Joe's world

Chapter 1

The sound of banging woke me up before my alarm did . I was deep in my slumber when I heard what sounded like a break in . As I jolted from my bed to check my phone that was idly placed on my nightstand , I gasped in horror at the time displayed on my cracked screen . It was seven thirty in the morning and I was gonna be late for school again which only meant detention for me .

I started panicking when the banging increased speed on the other side of my door . I looked around groggily until it hit me that I had only 30 minutes to get ready for school . The banging got much more louder and desperately wanted to scream my frustrations out under my pillow .

I didn't do well under pressure and the noise level was messing up with my sensible head . The person on the other side of the door was determined to get a reaction from me . I was certain it Jason behind the banging which is why I decided to ignore him for my own sanity . I rubbed the sleep out of my droopy eyes , feeling a weird sensation in the pits of my stomach . The feeling was all to familiar , especially when  I had to face the horrors of the day .

It's been a consistent feeling and it came with a splitting headache as well as sore eyes . I've been dreading school for the past week since I starting getting this unusual feeling . Every morning I would tell myself that this feeling was caused by anxiety , that my body refused to cooperate because all the things I kept replaying in my head about school . I was starting to get worrisome for some sort of reason unknown to me . I subtly rubbed my quivering hand over my abdomen .

"wake up dummy , I've been trying to wake you up for hours now ... hurry up already,  I'm getting impatient here... you're my ride to school and I don't want to be late , again !" Jason yelled on the other side of my door while banging hard like his life depended on it .

I released a long sigh before getting up from my bed in a quick manner and rushed to the bathroom to freshen up as quickly as I could . I did my business as quickly as possible . It was safe to say that I didn't want to get on Jason's bad side , certainly not today . Today was just one of those gloomy days where you wake up feeling all kinds of unwanted sick emotions . After brushing my teeth I grabbed some few tablets from the cabinet and gulped them down feeling a bitter taste in my mouth .

I was finished in a few minutes not bothering to look at myself in the mirror . Time was not on my side today so I wasn't able to look at my reflection and fix my unruly hair . I grabbed my bag that I had threw on my unmade bed and headed for the door that led to the empty hallways .

I quickly ran down the stairs to where I found my mother in the kitchen preparing lunch for us . She was humming to a familiar song as she did her duties in the small kitchen . It was the same song she used as remedy to lull us to sleep during our sleepless nights . The same entrancing song that she used to sing to our late father secretly on his birthday .

I still remember how she would call him aside just to sing the song to him softly . Back then I didn't understand why she did that , but now I knew perfectly well . The song brought back old memories but it also opened old wounds . It was so familiar that my chest burned with longing .

Mother was in her own little bubble . She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she paid no attention to me . She continued to hum , filling the air with her sweet melody that caressed our souls to sleep . I looked around the the empty kitchen , missing those days when it used to be full of giggles and warmth . The kitchen looked awfully grey and filled with sorrows .

"Morning mom , how are you feeling today ? " I directed my attention to her , blinking the tears from my eyes . I didn't want her to see me breakdown .

" Good morning Joe , I'm feeling a lot better actually... come on eat your breakfast before it gets cold , oh and I packed you some lunch . Your brothers should be down in a minute . I prepared meatloaf for you guys . I know how much you hate meatloaf but it's better than what they feed you at that school of yours ... " she said enthusiastically and slid a bowl of breakfast my way before going back wrapping up our lunch  . I took my time to look at her beautiful face with admiration . She looked more alive than she ever did . She had a smile on her face that was contagious . The dark circles under her weary eyes were slowing fading and she no longer had prominent puffy eyes in the mornings .