Bruised Knuckles

3. beady eyes

Aspen led me up the concrete steps to the front doors of our school. The steps were a pale orange color, cracked and dirty from the worthless teenagers who walked on them. Sometimes plants tried to grow through the cracks, but maintenance would be called immediately to spray them with pesticides, and within a day they'd be gone. I liked the contrast of colors the bright green weeds gave the steps. I sort of felt bad that they would be killed before even sprouting through all the way.

The doors leading into our school were huge, but they pulled open easier than expected. They were painted red, some color fading and scratching off from the years of use. Nobody had done anything (except kill plants) to this school in over twenty years.

Once inside, Aspen delicately pulled her bookbag off of her shoulders, setting it gently on the plastic pop up table to the side of the doors' entrance. I nudged her slightly, receiving a dirty glare that reminded me to stay calm, but she needed to move so I had space to set my book bag down too. Without further initiation, I slammed my bookbag down against the table next to hers once she stepped down a bit to give me room, my hands shoving it towards the bald headed security man in a blue v-neck.

"No Devian today?" The bald headed man said, beginning to unzip Aspen's bookbag. She stood with her arms behind her back, not making a peep.

"Nah, not today. He's got other plans," I said while shuffling my fingers through my hair, watching the man inspect every centimeter of Aspen's bookbag. He searched so hard but she wouldn't hurt a fly, so it was his time being wasted. His eyes peeked up from the book bag, venturing towards me, "I was asking Aspen."

My hand dropped from my hair, neatly tucking into my front pocket. Aspen gave me that look again, which I saw out of the corner of my eye, that told me to shut up, and most importantly, remain calm.

"I'm sorry, sir, didn't know your bald head gave a damn who answered where our brother is today," I bit back my lower lip, shooting Aspen the same glare she gave me. The bald headed man laughed and zipped Aspen's backpack closed, gingerly handing it to her with both hands. He smiled cheerfully and Aspen nodded as a thank you, both people ignoring me while Aspen proceeded down the hallway with what appeared to be a surprisingly confident strut.

"You must be the new student, hm?" The bald man said. I was now examining a bruise on my elbow from last nights game, quickly responding without paying much attention, "No, man, I've been here with Aspen for four years—" something told me to look up, so I looked up from my bruise, seeing the bald man and another boy who I didn't recognize, staring at me from what seemed like all directions. I took a second to look at them both, noticing the boy who had a cut on his upper lip. He stood tall next to me, his arms loosely hanging by his sides. I licked my lips quickly once I saw his cut and shrugged, my eyes darting around the hallway, "What? Get your beady eyes off of me."

I could tell the bald man was fed up with my behavior by the way he sighed and scratched his disgusting gray mustache. The new kid cracked his knuckles and kept his eyes on my face even though I told them both to look away.

"Just examine my bag so I can find my fucking sister," I said with a raised tone. I placed both of my hands on my face, rubbing my eyes and temples.

My pupils darted back to the boy next to me again once I dropped my hands. He looked impatient, his black hair in a slightly overgrown buzz cut. He wore a plain black shirt with a light green jacket, grey jeans which were just skinny enough, and a beat up pair of black converse. I noticed him bite the inside of his lip once I was done examining his stature, his tongue running along his teeth as he stared up at the ceiling. His shoe was tapping against the speckled white hallway floor.

"Hey, if you're that impatient, you go first," I said with a frustrated tone. I stepped back from my spot to give him room to proceed in front of me. Instead, he shook his head and didn't speak one word. I was used to mute people, considering Aspen is my sister. Not thinking much of it, I stepped forward again to my original spot, and the bald headed man kept one eye on me as he went through my book bag.

I finally got my bag back, slumping it over my right shoulder while I began down the hallway. I overheard the bald man speak, "I'm sorry about his attitude."

His words made my eyebrow twitch, my feet stopping in their tracks to turn around. The boy kept his eyes forward on his bag while the bald man rummaged through his personal items.

"Attitude, huh? Get used to it here!"
I bit back my bottom lip after speaking, my head cocked back while my eyebrows rose upwards, my whole back leaning towards the ground before I regained normal posture, turning slightly on the balls of my heels to face the direction I needed to walk again.

The boy looked at me before I turned back around for a split second, blinking once. The bald man didn't acknowledge me, probably too busy trying to find condoms or something else to use against him.

I felt like I was on top of the world, the blood rushing through my veins faster than normal while I hunted for Aspen. I kept my head held high, too annoyed and angry at the world to care. I never felt bad about being rude to people, or authority, for that matter. It sent a spark through me, like nobody could bring me down at all. I knew part of this feeling stemmed from my childhood, I knew I really wasn't supposed to be this mean but it felt too good to stop.

I found Aspen at her locker, quietly stuffing books into the metal box. "Hey, why didn't you wait for me this morning?" I asked while leaning against the lockers to face her.

"You always end up walking with Devian. You were being rude, too," Aspen kept her eyes focused on her textbooks, carefully stacking them one on top of another, like she was talking to the books instead of her brother.

"Oh, well, sorry 'bout that," I apologized, "I didn't eat anything last night and I slept terrible. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Hey, Devian isn't even here today."

Aspen slammed her locker shut and shrugged it off, pointing in the direction of the cafeteria. Silently, she started walking to get her muffin.

I stood by her locker for a few more moments, examining the locker directly next to hers, which was supposed to be mine. I never bothered getting a lock, but I'm sure I could still use the locker without one. I stopped my trail of thoughts when I heard the bell ring, a twinge of annoyance rushing through my body at the shrill sound.

A reminder that I had to stay here for the next eight hours? Not needed. I was already tired, hungry, and on the verge of punching someone. My knuckles tingled in desperate need of contact, the anger spewing into those two locations.

But, of course, like Aspen implied with her eyes, I needed to calm down.
Over my dead body.

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writing this made me miss high school..... just kidding. any comments and votes are appreciated more than you probably know. thank you to everyone who has done so and thank you to everyone who has added this story to their library or reading list! don't be shy to drop a comment or vote about what you think so far.