Chapter 1
Sage Gray:
Sleep. A state of relaxation. I wish it was that way for me. I woke up in a cold sweat. My heart was pounding out of my chest. My breathing was deep and uneven. I sat up and covered my eyes. Thoughts of my past were flooding my mind.
As I tried to even out my breath I heard it. Beeping. Why is there beeping?
I tried to calm my racing heart as I uncovered my eyes. I turned and looked in the direction of the loud noise. I saw it. A alarm clock. I was in my room. I was safe.
As the tension in my body relaxed I remembered I needed to go to school. Fuck.. I slowly stood up and started getting ready.
My routine had been simple. Shower, dress, eat (if I felt like it), and take the dreadfull ride on the bus to the hell hole called school.
I took a shower first. The water flooded my skin when I heard my mom downstairs.
"Hurry up, Sage! You have school and I need to leave for work soon."
I let a deep sigh escape my lips before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower.
I grabbed a soft towel and dried myself off. I put on a plain black shirt and a hoodie. I grabbed dark gray jeans and put those on before slipping on my shoes and leaving my room.
I didn't really feel like eating, but I knew I needed to. I grabbed an apple off of the kitchen table and took a bite out of it before stepping outside. The cold air hit my skin, making me shiver as I waited for the bus.
By the time the bus got to my house I had already finished eating my apple, meaning I didn't have to get yelled at for having food on the bus.
I walked to the back of the bus before sitting down in an empty seat. I let my head rest on the cool glass window before letting my shoulders relax.
I kept my eyes closed until we got to school and I waited until most of the people had already left the bus before getting out.
I never really cared for school much. Maybe that's because I was beaten almost every day. I mean, who would?
I opened up my locker and grabbed whatever random things I needed for the day. I didn't really need much because most of it is done on a computer anyway. There's no point in grabbing things you don't even need. It's just extra stuff to carry around with my already sore arms.
The bell rang and I went to my first class. I made my way to the back of the room and blocked out most of what the teacher said. I had an A + in the class at the time so I didn't really care. No need to be an overachiever.
"Now, on the last test we took, almost everyone failed. Sage, you're the only one who got a one hundred percent. You should be proud. Everyone else, try to work harder."
"I think that Sage should help you out with assignments and projects, as well as study with you."
"I disagree," Jade said immediately as he rolled his eyes at me. His harsh tone was enough to make me flinch. Well, most things are enough to make me flinch.
"Your next report card doesn't look very good so far, Jade. Are you sure you want to show that to your mother?"
Something flashed in Jade's eyes at the mention of his mother. Emotion. I didn't see emotion in Jade much so it was a rare sight to see. Then, it was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
"Fine, I'll do it," Jade muttered under his breath. The teacher gave him a light smile before turning to me.
"Sage. I know it doesn't sound like you're getting much out of this deal. If you agree to it I'll give you extra credit points and put in a good word to your mom."
I just nodded my head but it didn't seem like the teacher liked my answer that much.
"Yeah, I'm ok with that," I tried and the teacher nodded and dismissed us.
As soon as the teacher said that we could leave, Jade grabbed his things and left before I had a chance to say a word, not that I really had much to say.
I walked out of the room and went straight to my next class, not wanting to get yelled at for being late.
The day went on as normal after that. It was a bit strange. People gave me a few weird looks, but that's not anything new so I didn't think much about it.
People gave me weird looks all the time. I mean, if you saw a gay kid with a scar on his face you would give him weird looks too. I can't really blame them, though it would be nice if they were a bit more subtle about it. I guess they didn't care much about how I felt.
When I got home a few hours later I immediately did my homework and laid down. I was exhausted from the day. All I wanted was for the darkness of sleep to consume me, not caring that I would probably wake up in a cold sweat with tears in my eyes. All I cared about at that moment was getting some amount of rest.
