one, apparently I was just fluff. With me, you said, you felt uncomfortable..." Penelope sets in. "You didn't get what you wanted, but you got it for free, incredible!" Everyone apart from one person from Serious Business hums. "You may have wanted more, but more's never enough!" Then, three band members, Chloe from Transcendence, that one Factory Girl and that one guy from Serious Business start to sing. What's a duet called when there's three people? A triet? I don't know. "You're living in a made up world, that's your best, hidden away from yourself and the rest..." Not bad, not bad at all. Then Transcendence comes to the stage. Skyler takes the main role. He grabs the microphone and assaults the drums. "Hear the sound of the falling rain, coming down like an Armageddon flame..." The remaining band members shout Hey. Skyler continues. "The shame! The ones who died without a name... Hear the dogs howling out of key, to a hymn called Faith and Misery." The remaining band members shout Hey again. "And bleed, the company lost the war today!" Lyle and Skyler sing what appears to be the chorus. "I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies, this is the dawning of the rest of our lives... On holiday!" It's weird, Skyler's voice isn't that bad, it's pretty good, suits this song well, why don't they use him more frequently? I may probably never know. A few other acts come on stage and then, the decision rolls around. "The band leaving us tonight as a semi-finalist will be..." The principal reads out a scrunched up piece of paper. "... Serious Business! So sorry, it was a valiant effort, you just slipped past, but I wish you all the best! So the band facing Transcendence tomorrow is Factory Girls!" Wild applause. I'm happy to see them go through to the final. Everyone leaves, I say goodbye to my friends, and wander to the bus stop. After a short trip, I arrive at my aunt's place. I get in, throw my stuff into the corner, and my aunt calls me to the table. "Åle, please, sit down." Huh? "It's about your father." Oh. Please let him still be alive. "His condition is worsening. His body fought the injuries earlier, but it's still not stopping them. He's still alive, but chances are he won't be alive for much longer." Oh jesus. Oh fuck. Just what I fucking needed. I bury my head in my arms and start to weep silently. "Don't get me wrong, Åle, your father might still survive, his body fought well during the initial part. He just needs the injuries and lacerations to heal. Granted, it'll take time and it's a delicate process, but the doctors say that despite his condition worsening, he still might make it. There is still hope. Don't beat yourself up about it, Åle. I told you he had a strong immune system. A lot of patients die because the lacerations were treated too late or their bodies' immune system's not very good." I look up, tears in my eyes. "Don't worry Åle, he isn't in pain anymore. He just has to make it through this, and then he'll be as right as rain. Don't cry, Åle. Your father's fought so much, I'm sure he'll be able to fight off this as well." I wipe some tears from my cheeks. "Th...thanks... For telling me." Uncle Theo looks at me. "Do you need some alone time?" I shake my head. "No, I'm fine." My aunt gives me a worried look. "Are you sure, Åle?" I nod. "Yeah, I guess. What's for supper?" Uncle Theo's eyes widen. "Oh, supper! I was supposed to cook! Um..." He stares at the ceiling. He usually does this when he's trying to think hard about something. "Ah yes! It was Schnitzel. Schnitzel with a side of veggies and potatoes. Wanna help me, Åle?" Not really, but anything to distract me would be great. "Sure, Uncle Theo!" It's like there's some kind of curse. I don't like to talk about it much, but it seems that awful things happen to people that I hold dear. Mom's heart attack, Dad's car crash, my best friend's stroke, all sorts of stuff. It's like there's something going after me, always jeering, constantly causing others pain and misery. I'd shrug it off as a coincidence, seeing as I don't really have much belief in curses and the like. But it's happened pretty often. I don't know, maybe I'm just insane and paranoid. I guess it's not worth the worry, but still. It's kinda weird. I open up the oven, and put in the Schnitzel. I kinda like cooking, I find it strangely relaxing. I sigh. This day can't get any worse. Shit. I just remembered. I've got an essay to do. This really isn't my day.

~~~~

Ring! Ring! Ring! My alarm clock decides to annoy me far too early, and I nearly murder it. That damn thing never goes off when I'm ready to wake up. Ugh. The sun doesn't seem eager to get out of bed, just like me. I melt out of the bed and get into the bathroom. It's almost weekend, and I can't wait. I get ready, slither down the stairs and eat... Cereal? Not the usual toast? Well shit, that's great! A little change is always welcome. And it seems to be Nougat Bits. They have that here in America too? Nice! Maybe this day won't be awful after all. I don't have high expectations, seeing as it's hard to be happy when you don't know if your father will survive a car crash, but hey, at least today might not feature me moping about. I grab my shit and run to the bus, with some tweens on it, rapping. It's a fucked up world where thirteen year olds are legally allowed to rap about the so-called booty. Granted, it's probably the song of the moment, but I don't pay much attention to basic bitch news and music, so I wouldn't know. Skyler gets on, and we suffer through some absolutely terrible rapping together. After what seemed like five million decades, the bus arrives at Beacon High and I decide to begin this day with a smile. I promise myself not to be a depressed little shit. I can't be sad 24/7, it's horrendously unhealthy. So here goes nothing. Then it hits me. I have Madame Duibourg in the first hour. I'm screwed.