Grievances And Other Things

Who is Åle Kivjørs?

Class goes by, drearily and uneventfully, and then the moment arrives. The Battle of the Bands Finale. It's Transcendence Vs. The Factory Girls in an all-out musical showdown. It's the event of the year. Only one can survive! And all of those sentences that marketing managers simply adore. Although my thoughts aren't really with the band, nor the place I'm in, but more with my father. I'm struggling to get over the idea that he might be no more. It's just not easy. I stare at the stage. The Factory Girls do a number. It's bland, uninspired, and it's incredibly pandering. I stare out of the window. The sun's starting to go to bed, casting darkness over the sky. Transcendence comes onto the stage to perform their act. I listen, a little half-heartedly. It's nice. Has a nice electric guitar solo. I get up to go to the toilet and stare at the mirror. I can't handle this. There's too much stress. I'm not feeling well. I'm so worried about my father. I'm so worried about what will happen to the family. What will happen to mom and I? Will we afford the house? The toilet room starts to spin a little. I feel myself losing control of my body, and feel the floor as I fall onto it. My eyes slowly close. Is this a heart attack? Is this fainting? I don't know. All I know is that my eyelids aren't strong enough to stay open and fall shut. Darkness may be in front of my eyes but the sense of smell, touch and hearing are all still there. But even those get even further away. What is happening? Have I been poisoned? Am I dying? As I open my eyes again, I'm in a hospital. I don't remember falling asleep in a hospital, but then again, I don't remember too much. The man next to my bed raises his voice. "Ah, you're awake. So... Um... Oi.. Oil?" I shake my head. "No, Åle." The doctor nods. "Yes, Åle. You lost consciousness at a school event, do you remember?" I nod, my memory slowly coming back. "Yeah... I don't know why." The doctor smirks. "But we think we do. It seems that the most likely thing that caused this is your body simply giving up due to stress. Is there anything worrying you at the moment?" I try to think. "Well, only my father, he was involved in a car crash, and we don't know if he'll pull through." He turns to someone in the back of the room. "Don't worry, he'll be okay. He just needs a little peace and quiet." He turns back to me. "I'll write you a little note for your school and you should be able to go home." I can't believe it. I missed the finale of the Battle of the Bands. I failed my friends when they needed as much support as possible. I'm sure they managed. I mean, one less person clapping in a sea of roaring applause, what's the difference? What's the loss? I attempt to get up, but I feel weak. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. I don't know how to carry on. I make another attempt at getting up, and I succeed. Hooray. After my aunt takes me to her place, I lie down on the couch. What have I been doing with my life? Have I been killing time until my demise? Have I been wasting valuable time? I have no idea what to do with my life. What happens after my graduation? A gap year? Studying? Working? I sigh. I don't know. Who is Åle Kivjørs? Is he a whiny, mopey ball of depression? Is he a smart and cynical student? Is he a popular choice or a lesser evil? So many questions run through my head. I have a look at my phone. A text message from Lyle. "Get on AIM." That's it. Three words. I walk to my room and open up my laptop to see... AIM flooded with messages. I read through them all and a smile creeps onto my face. They were all really worried about me. You know what? Who cares if I'm not the it girl? Who cares if I'm not the world's cleverest student? As long as you have people that care about you. As long as my friends are worried about me, I don't need to have my entire future mapped out. I write back to them. "Hey guys, sorry, I fainted due to a bunch of stress. How did you guys do?" Everyone is amazed at the fact that I'm still alive. Delightful. "We won! We won, for the second time in a row!" Penelope can seemingly not contain herself. According to Chloe they'll be playing at the Christmas Ball this year. Ah Christmas. It's almost around the corner. Some trees are already bare. I stare out of my window. The cold air outside has misted it up. I might as well look at a wall. I'd get a better experience. I chat with the winners of the Battle of the Bands for a bit and then close my laptop, supper's calling. I walk down the stairs and find my aunt on the phone, speaking Danish. "Yes? Really? Oh, thank goodness. Yes, he's here. We're about to have supper. Yes, I'm going to tell him. Okay, thanks for phoning! See ya!" She hangs up and smiles from ear to ear. "Åle, I have great news. Extraordinary news. Incredible news. Fascinating news." I urge her to get to the point. "Alright, Alright. Your father..." She pauses, seemingly for dramatic effect. "...has survived! He's right as rain! The car though, not so much. But they'll be getting a new car from the insurance money. Isn't this great?" I nod. Great. Incredible. Outstanding. Astounding. Other synonyms. I sit down, and a smile creeps it's way into my face like a lippy caterpillar. I stare at my plate and a piece of lasagna stares back at me. It certainly looks great, almost like in those expensive, fancy, posh restaurants you see on TV. Uncle Theo always puts loads of care into his dishes when he cooks. I take a bite. My inner Gordon Ramsay is very pleased. I'm certainly not going to kill someone. After we have supper, my Aunt turns on the TV and flicks through the guide. The Christmas programmes are already on. Wow. Outside, there's something interesting. The first snow of this Winter starts to fall. I can't believe it. Can this day end any better?

~~~~

Can this day please start better? My alarm clock basically explodes and I nearly burn it alive. Then I waltz into the shower, turn the water on, and it's ice cold. Reminds me of home. But it's still freezing. Then after what feels like an icy century, the hot water comes on, and I finish showering. I search for my towel, only to discover I left it in my room. I dry myself off, and notice that I haven't laid any clothes out for today. Shit. I'm going to miss the bus for sure. I get dressed in record time and rocket down the stairs, hastily grabbing some toast and my bags, and rush off to the bus, with a "Bye Theo, Bye Lissa!" Being the last words heard in the house. I just manage to hop on to the bus at the last second and crash onto a seat. Phew. Dodged a bullet there. The bus gets going and eventually I get to the daunting building of Beacon High. Time to learn, get educated, and all that schooltastic shit. I get my books out and sit down. I rush to my classroom, only to find Chloe leaving. "Oh hey, Åle! Apparently the teacher's sick... So it's homeroom now... I guess..." We walk off together. "I could have slept more! If only they had told us." I shrug it off and laugh. "Probably too much effort and too little budget. After all, it costs time and money to give a damn." We finally get to homeroom and sit down on some chairs. "You know, back home, we were phoned when a teacher was ill. We would sleep longer or our classes would end earlier. But here, you have to waste your time in homeroom. I miss the icy nowheresville of Nuuk sometimes..." Yeah, I kinda do miss Nuuk a few times. Sure, it can't possibly compare to Portview, but there was kinda something special. Everyone knew Nuuk was just pretty much a large town, nobody attempted to delude themselves. They didn't feel like it was worth it, so people were very honest. And when ever one of those yellow buses arrived late, like it always happens on that damn line 4, we all knew the reasons. The people were icy, yes. But they had a certain optimism. And in Portview, where all the businessmen keep their eyes firmly on their BlackBerry and devour anyone that they bump into, that undertone of kindness is... Lost. I like it here, I like it a lot. But there's just something special about Nuuk. Something... Indescribable.

A/N: This one took very long and was rewritten with the events changing multiple times. I'm probably going to take a break before getting to the final conclusion of this story. This doesn't mean I'm abandoning this story. It was just very fatiguing to write this part, and as such, I need a little time to relax.