The Truth of Noah Arbell

Chapter One

I sighed as I sat up in my bed. I looked over at the digital clock on my nightstand which read, '3:36am'. I laid back down and looked around at the shadowed figures in my room, trying to make out what every object was. I had lived here for almost a month and I still wasn't used to it. My family moved around a lot because of my dads work. He's a military officer and my mom works from home. He spends most of his time at work while my mom has to take care of me and my younger sister. I understand that it's difficult for her but she handles the pressure very well, which I didn't understand, I always cracked under pressure, how does she do it? I closed my eyes hoping I'd be able to go back to sleep but it didn't happen. It never happened. I laid in bed thinking about random things as my family snoozed away.

My alarm went off and I had actually woken up from a nice sleep. The clock now read, '7:00am'. I got out of bed and walked downstairs. My sister Reilly sat at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She's 11 years old and in grade 6. She's a bundle of joy and I always enjoyed spending time with her. She means everything to me, she's my best friend .

"Good morning." She smiled as she shoved her spoon into her mouth.

"Good morning." I yawned as I grabbed a coffee mug.

"How was your sleep?" She asked.

I shrugged as I grabbed cream from the fridge.

"How about you?" I asked.

"It was great." She smiled.

"Good." I smiled in return sitting next to her.

It was Monday morning and Reilly was excited. She loved school so much and I don't know why, I'm sure that will change for her as she goes into high school. My school is awful, so many terrible people. A lot of people would consider me to be popular, but I really don't see it. I'd honestly prefer not to be and keep it on the down low with a few friends over having girls follow me around all of the time. It was annoying but I wasn't going to complain because I know people would kill for my status. I never understood why people wanted popularity, changing themselves so people will like them and so they'd fit in but wouldn't you rather stand out?

As I finished my cup of coffee I made my way upstairs and changed into a pair of jeans and a hoodie. I came back down where Reilly was putting her shoes on about to leave for the bus.

"Bye." I smiled hugging her.

"Bye Noah." She smiled opening the door and making her way out to the bus.

I sighed smiling as I sat back down pulling my phone out of my pocket. I'm Noah Arbell and I have so much on my mind. Nothing important just- I don't know, I mean everyone always has something on their mind I just can't figure out what it is. My mom came down the stairs in her pajamas and yawned.

"You're going to be late." She sighed.

"Can you drive me? I don't want to walk." I smiled.

"Ugh, you're so lazy, fine." She smiled.

I was a lot closer to my mom than my dad. Didn't mean I loved her more than him, I just felt more open to talk to her. We got in the car and drove off.

"Anything special today?" She asked.

"Not that I can think of." I shrugged.

"You seem like you're in a really good mood, usually on Mondays you're super cranky." She smiled.

"I don't know, am I not allowed to be happy?" I asked slightly laughing.

"Of course you are." She smiled.

We pulled up to the school. I gathered my things, kissed her on the cheek and got out of the car. I walked into the school and was greeted by a big group of my friends at the door.

"Hey dude." Smiled my best friend Alex. "How was your weekend?" He asked smiling.

"Uneventful." I shrugged.

"How about Reilly, how's she?" He asked.

"Excited as usual for it to finally be Monday." I smiled.

"Talking about that sister of yours, huh?" Asked Jayden, one of the biggest assholes on the planet.

"Do you mind?" I asked.

I hated him so much, he was the worst. He made me angrier than being here so early.