Life of a Pool Boy

Clueless, Anxious and Pennyless

They told me not to move out, to study closer to home and just take a train but I was too stupid to care. I wanted to be free and here I am now, on my last can of beans, stomach empty and growling and being barely even conscious. I get up off my couch and begin stumbling to my tap to get some water that may possibly quench my hunger. I run a glass under it and begin chugging the water as though it's a glass of vodka on a Saturday night.

I put the glass down as I begin looking on job sites on my laptop to search for any possible vacancies I could have missed. 'Cleaner at Chinese Restaurant', 'Receptionist at small store', 'Binman', 'Sandwich artist at Suuobway', 'Barister at Tsarbucks', 'Caretaker for a disabled man', 'Receptionist at Holiday Inn'. You name it, I applied for it. The clock soon hit 1 pm and I had a physics class to attend, the most difficult major I could've picked.

As I got my bag and headed out I began thinking about the thinking process I went through as I chose the course. "I'm smart, I can handle this, physics isn't too difficult a course to do and there are plenty of job opportunities, even if I don't become some famous scientist like Giel D. Trasse Nyson I'll still get a reputable job like a math teacher or something." I said to my mom. Even though she was against it, as she would rather me study in a medical field, she agreed and sent me off, and now here I am 150 miles away from home, on an empty stomach, about to enter a lesson I don't understand. As I walked in I saw my friends sitting on a row of seats mid-way through the hall. I climbed up my stairs as Janet, Andrew, Marco, Sofia and John looked at my whittled state.

"You okay bro?" Asked John as he took a moment away from his laptop, I nodded, barely able to make a sound, even though I had ate a couple hours ago, my appetite was large and I needed to eat in large amounts to satiate my hunger. "Job hunting again?" I looked at Sofia who had concern in her eyes. "Yeh... still can't find anything, I'm getting desperate now" I sunk into my chair putting my head against the table. "Don't worry bud, you'll find something" the others agreed.

I felt a nerve pop in my head. For months I heard the same thing, 'you'll find something, you gotta keep looking' they all said while having pity in their eyes. I hated it, what was wrong with me? Everyone else just needed to apply once to get a job, employers seemed to want several things from me like volunteer work with impoverished African children, a past career in music where I had exceeded the platinum level at least 38 times, climbed Mount Everest, skydived with no parachute and survived, fucked the neighbours cat, won against Brock Lesnar in a MMA event, won a competition against Rossi, wrote 10 global best-seller books and wrestled a tiger and lion at the same time in the Indian plains to get a job at Tsarbucks where I would greet customers with a smile and say "what kind of pretentiously named coffee do you want to make your day slightly endurable?" To every customer.

It seemed impossible, I was starving in a useless situation where the only way out was to sell drugs to kids in high school and make a decent living, like everyone else, but my morality didn't allow me to do such work as it "destroyed lives" and made people go crazy. I hated my morality and wished I wasn't such a fucking pussy. In desperation and anger, I screamed "I'LL NEVER FIND A FUCKING JOB", thinking I had said it in my head.

I heard the classroom go silent, I opened my eyes slowly as I saw everyone looking back at me, some amused, some annoyed. I quickly looked at my friends who were all about to laugh, I could tell they were laughing at my current state, this poor anxious guy just lost his shit and made a fool of himself. I quickly grabbed my bag and dashed out of the room past the professor who looked baffled.

I ran out of the College campus and onto the road I needed to get somewhere quiet and didn't want to go home. So I ran to the seaside which was relatively close and quiet at this time. I felt the sand come under my feet as running became harder, after almost falling I thought I gained stability when I kicked a rock and my whole body weight flung forwards and made me roll towards the sea.