drown; tronnor

004

Troye

The next few days...

The encounter with Bethany shook me up. I dated her for nearly two years and she was 'eh'. Really pretty, always adventurous, materialistic.

Now, I lie in bed, debating whether or not I should drop out of college. It's a big decision, one that Mum and Dad wouldn't be proud of. But my mental health is more important than some lousy grades, right?

No. Not to my dad, anyways. He expects me to become this amazing doctor who can cure cancer, but in reality, I barely passed high school with straight Cs.

And then he shoved me into the first college that was stupid enough to accept me. At first, I faithfully went to my classes and was a good boy, but before long, the unavoidable depression sat in and all I did was lock myself in my room for days on end.

After a while, I would occasionally go out to my family. No reason, because I have a bathroom in my room and at the time, I wasn't eating anything. But my window to opportunity opened: literally. I opened my window and was gone for a couple days, simply living in the lake behind our house. No one noticed, no one cared until I walked in the front door and smashed everything in sight. This is where my anger problems began.

I'd randomly get angry at the slightest things and wreaked havoc. Broke plates and cups, ripped up important papers, shoved furniture. My family got it under control, but I still have a few out breaks every so often.

Wow. I'm pretty messed up.

1. Depression
2. Anxiety
3. Anger issues

Maybe that's not the worst. It definitely isn't. So stop whining, Troye. Yo shouldn't complain about what you have when there are other people who have it ten times worse!

"Troye!" Tyde bursts open my door and walks in. Now imagine this; Me laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling looking utterly depressed, whilst my younger brother barges in with his undoubtedly teenage-boy problems.

"What? Dang. Has anyone taught you to knock on a door." Tyde's eyes get wide. I snap a lot when I'm about to break out in an anger fit.

"Mum! Troye's about to start his man period!" He runs out of my room and down the hall.

I jump off my bed and run after him. He knows that sends me when he calls it 'man period'. I'm not a freaking girl!

Tyde ducks under the counter as I grip his shoulder and yanking him to the ground. Red. That's all I can see and I can't control my actions or hear anything. I feel a hand on my shoulder, but my reflex makes me whip around and elbow whoever it was in the jaw.

"Troye!" My mum grabs me by my shoulders and pins me down, with the help of my father and Steele. Where's Sage?

My vision clears and I feel the weight lift off my shoulders. Tyde is sprawled on the kitchen floor, blood streaming from his nose. What have I done?

I turn around, looking for everyone else but I'm horrified. Sage is holding her jaw and crying. My heart shatters when she gets up and scurries away from me. Steele and Dad and Mom all divide to help Tyde and Sage.

Feeling disappointed in myself, I get up and run out of the house. My shoes were already on, I don't understand how. I think I never really took them off when I got home. I dunno, my mind is scattered.

The lake sits in front of me, and the boy from the grocery sits on the dock, his legs swinging towards the water below. "Hello, Troye-From-The-Grocery," The guy smiles as I sit beside him, a yard or two away.

He knows my name. Probably stuck when Bethany blurted it out when she saw me. We didn't end very well.

"Hi, Connor-From-The-Cash-Register." I laugh a little and cover my mouth with my hand. Connor stares at me for a second before smiling, too.

We swing our legs for a while, occasionally bumping them accidentally. "What's your favorite color?" I ask, feeling like I need a fact to hold onto. Connor thinks for a second before smiling.

"Yellow."