Demons Control Us All

A New Chapter

College.

Johnnie was holding the brown envelope that told him what college he would be getting in to. If any at all. And, he had always expected to be opening the envelope with his mother, to celebrate whatever reply he got with her. But he was sitting there, at the chipped, unbalanced table in his tiny kitchen, staring at the brown envelope in his hands, 2 months after Lilly's funeral.

Josh was out with Alex, the boy he met at the wake, and Tiger was out with Juliet- most probably trudging around the mall, finding something ridiculous to try on before going to lunch together. That left Johnnie at home alone. He had texted Amelia to come over, but she hadn't replied since he texted her an hour beforehand. Johnnie let out a sigh. Not a short, tired sigh, but a long, almost disappointed one, as he peeled open the envelope. A mere 5 years ago, Johnnie aspired to get into Yale, or Columbia, or NYU, as he wanted to be a forensic pathologist. He was so obsessed with the police and science, and he was intrigued by the idea of examining dead bodies. But then he changed as he neared the end of high school, and started forgetting all those dreams he had; then he started drinking and smoking, and he took a gap year that extended into two... Now, Johnnie was seeing his new fate; it it told him bluntly and clearly:

Mr JOHNNIE SMITH,

We are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted into Agloe College. You will begin on August 25th for the new semester. Dorms are available but not available for those who already have accommodation in a 10 mile radius of campus. We look forward to seeing you then.

Johnnie stopped reading the letter then, and just skimmed through all of the unimportant information. He was going to college. He was getting his life back on track. He was ready for a new chapter of his life.

That evening, the four young adults celebrated Johnnie's news by ordering in 5 pizzas and bingeing The Walking Dead all night, they got no sleep at all, but with it being a weekend, who were they to care? At 3.28 a.m, Johnnie, Tiger, Juliet, Josh and Alex were curled up on the floor of their tiny sitting room- the only thing that was big in there was the 32" TV, and even that is quite small- under a blanket and pillow fort they crafted, staring up at the screen with hot cocoa in their hands, mesmerised by the season 6 finale; they only had 1 more season to watch, and then they would be finished, or at least up to date.

~~~~3 MONTHS LATER~~~~

Johnnie was about to start his first day at college. He had spent the last 3 months organising with his family the subjects and lectures he will be sitting in, the extra curricular activities he will be participating in and planning out how his days will look; homework hours, free time, alarms, sleep schedules, and any clubs he would be participating in. Johnnie told himself that he would wake up at 6 every morning, so he could go for a 45 minute run, followed by a brisk 15 minute shower. He would then fix himself breakfast and cycle to college, so he could arrive at 8. As he got home at half 4, he would do 1.5 hours of homework, with 2 hours of extra curricular slots saved for whenever he could fill them in.

And now, Johnnie was reaching to switch off his annoying alarm clock at 6 a.m, and he prepared for his jog. He was actually quite excited for his first day, and he was sticking to his schedule perfectly. He had joined a music group, and was planning to audition for the college rock band's bassist in 2 weeks time. He had chosen to study Biology and Chemistry, but also Music and Drama, as he found out that he really did enjoy those subjects. The lectures he sat through during that day were so interesting, he had already filled up almost half of his notebook, from scribbling down what the lecturer was saying, almost in verbatim. Johnnie was set on acing college, and performing at the best of his ability.