Almost Full

The First Day

  A few things crossed my mind on the short walk back to my house. Like how this strange woman had found me, and... had she dragged me the whole way home? Then I remembered the body I had found. I figured she must have missed it in her effort to get me to her place. Forgetting that any of it had happened was all I wanted to do right then, despite how cowardly it made me feel. There were questions- fears, that I had, but my desire to move on and and forget pushed them all down into the back of my mind somewhere.

  When I made it home, I was sure to take it easy, getting ready for school. After all the first bell wouldn't be ringing for almost another hour. I walked into my brothers' room. My youngest sibling, Daniel was still out cold on the bottom bunk. He didn't have school yet, so he could sleep in for as long as he wanted. Enjoy it while you can, I thought. My older-younger brother, Caleb had seemingly left for school already. I doubted he had noticed I was gone before he went.

  Since Mom would be home soon, I wasn't too worried about leaving Danny at the house until she got back. In the meantime, I was running out of time to eat breakfast, so I quickly got dressed for my daily seven-hour concentration camp. After that, I grabbed a quick bowl of cereal, and was on my way. This time, I made it before the late bell. "Good morning, Alan," said Mr. Lawng as I walked into my science classroom. "Likewise," I replied, sitting in my seat.

  For the rest of the class period though, I found it hard to concentrate. And the block after that. I couldn't stop thinking about food, for some reason. My stomach kept rumbling for what felt like every thirty seconds. People sitting next to me kept throwing looks, and laughing under their breath. It was humiliating, to put it simply. I needed something to eat, but couldn't see a way of getting it except for waiting until lunch.

  I felt like I had been saved when the bell finally came for lunch period. I had also remembered to bring some money this time. Enough to buy two servings, which I did. It didn't matter to me that they were serving the red, chunky, cafeteria-made paste they call "sloppy joe" that day. It was edible, and that was all That mattered. Ean, who hadn't said a word since lunch started, just watched as I ate. Then, finally he said, "I thought you hated sloppy joe."

  I swallowed everything in my mouth all at once, and wiped my lips with the back of my hand. Then I realized all of my friends were looking at me. "I don't know, I'm just really hungry today I guess," I said, taking another bite of the red goop. None of them said anything. I felt a little bit of a fire build up all of a sudden. "Hey, back off. Can a guy just eat for a change? Yes? No?"

  "Alan, are you okay?" asked Beth, with a hint of condescension in her voice. The fire inside me only grew. "Just dandy. Glad to know you care," I replied sarcastically. She drew back defensively. "Jeez, who kicked you in the balls?"

  I didn't know what to say to that. "Nobody," I said, looking away. "I just... don't feel right." Having lost my appetite, I stood up and dumped the rest of my food in the trash can on the way out of the cafeteria. I wouldn't be seeing any of my friends again that day.

  As I spent the rest of the lunch period in the library pretending to browse the bookshelves, I began to feel sorry about the way I had acted... and for throwing away my food. I didn't know why I had gotten so short-fused. It became yet another thought I just decided to shove aside. However, food was something I still could not get off of my mind, thanks to my impulsive decision to throw my lunch away. As torturous as I knew it would be, I was confident I'd make it to the end of school. I had no idea.

  My last two classes were nothing short of excruciating. My stomach literally began to hurt halfway into seventh period. Concentrating on my assignments was next to impossible, so I just sat in agony waiting for the bell. My eyes glued to the clock, I counted down the minutes. Twenty, fifteen, ten, five, four... "Alan?" I ripped my stare away from the clock to see Mr. Gerder staring back at me. "What?" I was a tad disoriented.

  "I haven't seen you do anything all class period. Everything alright?"

  "I'm just not sure I'm feeling so good."

  "Do you need to see the nurse?"

  "Nah, I'll be okay. We've only got three minutes left of class anyway." He didn't say anything else, and went back to grading or whatever. I put my things back in my bag, just in time for the bell to make its artificial chime, and I could finally go home and get some food in my stomach.

  I ate and ate, first a few bowls of cereal, then a cup of ramen, and lastly, a plate of nachos. I was just getting my cheesy tortilla chips out of the microwave when my mom came down the stairs. "How was school?" she asked me.

  "Fine, I guess. How was the funeral?"

  The change in her face told me she wasn't happy I had brought that up, but what was I supposed to do? Forget about it? "I don't know. It was just, depressing. I hate funerals," she said.

  I thought for a moment, then I remembered something. "Was Ashton there?"

  "No. I couldn't see him or his dad anywhere."

  "That's... strange," I said.

  "I'm sure they had their reasons," she assured me.

  "Yeah. Maybe," I wondered.
  The next few hours passed rather quickly as I did my homework, occasionally coming back downstairs for a snack. I finished right before dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and after which I decided to take a relaxing shower. I slid my shirt off as I entered the bathroom and was instantly reminded of the bite inflicted upon me the previous night, as I saw the bandages still wrapped tight around my shoulder in the mirror. I didn't know whether I could get the bandages wet, or if the hot water would be painful because of the wound. I decided I would unwrap the bandages just a bit, to take a peek at it. I took the end, and very carefully began to undo it, enough so that I could see.

  I think I was frozen for a full minute when I finally saw it. The teeth marks were still easily visible, but it looked like it had happened one, or maybe even two weeks earlier. Maybe the bite wasn't as bad as I had thought, or as the strange woman had made it sound. Either way, I was clueless on whether this was just a normal thing. I turned the shower dial to lukewarm, in the hopes that I could still take it comfortably. When I stepped in, it didn't sting all that much, and after a minute or two, it actually started to feel really soothing, except for the shampoo and bodywash. Finishing my shower, I walked back into my room, threw on a comfortable shirt, and some pajama bottoms. I remember turning off my light, lying down on my bed, and my head hitting the pillow. After that... nothing.