Taint Of Innocence

BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEP! 

I sat up lightening fast, my whole body wrapped deeply into my blankets as I looked over to the alarm clock on my nightstand. The blinking red numbers flashed 6:15 at me, almost daring me to whack it with my pillow. Groaning, I sat up slowly, stretching my whole body. I felt better today. 

Walking down the hallway in a daze, one hand running through my hair, I smelt a familiar smell. I haven’t smelled that almost heavenly aroma in years. Walking into the yellow kitchen, I was overjoyed to see Will already dressed in a plain white T-shirt topped with a light grey sweater, jeans and converse. He was bent over a sizzling skillet, one hand flipping golden brown pancakes as he scrambled eggs in a frying pan on the stove with the other. I recognized a Brittany Spears song playing softly on the little clock radio of the counter, and as he was cooking, he was creating a spectacle of himself as he danced in place. 

Leaning against the wall, I folded my arms over my chest as a laugh bubbled its way through my lips. He heard me, and turned around, holding his arms out dramatically. 

“Why if it isn’t the fair maiden gracing me with her tired presence! Have ye been awoken by true loves kiss yet--eth?” He said in a funny, Old English accent. I stomped into the kitchen, the delicious smell of breakfast making it very hard to be cranky this morning. 

“No, I just slayed the dragon in the hallway. Better get to cleaning those guts off the walls before they leave a permanent stain.” I said, yawning as I sat myself on an island chair. Setting everything onto huge plates, Will came over to me and ruffled my hair. 

“Good morning to you, Charles.” He said as he placed a huge stack of pancakes in front of me. I sighed. 

“All this delicious looking food is making it very hard for me to not be a morning person.” I said, licking my lips as I started to butter my pancakes. He chuckled loudly and ruffled my hair again. 

“Precisely.” He said conspiratorially. I sent him a playful glare out of the corner of my eye as I started cutting my fluffy pancakes. Will placed another huge plate full of delicious looking scrambled eggs in front of me, too with a big glass of orange juice. 

“This can’t be all for me, right? This could feed a family of five!” But my stomach growled menacingly, realizing that all I had at the game last night was a pretty lousy hot dog and water. And even if I did need to eat more than a normal person to keep my energy up, there was no guarantee that all of this was staying down. Will looked at me from out of the corner of his eye, and picked up a clean fork and shoveled a heaping piece of pancake into his mouth. 

“This Goood Enufff?” he said with his mouth entirely full. I laughed out loud at his chipmunk cheeks. 

“Go get another plate then, you doof!” I bumped his shoulder with mine and he gave me a funny look as he went to the cabinets. 

I groaned, slumping in my chair and shoveling a forkful of heavenly goodness into my mouth stubbornly. I savored every bit of it before I swallowed. 

“Eat up, you!” Will sent me a comforting smile, going to the stack of dishes in the sink. “We’ll be outta here by….say 7:00?” I looked at the clock that read 6:28 on the counter, then shoved the last bit of eggs in my mouth, throwing my hands up in the air. 

“Gah!!” I yelled, frantically pushing my chair back and starting for the hall. I smiled and ran like mad for the hallway. I knew right away what I was going to wear. I through off the baggy sweatshirt and threw on some deodorant and a simple short sleeve shrug that I got for Christmas two years ago. I switched the sweatpants for some dark skinny jeans and the fuzzy socks for a pair of cute boots. My hair was still curly and wavy from the shower I took at the airport hotel yesterday, so I just left my hair at that. 

I walked to the bathroom right across my room with my bag of toiletries. My face surprisingly looked the slightest bit pale from last night, and the run up here worked on the flush. I brushed my teeth, put on my makeup--which only consisted of coverup under my eyes, a pale eyeshadow, mascara, and the slightest bit of eyeliner---and fidgeted with my outfit in the mirror. I threw my hair over my shoulder on a nervous habit, then decided it was going to stay like that. Slipping a black hair tie on my wrist just in case, I went back to my now clothes-strewn room. Taking a deep breath, I began to get excited for my first day of school. 

Dad drove us to school , and we sang BuckCherry at the top of our lungs the whole way there. Laughing, we got out of the car and I noticed there were faces I recognized from the football game last night. I blushed as I made awkward eye contact with some people, looking at my feet as I still chuckled about random things with Will. 

“So you nervous, Charlie?” He bumped my shoulder, a playful grin on his face. I scoffed and pushed him back softly. 

“Are you kidding me? It’s just a high school.” I looked at the throngs of clicks all around me. My step faltered as I noticed a group of lettermans crowding around a dumpster, and who I only guessed was some freshman getting thrown into said dumpster. God this was the epitome of stereotype. 

"Hey Will, we have to go over the Game plan." A student said, after he caught up to us.

"Sorry Charlie, you're gonna have to find your own way around. Here, this'll help." He said, handing me a piece of paper before he was dragged away by his friends. 

With my yellow piece of directional paper clenched tight in my hand I scurried through the halls, my eyes practically bulging out my skull from the way I stared at the ground so intensely. Today is my first official day of high school at Brookville High and I feel like I’m about to explode in a whirl of anxiety and unknowingness. Everything was so new, so unfamiliar and so uninviting. Ohio was absolutely nothing like New York and I have no idea how to behave around these people. In New York, you could basically fall to the ground, gasping for air and dear life but barely anyone would stop by to help or even just notice your existance, so people basically did whatever they wanted since barely anyone would make fun of them for it. I was afraid I wouldn’t find a friend or a sanctuary to hide beneath, (of course I had Will but still) and I felt like the most harmless glances I got from students were death stares of complete rage; like they were trying to shoot lasers through my head with their eyes. 

Finally my eyes befell the answer to my prayers, and I scuttled into the classroom for my first class; Spanish. Most of the place was empty, save for the few students rushing to do their homework or passed out on their desk. I glanced at the teacher’s desk to see an empty chair and a steaming coffee mug and sighed in relief that I wouldn’t have to be put through the embarrassing initiatives. Swiftly I slid into the middle of the second row.