The house was quiet as the sun began rising and not a sound disturbed this serene aura that seemed to fill the entire house. That was until the sound of a toaster sounded, a hand grabbed the two toasted slices of bread setting them down onto a ceramic plate. Abel then grabbed the butter and pulled it out of the fridge closing the door with a light tap from his foot. He grabbed one slice and buttered it quickly before doing the same to the other. He set his plate on the table then fixed himself a glass of apple juice. He sat down and began eating, not even five minutes later did he snap his head at the sound of footsteps over at the arch that divided the living room and the kitchen. Standing there was a very tired Pamela who rubbed her eyes to rid them of their sleepiness with her left hand while she held a teddy bear in her right hand. She let her arm fall to her side before she said, "I don't know how you do this everyday. Do have any clue what time it is?"
Abel shrugged making Pamela simply point at the clock with Abel following her finger to see the clock that read 6:10. In all honesty Abel knew that he got up early but he had a good reason for it. He had to wake up and get ready early so he had time to make breakfast for himself and then he had to walk to the bus stop because the school bus never came around this part of town so he had to get as close to school that the city bus could take him and walk the rest of the way. Now if he could get a ride from his family he would, but they are always telling him no, well Evelyn, Max, and Hannah did and Abel never asked his dad. He didn't want to tell Pamela that, it would just make her worry about him more so he just gave a simple shrug. Pamela shook her head before they both smiled as they were filled with amusement. The morning went like every other morning as Abel went through his daily routine of making his family breakfast and getting his stuff ready. He grabbed his bag and looked outside to see it somewhat snowing. He put on a hooded jacket and place a beanie over his dark brown hair before walking outside and heading down the leaf covered path that led to the city bus stop. He read his Bible as he waited for the bus to arrive, after thirty minutes of waiting the bus drove up. Abel waved at the driver who smiled back at him. Abel noted he was the only passenger on the bus and sat down putting his headphones on and turned on his music. After a few pickups the driver stopped at Abel's usual stop, Abel got up and proceeded to leave the bus but was once again stopped by the bus driver. "I just wanted you to know that if you ever need a ride here's my card."
Abel took the card handed to him and read it, his eyes scanning it to see the driver's name which was Kenny and contact number. "I know you can't talk so you can just text instead of call." said Kenny.
Abel smiled at him brightly as Kenny smiled back at him. Abel got off the bus and checked his phone to see that it was 7:56. He put his phone in his pocket and took off running, his bag bouncing with every step he took. He was a few feet away fom campus when the 8:00 o'clock bell rang making him pick up the pace. He got to the front doors and opened them before dashing in and heading downstairs to his first class. He ran to his locker, he proceeded putting in the code for the lock and grabbed his binder he needed then slammed his locker door shut before taking off once more. He made to his first class of the day, which was Algebra II, right as the bell rung. He peered at his teacher, Mrs. Baxter who then said, "Mr. Gutierrez just in time, glad you could make it now please have a seat."
Abel smiled sheepishly before walking to his seat. He sat down as the morning announcements came on, he got up and saluted the flag then when it was over he sat down and listened to the annoucements. Two minutes later announcements were done and role was being taken. "Tania Goodwin?" asked Mrs. Baxter. Her eyes looked up scanning the room for Tania before asked, "Has anyone seen or heard from Tania?"
At that moment a knock was heard from the door and Mrs. Baxter with her role call list in hand walked over to open it. Abel looked at the door and was suprised to see Tania, but not in the way he was used to. Tania wore a black leather jacket over a plain white shirt with black jeans that were slightly baggy at the bottom and black high-heeled boots. Her red hair covered one of her hazel eyes while the other stared at Mrs. Baxter before handing Mrs. Baxter a note. Abel eyes moved to the right as snickers had sounded behind him, though they were not loud enough to draw Mrs. Baxter's attention. He turned to the side see Sebastian Cook, another one of Max's football friends place four thumbtacks onto Tania's chair while his friends snickered. Sebastian sat back down as Mrs. Baxter looked over Tania's shoulder. She waited a good five seconds before she began speaking with Tania. Abel knew he had to act fast, he turned in his seat and reached for the thumbtacks on Tania's seat. He grabbed one... then two... three... and finally four then sat back in his chair. Sebastian was about to get up but sat back down as Mrs. Baxter once more looked over Tania's shoulder then motioned for her to sit down. Tania walked to her seat as she caught Abel's eyes staring at her before he gave her a bright smile. In return she gave him a small smile, but Abel knew it was forced. He stared at her as she sat down and took out her notebooks to take notes before peering down at the thumbtacks in his palm. He looked over to see Sebastian glaring at him while his friends looked like they were ready to pummel Abel. Abel simply rolled his eyes at them and turned back to face the board. Abel already knew this section so he let his mind roam to thinking about Tania. Just a few days ago she was the girl to wear skirts and tank tops under a leather jacket. Sure she was popular and treated Abel and his friends like they were nothing, but she definitely did not deserve to be dumped the way she was nor the pranks she's had played on her or the insults thrown at her. People would have probably expected Abel to be joining in on making Tania miserable but he wasn't that type of person. Victor was two years older than Tania and she was sixteen years old. Max and Hannah were both a year older her and two years older than Abel. Abel stared at Tania's hazel eyes to see they weren't filled with the fire they had held a day or two ago, they were now blank, void of any other emotion but sadness. Something in Abel's heart wanted to bring that fire back and show Tania that everything was going to be okay.
