Mommy Issues

Chapter 1

I'm not like the other kids. I'm stuck wearing a mask, an invisible mask, that no one can see. No one notices, because my mask looks like every average human's face. But I'll never be like them. I can't feel. I don't know what it's like to be happy or sad, or even feel love. So the mask is what protects me from being the outcast, what keeps me safe.

I suppose my mother does fault my upbringing though. My mother was never around, and when she was home she was either lecturing me or "training" me. This "training" consisted of learning multiple types of martial arts, and being punched around by my instructor until I could either knock him out or got knocked out myself. It's a very vigorous process but it kept me safe. Especially in school.

The school where I live is brutal. I can't count how many fights there are in a week. There are always drug trades, gang violence, and sometimes worse. But all of that is tolerable when you're not involved. Bullying is what makes high school difficult for me. They're always poking, prodding, calling me names. I've even been jumped by them, but even then there was very little damage they could do to me.