Looking Up

Chapter One

great. first there's a new hell in my life and now she's somehow turned into an animal.

cole stared wide eyed at the furry critter ahead of him. it hissed and looked around, the fur along it's spine bristling. "w-well that's great. my stepmom is a weasel." he said in a very quiet and shaky voice. a bead of sweat rolled down cole's cheek and he suddenly felt lightheaded. darkness crept in from the sides of his vision and he could feel his body growing numb just as his legs gave out. he wasn't even conscious to hear the thud as he smashed into the hard floor of the kitchen.

hours later cole woke up with a splitting headache. he flinched as he propped himself up and scratched his head, his long fingers getting tangled in the messy mass of curls. he didn't quite remember how he got there, but this wasn't the first time he had woken up on the kitchen floor. shivering, he realized that the cold tiles had chilled him to the bone. as he slowly got up, his muscles protested and his bones creaked of stiffness despite his young age.

he quietly walked to his room to see a clock that shone far too brightly in the darkness. despite the burning of his eyes, he read 03:27 AM. peeking outside the cracked window, the young boy saw stars speckling the sky. the heaviness of his limbs drew him to the makeshift bed in the corner on which he collapsed. it took but moments for him to fall into slumber yet again.

the loud alarm blared into cole's ears at he was startled awake. he sat up quickly and tapped the off button, hoping that no one else was woken up. he sighed as he slouched over. let's see.. it's... thursday? i think so. grabbing a pair of his socks from the cold ground, he slid them on his feet. while walking over to get his shoes, he felt coldness at the ball of his left foot. sighing yet again, he ignored it and put on his shoes.

quietly shutting the door to his room behind him, he blinked into the dark hallway. making sure to be silent, he slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way into the kitchen. with little hope, he opened the door to the pantry. it was as empty as ever. i'll have to go shopping today. the only thing dad ever buys is more alcohol and fast food. as if the world was trying to make a point, cole turned around to see wrappers littering the countertop. he swiped them off and into the trash before walking to the front door and leaving.

it was about a ten minute walk to the bus stop, and most of it was uphill. of course, it didn't really matter. with the amount cole skipped gym, he probably needed the little workout. as he went up, cole almost thanked the universe that he wasn't climbing down this early in the morning. he could think of a few too many times that he'd tripped and fell downhill, and that was when he was fully awake.

when he got to the bus stop, he saw the usual crowd. there were these two girls that were always gossiping behind their hands even though they spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. Then there was this random jock that stood off to the side, obviously thinking that he was better than everyone. On a rare occasion, he'd flirt with the girl wearing more makeup. They were both interested in him so you could see them trying to one-up each other and pretend like nothing was happening.

standing behind everyone was a kid with orange hair. they seemed to like the color blue because they were always wearing it. cole didn't know very much about them because they always had their nose buried in a book, or stared silently at the place the bus usually arrived with earbuds in. as usual, cole stepped to his usual spot, in front of the red head and beside the gossiping girls, but far enough away that he could pretend to ignore everyone. he pulled the hood of his navy blue sweater over his head as he quietly waited for the school bus to arrive.

brakes whined as a long yellow bus with westwood high printed on the side stopped in front of the group of kids. the jock rushed to get on first, and shoved his way down the aisle. the two girls followed after, bickering over who got to sit by the window. cole then got on, sliding into the only empty seat he could find. he pressed up against the cold metal and glass of the windowed wall.

he faintly noticed the kid in blue look around quickly, then frown. cole jumped as he felt an unexpected tap on the shoulder and looked up to see the bookworm. "uh.. hey. do you mind if i sit here?" as they gestured to the open seat next to him, cole noticed an insane amount of freckles covering their hand and arm. cole nodded briefly and hugged his school bag to his chest. "thanks.." the high schooler said quietly as he sat down. the bus then jerked into motion and the both of them looked in opposite directions. cole slouched into his seat and put his knees up on the bench in front of him as he stared out the window for the remainder of the ride.

nothing new awaited him at school, but that didn't stop cole from dreading it. the packed environment meant that he got shoved around and nearly trampled on a daily basis. no one ever noticed him so he always felt like a background character or an NPC in a video game. the strange thing is, that didn't bother him. being unnoticed, while it meant no one ever talked to him, it also meant he didn't get bullied, which was sure to happen otherwise. his constantly tattered pants and scribbled on off-brand shoes certainly wouldn't get him any popularity. the only thing that he managed to keep clean was his dark blue hoodie, and even the ends of the sleeves were starting to get frayed.

wasting no time, cole went straight to his first class and sat down in his usual spot in the back. he was the first one in the room, as even the teacher wasn't there. that was okay. it was better to be there from the beginning and be ignored than to enter after everyone and risk being stared at. he pulled out his homework from last night so that he could turn it in as soon as possible, and his sketchbook to doodle. flipping past pages full of animals and plants, as well as cartoon characters and a few stray doodles of classroom scenery, he went to a page that was about halfway complete. there was a sketch of the teacher's messy desk that was only partially complete. if he remembered correctly, he had just finished the pencil cup. moving onto the monitor, cole zoned out as he sketched the rectangular frame.

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hey, small author's note. i'm going to attempt to update this once a week, but no promises. i am fairly busy, and this is just a small story for my own fun. the chapters will be very short, around 1.5-2 pages each. despite that, i hope you enjoy this little creation! chapter two will go up on Oct. 6th.

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hey! future me here. i added a picture i drew of cole so that you can visualize the story a bit better! i hope this helps! i'm going to be adding pictures as i go of some of the scenes (if everything goes according to plan.)