Along Came Andrew

Chapter 1

Marcus Alexander 8.21.16
What I Did Over Break
Mr.Kalbs

I've never been good with words; from a young age I would ramble and trip over sentences like they were the legs of my third grade enemies stuck out in the aisles of my notebook. That's the thing, I couldn't even write about how I felt enough to do this dumb assignment. I never knew how to assemble all these broken fragments, scattered thoughts, into something substantial - something that has the ability to make someone else feel it too. But now, after reading approximately tweleve gay fanfictions and overcoming a midlife crisis at the age of 13, I think i've finally got something.
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I was sitting in my cyan blue room - a bad decision from the remodeling my dad did in the fifth grade, thinking. Well, thinking is a bit of an understatement; i was worrying. It was 2a.m. and all i could think about was how I had to leave to go to the beach in the morning, and we were gonna be there for two whole weeks. It was hundreds of miles away, so I already knew I wouldn't know anyone. I don't remember when i fell asleep exactly, but i know that whenever it was, I fell asleep in tears. I remember wiping them away pretty quickly though, at least i did at first; I couldn't risk my dad coming in and seeing me like that. As far as anyone knows, i've never been the type to cry. It just wasn't really understood around here - that boys have feelings too, but i understand it. I just wish I understood some other things about myself. I remember my ash brown hair falling in my icey eyes when i laid on my side, and i remember the sound of the silence. It was almost deafening. I live with a father and two older brothers - both football players no less, so i'm used to noise. In the middle of the night, when everything was still and quiet, it brought out a part of me I've never shown anyone before. Around town I was always just Marcus, also known as number twenty six, the boy who somehow threw a football to someone from 77 yards away, the longest throw our school's ever seen, ultimately resulting in a winning touchdown at the last second; we were six points behind. Ever since, that's all i've ever been - number twenty six. Nobody sees the rest: I read, I draw, I write. I have depth beyond the astro-terf. It's just that no one's cared enough to drill for it.

I woke up around seven, considering it would be a six hour drive there. I threw on a white button up t-shirt, some cargo shorts, and my converse and then double checked my bags ten more times on account of my dad's nagging. I realized I should probably bring a hoodie with me, but all of mine were in the wash, except for one. I looked at it from across the room, it was a neon yellow hoodie; my ex-boyfriend Devyn had given it to me. I picked it up and held it in my hand for a minute, just contemplating taking it. I lifted it to my nose, and just as i thought - it still smelled like him. My parents thought he bought it for me for my birthday, and they were only half wrong. He brought it when he stayed over on my birthday, but it wasn't new, and it showed. I looked over all of its little stains and fraying ends - his mistakes, and i felt really sad for a moment, but then i shoved it in my bag without thinking and came out. If only it were actually that easy.