Invincible

Chapter Seven

The blazing beams of the sun awaken me. I get up from the damp grass, wiping off as much dirt from my clothes as I could, and stretch. After that, I check my watch. As soon as I found the hand touching five, I immediately head inside the house, running upstairs to my room, and putting myself into bed before Brad woke up and realized I was gone.

When the time came for me to actually get up, I hop out of bed, take a shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes.

As I walk down to the kitchen, my mind tries to put together what kind of cereal I would eat as a result of the punishment Brad would surely enforce, but instead I pause, find him cooking breakfast as usual.

"Morning," he says, his joyful greeting a little outputting, as if he'd forgotten the events of last night's conversation.

"Morning to you, too," I say, playing along.

"So, you excited for school today?"

I didn't answer him. At first, I wanted to curse myself for falling into Brad's trap, buttering me up, having me believe everything was fine until he brings up the fight. But then I thought about Taylor and actually considered the feelings of returning to school.

I really wanted to see her, but a part of me tells me not to. What if she was freaked out by what happened yesterday? I know she was. Probably everyone was. If I run into her, I'm not sure what I'll say to her or what she'll say to me. But there's one thing that I'm sure of. If we do talk, it wasn't going to be a particularly normal conversation.

I didn't want Brad to drive me to school today. He asks me why, and I tell him that I was expecting a ride from a friend. I could tell from his reaction that it was hard to believe, but he decided not to discuss it further with me. Instead he agreed, and because he didn't have to wait for me, he left for work early.

I wait for a while after he leaves. As soon as the coast was clear, I grab my backpack from the couch and head outside.

A cold breeze hits my skin as I close the door behind me. I take a deep breath, calming myself down for a few seconds, and then start to jog. After a while, I start to run and everything freezes. I turn around and find myself miles away the house, though I'd only left it a few seconds ago. The same things happen as yesterday, the cars and everything become a blur, and I navigate around them as they pass. I don't know why I did that, but it was just so fun, I couldn't help myself. Somehow, the running didn't seem to bother me anymore. Instead I felt comfortable with it. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not, but either way, I sure am enjoying the hell out of it.

I reach the school within a matter of minutes. As my sprint slowly turns back into a jog, the speed returns to normal, and a puff of air shoots into my mouth. It wasn't as much as before, so it was easier to handle.

As I cough, I consider the idea of running right into the front door, avoiding the commotion that my presence would spark. But there were people outside and I didn't want to freak them out any more than I already had, so I decide to go with the easier option, and endure.

As I walk up to the building, I notice the students turning around to look at me; the Goths, nerds, and worse of all, the jocks, whispering amongst themselves as they gaze upon me. The jocks seem to have the most effect on me. From there, I see Rick's girlfriend glaring at me, along with everyone else on the football team.

Fear washes over me, hoping there weren't any plots of revenge for what I did to their leader being set in motion. I didn't want any more problems arising.

Before I can even notice him, Jack walks up to me.

"Troy!" he shouts. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good," I say, nodding my head. "A bad headache, that's all. Rick was just getting on my nerves."