All in Time

Chapter 4

After John leaves, I find myself laying on my kitchen floor. I stare up at the ceiling, as if trying to find patterns in it.

Not that I'd ever find any though. Its a completely flat surface.

I have no idea why I do this, but it's happening more and more often. I may or may not be going crazy.

Oh well. It seems better in a mental facility than in the streets, regardless of whether they help or not.

I got up after a good hour or so of mindless staring and looked at my clock. It had 12:37 shining on it in bright blue numbers. I have class in two hours.

At least during class I can get a hold of Karkat and ask him for his number and shit. That would be nice to have.

Okay, that sounded really creepy in context.

I began to throw my books and sketchbooks into my red backpack and set it by the door. I made the smart decision to take a shower since I hadn't last night.

Gross.

I strip quickly, as if something was going to come in there and interrupt me. Force of habit.

The water is scorching and shocks me at first, but I force myself to get used to it. I stood there for a moment , forgetting what I was going to do.

I shake my head and continue washing. What do you want, a detailed description of the normal shower? Too bad, bro, you're not getting one.

Afterwards, I get out and get dressed in whatever the hell. A shirt and pants. I check the temperature.

45 degrees. Holy shit, it's cold out. Well, at least for me. I put on a jacket and go outside. Most of the cold was wind chill. If the wind died down, it would probably be 15 degrees warmer.

I decided to start heading to campus. I went inside and grabbed my bag, slinging it carelessly over my shoulder.

When I breathe out, you can faintly see it puffing out and around my face. When I was a kid, this used to be the most entertaining thing. It never really got that cold in Texas, though, maybe that's why I liked so much.

I remember the first time I saw snow. I was around 8 and I had heard about school being cancelled. I was excited but also a little anxious about my brother. I got to stay home. I figured it was because of temperature and nothing more, but damn was I wrong.

I was in complete awe when I watched the little flecks pass my window, getting heavier and heavier as they fell.

I never really went out to play, though. I saw my few friends from school tossing around little mounds of snow that fell apart before they hit the target.

I was afraid the I would. . .get caught, I guess.

I shook my head and forced myself to forget. I'm a grown man now, I can't keep dwelling on the past. I'm not in a chick-flick.

I walk until I reach the campus. It's big brick building. Not much to say about it. I had two classes today: Art and English. Easy day.

I walk into the school and accept the warmth immediately. I walk to the classroom a floor up. The stairs never bothered me, but it does bother a select group of people.

I have English first. Damn it. I head to the room and sit down, pulling out my textbook that I would use very rarely, despite the fact that I paid $200 dollars for it.

The lesson was monotone. It was ordinary and boring. Mr.Boxcar didn't try to be boring, he just was. He made a serious effort, though, I'll give him that.

The class ended and I headed straight for the art room. I wasn't the first one there, but I was there before Karkat. I sat and waited like the creepy asshole I am.

He walked in a few minutes later and scowled a bit when he saw me. He didn't look to good right now; he had bags under his eyes, but those were there last time. He just looked. . .upset.

"Hey, Karkat. You good? You look pretty tired." I asked.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm fine. Just tired. I didn't get too much sleep last night." He sighed as he plopped his sketchbook on the table.

"You sure?" I pushed.

"Yes, I'm fucking positive. Now shut your god damn trap before I. . .forget it. Just shut the hell up." He growled. I had made him angry. Shit.

"Sorry. Uh, I finished my sketch if you want to see it." I muttered.

He took it and looked it down. "Not bad. We had pretty similar things." He said, a little anger still evident in his voice.

"Is that good or bad?" I asked apprehensively. I wanted a good grade. I need to pass this class and I plan to.

"Depends. I can't really say right now." He said, giving me back my sketchbook with a half assed flick of his hand.

"Oh, okay. Uh, so I was wondering if I could get your number and stuff. Just for school purposes. Possibly some late night shenanigans. Nothing romantic or sexual, though" I asked.

"I'll give it to you after class." He said, waving me off as Professor Scratch walked into the room.

"Hello, class. I'd assume by now you at least have a basic sketch of what you are going to be doing. Just a reminder, it is due next class. So, you have 4 days to work on it." He said.

Hey, at least I'm caught up.

"You will be allowed to work on it for the remainder of class after this small lesson." He said. A ripple of disagreements and agreements had whispered through the room.

He droned on with a boring lesson that I couldn't give two shits about. Thankfully, time passed quickly and it was time to work with our partners.

"So, douchethrottle, what are we doing today?" He said angrily. What had anyone done to make him this angry?

"Uh, I guess not much. Unless you want to make a few more drafts of the drawing." I answered, adjusting my shades a bit.

I heard a slight vibrating sound and saw Karkat reach into his pockets. It was his phone, which was lit up with a notification.

He read whatever the notification was and grumbled something incoherent and typed something quickly. I had the urge to look, but I didn't. I barely knew Karkat, I couldn't just invade his privacy.

When he put his phone away, he rubbed his temples and looked back at me.

"You said you wanted my number? I could use someone other than my bitch friends to talk to." He said.

"Yeah." I almost appeared too excited. Calm yourself, Strider. Nothing to get worked up about.

We exchanged numbers and then talked about irrelevant bullshit until class ended.

Score, Dave. You got this.

_____________________________________________________________________

Hello, I am back.

The break was good for me to collect myself and I think I'll be able to update slightly more often.

There was so much Karkat in this chapter, jeez.

I was wondering what you guys think so far

I like this idea, I just want to know if there is anything I can improve on to make the story better.

And also make sure to get spooky for Halloween. We gotta be spooky. 🎃🎃🎃

So I hope you guys enjoyed. Bye!

~Ghostie