Reality

The Note

Kade took off his headphones. You hear that? It's the sound of reality. It hits him especially when he turns off his headphones. He isn't in his comfort bubble of music anymore. He can now hear the cars, people, and sirens outside his apartment window, all sounds of reality. He goes to the kitchen where he finds his mother making him his lunch. Kade didn't take a liking in his mother anymore, not after his parent's divorce. His mother cheated on him with a girl and his mother won custody because his dad had several DUIs which set him under the table. Kade didn't understand why. His father had received these DUIs before he was even born. His mother hadn't been seeing the girl lately and she had finally come out of the closet. She was actually a pretty good mother, but Kade hadn't forgiven her yet.

"Here's your lunch sweetie, I made your favorite just to show you my love", his mother said, giving Kade his lunch. "Gee thanks, I wish your skills as a mother could be as good as your cooking." His mother gave a weak smile and apologized for the millionth time.

Kade got on his skate board and put his headphones back in. He loved school because he was able to leave his house and not get yelled at for it. Although school was a major reminder of reality, he still saw it as an escape.

He stopped in front of the Starbucks that he had gone to every morning since he was a freshman, being a senior now. He glanced at the chalkboard in front with the specials written on it and thought he saw his name written on it. He looked at it again, and sure enough there was his name in all capital letters. "KADE READ THIS!" He couldn't believe his eyes as he read on." It said, "KADE READ THIS! It is important to smile today, my happiness depends on it. ~R" Who is R and why did they want him to smile? He walked into the store confused.

"Hey Eddie, who wrote that on the chalkboard outside?", Kade asked. "What, the specials? I just did it this morning, why?", Eddie replied. "No, the note from someone named R.", Kade said. "Don't know nobody named R, sorry son. Would you like the regular?", Eddie asked. "Sure"

Kade took his drink and left the store. He looked back at the chalkboard and it looked as if someone had quickly erased the note with their hand as they were walking by. Kade ignored it and blamed it on a lack of sleep. He got back on his skateboard and headed to school.

He walked in through the door and was stopped by his girlfriend, Amanda. She had her cheerleaders passé with her, the biggest sluts in the school. Having Kade being the star quarterback, every girl was all over him, but he just hadn't found the right one.

"Hey babe", Amanda said. What does she want this time, he wondered, a ride somewhere, mall assistance, attention? "Hi cutie", he decided to say. "You never responded to my text last night. Ae you mad at me?", Amanda questioned. "Never, I could never be mad at you I guess I must have missed it.", he replied, "I gotta go I have to go talk to Vinny about the party this weekend, love you.", Kade lied. Not about the party, about the I love you. "Love you too, tell him I said hi"

"Hey, look who it is, Kade the quarterback.", Vinny exclaimed. "Hey Vinny, did you get my message about the party last night?", Kade asked. "Yeah I'm totally pumped, I can't wait. I talked to a few guys and they told me if they got an invite they could bring tons of booze.", Vinny told him. "Tell them I got their RSVP and they are invited, booze makes everything better.", Kade responded. "Sweet".

Kade walked off to class. He had never had a drink before even with someone like Vinny as his best friend. What could it harm? Everyone does it at some point in their life. Why not now? His uncle had a drinking problem and had been in and out of rehab for the past 20 years. His mother always warned him, "Don't you be out drinking, you don't want to turn out like your Uncle George." Again, this is coming from someone who cheated on her husband with a lady friend. I guess his mom was finally living the life.

He sat down in his desk in History class. He had always hated this class, what's the point anyway? How would learning about history help him succeed in the future? Bored out of his mind, he began looking around the room. He studied the wood marks on the desk. In the top right hand corner, he saw a note that read, "Bored is now my middle name." Kade snickered agreeing. "What's so funny Mr. Anderson?", the teacher asked. "Nothing, sorry", Kade replied. He looked back down at his desk and he saw another note written below the other one. "Kade, I just wanted to know if you're doing okay. PUT ANSWER HERE:_________ ~R" He was officially freaked out now. He responded and wrote "getting better" on the line. What did R" stand for and what did they want? How did they know him and how times were tough? Russell, Rose, Ryan, Red? Was it even a person?