After Dark

One

Liam is a fourth generational student at Lavex Academy on his father's side and a third generational student on his mother's side. Both his parents attended the school, as well as his grandfathers on both sides. His great grandfather on his father's side did as well. Therefore, any other school was never an option.

Lavex Academy is a pretentious private school. All the students have to wear uniforms and the campus is huge. It offers more classes and the kids that attend are held to a higher standard than what's expected at other schools.

He hates it.

Lots of kids hate school but Liam's hatred for it burns with a passion unmatched. It's not learning or waking up early. It's not the classrooms or being bored all day. He hates the school.

He hates the uniforms everyone walks around in. He hates the white button up shirts everyone has to wear and the black slacks. He hates the dark blue sweater vests and the matching jackets with the school logo on the front. He hates the plaid skirts girls wear and the matching ties the boys wear.

He hates the building. He hates the old redish orange bricks and the way they blend with the white of the building. He hates the high ceilings, the spotless tile floors, and the gigantic windows. He hates the way everything screams rich.

He hates the people. He hates the students and all their connections to everything that get them by easy in life. He hates the teachers and the way they play favorites because they know some of the parents on a different level than the rest. He hates the principal and how he turns a blind eye to things as long as the parents keep donating more money.

He just hates it all. Yet he has to go. He doesn't have a choice.

Liam walks down the staircase of his house to go from the second story to the ground floor. He looks around the foyer, on the right is a big arch doorway that leads to the living room. The empty living room. On the left is another archway that leads to the dining room. The equally empty dining room.

With the emptiness of the house noted Liam let's out a sigh and continues to leave the house. He steps out the door and onto the short cement porch. He walks down the steps and onto the long pathway.

His car is sits at the end of the driveway on the side of the house. Liam walks the ways and climbs in the front seat. The leather seats chilled his body as he started the car and flicks on the heater.

The drive to school is too slow for his liking. Lately everything is too slow for his liking. It's like the world slowed down to a barely there spin and everything is taking longer than normal.

Or maybe he's just feeling like shit a lot more commonly lately.

The school building comes into view and the tense in his shoulders doesn't ease. He pulls into the student parking lot. It's as fancy as the rest of the school with its reserved parking spots that are closer to the school than the free ones. Liam hates the blue sign in front of his parking spot that has his name painted in wide letters.

Reserved for
WILLIAM CADDEL

He steps out of the car after shutting it off and is met with the light breeze. It blows his hair on top of his head and makes his face cool down. He starts the walk to the wide entrance of the building with dread sat deep in his chest.

The grass crunches under his feet because he doesn't care enough to walk on the path. Other students in matching uniforms spare him glances but no one says hi or good morning. Formal greetings blow right by Liam even if he does receive them. He's too tired to return the gesture.

He's almost always too tired in the morning to return the gesture. He just doesn't have it in him. So instead, he pretends he didn't see it and keeps going with his stone cold morning expression.