It's Saturday night, and exams are over. I sit in front of my laptop, looking at art schools and universities, with a packet of chips by my side. It's the first day of May, meaning Chloe and I have less than eight months to get all our plans ready.
Chloe has long decided where she wants to study, and we're still in the process of looking at apartments in the area. I worry I won't be able to make it into university. Chloe thinks I'm mad to think that way.
I search for art schools in the area and find one, twenty minutes away from Chloe's choice of university. It's a large campus, dedicated to art. They even have things to do with graphic design and photography. I make a quick mental note to find more information about the subjects. It would be handy to know some skills in photography, and maybe I'd finally learn to use Photoshop. Chloe bought the program for me, sometime ago, but I still haven't learnt how to use it.
When I finish my research, I take out Hannibal Rising from my drawer, and begin reading it. I remember watching Hannibal and Silence of the Lambs on television when I was little. It scared the living day lights out of me, just like Jaws did, but also made me curious about the mysterious Hannibal Lecter.
I tried talking to Chloe about him once. I thought she'd love the books. She borrowed Hannibal from the library and returned it twenty minutes later. It was too gruesome for her liking. I still wonder how on earth she manages to read Stephen King's books, if Hannibal was too gory for her.
I'm halfway through the book, when I hear the sound of my parent's car coming up the driveway. They went out for dinner with mum's parents. I would have liked to go, but mum forbade it. My mental issues made me a disappointment to the family. It was best if I stayed home.
I swallow the familiar pang of sadness and turn off my bedroom light when the front door opens. I open my desk drawer and take out my small flashlight, before burrowing myself under the sheets, and resuming my reading.
YOU ARE READING
James Mandarin
Teen Fiction"Everyone has secrets." James has a problem; he cuts himself. He is in love with his best friend, Chloe, but is too afraid to tell her. His father is attracted to the bottle, and his mother wears fake diamond rings on her finger. James' world i...
