you and i

1

He brought the cigarette up to his lips and inhaled the contents of the smoke to enter his bloodstream. As he did this, the members of the public shook their heads in disgust.

Anyone would if they witnessed a minor smoking. They will automatically be viewed as a delinquent. Ignorance and having a narrow mind will erase any other explanation than the one that is commonly known. So, he wasn't surprised when he received awful looks of judgment. What do they know?

No matter how people viewed Angelo Austin, he did have an explanation as to why he acted the way he did. But nobody would listen to him the way he would want to be listened to. So, there was no point in sharing.

"Excuse me?" A lady in her early forties nervously approached Angelo. In her hand, she held a missing child flyer. "I couldn't help but notice this while I was walking home from work. Um is this person you?" Angelo scanned the picture and read the big letters describing who everyone thought he was. They used phrases like "tattoos, piercings, dyed hair and all characteristics of a rebellious teen!" The description itself made him laugh which came as a shock to the lady.

"What is so funny? Have I made a mistake, is this not you?" Her voice sounded genuinely concerned, almost like he was her own child or something. "No, you haven't made a mistake. That person in the flyer is most definitely me"

"Oh good, I am so glad that you're unharmed. Can I take you back to your guardians?" Her voice was now calm and sounded much more cheerful which left a bitter taste inside of Angelo's mouth.

"You're not getting the point. I am not missing" She gave him a confused look as she looked at the flyer and then the boy that stood in front of her. "I do not understand-" "You are only considered to be missing if you want someone to find you; save you. But I do not fit under any of those categories. I do not want to be found, therefore I am most certainly not missing" Angelo was saying this in a condescending tone with a hint of mockery.

"But-"  Without another word, Angelo walked past her with the cigarette hanging from his mouth. With a hood over his head and a hand dug deep into his pockets, he dragged his feet along the pavement. Angelo wasn't going to let anyone come into his life. Humans were too unpredictable and disloyal that he couldn't afford to drown in any more pain than he already carried...at least not again.

Drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and loud obnoxious music were all he needed. After all, he could only be viewed as a delinquent and nothing more.  There was no point in trying to prove an ignorant mind wrong; it'll just waste a lot of energy. So, he decided that he mind as well play the part; meet the peoples demands so that he could protect his true self from being exposed.

It hurt less that way.

As far as the missing child flyer goes, it has been officially four weeks since he ran away from his foster home. All of this time and he was only stopped once, guess that's how little the society cares for people like him.

When he was looking for a place to stay for a while, he was fortunate enough to have been friends with one of the hotel managers and was allowed to stay there for free. That's where he was headed to right now. He didn't really have anywhere else to go since he dropped out of school five months ago. Needless to say, his life was far from being perfect, or normal for that matter.

Angelo didn't care all that much though. Life in itself was something that he didn't find very important. For him living just meant getting closer to death and the time in between should be spent doing whatever he wanted.

For him, that meant to do nothing.

When he arrived at the hotel he quickly ran into his room and flopped on the bed. He looked over at the clock that read three o'clock exactly. At around this time, the streets were piled with students returning home from class.