Exist. It's my one rule, it's my daily routine,it' my mantra. I don't expect anything, I don't want anything I simply exist. Of course I do eat, drink, and sleep, I'm human after all, well biologically at least. I'm not like other kids I don't yearn for attention, I don't crave the touch of another, I just want peace. In essence I am a shadow, there but not paid attention too. Always around even when not noticed.
I glide through the halls of my school, skating through the outskirts careful to not draw any attention; I'm not super but if I was I guess invisibility would be my power. I'm an outsider, I don't get bullied, I'm not popular, I have no friends, but that's okay with me. I prefer the quiet of my own thoughts. I constantly have headphones in not to listen to music but just in the rare occasion that anybody notices me they'd hopefully leave me be.
I go throughout my dad in the most mundane way possible, avoiding any form of contact, sitting quietly in classes with decent grades. I eat a lunch I prepared at home in the far reaches of the school library in the section between textbooks and Atlases, a place nobody goes unless they need privacy and even then they go a row over to the bean bags. I'm not super but if I was reading people's minds would probably be my power. In this secluded section I hear a lot of things nobody was meant to hear. I pick up on many things but I never interfere. Behave. It's my only rule. I never intervene no matter the situation, never let on that I know.
I end my day in the most mundane way possible, I rode the bus home, I sit in the seat above the wheel so that nobody is tempted to sit near me. Well I usually do but this time was different, someone sat next to me; confused I look up from my clasped hands resting on my knee. This person looked down at his phone changing music, so while i had the chance i did what I did best, I observed. He wasn't necessarily ugly, yet wasn't necessarily handsome; just average. Skin the color of a Hershey's Kiss, Hands of a pianist, a haircut that preferably should have been left in the 80s and a lanky body with a scarce amount of muscle or fat. They weren't much to look at but you could tell from the atmosphere he gave off and the forming of his body that one day he would be beautiful. I was careless I was too busy committing the way his jaw pulsed as he clenched and unclenched it, I was so distracted that I didn't notice him look up.
We made eye contact and I looked away fast and started staring out of the window, but I didn't look away fast enough for me to notice how he raised his eyes in confusion and his eyes the color of a sunset.
The ride passed uneventfully, why wouldn't it? I unlocked the door to my house and started my mundane after school ritual. I did my homework at my dining table only getting slightly frustrated at my Calculus homework. I shower quickly, deciding not to wash my hair today. I prepare a meal, eat and go to sleep. Not really i lay awake until I hear the telltale sounds of the creaking door and pattering on the oak stairs. Knowing my parents are home I fall into slumber, ending my mundane day.
Tomorrow was mundane from the beginning until the bus ride home. While the last of the students piled onto the bus, I made the mistake of looking up; accidentally making eye contact with the kid from yesterday. Smiling he sits next to me, he looks at me and tries to strike up a conversation, resorting to my main form of defense I show no emotion and look at my hands. He's relentless, instead of giving up like anybody else would, he crack a joke. It was mundane as far as jokes go but I couldn't help but crack a smile, his exuberant, and buoyant personality making up for the terrible joke or lack thereof. I quickly switched back into the shadow I usually was. I wasn't super but if i was desensitizing would be my power. The rest of the bus ride was mundane. And so was my after school routine.
Everything was mundane until the next day when i heard hurried footsteps coming at me out of the blue, I quickened my pace as did the footsteps. Suddenly I felt someone gently grasp my shoulder, I freeze not being used to contact. "Hey" I hear in a smoky voice. I turn and it's the kid from the bus. He held out his hand and smiled "I'm De'Andre" I swear the hallway ignited into an eruption of colors. I took his hand and said "Mary' in a soft voice. He smiles wider and I notice he has a slight gap and for some reason it made me happier. We walked away and for the first time I took my time, happy to be making my way down this illustrious hallway. Once you shine light on a shadow it disappears and that's exactly what happened.
I'm not super, but I sure as hell felt like it.
