The Scars Within

Leon and Books

Once I got to the science room, I noticed I was the first one there except the teacher, Mr. Dawson. Out of all the people here, he's one of my favorites. Now that I think about it, all of the teachers are my favorites. None of them take any crap from the students and don't get scared when the rich parents get mad at them. Plus, I'm the favorite student of the school so I get along with them pretty well. Sitting in the front of the room near the windows, I smile at Mr. Dawson when he notices me.

"Good afternoon Mr. Dawson. How was your summer?"

"Good afternoon to you as well Carmin. My summer was good thanks for asking. How was yours?"

"Mine was good as well. I ended up being able to go to that concert I told you about last year! It was totally epic." I figured it would be best if I didn't tell anyone about the divorce just yet.

"I'm glad you got to go. That seemed to be the only thing on your mind last year." Both of us chuckled at that. For the last three months of Freshman year I was totally excited about a concert a few towns away. My favorite bands were playing and all I wanted to do was go. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to, but my Mom took a couple days off work to take me. I have to say, it was possibly the best weekend of my life.

Before I can reply, more students start coming in. Watching all of them, I notice Leon come through the door. 'Please don't sit by me, please don't sit by me, please don't... dammit.'

"Hey Carmin. Why'd you leave so early during lunch? I was gonna come sit by ya." Ugh. Why me? Why?

"I finished eating so I left. I didn't see any point to sticking around." I reply sharply. He doesn't seem to notice my tone, because he continues talking.

"Well, why don't you and I eat lunch together? I'm sure I could give ya a couple reasons to stick around." Giving him my most deadpanned look, I turn towards the front of the classroom and don't bother to reply to him. For the rest of the class he continuously tried to get my attention, Mr. Dawson even moved him away from me (Thank God) but he still tried to talk to me. By the time class was over I was about ready to beat him over the head with my chemistry book. Quickly gathering my things, I walk down the hall towards my final class of the day, English.

Before I get far, I hear Leon calling after me again. Spinning around, I snap, "What do you want Leon?" Seeing his stupid smirk, I know I'm not going to like his reply.

"You." Yep. I knew it. Imma kill him. Dad'll defend me. It was self defense. I didn't mean to smash his skull in. It just happened. One of those freak accidents you hear about on the news everyday. Giving him a glare, I turn back around and continue on my way to English. "Hey! Wait up Carmin! I got somethin' else I want." Gritting my teeth, I stop and wait for him. Why am I waiting for him? Because he'll follow me to English if I don't and one hour with him is enough. Once he catches up, he says, "I was wondering if you wanted to get some dinner Friday. Just you, me, and a five star restaurant. Maybe afterwards we could head to my place and-" Before he can finish, I cut him off.

"No." He pauses for a second, clearly confused. "I'm not interested in that, thanks for the offer." With that, I walk into the English room. Thank God he doesn't have English with me. One of us wouldn't make it out of the room alive if he did. Mrs. Edwards is practically my best friend. She knows that I write stories and she always gives me advice and helps me edit them before I publish them. We always talk about our favorite books and recommend new ones to each other. I bet if she was younger and went to school with me she and I would be practically inseparable. Waving at her, I take the open seat in the front of the room near the window. Just where I like to sit. Since Leon kept talking, I figured I would've been late and would've had to have sat at the back of the room. Guess I lucked out this time.

After going through the class rules and everything else like we did in the other classes, the bell rings signaling the start of study hall. Packing my things once again, I dump them in my locker then head to Mr. Dawson's room. Turns out he's my study hall teacher. I'm pretty happy about that. He's pretty lenient with me so I just walk in, tell him I'm heading to the library, and leave. Quickly making my way to the library, I walk upstairs and take a seat on my couch. I call it my couch because I always sit here, and it's the comfiest of all the couches here. I'm pretty sure it has an imprint of my butt since I've sat here so much. It's also right in front of a large, floor to ceiling window that overlooks the town. Settling in, I grab my computer out of my bag and turn it on. After I login, I pull up a blank document. After sitting for a few minutes, I finally decide what my new story will be about. Instead of making it fiction with realistic situations, we're going full out fantasy with this one. Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, you name it, it'll have something to do with the story. I don't think I'll publish this one, but it'll be fun to write.

After I get 'in the zone', as Mrs. Edwards calls it, I lose track of time. So, when I finally look up from the screen, I see that there's five minutes left of school. 'Wow. I wrote ten pages in that much time? That must be a new record.' Packing up my things, I start walking down the stairs, in no real hurry to leave. By the time I reach the bottom of the stairs, the bell has rung to release everyone. I quickly make my way to my locker, grab my things, and leave. Thank God Leon and Stacy aren't around. I don't think I could deal with anymore stupidity today. It's only about a mile and a half from my house to school so I just walk which gives me plenty of time to think. Walking down the sidewalk, I get lost in my thoughts again. This time, it's not about the divorce, but about my future. I already knew that I wanted to go to college, but where? Hopefully somewhere far from where people know my family name. Now, I know that the name 'Harley' is famous but we're not related to the motorcycle Harleys. We're still pretty well known though. I already know a few colleges a couple states away that have great writing classes. Both of them even have famous authors among their alumni! Hopefully I can get accepted into one of those two. That would be a dream come true.

When I finally reach my 'house', (which is more like a mansion, far too much for three people) I see Mom's car is gone, and I remember the text from earlier. Oh boy. Dad's still home so that means he's going to go all lawyer on me about what's going to happen. Taking in a deep breath, I open the front door, and walk inside.