Say Something

Chapter 1 - The Girl

It was the first day back to school. My mind raced to think of the hell to come this morning. Maths, English, Science; not all fun to me. Waking up early was hellish enough, now I have to deal with teachers and other students being annoying. I had decided to walk this morning instead of normally taking the bus to school. I had woken up earlier than normal anyway and didn't want to be surrounded with people I barely know. A half a mile walk wasn't too bad for a school morning. A nice amount of exercise and fresh air to start the day.

Funnily enough, my walk ended up being faster than the bus. I arrived before it did. Although, the school seemed empty; not a teacher in sight. I walked to the front entrance only to find it being locked with a note taped to the door saying, "To all students, school is shut for another week due to maintenance".

"Great", I said, "Another waste of my time".

I turned and stopped in complete paralysis to find a girl stood behind me. I had never seen her around before. She seemed about my age and very timid. She said nothing and just stared towards the ground and occasionally at me. I struggled to get my words out.

"I-It's c-closed" I said.

Having made a fool of myself by failing to utter a single word, never mind two, I began to blush. I usually don't talk to girls; they often keep their distance from me. But this girl was... Different. She did not seem to care that I was having trouble talking. In fact, I think she found it to be cute. She smiled and made a silent laugh behind her hand and waved. I waved back.

I said to myself, "Did that just happen?"

Paralyzed as I was on the front step of the school, I finally acted and started moving. I walked home with the biggest smile on my face. I was acknowledged by a girl. This was a big deal to me, but I still had so many questions. Who was that girl? Does she like me? Am I blind or is she new? Why didn't we talk? Whatever the question, I had no answer, but I hoped to see her again.

I came home to the sight of my brother, Jonah, and his girlfriend, Octavia, on the sofa in the living room. TV turned on but their eyes fixated on each other constantly. I shut the door behind me, and my brother reacted.

"You're home early" Said Jonah.

"Turns out school's not open for another week." I said. "They've still got some maintenance to do."

"Maintenance still? It's been 4 months since you got off school for your summer, how isn't it done?"

"I don't know but I don't really care. I see I may have interrupted what was going on between you two, so I'll just go upstairs. Call me down if you need anything."

"Oh, don't worry. We were just chilling out. Might be going out later though so, if you want, you can join us."

"Yeah, sure, I'll join you. Just call me down when you plan to leave, and I'll come down."

"Alright. Will do."

I proceeded to go upstairs and overheard my brother's girlfriend talking.

"Shouldn't he be prepping for going back to school?" She said, "Maybe we shouldn't take him. Studies are important."

"Don't worry, he's a straight A Student." Said Jonah, "If he goes off-track, he knows what to do. He needs a break every now and then."

It was nice to have a brother so supportive. It's nice to know that Octavia seems to care too, unlike mum and dad, always belittling me, thinking that they're pushing me forward but are instead pushing me down. Jonah's always been my lifeline when things got rough. Anything that I've done or will do, he's likely done too. I entered my room, hanged my jacket on my door, put my bag beside my desk and immediately laid down on my bed.