The Amazing Life of a (Sort-of) Amazing Author

Time for Bed

Josh backed away from the desk where the computer sat.  He got up and stretched, feeling a few satisfying “pops” in his back.  He thought about making his own dinner, as he usually did.  His parents always came home late, and he would be starving by the time they got home if he waited for them.  That night he decided that he would make macaroni and cheese.  Putting it on the stove, he walked over to his couch, where he slumped down.  
       He pulled out his phone, a shitty black flip phone that probably cost between forty-five to sixty dollars.  Henri had sent him a text about a hour ago.  She needed to copy his homework, which he still had yet to start.  He and Henri had a delicate relationship.  He’d let her copy his homework and she wouldn’t embarrass him in public, or beat him down emotionally.  He tossed his phone to the other side of the couch, where it slid off the side.  It hit the ground with a loud bang.
        “Shit.” Josh muttered, going over to pick it up.  When he did, he found it surprisingly undamaged.  “There is a God.”
       He sat back down and waited for a little before the timer for his mac and cheese went off.  He walked into the kitchen and took the boiling water off the stove.  He emptied the water and poured the macaroni into a bowl before pouring some milk and the cheese powder into it.
      ”Such a fantastic life I’m living.” He muttered under his breath, mixing the ingredients together.
 After his dinner cooled down, he took it to the small metal kitchen table and ate in silence.  He went over what had gone on that day, which wasn’t that much.  He had sat at the computer all day, staring at the screen while trying to think of something to write. He had written a lot, but nothing he deemed worthy for the public eye. It was a constant cycle, write, read, delete, repeat.
      Josh stared over at the computer screen, wondering if it was worth it to actually start writing again. Probably not, as it was nearing 8 P.M, and he was exhausted from staying late the previous night. He looked down to see how much food he had left and was surprised to see that he had finished it already.            Josh stood, grunting a little as he did, and walked over to the sink, where he put the bowl and fork. He rinsed the bowl a little, and decided to leave the rest to his mom. He left the kitchen, closing the door behind him, and entered a small hallway that had doors which led to the living room and dining room on either side. He walked down past the hallway to where his front door stood. Next to that door, heading in the opposite direction of which he just walked, was a stairwell.
      Hurrying up the stairs, he found himself in the familiar smaller hallway, which allowed access to his room, his parents room, the back room, the attic, and the bathroom. All the rooms in his house seemed small, even though the house itself felt huge at some points in time.  He went into his bedroom, grabbing a pair of underwear that had been laying in the pile of clean clothes by the side of his bed for the last week.
      Hurrying into the bathroom, he found himself back in the small tiled room that barely had enough room for the sink and the toilet.  He threw the clean underwear on the closed toilet lid and stripped down. Stepping into the shower, he started to think.  However the scalding hot water was quite a distraction for him.  Slowly moving the knob, as not to let in the waters of Antarctica instead, he found the warmest setting that wasn't molten lava.
      Getting back to his thoughts, he once again realized he lived a routine life.  Usually he realized this in the shower, although sometimes it held off until he was staring at his ceiling.  His life was simple.   Wake up, get dressed, eat, go to school or write on the weekends, eat, come home or get out of bed, eat, shower, sleep.
    It wasn't fun, but it wasn't boring either.  It was just life, plain and simple.  Josh couldn't tell if he was happy about that, but usually you have to know what it's like to have something before you know you miss it.  Josh was not happy, but he wasn't exactly sad.  He existed in a state between the two, in an everlasting state of being content.  The water was becoming colder, but only slightly, so he decided to stay in a little longer. 
        He began to think about his friendship with Henri.  It wasn't really a friendship, more like those birds and alligators.  A sort of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" relationship.  But she was like him in a sense.  None of the girls wanted to hang out with her, and all of the guys who weren't looking to end up in her pants thought she was "too fucking weird."
        Henri obviously didn't care about that stuff, at least it seemed that way to Josh.  She was a bad ass girl who protected him from time to time, whenever he needed it.  And in return he helped her academically.  That way it wasn't really bullying, as Henri had stated.  She may look like a punk, but she was actually quite caring.  If only she could show that better.
        By now the water had become freezing, and Josh had only washed his hair.  He decided that he could just get a shower in at the school the next day.  Turning off the water, Josh got out of the shower and wrapped a towl around him at the waist.  He silently brushed his teeth, counting in his head the hairs on his chin and making a guess at the next time he would have to shave.
        He looked at himself, his pale face that had enough color to show he wasn't sick but still make him look like a vampire.  His hair was a hazel brown hair with sky blue eyes, both inherited from his mother. He finished drying off and put on the clean underwear, then slowly made his way into his bedroom.
        He slid into his bed, where he knew countless minutes of torturous thoughts would await him.