Short Story Collection

Partly Cloudy

Too loud. It's too loud! What am I supposed to do? There are too many people. I can feel them surrounding me, their shoulders and elbows brushing against me. It's getting harder and harder to breath. Why can't I see? I can't- oh. Hello there. Sorry you had to see that; didn't realize you were there to be honest. Anyway, you're probably wondering where I even am. Let's rewind, shall we?

I was in my room at about noon when I got the urge to cloud watch at my favorite spot in Kennedy Park. The park is huge, and that makes it a great place for an introvert like me. There's a lot of secluded spots where I can just plug in my earbuds and drown out the world around me. I should probably stop doing that now that I think about it. The whole sheltering, drowning out the world thing. It's what got me into that shitshow earlier.

After I figured out what I wanted to do for the rest of the day, I walked over to my window, and pulled back the blackout curtains to see what the sky looked like. I peered through the glass, and saw a few fluffy, white clouds floating through the endless, blue sky. Partly cloudy, the perfect weather for cloud watching.

My stomach rumbled, so I decided that I should probably grab something to eat before heading out. I walked over to my closet and put on my beat-up Vans that I use for skating. After lacing my shoes up, I grabbed my phone, earbuds, and my Star Wars themed skateboard before heading out my bedroom door. Going right, I only had to take a few steps before reaching the kitchen. My mom and I live in a two-bedroom apartment, so everything is pretty close together.

After entering the kitchen, I decided on a peanut butter a jelly sandwich. I grabbed everything I needed to prepare something that would make Gordan Ramsey call me a 'fucking donut' for thinking that something so mediocre is a meal. Of course, we only had grape jelly in the cabinet. Whoever made that shi- wait. I never even introduced myself, did I? How rude of me? My deepest apologies. My name is Hadrian Crawford, and I am the biggest fucking loser on planet Earth.

I finished making my sandwich, scoffed it down like Joey Chestnut in the Hot Dog Eating Contest, and made my way out the front door. After I made my exit, I closed the main entrance, and made sure to lock it. I proceeded to plug my earbuds into my phone while walking down the porch steps. I opened Spotify on my cell and the first song that came on shuffle was "Please Don't Go" by Mike Posner. Reaching the bottom of the steps, I jammed black earbuds into my ears, threw my skateboard on the pavement, and skated off towards Kennedy Park.

Left here, take a right after the coffee shop on Davis Street, go straight for the next couple blocks. I tend to repeat the directions in my head when going somewhere so I don't miss the turns I need to make. Oh! Just passed my favorite comic book store! Love that place! Okay, so that meant I had to make a right soon. Woah! That lady across the street has the biggest dog I've ever seen! Is that a Newfou- shit! I got distracted and I was going to miss the corner. The only way I could have made it would've been a power slide into a right turn, so I did just that.

I ended up whipping around the corner of Jubilee Street right into a ginormous crowd of people. I was thrown off my board and rolled hard onto the street blacktop. It took me a second to gather my surroundings, but eventually, I sat up in a crowd of people. My skateboard was nowhere to be seen, my phone and earbuds got tossed away when I wiped out, and I could already feel the sting of a nasty scrape on my right forearm. Did I mention the crowd of people that surrounded me like I wasn't even there? It seems that I also forgot to mention that I absolutely despise crowds. I'm more so deathly afraid, but I like my phrasing better.

Great, now you're all caught up. Where were we? Oh, yeah! I was in the middle of a panic attack.

I stand up and look around to see if I can make a quick exit, but there's no point, I can't see anything besides the people around me. What do I do? How am I going to get out? I need to get out. I need to get out! I can't even hear anything. Too loud. It's too loud! What am I supposed to do? There are too many people. I can feel them surrounding me, their shoulders and elbows brushing against me. It's getting harder and harder to breath. Why can't I see? I can't see. Look around Hadrian, look around. What can you see besides people? Look up. That's it! Looking up at the clouds always calms me down.

Why is the sky overcast? I could've sworn that it was partly cloudy earlier. Okay, we solved the seeing problem, but I can still feel people touching me. It's too hot. It's too hot! Think! Think, Hadrian! The crowd's moving in the opposite direction that I'm facing, so if I just wait, I can make it out. I'll make it out!

I close my eyes and use my whole blocking out the world thing to make it through. Eventually, after what feels like a lifetime, I can't feel anyone touching me. I open my eyes and see that the crowd has moved past, and I'm free. I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and look up to the sky once again. "At least the sky's cleared up." I say out loud. It's an expansive, wide, bright, blue sky, with just a few puffy, white clouds. Partly cloudy, just how I like it.

I look back down at the ground around me andspot my skateboard to my left, and my phone and earbuds on the sidewalk by myright. I grab my belongings and getready to skate off to Kennedy Park again. As I'm about to put my earbuds in, I decide against it. Just this once, I won't shut the world out.