As the first rays of the sun began to shine, and the birds began to sing, Linji Armado woke up. His blinds had failed to keep the early light out of his room, and streaks of brightness turned his taupe walls beige. Linji slowly sat up, rubbing his dreary, grey eyes. He let out a quiet yawn, before looking around at his room.
His wardrobe sat next to the door leading out of his room, and beside that, his bookshelf - which was full of more random objects than books. One of the doors for his wardrobe was hanging open, clothes spilling out of it, onto the floor. The books in his bookshelf were untidily stacked, and a few teetered on edge, as if they would fall any second.
Next to the headboard of his bed, a cabinet stood crookedly, piled with homework and topped with an alarm clock that didn't work. He instinctively glanced at it, like he did every morning, and remembered that it was broken. He'd gotten a wall clock instead, high and unaffected by the sea of dirty clothes and random objects, mixing with that from his wardrobe. The wall clock read 7:48. He would have to hurry to school. He sighed and got up to go and have a shower.
As he was walking past a mirror, he caught a sight of his reflection. He looked skinny, with slick black hair that hung over half of his left eye, pressed against his forehead because of 8 hours of laying in bed. He wasn't particularly tall either, standing at 5ft 4 inches at the age of 15. He hadn't developed any facial hair yet, even thought all of his friends were shaving already. And recently, he had developed a persistent pimple that stick out next to his nose. It was impossible to miss. While he was sizing himself up, a glorious aroma filled the house.
"Eggs and bacon!" his sister yelled up the stairs.
"I have to shower first Sarah," Linji responded.
"Suit yourself," she muttered.
The three minutes Linji had in the shower were the best three minutes he'd had all week. It was a Thursday morning, and he simply wanted school to end. He was in year 10, about to do his GCSEs in year 11. He was no prodigy, but he'd been top of his year group for some time. Now year 10 was almost over, in a few months came all sorts of new things to worry about. But during the three minutes Linji spent in the shower, he forgot all about that. At that moment, school didn't exist. He exited the shower with a towel, hastily got dressed and was downstairs for breakfast by 8:05.
His sister, Sarah Armado, was still there, washing up some plates from yesterday evening. As he came down the last few steps, she saw him, and nodded in the direction of what would hopefully sustain him for the next 4 hours. Breakfast.
"Thanks Sarah," he managed to say with a mouth full of fried egg.
"Don't speak with your mouth full, you could choke or something," she said.
He swallowed, with difficulty, and responded with,"Speaking with your mouth full doesn't increase the chance of choking, sis."
"Sure, sure..."she said. She watched him shove bacon down his throat and guzzle 500ml of orange juice before he asked her, "You've already eaten, right?"
She seemed surprised by the question, but he could already tell, and was making his way to the cooker. He turned on the gas, and lit the hob, before she said, "I'm fine, I'm not hungry."
"Sure, sure..." Linji said, imitating Sarah. "Ever since mom (Sarah flinched at that word) disappeared, you've been pushing yourself so hard...I don't want to lose you, too, Sarah."
"Linji. I'm fine," she said, as he cracked an egg into the pan, sprinkling some salt and pepper onto it.
Sarah was 19, and enrolled in University. Their mother had been paying the fees, but ever since she'd mysteriously disappeared, Sarah had taken out a student loan. Her hair was Auburn, her eyes were grey, and today they had chosen to be yellow (grey irises can look like many different colours depending on the light reflecting on them). The only two living in that house were Sarah and Linji. Sarah took care of Linji, and Linji tried to help out however he could, but with no one to work, they were running low on money.
So Sarah had to get a job. Balancing University, a part time job, and talking care of someone (Okay, he's 15. He took care of himself. Sometimes.) can take a toll on someone.
The egg had finished frying, and Linji slid it off of the pan, into a plate, and began frying two strips of bacon.
Sarah had finished doing the dishes, and she looked at her phone. "Linji, it's 8:20. Get to school. Thanks. I'll do the rest. Bye," she waved to him.
"All right, I'll go Sarah. Have a good day," he said, before unlocking the door, and exiting. The door banged shut behind him.
Sarah took the strips of bacon off of the pan, turned off the cooker, and began to eat, a smile on her face.
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Linji arrived at school at 8:40, five minutes before the first bell. As he arrived at his form tutor room, he heard that same bell ring, signifying the start of tutor time. His tutor, Mr. Clarkson, was a nice man, despite his strict posture and voice. His glasses looked strict. His red pullover somehow looked strict. His hard eyes, his thin lips, his upturned nose. He didn't just look strict. He looked downright evil. Yet he was not. Most of the students loved him, and today he was beaming as Linji entered the room.
"Ahh hello Linji. Have a seat. We were just about to start."
"Good morning sir," Linji responded, before sitting down next to Jason, one of his friends.
Mr. Clarkson went on with some minor announcements, and before he knew it, most of the students had lost interest.
That's okay, the teacher thought. It's a Thursday morning, they'll be like that. Like every other time. Why do I teach kids again?
"Hey, Linji," Jason waved. "Wanna shoot some hoops at lunch?"
"You bet," he responded. Linji may have been skinny and short, but he could jump, and he was fast. It made him almost perfect for basketball, although he was wishing for his growth spurt to come through.
Jason grinned, "Heh, you'll-
"And we have a new student with us today, please be kind and show them around, stop to say hello. Things like that. Try to get them to feel right at home," Mr. Clarkson finished.
Everybody stopped talking, and turned towards the door, where a hand came into view, followed by an arm, then a head. Mr. Clarkson gestured for the new student to come forth and introduce themselves.
He held his head low, so his mop of blonde hair covered his face completely. He was shorter than Linji, but he didn't look as thin. He was wearing a brown satchel bag, and a tracksuit that was blue with white stripes; he didn't have the uniform yet. He bashfully creeped to the front of the class and said, "...hello..." in a weak voice. "I'm Timothy...umm...I hope I can become good friends with all of you in the future..." he turned to look at the teacher.
"Is that all you want to tell us about yourself?" asked Mr. Clarkson.
Timothy nodded hastily, and after a wave of the hand from the teacher, he went to sit at the back. All eyes were on him as he made his way to the last row. Timothy sat down, looking at the ground beneath his desk. The chair he was sitting on was on the other side of Linji's desk from Jason's side. Timothy glanced at Linji for a second, then returned his gaze to the floor.
"And without further ado..." the teacher said as the bell rang, "begone, too your lessons!
Chapter 2 WIP (Work In Progress)
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Linji: Blink Murder
Phiêu lưuLinji Armado isn't your average schoolboy. For starters, he has no parents. He lives with his sister. He likes his life, and he doesn't want it to change. Unfortunately, his life seems to like changing. Nobody really knows what happened to Linji's m...
