The sun had risen. Even though it had, it was still dreary and cold outside. It was the month of December, one of the coldest, and supposed to be filled with cheer and fun. However, it wasn't this way for Drew.
On this Thursday morning, the seventeen year old was just waking up to the sounds of early birds chirping and getting out of bed. His blue eyes blinked and fluttered as he awoke. He stared at his ceiling- the white, dull ceiling. It reminded him of his life. This day would remind him of his life.
With a hanging head, Drew shifted his legs over the edge of his bed. He knew what would happen once he went downstairs.
Drew stared down at his own feet, his legs, his boxers. He stood up and stretched, he was so tall that when he did, his hands nearly touched the ceiling of his small room up in the attic of his home that he shared with his father.
Drew walked to the bathroom where he proceeded to look at himself in the mirror. Short, black hair and blue eyes, pale skin and eyes that look like they haven't been closed in days- red, puffy and with bags underneath.
It would be a tough day for Drew, he could tell just by the way he woke up that morning.
Drew brushed his teeth and did all of his other hygenic routines of the morning, like combing his short hair. Some dust fell out of it as the attic was not well kept; he wouldn't be surprised if it fell on top of him some day.
After he was dressed for work, Drew headed downstairs where his father was sitting at the table. He looked as dreary as the weather outside, his hair nearly as gray as the sky itself.
"...Good morning, dad..." Drew greeted his father and broke the silence as he opened up the old refrigerator.
Drew's father, who was already in a grumpy and depressed mood, just sat at the table for a few seconds before finally saying, "Morning, son..."
"Did you feed the chickens...the cows..."
"Cows have hay. Haven't fed the chickens yet." Drew answered as he shut the fridge with a can of orange soda in his hand. It was cheap, he was poor, and the two went well together.
"You gonna do that...?" his father asked, not taking his eyes off of the air that was in front of him.
Drew took a sip of the soda after opening it. "I will..."
"Do it now."
"Dad-"
"Now." his father demanded.
Drew sighed angrily and slammed his can of orange soda on the counter behind him.
"All I wanted was a nice morning soda- is that too much to ask?!"
As Drew headed out of the house to do his morning work his father called after him.
"You got your orange crap all over the counter! Clean it up!"
Drew was already long gone, outside, where he held a bag of chicken feed over his shoulder while his boots sunk into the mud that was left over from the Wednesday rain.
Drew went inside the barn where the chickens were resting and kneeled down to all of them; he considered them his friends. They were his only friends, all the kids at school treated him as if he was dirt, probably bevause he always smelled like it. He never had enough time in the mornings to take a shower from the need to get away from his father.
Drew sweet-talked the chickens as he let them peck little bits of food out of his palm, and smiled at the little noises they made.
After feeding the chickens, Drew proceeded to go turn on the sprinklers and milk the cows.
After he had turned on the sprinklers, Drew went and sat on a stool next one of his favorite cows. He had named it Moe, short for Moo Moo. As he milked her he smiled, only because he was away from his father.
After around thirty minutes of working, Drew headed back inside where his father yelled at him once again.
"Hey, you're tracking mud all over the floor!" Drew could tell he had been drinking.
"Sorry, dad..." Drew said without energy. He headed upstairs to get dressed.
"And clean up this orange mess!"
Drew sighed with anger and annoyance, standing in front of his door while hearing his dad scream upstairs.
Drew put on a black, long-sleeved shirt and some matching skinny jeans and sneakers. As he headed back downstairs and out the back door, his father reminded him of the mud mess he had made.
"Clean it up!" he demanded.
"Dad, I really do not have that much time in the mornings, could you help me out a little bit?!"
"Your mess, not mine." Drew's father said as he took a swig of something in a bottle. His father was overweight, and smelly. He didn't take care of himself.
"You're a mess..." Drew mumbled.
"What?!" his father whined. "I didn't hear you. Speak up."
"Could you drink a little less tonight?" Drew asked as he kneeled down to clean up the mud mess.
"Naw, tomorrow's Friday. Tomorrow's party night. Today is party night eve."
Drew sighed. As he was standing up, he slipped on some bud that he had missed and fell straight on his back, hitting his spine hard on the tiled kitchen floor.
Of course, all his father could do was complain.
"Hey, watch what you're doing!"
Drew groaned as he struggled to stand back up, with the wipes that he was using to clean up the mud with in his hand.
"Sorry, dad...!" he said, irritated. "It's not like I nearly broke my spine..."
"Don't backtalk me. And clean up that orange mess."
"Yeah..." Drew grabbed another paper towel and began to clean up his "orange mess," wiping the counter top off.
After a while, Drew was done. "I've gotta go catch the bus." he told his father.
"Why don't you learn how to drive?"
"Because we don't have enough money for a car and you won't let me use your piece of junk truck..."
"My truck is not a piece of junk. It's a bigger accomplishment than you. All you do is feed chickens and milk cows." Drew's father took another swig of his bottled beverage.
"You won't let me do anything else!" Drew argued. "And can your stupid truck feed chickens and milk cows?!"
"Probably could if I trained it." Drew's father took another swig.
"...Give credit where credit is due, dad..."
Drew grabbed his bag and began his way outside, leaving a little trace of the mud mess behind. His father called out to him, "You didn't throw away the paper towels!"
Drew, once again, was already long gone outside. He had his bag flung over his shoulder and was walking to the old, rusted stop sign where his bus always stopped. Again, this was a day where he didn't take a shower.
Drew waited for his bus to get to the old rusted stop sign, that was faded and nearly losing all of it's color. The word "stop" was barely visible, but the shape of the sign helped people recognize its purpose.
Soon enough, the old bus that was pretty much as worn down and colorless as the stop sign, pulled up to Drew.
The doors opened and Drew stepped inside where chaos was about. Paper balls flung and kids screamed.
Drew always tried to get a seat in the very back window seat, on the left side of the bus, because everyone avoided it. There was a dried up piece of pink gum on it.
Drew sat down in his regular seat, pouting and silent. He watched nothing but the air in front of him as paper balls flew in front of his vision and the calls and hollars of kids corrupted his hearing.
Drew closed his blue eyes, trying to block out the noise and the whole idea that he was on the bus itself. It was cold, and the feeling made him sleepy.
The whole bus ride to school, Drew kept his eyes closed, feeling sick. He got motion sick very easily, and often had to close his eyes to avoid it.
The bus pulled into Drew's school, where all the kids got off including himself, where it was wet and the sky was gray and dreary.
Drew listened to the squishing sound his sneakers made against the wet ground as he walked across the bus parking lot and into the school.
Drew walked to his first class and sat down, ready to be bored out of his mind. However, he liked being at school more than he liked being at home.
Once everyone was in the classroom, the teacher walked in with a student. Or at least Drew assumed it was a student.
The student was a boy, with brown hair, short bangs and wearing a black shirt with a flannel over it. Drew examined him intently.
The teacher introduced the boy as Heath, a new student that had transferred into his first period class.
Drew payed no mind to the new student, instead he just got a pencil and his notebook out. He just assumed the new student would hate him as much as everyone else did.
After the teacher was finished introducing Heath, he found a seat right next to Drew.
Drew looked over at him, examining him again. Heath got out a notebook and a pencil just like Drew did. Drew just watched in silence.
