Within A Year

Chapter 3

The next morning I was rudely awoken by a loud, obnoxious banging. There was someone at my dormitory door and I didn’t even need to get out of bed to know who it was.

 
"Oi! Wake up and open this door!”

I rolled my eyes in frustration and reluctantly hauled myself from my warm duvet. I felt an instant chill rush over me as I did and I couldn’t help but shiver. It was Saturday morning, so I didn’t know why on earth would Fletcher feel the need to wake me up so bloody early? I was so close to punching him right in the mouth.

“What!?” I yelled, yanking the door open angrily. Fletcher looked quite taken back for a second but this was probably due to my scary appearance; I had just gotten out of bed though… what did he expect?

“Ugh, you’re so lazy! Get ready, we’re going out” He said, barging into my room and turning his nose up at the explosive mess that it was. I think tidying my room was the least of my worries.

“Where are we going?” I questioned, utterly confused by his demanding behaviour. Perhaps I did not want to go out anywhere. Perhaps I wanted to mope around in my room all day, filling my head with nasty thoughts and creating a list of ways to die. In the end I decided that maybe going out was a good idea after all.

*

“Go karting?” I grimaced as the two of us arrived at a track where various coloured go-karts were whizzing around. I hadn’t been here for years, simply because I did not find it fun anymore. I had grown out of the phase where thrill and adrenaline was my biggest goal. I no longer wanted to feel exhilarated; I just wanted to feel normal.

“Yes! C’mon it’ll be great” Fletcher insisted, rushing over to the stand where the tickets were being sold.

“Fletch, I really don’t feel like it…” I groaned, crossing my arms as we stood in line. This wasn’t my idea of enjoyment, but then again I didn’t really know what my idea of enjoyment was. I couldn’t remember the last time I genuinely had a good time doing something. Another reason why I felt I wasn’t destined for this world, I was merely a miserable catastrophe becoming more and more bored with what life had to offer me.

“Oh stop moaning, I bet you’ll love it in the end” He smiled, “Two adult tickets please.”

The bald man who was slumped in the booth grunted and gave us both suspicious looks before handing us the tickets. Most people came here with their children because honestly it wasn’t a very big or dangerous track, therefore we must have seemed very out of place. Fletcher returned a serious look towards him as he yanked the tickets from the man’s hand. I loved how forceful he could be. He didn’t let anyone make him look like an idiot.

Before I knew it, Fletcher had grabbed my hand and began dragging towards the two empty karts that were in the starting lane. I sighed audibly, only causing him to roll his eyes at me.

“Here you have the red one; I’ll have the blue one.”

Despite my downward attitude, I clambered clumsily into the red kart and pulled the seatbelt across my body. I did not know why I was doing this. Knowing my luck I would probably end up crashing. Just then, a teenaged guy with dirty blonde hair strolled over so that he could start the engine on our karts.

I gazed up at him and practically had to stop myself from blushing. He was one of the most attractive humans I had ever seen. I inverted my gaze quickly and focused on the steering wheel in front of me. I couldn’t let myself get distracted, no matter how good looking he was.

Once he had pulled the lever on Fletcher’s kart, he came to mine.

"You look nervous!” He spoke loudly so that he could be heard over the noisy engines. I simply frowned and shook my head, while shakily placing my hands on the wheel. The guy then pulled the lever on the back of my kart and it began to vibrate wildly.