Red Glow

Chapter 2

The next morning Clayton felt the sun on his face through his open window. He groaned as he sat up, his joints sore from the previous day. He turned and picked up the new glasses that rested on his nightstand. Wincing, he rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and placed the glasses on his nose. Standing out of bed, he slept in his boxers, he made his way to the bathroom off his bedroom.

Standing in front of the mirror, he took a step back and examined his bruised body. His stomach was a blend of greens, purples, and reds. His eye was less swollen now, but it was bordering grotesque. He looked like shit. This sucks, I barely scraped by with my lie this time. Dammit. I'm so sick of this. When Clayton had gotten home that night Martha was very upset with his being out so late.

"I fell down the stairs, so I had to go to the nurse. She said it wasn't serious and let me go home." he lied. Martha snorted and mumbled,

"Just go to bed." so he left, and then the next morning he was sore and cranky. He didn't want to face his mother, but he wasn't going on hunger strike. So he, reluctantly, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an old Big Bang Theory T-shirt that had Sheldon saying "Bazinga" across the front. Thudding down the stairs he sat at the table and awaited pancakes like every Saturday morning. His mother's shadow could be seen in the kitchen. His solution to the faint awkward air that surrounded the two of them was to act like everything was normal.

"That must have been some fall for it to have done that much damage." Martha commented as she brought a stack of pancakes out of the kitchen.

"Yeah, stairs will do that to person." he responded. She opened her mouth as if to respond but slowly shut it. They both sat quietly at the table, eating and exchanging words only to ask for butter or syrup. Once the meal was over Clayton stood up and went towards the stairs, intending to go to his room.

"Are you going to go anywhere today?" Martha asked from the kitchen, where she was washing the syrupy plates.

"Just the library, I'm gonna be studying." he answered as he made his way up the stairs. He went into his room and rummaged through his closet for a halfway decent outfit. Pulling out a random pair of jeans and a green flannel shirt he got dressed and went over to slip his tennis shoes on. As he went down the stairs again he almost sprinted to his front door and he sped out of his house. He sauntered down the sidewalk. The library wasn't too far from his house, so he took the time he had to enjoy some air. Whooping and hollering toddlers played in the park that he passed, and he stopped to pet a stray cat that had been sitting by a bush. Clayton had always been fond of cats, ever since he was young he'd beg Martha for one.

"Can we get a cat, please mommy." a five year old Clayton would beg.

"You have classes, there's no way you could care for an animal." she tutted back to him. Even at that age he knew that there was no swaying her, but he tried a few more times and got the same reply. So now he just settles for petting the stray, he later named it Sylvester because the fur was similar to the animated cat from Loony Toons, by his neighbors shrubs. Walking away from the feline he turned a corner and was greeted by the ivy covered brick wall of the library he grew so fond of. Going around the structure to the doors he walked into his home away from home.

"Welcome back Clayton. Do you have anything in particular in mind today?" the receptionist, Ann was what he thought her name was, chortled as he walked by her desk.

"No, just browsing the collection." he replied. Making his way through the book cases he picked up the first title that looked interesting. He sat down on one of the bean bags by a blue table and started to read. He always said he was studying so Martha would let him go, but he only studied one out of ten times. He would spend his time reading some of the many books contained in the massive library.