The boy in blue

The Lonely Bench

   The next morning I woke up to the sound of Koda, my dog, barking at my door. My step-mom must have brought him in last night after I fell asleep.

   Koda is a shaggy sheepdog that my dad got me after my mom died. I was a really lonely kid. I had no friends and no close family. My dad said a dog was a man's best friend and he thought that a dog would be a good idea. One of the many great ideas my father had.

   "Hey Koda." I sat up and motioned for him to come lay on my bed. He sat next to the door. "Here Koda Koda." I smiled at him. He was playing tag and I was it. I pushed the covers off and hung my feet over the edge of the bed.

   Koda nuzzled his snout into the ground. He threw his shaggy head back and ran to my feet and starred licking them.

   "Koda!" I laughed. Just then my alarm went off. Six-thirty. I jumped out of bed and walked to my dresser where the remaining pieces of my phone lay on my beige carpet.

   I pulled open the top drawer, grabbed a blue sweater and my grey Disneyland sweatshirt. I shut the top drawer and threw open the bottom drawer. I snatched up a blue pair of jeans and a pair of socks. I pushed the drawer shut with my foot and ran to the bathroom to shower and change.

   After I showered and changed out of my pajamas,  I brushed my teeth with my purple toothbrush and my mint blue toothpaste. Up down, up down, side to side, circles. The process was always the same. I plugged my curling iron and blow dryer in and walked to my room. Koda was laying on the floor, eyes closed and his chest was rising ever so smoothly. 

   "Sorry Kod," I patted my legs and motioned him out of my room and to the backdoor. I opened the door and Koda ran out to our backyard. I shut the door to let him have his privacy. 

  I walked back to the bathroom, blow dryed my hair and curled it. Afterwards I ran back to my room, grabbed my glasses from my nightstand then I remembered my memory card I had placed on my dresser. I shoved the memory card into my pocket, grabbed my backpack and ran to the kitchen. My dad and Sherri were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Eggs, toast with jam, orange juice and bacon.

   "Good morning sweetheart!" My dad said shoving another fork full of eggs into his mouth. I leaned over and kissed him on his head.

   "Morning dad." I pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. The plate that layed in front of me was already full of food and the cup to the right of my plate was filled to the brim. I picked up my fork and filled it with bacon and eggs and shoved it into my mouth.

   "Morning Sherri." I said as I swolloed.

   "Good morning Mac. What is your schedule like today?" She wiped her mouth and backed out of the table and stood up out of the chair. She tucked the chair back into the table and grabbed her plate and cup and headed over to the sink.

   "Nothing much. I've got a math test and have a couple of tutor sessions but nothing more." I, being an A+ student, was the girl EVERY teacher recommends for a tutor. For anything!  "What about you guys?"

   "Well your father has a doctors appointment at nine, we are going out for lunch with some friends and I've got to get Koda groomed at two. Then I need to go grocery shopping..." she went on and on as she washed the dishes.

   "I've got to get going. Sorry to interrupt, but I've got to go. Love you guys. Koda is outside." I ran towards the front door, keys in hand, and ran out to my truck.

   My truck was a light green color and was made back in 1970. It rarly worked right, but on occasion it started up with no problem and got me to school in one piece.

   I jumped in the cockpit of the truck. I placed the key in the ignition and twisted to the right. The teuck roared to life and started to bump around. I undid the brakes and went off to school. The ride to school was never pleasent. Even though it got me to school, it rarly got my breakfast to school.

   Once at school I parked my truck and grabbed my backpack, threw it over my shoulder and jumped out of old greenie onto the black pavement colored with the yellow and red paint marks.

   I weaved my way threw the maze of cars and found myself at the front doors of my high school. I went to find a bench and after some searching, I found an empty bench. I threw my backpack to one side of the bench and sat down. A couple of feet away, a couple stood in the corner.

   I didn't hate love or anything, it's just that it never tumbles in front of me. I've chased it plenty of times yet, it has never chased me back. Love. What is love? The definition of love is: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. Yep... not like I would really know. Love was like space to a whale in my case.

   I unzipped my backpack and pulled out my book and skimmed the yellowish pages for my spot. As I flipped threw the pages, a musky rose from the pages filling the air around me, with the smell of dust; the best smell ever!

   As I found my place and dug my nose into the pages, my backpack was set on the ground.

   "Hey? This seat taken?"