Trust Me

Chapter 1

1:46 am.

Xander placed down his phone next to him and tucked his right hand underneath his head, returning back to his task of blankly staring up at his popcorn ceiling with only the sound of his little sister's, Ivory, heavy breathing and the loud A.C. system starting up again to fill his cluttered small room.

His left arm was starting to ache with the weight of Ivory's head, but the fear of Ivory's cries that resembled the cries of a tortured hostage, outweighed any pain that could ever succumb to him.

The click of the front door broke Xander's blank state, alerting him that his mother arrived in the household, probably with a new man stuck on her hip like pollen to a bee. Loud feminine moans—more than loud enough for the neighbors to hear through the thin walls of the small apartment—confirmed Xander's predictions. Although he expected it, he couldn't help but feel a spark of anger light in him.

Instinctively, Xander pulled his younger sister into him, blocking as much of the inappropriate sounds the two "adults" were creating, in case she randomly woke up in the middle of their session that definitely wasn't going to be finishing anytime soon.

Xander tightly closed his eyelids, wishing for sleep to overcome him so he could experience the same blissful innocent peace that Ivory was constantly living, but then again, he never got anything he wished for. Defeatedly, Xander opened his eyes, mentally bracing himself for the rest of his torturous night.

***

He hated everything about school. The shrieking bell that rang every couple minutes, the hurried footsteps of other students rushing to meet with their friends on the other side of the campus, the cramped hallways that was almost impossible to walk through without bumping into another's shoulder, students who obnoxiously stood in the middle of the hallways, the strong stench of musk and and dung from an already-broken toilet in the boy's bathroom along with cheap perfumes and colognes meant to cover the stench that emitted from students with a lack of hygiene.

Yet, despite all the hassles, Xander still managed to make it to the first class on time, mostly because he was a lanky tall person with the staggering height of 6'3"; towering over everyone else had its positive assets.

Xander collapsed into the farthest seat from the teacher's desk, closest to the large window that took the entire right wall, in the back row. Exhausted from a sleepless night and knowing the first day was the time to listen about the same districts' rules for the fifth hundredth time, he laid his head on the desk, using his almost empty backpack as a pillow, and closed his eyelids to take a small nap.

It didn't take long for Xander to fall asleep, actually it took a couple seconds for the much needed rest to come.

The sound of students crashing into seats, squealing friends, awkward first introductions, and the teacher clearing her throat to grab the class's attention forced Xander to wake up from his incredibly short nap. With drooping eyelids and his left hand holding his head up, Xander looked upon the teacher with that infamous detached stare that all his past flings fell in love with and later hated when he became bored.

Mrs. Coles stood in the center front of the classroom, holding the class's roster on a transparent clipboard decorated with different colored roses, with a wide smile on her face, speaking about her great hopes for the class. She then began to read the roster and with every name she read, she called out a number.

Xander noticed the numbers on the desks when he walked in the class, but didn't pay no mind to it. Assigned seats never bothered him. He could fall asleep in the front row if he had too.

"Michael Anders, number 9..." Mrs. Coles read with her vibrant red glasses on the tip on her nose, but Xander could barely hear a word.

Mrs. Coles couldn't be older than 25. But even then it wouldn't matter to Xander, it wouldn't be his first time he pursued an older woman. She was tall and fit with curves in all the right places, appearing as she spent all her free-time in the gym. In her black pencil skirt and tight white blouse, there was very little to imagine.