Late Night Thoughts

Chapter 1

"Hey, BRO!!! You better get your butt out the door! You're gonna be late!" I wake up to the same heart-warming sentence every day. My sister has been my rock for as long as I can remember. She always keeps my life in check relentlessly as always, making sure I got to places on time and never miss a deadline. I respond to her wake-up call, "Give me five more minutes!" I decide to get up right away and change into my school clothes and run downstairs. "Good morning, late bloomer," she greets me. "I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean what you think it is." My sister gives me the mischievous look in response. "Put that grin away, idiot. You know exactly what it means." I grab what I can and start to run out the door. "Bye, bro! See ya later!" I wave in her direction and close the door behind me. My sister usually works overtime late at night, so mornings are the only time I talk to her, unless she takes a sick day. Even though it's not a lot, this little talk between my sister and I always makes my day a little better.

Other than this heart-warming small talk in the morning with my sister, my life has been pretty normal over the past few years. Studying for tests, Trying to pass exams, Getting bullied everyday: The usual life of a student trying to make his way up the ladder of success. Well, as most people seem to say. I tend to speed walk because I don't want to think too much about how the day is going to go. I hated my ordinary life. It sucked every day, but I was content with it considering what has happened so far and having my older sister giving me that same old chatter every day.

I barely get through school as it dragged along slowly with the time. I decide to walk out of the classroom and onto the schoolyard. I look towards the big tree in the middle. Lifeless, branches stretching outwards then diving steep like a shovel trying to dig into the earth, although it is futile since a layer of bricks blocks its path. Now that school is over, here comes the most grueling part. "Hey there, Nerdboy." I look up blank-faced at the source of the white noise. There's four of them today. Everyday after school, a group of guys meet me in the schoolyard. Most of them are just random people I don't know, but one sticks out most of all amongst them: their ringleader. Without warning, they grab me by the rms and drag me towards the side of the school. At my school, there are cameras everywhere, but one person discovered that there are no cameras near the PE lockers. This is where they drag me. That explorer is the ringleader. throw me towards the dead trunk, and surround me looking down from their shadows. I blankly stare at each one for a few moment a a time; they get closer with every glance. I close my eyes and accept what was about to happen.

I breathe in. A fist punches its way through my stomach. I breathe out shakily. I sink deeper into the floor. Breathe in. A kick hits my spine and a knee lands on my ribs. Breath out. Sinking deeper and I roll up into a ball. Breathe in. A punch lands in the lower back of my spine. I start to lose my grip on reality. My arms and legs turn numb as they relieve me from my position. Relentlessly, the gang continues to injure every part of my body. In, a punch to the ribs. Out, a kick to the stomach. In, a curb stomp to the thigh. I see the world fade before me. I guess nothing can be done. Finally, Breathe out. Everything goes dark. I have finally lost all sense of reality and enter a state of peace and bliss.

When I gain consciousness, I realize I am facing towards the sky as my body lays on the ground. The blue sky had faded to a dark orange. I checked my phone in my pocket for the time; it is 5:30 in the evening. I sigh and decide to head home. From the school to my home, there is about a 3-mile walk across a garden surrounded by some two-story business buildings and shops. The garden itself had green grass year-round and the bushes bloom with red roses and white lilies as they flowed with the wind. In the middle of that garden, there is small white gazebo with a single bench made for two people underneath it. The inexplicable beauty of this tiny, peaceful garden was hidden amongst the numerous buildings flooded with people rushing past each other.

When I get to the garden, I notice out of the corner of my eye that a large crowd surrounded a building with picket signs. They chanted and shouted something about giving more rights to the people and negative actions of the new person in power in the country. I paid no mind to it though since many of them are doing this out of desperation. They are unsatisfied with the way how things are. I wonder if I should be more like them. Fight for what I believe in. Stand my ground against all odds, even though that kind of world could never exist.I pay no mind to the protestors and make my way back home. They continued to chant "We want rights, we want rights, we want rights..."

By the time I limped all the way to the door, the sky had turned an indigo color with no sign of stars, just a white circle in the darkness of night. I entered my house to find a dimly lit hallway with no other lights on in the house. Looking around, I recall that my sister will not home until after midnight. My sister has two jobs, both part time. Ever since my parents died, She hasn't been able to go to school. She always takes care of all the finances while I aim to get a degree so that I can help her sustain the apartment and live a better life than what we have now.

I turn on the lights to our small living room connected to our kitchen. This house is more of an apartment than an actual house. The living room splits apart into two hallways each leading to a tiny bedroom that has a twin bed, a restroom, and a shower. I decided to take a shower to clean all my wounds, and change into a tank top and shorts and lay on my bed. I know I should do homework, but my body is too sore from the bruises and cuts from the brutal fight. I just wanna roll over in my bed and just sleep in peace. Without pain. Without worries. Just silence.