Chapter 1: Chapter 1

“Agh—”

A fist pummels into my face, knocking me down onto the dirty alleyway ground.

“Is this what you did to that girl as well?” The guy asks with a sneer. 

I wipe my bleeding nose with the back of my hand. I look up through the black hair that covers my eyes, and see a twisted smirk on his face. He was stood in front of three others, presumably his friends. They seem to be feeling a sense of satisfaction at my pitiful state, sitting on the ground, as I can hear there laughs despite my ears ringing from that punch.

I don’t respond, and I just sit their quietly. There isn’t much point in standing up for myself anymore. 

“Got nothing to say do ya?” He kicks me in the side, winding me, and earning the cheers of the three behind him.

I clutch my side, and roll on the ground, trying desperately to catch my breath.

“Now that’s what I like to see. Now…” he grabs my hair and tilts my head upwards. “Let’s see your face when it’s in pain—”

For some reason at the sight of my face, he pauses abruptly. His smirk quickly disappears and he furrows his brow. Perhaps it was because of my facial expression… or rather, lack thereof.

“Ugh, you punk! Haven’t learnt your lesson after all have ya?” His face become twisted with anger, as he furrows his brows and lifts his upper lip, showing his teeth.

With my hair tangled up in his hand, he jerked it to the side and let go, sending me to the ground once more.

“How ‘bout youse help me out here,” the guy turns around and asks. 

“Sounds like fun.”

“Sure thing boss.”

“Allrighty!”

I curl myself up with my hands over my head in preparation for what was to come. I hear their footsteps grow louder until they stop just next to me.

One kick starts it, quickly followed by another, and then another. Soon enough I lose count of how many times I’m kicked.

I could barely hear their laughs and shouts due to my hazy consciousness, but eventually they stop, and so do the kicks.

“Alright. I’ve had my fun, what about you guys?”

“Yeah, ready to go when you are boss-man.”

“Aight.”

I stay curled up for a while longer, listening to their footsteps fade away to ensure that they weren’t trying to drop my guard. I can no longer hear their footsteps, so I’m sure they’re gone. I take a peek to make sure, and roll onto my back. I look up at the narrow slit of grey sky between the two buildings either side of me, taking a deep breath. Ignoring the pain coursing throughout my body, I stand up, wiping the dirt off my school uniform. I only end up making it worse though, as my hands were dirty themselves. I look for my bag, and realised it wasn’t there. They must have taken it, but probably just threw it somewhere as it contains nothing of value; just some books and a pencil case.

I decide to at least make an attempt to search for it, as although the books served no purpose to those people, I still needed them to study. Studying was the only way to help me start somewhere new.

And so, I exit the alleyway onto a bustling street. Each person moves as if unseen hands drag them along in this way and that. They keep looking straight ahead, for their one goal at this hour is to get home and relax after a long day. Cars don’t move much faster than the walkers due to the traffic being too much for the narrow city roads to handle. Those narrow roads split densely packed buildings which consist of clothing stores and restaurants, which emit a warm aroma that distracts from the smell of cigarettes. It isn’t quite the CBD, so the buildings aren’t any taller than three stories, but still a bustling cityscape nonetheless. 

The monotonously grey sky that reflected off the occasional puddle isn’t offering much wind nor rain at the moment, but it’s still quite chilly, especially since I’m wearing my ruffed up, short sleeve school uniform. 

In search of my bag, I decide to try my luck and head in general direction of my home and search on the way. Unfortunately, that direction was against the breeze, which made it a lot colder, despite it being so gentle. It was a cold that enveloped my front half due to the thin nature of my shirt, but I resist the urge to shiver. 

In the past, when I was cold, my body would usually tense up and shiver slightly, which was probably normal. Nowadays, I find that I don’t do that anymore. It’s strange, but I like it, as the feeling of my body being constantly tense wasn’t ever pleasant.

As I walk, that cold gentle breeze blows my hair out of my eyes slightly, but not enough to completely expose my forehead. It feels quite nice, as my head was hot and throbbing, and I can now feel that throbbing starting to fade.

Being able to see easier, I begin to look around in search of my bag. Down alleyways I walk past, on the other sidewalk across the road… until, a commotion in my peripheral vision catches my eye. 

“Hey there, aren’t you a looker?” 

“U-uh… thanks? But can you not be so close?”

“Oh, don’t be so uptight? Why don’t you come with us?”

On the other sidewalk across the road, a man has a girl pinned against the wall with his arm, while his friend stands next to him, one hand on his hip. It’s obvious that the girl is uncomfortable, and is visibly irritated judging from her lifted upper lip and furrowed brow. Despite this however, people only glance and continue to walk past. Getting home after a long day is more important after all.

“Why would I want to go with you? I don’t even know you.” The girl’s voice remains calm. Judging from her school uniform, she seems to be a high schooler. It’s the same school uniform as I, but I’ve never seen her before, which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. At school, I’m ignored, and I ignore.

“We can get to know each other,” the guy with his hand on his hip explains.

“And we can do that by showing you a good time,” the wall-pinner uses his other arm to grab her arm, but the girl violently shakes it off.

“Ew. Don’t touch me”

“What the hell—How dare you?!” The wall-pinner raises his voice.

 He grabs a bag from the ground, and raises it in order to hit her. He brings his arm down, and the girl shrinks back and closes her eyes. 

The impact she was waiting for never happens.

““Huh?”” 

“Eh?”

The trio all let out noises of confusion, but then their eyes widen at the sight of me, gripping the bag that was centimetres away from her face.

“Oi, you fuckwit, what do you think your doin?” Wall-pinner regains his wits and looks at me in fury.

“You feeling a bit chivalrous today? How admirable.” The accomplice smirks.

“Ah, not really. That’s my bag,” I say.

““Huh?”” Male voices sound in unison.

“What?” A female voice follows immediately after.

“…” a few seconds of silence follows.

“Who do you think you ar— wait, aren’t you that dog on the news?” Wall pinner’s mouth twists into a savage smile.

“Yeah he is too! The rapist right?” His mate has the same expression.

“It seems you’ve already had a beating, but another won’t hurt right? Just so that you can thoroughly learn a good lesson?” He comes closer.

Wall pinner’s friend raises his fist as he sneers, “ Yeah, you should learn to mind your own business, cock-sucker!” 

His fist hammers into my face as he finishes his sentence. 

Ah, two in one day, huh?

Just as I begin mentally preparing myself for another beating…

“Oi, stop that right now!” I hear a male voice be hind me.

The two guy’s faces turn fearful.

“Oh, fuck, not them again.”

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“Fuck, let’s just run. Cops can go fuck themselves.”

They drop the bag, leaving it in my hands and run like the wind.

I turn round to see two blue and black uniforms, with caps on their heads and all sorts of equipment on their belts.

“Hey! Stay right where you are!” Another voice calls out from a little further behind. 

While one of the cops run after the two males,  the other approaches me.

“Alright, your coming with me.”

The cop grabs my arm roughly, and begins to pull me away until a that girls voice is heard yelling from behind us.

“Wait! That guy didn’t do anything!” She yells.

The cop responds in doubt. “Are you sure what your saying is true? He is, after all, the guy that—”

“Why would I lie? That guy saved me just now!”

The cop’s grip releases eventually after some hesitation. “Okay, your good, for now…” the cop warns me under his breath as he departs. “Did you find them…” his voice trails off as he talks into the radio.

After some silence, my hand is being grabbed, presumably from that girl.

“Hey, thanks for that.” She looks at me with a blindingly bright smile. She has big eyes, a small nose and mouth that contain a hint of lipstick, and a defined jawline. Her overall face structure is extremely symmetrical, which is apparently one of the most important ingredients for an attractive face. This was framed by hazelnut brown hair which flows like an ocean down to her chest. Her figure was slender, but her curves were well defined, and taut but well shaped thighs came down from her short skirt. One could tell from a glance that this girl was in good shape. 

I look down, causing my hair to fall over my eyes once more, concealing them. 

“Mm.” I respond absentmindedly, and then turn around putting my bag on my back. To be honest, I can’t muster up the energy to talk to her right now.

And so, I begin to walk, resuming my journey home. Thankfully, she doesn’t pursue me any further, and we part ways as quickly as we came together.

Rain begins to fall, lightly at first, but quickly becomes heavy. It was as if the sky was letting it all out after struggling to holding it back. I rapidly become completely soaked from head to toe, with my thin shirt clinging to my body, making it see through, and my hair being washed down over my eyes. I don’t care though, in fact, I welcome it as my shirt could do with a little prewash before it goes in the laundry.

Continuing to ignore the cold as I amble against the wind and rain, my thoughts wonder to that girl I saw before. Although I said I didn’t know who she was despite wearing the same uniform, she seemed familiar. I don’t think it’s because I personally know her, maybe it’s because I’ve seen her around at school maybe? I’m not so sure. 

I’m sure I’ll come to know in time. There’s no need to go out of my way for it.

——

 

I’m home,” I call out, despite knowing the pointlessness of letting people know.

As expected, the house responds in complete and utter silence, even though I know that at least my mother is home. But I guess silence the norm nowadays.

There’s also my little sister as well, but she never tells me when she’s coming home. It’s fine though, mom will know. And then there’s also my father who comes home late from work most days.

I make my way down the hallway, unfortunately leaving a trail of water, but it couldn’t be helped.

Then a door opens behind me and I hear someone coming out into the hallway.

“Hey, Chris, stop making a mess,” I hear my mother’s voice from behind me. 

“Sorry, mom, I’ll get myself dried up quickly,” I reply.

“Go around the back next time and dry up before coming into the house,” she tells me in a low and monotonous tone. “And, don’t call me ‘mom’. You don’t have the right after what you did.”

“Ah, yes, sorry I forgot.” I say while enter my room through a door on the left of the hallway and close it behind me.

I change into some tracksuit pants and a large hoodie after drying myself with a towel hung up in my room, and then take the wet clothes to the laundry. Upon entering back in my room, I instantly move toward my bed and flop onto it, facing upwards, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

This is where I spent most of my life recently. I rarely went into the living space of the house, but the rest of my family didn’t mind that at all.

I hear the front door open after some time.

“I’m home!” An enthusiastic feminine voice is muffled by the closed door of my room.

“Your home earlier than you said you’d be.” A response contrasting from moments ago comes from my mother—no, that woman. “Here’s a towel.”

“Hey, I can dry myself you know~” she laughs.

“This way, you can be dry and get a hug from me as well! It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

The two laugh pleasantly.

“All right, I’m gonna have a warm shower, then do some study in my room.”

“Okay. Dinner will be ready in about an hour, so be out by then. Hopefully your father will be home soon.”

“Mm, okay.”

Ah. I need to study too. But right now I can’t bring myself to get up.

Time goes by quickly as I lay there, completely still, looking up at a whitewashed ceiling. It was completely bare save for a small light globe in the centre. I decide to focus my gaze elsewhere, and my eyes fall on the window that looks outside. It’s not much of a view though, as there is little space between the side of the house and the fence that divides this house and the neighbouring one. I begin to look around my desolate room, looking for a point of interest. There is none, not anymore, as I threw out my gaming posters and books I enjoyed reading. Now, my room merely consists of a bed, a desk for studying and a wardrobe.

I eventually bring myself off my bed out of pure boredom, and withdraw my study materials and books from my bag and onto my desk.

The hours fly by while my pen sprawls across the pages. I had entered a state of complete focus that not even the sound of my family talking as they ate dinner could break.

After some time, I put my pen down and lean back in my chair, taking a big breath. It was now completely dark outside, and it had been that way for a while now. I stand up and walk towards the door, peeking outside to see if anyone was still up. All the lights have been turned off, so I assume everyone had gone to sleep.

Time for dinner.

I walk down the hallway and it suddenly opens up into the living area. The living room is an open planned space, so the kitchen, dining table and lounge room were all in the same room.

I enter the kitchen on the left and only turn the lights necessary to illuminate the kitchen area. The rest of the space remains dark, so when I look out from over the kitchen bench, I could only see pitch darkness due to my eyes being adjusted to the white, almost blue light. The rain has stopped too, and as such it was completely silent, so silent that I could hear the faint humming of the electrical current in the lights.

I open the fridge in search for something of substance to eat, and I spot a Tupperware container with some chicken and rice inside. I’m in luck, it seems they left me some leftovers.

After withdrawing the container from the fridge, I place it in the microwave. It makes a faint beeping sound as I turn it on, and it hums faintly as it emits a warm, orange light. I watch the container spin around on the other side of the glass with fuzzy eyes and a hazy consciousness. The light blurring in and out of focus makes me aware the fatigue I’m feeling. How long did I study for? I look at the clock, and it displays: 01:27. It’s not terribly late, but maybe I’m just worn out from today, or rather, yesterday. It was quite troublesome after all.

Beep beep.

The warm orange light ceases to exist, and the faint humming stops. The sound that’s left is the faint sizzling and popping of the freshly heated food inside. I open the microwave and take the container out, and set it on top of the kitchen bench along with a fork. Whilst sitting down and eating the tasteless food, I let my thoughts wonder aimlessly. Naturally, they wonder to the past, to the single event which had changed my life forever; the false accusation that led to the constant harassment and humiliation that I receive on a daily basis. Strangely enough, it doesn’t make me angry, in fact, I don’t blame them. I would have believed the accusation as well. Actually, on the global news recently a famous soccer player by the name of Harrison Roberts had been accused of a similar thing to me. He received a significant amount of hate and slander on the media, and I thought that he deserved it, because I believed it. Obviously, I look at it in a different light now, since there’s only been an accusation and no evidence to support it. 

I finish up my meal quickly, wash the container in the sink, and put it away neatly in the correct drawer.

I walk back down the hallway, but enter into the bathroom this time, since I need to brush my teeth. I quickly do so, then spit into the sink, rinsing my mouth out with water. I raise my head, and briefly stare at myself in the mirror.

My unkept, short black hair is still long enough to mostly cover my hazy green eyes. But I can still see them staring back at me through the gaps. My eyelids droop halfway, like they always do nowadays, and faint eye bags lie right under them. As for my body, it’s a fairly normal build, proportional to my fairly normal height. 

 You can say that my appearance has nothing that stands out whatsoever. Maybe that part of myself made me an easy target for that girl, the one who falsely accused me. My lips twitch at the thought of her. Although I remain indifferent the people that harass me because they believe the accusations, I still find myself feeling enraged at the girl who accused me for fun. Such emotions boil up inside me, but thankfully, my face remains unchanging. It seems I have been getting very good at suppressing similar emotions as of late. With that thought, I exit the bathroom, and enter into my bedroom just on the other side of the hallway, making sure I make minimal sound, which isn’t hard thanks to the cold granite flooring.

I climb onto my bed, under the sheets and find a comfortable position on my back. Due to my drowsiness, my consciousness quickly finds itself in a world light years from here, while my body remains motionless back on earth.

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