I See Stars; Tyrus

The Outsider

"TJ! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Amber hollers from downstairs, as if my bleeping swatch couldn't tell me the time already.

I groan and reach my arm over my face to block out the blaring sunlight. I hear Amber's feet shuffling up to my room, she kicks the foot of my bed with a loud bang and pulls my blankets away from me. "Come on Thel, you're gonna be late." I can smell the smoke on her tongue. We smoke only when we need to relief stress from any events. I started doing it a lot more ever since the funeral.

"Ugggggrrrrg." I moan, "shoot ambs, I don't give a dime about school at the moment." My back hurts from last night and I need a cigar.

"Yeah well I would imagine how many dimes coach gives when his captain misses his fourth training sesh." She kicks my bed one more time then heads down to either do her hair or get ready for work.

Damn, training! I've already missed so many cause of dad, I can't again. I roll out of bed and into a heap of dirty laundry, I'll remind Amber that we need to get it washed later, for now I have to search for the cleanest one. Yesterday's pair will have to do.

"Come on T I'm leaving and if you want a ride to school you better hurry!"

I run downstairs with my hair ungreased and my shirt in my hands. "I'm comin, I'm comin." I say back and grab a banana and a small carton of milk. My feet shuffle over the floor and I throw on my shoes.

Amber is starting her blue corvette, her hair straightened in some weird girl craze so that it is frizzier than an afro in a summer rainstorm, and has beads looped all the way through. Her blonde frizz actually works with her waitress uniform.

I don't want to think about Amber dropping out for me to afford school, or dad's lack of presence in the morning. I really don't.

"Damn TJ, somebody is in a hurry for a ball sport." She comments as I slide into the passenger seat.

"Shut up," I reply and we drive down the bumpy road.

✭

"Good Hussle today boys! Kippen I'm glad to see you back in action!" Coach's deep voice compliments everyone as eleven sweaty guys head off to the gym's locker rooms.

"Welcome back Kippen." Reed mimics and shoves me playfully. "Suck up."

I push him back, "man shut up." I grab my towel and hit him on the back, Reed grins teasingly "careful TJ, don't want daddy knowing you're not the role model he boasts too." I reply with hitting him with a towel again. I don't want to think about his comments, not right now.

Everyone else hits the showers as I go to quickly change back into my regular clothes, I don't like to hang around here anymore. Not because of a bunch of guys, I know that I am gay, but because I know I can squeeze in an hour to do whatever I wanted when Reed and Lester are distracted by towel fights and wrestling.

"Yo Kippen, where are you going? Scared to see us naked?" David yells while only wearing his shorts.

"Nah, I've gotta go, Miss South will kill me if I don't hand in my homework, haven't even started yet." I lie, I did my homework an hour after I got it, but they don't need to know that.

I shuffle out of my basketball jersey and shorts and jump into my jeans, I forgot to take my gel, so I guess fluffy hair will have to do, but I put on a baseball cap just to make sure.

"See you guys later!" I yell and run out of the tiled locker room. For a second I thought I heard Reed's voice calling me but it was probably nothing. Once I get out of there and back into the normal halls of grant I slow down to a normal swaggered walk. Tough cool TJ Kippen, yeah.