JUVENILE

PROLOGUE

“I am depressed,” said Benjamin Harrison. His voice trembled involuntarily. He was sitting anxiously before the female counselor of Golden Oak High School. “I cry my eyes out every day. I cannot sleep at night. I have no appetite to fill my stomach. I cannot do anything,” he added.

Madam Bethany leaned forward, placing her elbows on the desk. “Could you please tell me what makes you feel that way?” She asked. “I don’t know,” Benjamin replied spontaneously while shaking his head. Madam Bethany sighed deeply and she took off his round glasses.

“I am sorry, Benjamin. Your excuse is totally absurd. Using your mental state to defend your misbehaviors will never work on me,” she reprimanded him strictly. “I am not making any excuse! Suicidal thoughts keep bothering my mind. They have haunt me for several years.”

She raised her hand, signaling him to shut his mouth. “What does it have to do with your classmate? You punched Zachary Adam yesterday. Being mentally sick is not a ticket for you to hurt other people,” she chastised him. “But he started the fight first!” Benjamin snapped at her.

“You were the one who beat him up. You did not get any injury at all. I also received many complaints about you from some of the teachers here. They told me that you acted very disrespectfully to them. Have you ever learned about manners at your previous school before?”

Benjamin just gave her the coldest stare. His expression was sour and his face turned redder. His mind imagined himself shredding the wrinkled skin of that aged woman piece by piece. The sanity that was left within his heart stopped him from listening to his depraved thoughts.

“You have the most perfect life compared to other students in this school. You live in a huge mansion and ride an expensive car. Your parents are wealthy enough that they can give you everything. There is nothing you need to be depressed about in this world,” she babbled again.

“Being rich does not mean I am happy,” Benjamin mumbled. No one had any idea what really happened behind the closed doors of his glorious mansion. There was something that made him act heartless, reckless, lifeless, and emotionless. Something that wrecked him from within.

“You should be thankful for what God has given you. Many of your classmates do not have that privilege. I know every single thing about each one of you,” Madam Bethany said with a forced smile. “But you know nothing about me…” Benjamin muttered, glaring deadly at the counselor.

“You don’t know what kind of person I am….”