The Life of Don Carpenter: Vol 1

Chapter 1: Donovan Carpenter

The Life of Don Carpenter

Chapter 1: Don Carpenter

Here we are yet again, another drab day in the uneventful town of Glen Oaks Georgia, a new face joining us today as we look towards Glen Oaks High, his class almost at an end, the students practically begging for their teacher, Mr Ross, to let them go. The boy we are here to see is sitting in the front row, and his name is Donovan Carpenter. He sat there in the lukewarm classroom awaiting the bell to ring and dismiss them all, each student raring to leave. Don wasn't paying attention, just leaning on his desk, practically falling asleep as the bell rang loudly over Mr Ross's words, every student rushing for the door as Don was startled awake, looking around to see everyone leaving. The sixteen year old boy picked his bag up from the back of his chair, and his brown jacket, and walked towards the door as well. Only being stopped momentarily by Mr Ross. "Don't think I didn't see you drifting off there carpenter", He warned. "Sorry Sir", Don apologized emptily, rubbing his eyes as he pulled his jacket on and hurried out of the room, leaving Mr Ross alone to mull bitterly over the day.

Don made his way down the hall, most of the students were piling out the front entrance, but Don was smarter, he would use the side entrance like he did every morning. Yeah it was a three minute longer walk to the main road, but whatever, less foot traffic meant a faster walking speed. So off the teen sped, his blonde, curly hair swaying in the gentle breeze of the drab afternoon in October. He passed by the bike shed on his way, the stoner kids all hanging around, letting Don pass them without any objection. They were probably too high to see him anyway. Didn't matter how fast Don was, if he didn't beat his dad home he'd get questioned for being late, or maybe accused of being a smoker again, or maybe this time it would be the drugs accusation. His dad just didn't trust him, not like Don cared, he knew he didn't do that stuff. Besides, he didn't have time to worry about his dad, he had work tonight, and one of his colleagues stood a few feet in front of him in the parking lot. Her name was Brenda Reynolds.

Brenda was a stole cold bitch, mostly filling her time with pointless cheer routines, and ordering guys around like they were her slaves. She didn't even look at Don while they were at school. When they were working she didn't do much more, the occasional insult, a normal sentence here and there. But nothing substantial. She was a true prom queen that was for sure. He passed her by without much more than a thought, not expecting today to be any different, yet she called him back. "Carpenter, Carpenter", she called, standing by her car with a friend. He turned around and walked back over, "You need something Brenda", he asked. Brenda turned on her charm, it was clear to him she intended to get something from him, it was the only reason she was speaking to him, but whatever, this was the nicest she'd ever been.

"So Donnie, I was really hoping to go to the mall with Steph tonight, could you cover my shift", she asked, throwing charm at him like it was endless. Standing there with her dough eyes, and a little pout of her lip. Don just smirked, "I'd love to Brenda, but I'm already working tonight", he told her, "and by the looks of it so are you", he snickered, turning around and going to walk off. "Ugh, why can't you be useful nerd", she yelled in his direction, pushing Steph aside as the two girls got in the car and drove out of the parking lot, going down the road, probably speeding. Don just shrugged it off, taking a walkman and some headphones from his bag, then putting the headphones on, attaching the walkman to his belt. That girl would always rely on her looks and her charm, she assumed that every man would do exactly as she said with the bat of her eyelids, if only that was how the world worked, imagine.

Don looked at his watch, it was quarter past three now, he had to be home by three forty, and then get his dad to drive him to work at five, piece of cake right. He'd make it with time to spare. Don began his walk, stepping off of the school grounds and along the sidewalk, passing through the neighborhood that surrounded the high school. Each house had a picket fence, a porch, and well kept lawn. Some even had trees, the leaves rustling in the wind. His house was similar, but it wasn't a home anymore. It felt empty, and void. But he had to keep smiling, keep up the norms of his life. If his dad thought he was sad, or emotional, he'd think of him as less of a man, and Don couldn't have that. He pressed play on the walkman attached to his belt, "Under Pressure", by Queen began to blast into his eardrums as he walked along. His white shoes scuffed along the sidewalk, the smell of rain in the air, hopefully it wouldn't start anytime soon. Half of the leaves on the trees around him had begun their shift in hue to a warm orange, fitting for the halloween color palette.

He had broken away from any other classmates at this point, turning left and heading down another street. The music blasting through his headphones was pure bliss, his mind getting lost in the musical message as he continued on. Nothing could ruin this walk.

Honk

Honk, Honk

Don heard the honking horn somewhere around him, at first he had tried to ignore it, but after a while it became too much to ignore. He pulled off his headphones, turning to see an all too familiar blue van behind him. He sighed, he spoke too soon about his walk. A man rolled the van's window down and called out. "Need a ride Don, I'm heading home too", the man called. The number one rule of men in vans was that you never got into one with a stranger. Unfortunately for Don, this man was no stranger. This man was Scott Bowie, aka, his father's boyfriend. You see Don's parents had divorced a year and a half ago, his father having been seeing Scott behind his mother's back for a few years already at that point. Don lived with his dad, while his little sister visited every other weekend. Scott was kind enough, but the two had nothing to talk about. Yet Don couldn't refuse the ride, his father hated it when he was rude to Scott.

Don sighed, "Sure Scott, thanks", he slapped on a fake smile, heading to the other side of the van and opening the door, shoving his duffel bag down by his feet and putting on his seat belt. "So", Scott tried to awkwardly start a conversation as he began to drive. "How was school?", he asked. "It was fine", Don muttered, uninterested in conversation with the fumigator. Scott hummed for a few minutes in the silence, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He was still wearing a pair of rubber gloves, one having a hole in the tip of one of the index fingers. The two had lived in the same house together for over a year, but they rarely spoke. Neither knew what to say to the other, Scott tried to open conversations, but Don never tried to keep them going. He didn't need to talk to Scott no matter how nice he was, Scott would always side with his dad anyway, no point.

Scott once again tried to start a conversation, like he was purposefully trying to annoy Don. "Do anything fun today, talk to any friends?", Scott asked a little more comfortably. Don sighed once again, "Not really, just an average day at Glen Oaks High", he told Scott as he kicked his duffel bag. He could get that Scott was trying to maybe start some regular conversation, maybe then they could be closer, but it wasn't necessary. Don didn't need another dad, he already had one that never listened to him. "Alright then", Scott smiled awkwardly, looking at the suburban neighborhood ahead of them as they drove off towards their house a few blocks away.