CH 2
Nathan Smith woke up. No good. ‘What was that ship? What does it matter? It was just a dream. It was a dream.’ he repeated over and over in his head. ‘That explains a lot.’ He was in bed. It was the first day of school. It was time to get ready.
His eyes took a second to adjust to the light. He was in his room. It was a small square with four white walls. Past the foot of the bed was his bureau and between them was his door. His door was fairly tall, although, only one person could fit through at a time. It was a clean white and the only way out; besides the window on the opposite wall, of course. There was also a cluttered desk on the far corner of the room. Other than that, the room was pretty empty. And Quiet.
“Nathan! Hurry up! You’re going to make me late! I can’t leave for work until you leave for school!” It was his mother. That’s what he was waiting for. Nathan closed his eyes and slid into a sitting position. The carpeted floors felt good against his bare feet. It was a strain to stand up, but he seemed to manage. It took him a couple of slow steps to get to the door. The handle came off in his hand when he tried to open it. He pushed it deep into his pocket and slid the door open, slinking into the hallway. To the right of him, was his bathroom. No one else in the house really used the bathroom except him, but his mom still had rules. He doubted she had even seen it in the last year. He turned left and walked down the flight of stairs to the dining room where his mother was setting up breakfast. He sat in his chair and looked down uneasily at the bowl of cheerios in front of him.
“Glad to have you back on the planet, Nathan.” His mother called from the kitchen. She walked in, catching his stare. “Sorry about the cereal. I know that’s all you’ve eaten for the last two months, but we don’t have anything else for breakfast. Those used to be your favorites. I bet they’re ruined for you now, though.” Nathan had been working with government all summer and that was pretty much all they fed him. It was good at first, since they were his favorites, but now he just felt kind of sick looking at them.
Nathan half slept slumped over in his chair for a few minutes until his mother told him to leave the cereal and just get ready for school.
Nathan was a bit more awake now. He rushed up the stairs and into his room. He turned to his bureau. Inside, he took out a T-shirt, pants, underwear, and socks. Next, he went to the bathroom. His toothbrush sat in a cup, left of the sink. The soap was on the right. Nathan closed the door and changed into his school clothes. Then he brushed his teeth and bolted out the door. Living in Florida was nice, since, even during the winter, you could wear shorts and a T-shirt. It didn’t matter now, though, since it was still summer time.
It took one fluid motion for Nathan to put on his back pack and slip on his shoes as he ran outside. “Have a nice day at school, honey!” shouted his mom.
“Bye” It was a ritual, two sentence conversation that went on between them Monday through Friday every week during the school year and so, Nathan had assumed, was the conversation that every other kid went through with their parents or guardians on the mornings before school.
It took all of three minutes to walk the block between Nathan’s house and his school. At school, he was greeted by his usual group of bullies. “Hey, nerd, miss me? Where’s your mommy?” Jason made a kissy face and, predictably, fake laughed along with the rest of his friends.
“What a degradation, that there are commodious people like you who, instead of servicing others, perpetually strive to hinder and diminish their pride.” said Nathan. Jason just stared. ‘Works every time.’ If it takes a bully more than half a second to understand what you just said, you won’t have to worry about them for at least another hour. Jason was big and stupid. Like most bullies. He had about a millimeter of black hair all over his scalp. His chin came out almost an inch past his mouth. He had crooked teeth and a black outfit. One giant gold earring hung from his right lobe.
Nathan almost burst out laughing when Jason turned the other way and headed to the school’s doors to get in, his group mates warily following him close behind. He probably would have laughed had Heather O’Hare not walked past him just then. Heather was probably the prettiest girl in Nathan’s grade. She had long black hair, deep brown eyes, and was generally wearing a dress. Nathan had had a big crush on her since at least eight months ago. He was determined to ask her out on a date this year.
