The Devolution of Reality

Part 5

"The patient will suffer from self-made delusions and may act irrationally at certain points in time."

The final bell rang and Michael waited at the front steps of school in front of the flag pole with his new pair of headphones. He was blaring a new type of world. A world where he wasn't alone. A world where he marched in a band of the broken, beaten, and the damned. Everyone wore black and nobody was considered "crazy". His heart beaded with every vibration from the new headphones. New headphones from a new friend. Not just any friend, they were from Sam, and for some reason it made the music even better for Michael. Sam and Kyle walked outside to the front of the school.

K: "Why don't you let me drive you home?"

S: "I walk home with Michael."

K: "Seriously? You're gunna walk home with the fucking psycho who went ape shit on me this morning?"

S: "Ok first of all his name is Michael, not psycho so get that straight, and I seem to recall you calling him a freak when all he did was walk over to say hi to me."

K: "Fine go ahead and get killed by the psycho, see if I care."

S: "Bye Kyle."

Sam walked down the steps of the school and saw Michael waiting for her. He took out his headphones as he prepared himself for the most conversation he's taken part in for the past 3 months.

S: "Listen Mike, I'm sorry if Kyle makes fun of you, just don't listen to it."

M: "Does that mean I can hit him again?"

S: "No dummy. He just doesn't understand you, he doesn't really mean it."

M: "Nobody understands me."

S: "What about Jack and Lucy?"

M: "I mean they do, but no one everyone else can see understands me."

S: "So tell me, how often do you talk with the Voices?"

M: "It used to be like once a week, but they come to visit almost every day now. They are kinda the only people I have to talk to when I'm bored."

S: "Ummm hello asshole? We are kind of next door neighbors now haha, just text me when you want to talk and we can sit under the oak tree in my back yard and talk for as long as you want." Sam grabbed Michael's phone and put her number in his contacts, he complied with everything she wanted to do. He wasn't hard to take control of. They finally reached their houses after their 10 minute walk.

S: "I totally gotta pee, so I'll text you when I'm ready for you to come over."

M: "Okey dokey Sam."

Michael walked inside dropped his backpack and laid down on his bed waiting for the text giving him the green light to talk with Sam. He took his hoodie off and threw on his gray sleeveless shirt because his Mom kept it so hot in the house. Just then his phone buzzed and the contact name "Sam" with a heart and skull emoji appeared and it read "Get your ass over here Mike". Michael grabbed his drawing pad and practically sprinted out his back sliding glass door and leaped over the 8 foot white fence separating his back yard from Sam's. She was shocked by how quick Michael got there.

S: "Look who has arms. I was starting think you didn't have anything under that black hoodie."

M: "I brought my drawings."

S: "I'm so excited!" Michael smiled because nobody like his drawings, they thought they were as crazy as him. Sam flipped to the first page and there was a picture of a man who Michael resembled.

M: "Oh that's my Dad."

S: "Where is he?"

M: "Probably burning in hell."

S: "Jesus, I'm going to have to get used to this whole straight forward thing with you. What happened to him?"

M: "Well he thought drugs were a lot more fun than raising two sons. So he eventually popped too many one night at his house and that's all she wrote."

S: "I understand, my Dad got 'Walmart-Syndrome'."

M: "What's that?"

S: "He went to Walmart one night and left my Mom home with three kids, and let's just say after 13 years he's still there."

M: "That's fucked up."

S: "Tell me about it." The sun was setting but neither noticed. All they focused on was learning about each other, and they savored every word. Sam flipped the page again and saw a name at the top 'Jack'.

S: "This is Jack?"

M: "Mhmm." Michael was afraid that his drawing scared her and she was going to think he was deluded and tell him to go home. He was so afraid of scaring Sam, he had never felt that way before.

S: "His tattoos and mask are so amazing. You get to see him?" Michael was shocked, even Jack scares him sometimes, but Sam didn't freak out when she saw him.

M: "Yeah, but he can be kinda mean sometimes. Other than that he was my first friend in high school."

S: "Why does he wear a mask?"

M: "Same reason I wear my hoodie."

S: "Which is?"

M: "He's scared."

S: "Scared of what?"

M: "People seeing him for what he really is and all his scars." Michael started to hang his head in embarrassment because he had never told anyone that he was scared before. Sam smiled and lifted his chin up with her hand. She looked at his blue eyes but he quickly darted them back to the drawing pad. His leg started to bounce as he sat on the ground, his body seemed to be sporadically acting out of nervousness.

S: "It's getting late, my mom is gunna be home soon and I need to cook for my little sisters. This was fun. Same time tomorrow?"

M: "Does it look like I have plans?"

S: "Look at who's the sarcastic one now haha. Bye Mike."

M: "Bye Sam."

Michael took the drawing pad and once again hopped the 8 foot fence leaving Sam under the brown and red leaves. She laughed and thought about how this was only the beginning of more to come.