𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐲 『 𝐒𝐚𝐥 𝐱 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 』

Travis' Morning

BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEE-

Click.

"Mmgh" Travis groaned, shifting in his bed, not wanting to get up. His bed was warm and the blanket hugged him in just the perfect way. Why would he want to get up? He glanced over at his alarm clock.

5:28 am

Travis couldn't help but feel annoyed. His alarm went off in two minutes, and as much as he wanted that extra sleep, he knew he wouldn't wake back up to the alarm; he would go back to bed. So, Travis slowly, and begrudgingly, pulled hid blankets off of him, feeling the cold air from his room hit his skin, and stretched slightly. He shivered a bit before slowly making his way to his bathroom.

He lazily turned on the water before slowly pulling off his clothes. When he eventually got in the water, it burned a slightly; but that was fine, he didn't mind. He did flinch every so often, the water hitting the bruises was incredibly uncomfortable for him, but he still had to clean himself, he couldn't stay dirty. There were times where he wished he didn't need to deal with life anymore; just take a break. He hurt basically all the time, he was tired from staying up most nights, he was stressed about school, his mind had been plagued with thoughts of the stupid blue-haired boy in his class, and it was all so stupid.

The boy's name was Sal, and Travis hated how wonderful the name was to him. Everything Sal did, Travis both loathed and loved about him. He had grown up religious, told if you were anything other than straight, you would go to Hell; you would be punished. Travis believed that for a very long time, and because of that, he took it out on Sal. It made him feel like shit every time, he didn't want to hurt him. But this anger, jealously, the internalized hatred he had for himself, it all affected his choices. Travis kept thinking back to the day Sal had found him in the bathroom. They talked for a while. It made Travie think, a lot. Why asked why Sal didn't hate him, why he wasn't angry, why he didn't resent him? Travis was awful, there was every reason for Sal to hate him. But he didn't. Sal couldn't even tell him why.

As the hot water in the shower slowly turned cold, Travis snapped back to reality and took a deep breath. He turned the water off and squeezed his hair with his fingers, getting out dkem of the water. He pulled the shower curtain back and stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry himself with. He stepped back into his room, grabbing his clothes and flicking the light on. He walked over to his vanity, taking in every detail of his face. Hid eyes were tired, large bags under them in dull purple and deep crimson. What was more noticeable, though, was the large bruise on his felt eye. It hurt to the touch and it was healing, but it was still very obvious. He had Kenneth to thank for that one...

"Thanks, Father." Travis mumbled under his breath, his voice laced with hatred. He groaned before walking back into the bathroom, remembering to brush his teeth.

He slowly brushed his teeth, making sure to get his tongue too. After that he flossed and left the bathroom, switching the light off behind him.

Travis grabbed his white muscle-shirt and slipped it on before grabbing a button up to go over it. He didn't like how the buttons felt on his skin, so even just a thin layer helped him. He did that with a lot of things, actually. Like the jeans shorts he was currently putting on; where he had sewed the pockets to the side of the leg so they wouldn't move around and rub his leg. It was a horrible feeling for him. He button up the last few buttons on his shirt, going nearly all the way up before leaving two buttons undone. He pulled a pair of grey socks out of his dresser and quickly slipped the on.

While beside it, he grabbed his hair brush and carefully brushed it the knots that had formed in his hair, he was lucky his hair dried quick, or it'd be a nightmare finding the hair dryer. Travis felt his dead hair in his fingers as he ran the brush through it, the feeling now familar. It had been a long time since his hair looked nice. He used a bit of hairspray to keep it down before picking up his bag. He also picked up his notebook, phone and bible. God, he hated this thing... How ironic to use God's name in such a way.

Travis left his room and used the small key had palmed to lock it. He shoved his cracked and old phone in the side pocket of his bag and went through the, now empty-feeling, house.

As Travis entered the kitchen, he saw his father, immediately striking him with anxiety. Kemmeth was drinking a coffee and reading some book about the economy. Travis stepped further in, the creaky floorboards announcing his presence.

"Wow, you woke up on time today." He didn't even spare the energy to look up from his book to psy Travis any mind; he only sipped from his coffee and flipped the page of his book.

"Good morning, Sir..." Travis mumbled just audible ento be heard, before grabbing some cereal for breakfast. Nothing too great, but he couldn't eat much with Kenneth in the room.

He sat down at the table and began eating, trying so hard to shovels food down as quick as possible in a non-suspicious way. He really didn't want to be with his father at the moment.

◇

When Travis finally made his out of the house, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly, he began quickly making his way to school. He let his mind wander, thinking about all the things he had to do. One of those errands being dropping off his book at the library. It was a random murder mystery he had picked up, it was an interesting read. That was his fifth checked-out book from the library just that month.

He really really enjoyed going to the library, if that wasn't obvious. It was always so cozy there. The smell of the old books was nice, and the candles they burned smelled like freshly baked bread.

A smile spread across Trsvis' face as he approached the library. He practically ran up the step, a pep in his step one wouldn't see too often from him. When he entered he pulled the book from bag, he glanced at the cover one last time before handing it in to the return box. It had two men on the front, one of the men pointing a small gun at the other. Travis thought about being the one in that position, pointing a gun at his father's head... He pushed the thought away and left the library.

He went through his mental checklist one last time, going through everything he had to do, all seemed to be fine. Then he remembered.

"Fuck, I forgot to do my math..."