“I understand you completely,” I imagined informing him, my tone authoritative, my eyes locked on his, serious, certain, strong, sure. 1
“What?” he asked, confused surprise furrowing his brow, for he was not used to this, as, in reality, we barely ever spoke, except for when he asked to borrow a sharpie so as to doodle graffiti on the cover of his agenda. His favorite color was green, preferably of a dark shade.2
“You don’t think anyone cares,” I continued, “Not your mom, who drinks, or your dad, some businessman, who’s never home.”3
“What are you talking about?” he asked, glancing around to see if anyone was looking, if anyone could hear his secret truths, his raw realities. 4
“I sit right here, everyday, though you may not notice. I sit right here, listening.”5
He leaned in close, confusedly intrigued. Conversations continued around us, small talk drawn on and on, pointless, ephemeral. 6
“You talk to Jack about the drugs you think you need to make life not worthwhile, but bearable, merely tolerable.7
And you’re smart, but you don’t even try in school. Why? Because you hate it here. Or that’s what you say, those are the syllables that you utter, simply because of the way they sound, so nonchalant, uncaring. 8
You say that you’d be happier somewhere else, but the truth is that you would be just as miserable at another high school. It would make no difference because you don’t believe that anyone could ever truly care for you. 9
You would associate with the same sort of people, the friends that are not friends, the ones that you are only connected with out of necessity. You use one another to attain your common goal, a high that will carry you away from the moment, from the awful, uncomfortable reality.” 10
11
“Hey, do you know the answer to number twenty?”12
“Wha…what?” I muttered, disoriented as his voice drew me out of my fantasy.13
“Number twenty,” he repeated, twirling his pencil absently as he waited for a response. 14
“Oh, sorry, didn’t get there yet,” I murmured, noticing the blank sheet in front of me, the open Geometry textbook I was supposed to be studying from. 15
A contest entry
- Prompt Me by wolf-storm.
115 points, ended February 14, 12 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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interesting. thanks for entering the contest it was really well written.
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Hey, I like this a lot!
As usual with you Sara, it's very well written and it's just a great story overall. I love that this piece is short but still deep, and I think that this kind of story might be based on many folks reality, cause we all notice things about people, and sometimes maybe we do so much more than they notice us back Again, very well written and with a nice plot!
Good to read your stories again!
(and good luck in the contest!)
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5, characters: 5.
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