I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM | Alan Frog

Last Day of Sophomore Year

TW: homophobia, slurs 

Everyone looks forward to the last day of school. No curfew, all day to hang around your friends, the boardwalk stays open later. For Steven, his schedule wasn't much different in the summer than the school year. He would wake up at the same time as the school year out of habit, eat breakfast then gets ready for the day, and keep himself busy until it was his time to go into the ice cream parlor for his night shift. 

The only real difference in the summer was that he went in earlier to work, cause he would rather be there than bored at home. Even if his house had a TV, there was only much that MTV and Nickelodeon could do to entertain him. 

But today was the last day of school and Steven woke up at the same time he always did, 6:15. School started at eight but he picked up his friends who lived scattered across the city and take them to school. 

After he got dressed, wearing a Star Wars shirt with a blue flannel on top and jeans and his beat-up white FILA's. He brushed though his hair with his fingers, getting the noticeable tangles out as he walked to his kitchen to get his breakfast. It was just cinnamon toast, he didn't have it everyday but it was the last day of school so he didn't think much of it. 

Steven ate his toast in silence at the kitchen table with the light on, the rest of the house still in the darkness of the early morning. It was quiet. If anyone else had been in the house, they would've felt that they were in a thriller or horror movie with all of the eerie silence and limited lighting. But for Steven it was just a regular morning. The same morning he's been having since fourth grade. A boring breakfast with no one to eat it with or say good morning to. 

When he was done eating he pushed his chair back in and threw away the napkin his toast was on before heading to his bathroom to brush his teeth. Steven looked at himself in the mirror. His eye bags were coming back and would likely get worse as the summer goes on. 

Steven sighs, he'd worked so hard to get rid of them. 

He grabs his toothbrush and his strong minty toothpaste and starts brushing his teeth. He had made habit of brushing his teeth after he ate breakfast. It was something that not many people agreed with but his friends did. They all think, what's the point of brushing your teeth before you eat? Especially if you're drinking any but water with it. It never made since to them. So they didn't do it that way. 

When he spits he gets a handful of water in his mouth, swishes, and spits again before he leaves the bathroom and heads for his room to get his backpack. Not that he'll need it much today but it was still nice to have. 

Steven passed his mother's room which was empty. She always left for work early and stayed late. His mother would work herself to death, Steven thought as he shook his head, disappointed. 

His truck was a Ford Ranger, he had been saving for a long time to get it. Though it was technically his and his friend's truck. Steven was the only one that had his license and they use him as a chauffeur. They had all pitched in, but Steven had contributed the most out of all. It was a blue truck and they had all decided on the name, 'Mrs. Peacock' or just Mrs.P for short, from the movie Clue. Gloria had come up with the name and no one had the heart to tell her no. 

That's who Steven was on his way to go get first. Gloria Beckett. Something that his friend group had in common was that they were all outcasted and ostracized from their school. Gloria was no exception. She was a strange mind to comprehend. Most of the time no one really knows what she's saying and say that she should be put in a mental hospital. Gloria was a very superstitious person and believed in whatever anyone told her, though she knows when she's being lied to and knows not to be gullible, she has a very active imagination and she is fun to have around.