Leah and Trent

Chapter Three

August 15 2016 - Monday

~

Trent

(Song: Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots)

I couldn't get her out of my mind. I couldn't stop seeing her everywhere. But I didn't mind. I didn't hate that I couldn't stop thinking about her. I loved it. I loved fantasizing about her. Although, I would have preferred her actual presence. My thoughts of her didn't do her justice. Trying to picture her beauty in my head was almost a crime. Such beauty, and I tainted it with my imperfect memory. No matter what tool I could have used, I never could have captured such beauty without diminishing it in some way.

I walked off the campus looking around as if she'd just show up. She'd step out of my fantasies and into my life, but she was somewhere with the other uniforms. They were all crowded around their polished cars in the parking lot. If I had walked over, trying to look for her, I would've surely been eaten alive. I decided to leave it for another day, to not repeat what happened earlier in the hallway.

It took about an hour and two buses to get home. I hated being in a tube packed with a bunch of strangers. But I easily drifted off into my own thoughts and tuned out my surroundings. At home I followed the same strategy as on the bus. I tuned out the silence with earphones and music. Sometimes the silence at home was more deafening than the shouts of any crowd. It stuck to me and stung the most muted parts of my mind.

Over the years, I had become an expert in spending time. I discovered thousands of songs every year from all over the world. I watched every romantic comedy I could find, multiple times. I spent time like a billionaire spent their fortune.

If my mom had been home, I wouldn't have had to try to defeat silence. But she was off at work. She worked late and came home late. I didn't spend time with her because she wasn't home. If she had been home, I would have. It was aggravating being home and no one else being there. I felt like a ghost that had no place or purpose other than being stuck in the walls. I hated it. It infuriated me.

~

Leah

(Song: Over by Epik High)

"It wasn't that bad."

"I heard there was a problem before last period."

"Really, I didn't hear that."

"It wasn't serious, but. . ."

I hated being in the backseat of my brother's car. I felt like a toddler being chauffeured around. Him and his girlfriend, Sharen, were going on and on about this and that. I was hearing what they were saying, but I wasn't listening to it.

I looked at Sharen in the passenger seat and then at Leonard. They had been dating for almost seven months, but they acted like they were married. It was weird at times. . .a lot of the time.

"I hate that we don't have any classes together," Leonard said. I looked out the window and tried to focus on the buildings passing by.

"There's always lunch," Sharen said.

"True." I looked over and saw Sharen put her hand on Leonard's leg.

"I was there at the fight," I blurted out.

"Really," Leonard said looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, it was chaos. There was a lot of yelling and pushing."