Chapter Text
Ticking.
A clock that won’t stop ticking is a cause for anxiety, panic, fear, or hopelessness.
Silence.
When the clock breaks, the silence permeates the room like a rotten odor; it is now a cause of grief, fights, and exhaustion.
Lucky for Consuelo, he never had a problem with the insipid clock that always seemed to make others jump out of their skins at the slightest glance. Consuelo was always too busy or listening to other things.
Or so he thought that he truly did not have a problem with the obnoxious reminder of time that clutched onto his wall and had witnessed every moment of his life. He had made an ideal reality in his head that the clock bent to his will and that he had found peace in his life. Every moment, he questioned his reality, identity, mental state, stature, weight, and worth; he knew his clock could tie him back down to the reality that quickly waded through his fingers.
It danced, breathed, wiggled, and taunted him as time flew by in his room. His hand could barely reach to ensnare it from the prison he had built for himself on his sofa.
His hair, disgustingly greasy with week-old faded hair dye.
Pale skin, which once held the memories of what was once healthy.
His voice, barely a meek whisper from inactivity.
His fingers atrophied from his phone.
His clothes, the same outfit as three days ago, held his dried tear stains.
His eyes, tired and burning even if he kept sleeping.
His dog nudged his arm with a whine that pierced the stillness of the room. His Apple Watch loosely reminded him to hit a standing goal and a mindfulness goal today, which were in vain. Who even completes those? Now, Dear Reader, do not feel bad for Consuelo. He is the villain in our story and has nobody else but himself to blame for the entirety of what happens.
He was foolish enough to think he could be everybody’s friend, including time itself.
How wrong he was.
-
07:50
His door screeched open, a reminder of a hinge crying to be oiled.
“Despiértate, Consuelo! Ya estamos tarde por tu culpa. Ya despertaste a toda la casa con tus alarmas, ¿no lo escuchastes?” His mother shouted at him with disapproval.
He rolled over on his bed, using his pillow to cover his face. The warm retreat soothing him before frigidity invaded his senses as his poor blanket was ripped off him and tossed carelessly to the floor.
“Ay!” He cried out in shock as he curled up to conserve heat before he rolled off his bed with a grumble, landing on his carpet. “Mama!” He protested before she switched on the ceiling lights.
He tsked and sucked his teeth as she walked out. There were only ten minutes until school began, and he needed to haul his way over there before he got another lunch detention.
Preparatory Academy, K through 8 (Trademarked) was not something he loved, but he could barely remember his old school. This was all he knew, and it was okay that he maybe only had two friends. But what else did he need? Plus, he had so many more on his newly gifted phone that he could talk to and relate to more.
He was always too mature for his age, and that's probably why he didn’t get along with anybody else except the adults in the building. Just the other day, he had called his math teacher “Mom,” and instead of it being embarrassing, she just returned a warm smile before sitting at her desk and writing something on her notepad. That day, she didn’t dismiss him with the others but instead gifted him one of the classroom’s coveted stuffed animals. It matched perfectly with the one everybody knew was being carried in his bag at all times. He was never so happy before. He could barely even look at her face before leaving. Sadly for Consuelo, today he did not have math.
Consuelo had English today. The teacher there was strict and never allowed him to use his device. It made him angry, unrestrained, and frustrated, but he kept it under wraps. He had to be good; he was the model student after all. He ran two clubs and had great grades. He was one of the only two gifted kids left in his small school. His best friend, Cintra, had to leave after unspecified tension arose between her family and the office. So his new best friend was Gabriel. Gabriel was really funny. He was great and understood him like his online friends. He had even gone out of his way to give him a gift from when he took a trip to France earlier this month! Gabriel helped him when he was stuck at work. He thought of Gabriel as his whole world alongside his other friend, Becca. Becca was the daughter of the computer lab manager, which made her a great person to be connected with. Meeting Becca was almost by fate; she had needed a tutor, and he had a free period that he spent with her mom.
What also made Becca perfect is that Becca didn’t like Jamie. Jamie was Consuelo’s old friend who doesn't talk to him anymore because……
…
…
…
Don’t think more than you have to, Consuelo. Some things are best left forgotten.
…Okay.
Jamie and he drifted apart. It hurt Consuelo, after all, he was like family to them. Close to Jamie’s parents and her older brother. Consuelo tutored Jamie’s younger sister on occasion and even took care of their two dogs, two cats, and a mouse when they were out of town. He could tell you their exact diet, each one had been catered specifically to them. But that isn’t important. Jamie was in his past, even if she sat 4 desks ahead. That was okay to him, though. Becca sat in front of him so he didn’t have to see Jamie. In Becca’s words
“I know how much it must bother you to see her, so I’m doing it for you!”
Consuelo was convinced it was simply because of her bad eyesight that she was ashamed of, but he didn’t dare bring it up.
Though Gabriel did not have that problem,
“Are you sure? What's that word on the board even say, huh?” He snickered from Consuelo’s left as Becca’s mouth was left agape.
“You’re going to catch flies,” Gabriel said sweetly, and he tapped the bottom of his chin to signal to Becca to repeat his actions.
Getting up was difficult, but he was happy he did today. He had gotten his favorite for lunch packed today, and his friends are the best.
His mom had packed him Kraft mac and cheese, cold, of course, and a can of Vienna sausages to empty and cut up to have with the pasta.
It was always such a treat.
“Are you.. going to eat that?” Becca asked with slight repulse as her grip adjusted on her Jell-O cup as if it was going to run off into the amalgamation Consuelo was eating. She had nothing to fear, though; it was an orange Jell-O cup. Consuelo only liked the red ones.
“Yeah, want some?” He extended his fork to her face with a confused look.
“No… You enjoy it, though.” Becca cringed and grabbed the fork before putting it back into his mouth. He shrugged. He then extended his lunch to Gabriel, who opened his mouth to accept a forkful of mac and cheese, no sausage, before continuing back onto the sad tacos served in the school lunch.
“Consuelo, are you and Missus Mayberry not friends? Can’t she just heat it?” Gabriel said with food in his mouth. Missus Mayberry was the scary lunch manager. But she was very sweet to Consuelo for no particular reason. She even sat to eat with him in the first few months of school and asked if he was okay!
“Yes, but I like it cold,” Consuelo said with a smile. His phone dinged from the hidden inner pockets of his jacket.
His friend Penny was online!
Penny was amazing. She had her issues, but she was the strongest Consuelo had ever known. Sometimes Penny wanted help from Consuelo, so that made him strong too. He and Penny had many friends together who also had their problems. Consuelo is a little afraid of Maisey and Dave, but it's not their fault. Maisey and Dave were both older than his sister, and she was 16. Not by much, they were only both 17, almost 18. Not Penny, Penny was only two years older than Consuelo. That would make Penny nine, which was really cool to him.
Online, he also knew his friend Bayani. Bayani was eight and didn’t know about his other online friends, and that was okay.
What mattered was that everyone was really happy, and it was so much fun.
“Consuelo, put your phone away, you know you can’t have it at lunch!” Gabriel warned under his breath as he looked around, and Becca shielded Consuelo from view.
“But I need to text back or I’ll never find time for Penny! She’s going through a really hard time, and she needs me, and we’re in different time zones!” Consuelo said in a whine, and he continued to text.
Becca seemed confused, but Gabriel only sighed.
"Penny can talk to her parents or a doctor. We’re literal kids.”
“But we don’t act like them?” Consuelo tried to reason.
“That’s the issue,” Gabriel said as he pocketed Consuelo’s phone.
Oh.
The day passed by smoothly, a regular day with nothing to note. Tests he passed, assignments he finished, money he collected. Playground feuds, freeze-tag, and scraped knees made up the afternoon before he went home. The newspaper this week was already out in his school, and the sponsor for the dance club flunked out today. He sat on the steps of his school’s temple and waited for his mom.
He looked up and instead saw the smiling face of his aunt.
The thing with his mom and aunt is that they’re identical twins. But his Aunt carried sharper features, akin to a fox, and she always made herself look sweeter and older than she seemed. If his aunt was here right now then, where was his mom? She always picked him up. Dad, never, but Mom? He had missed her so much today. At least Tia was there.
Consuelo reached his hand out and his aunt accepted it warmly.
At least he was going home and not staying at school, he sighed in relief.
The rest of the time became blurry, until it was not. He sat at the dining room table with a smile on his face. A box with a bow sat in front of him. His dad, with a big smile spread ear to ear, sat at the head of the table, his mom next to him, and his sister at the end of the table, typing away on her laptop as if it would be the last day on Earth if she didn’t finish Calculus.
“Qué esperas? Open it,” his Mom said smoothly.
He pulled the bow with practiced ease and opened the box to reveal a yellow plastic watch. A kid’s one of course, yet he gasped with excitement and hurriedly put it on what he could best deduce after a few seconds was his left arm.
He had been constantly bickering and pleading for one since he saw his sister was gifted one, and that both his mom and dad carried matching ones on their arms at all times.
“Mira! Gracias!” He said with glee, and he extended his arm to his tired father, who set the time correctly on the digital face.
He was truly a part of his family with never the need to question it. They were perfect. Never any secrets or closed doors. They gave gifts, smiled, and laughed together. There would never ever be a day that changed that.
Consuelo’s life was perfect. No questions about it. He was everything a boy could hope to be. There was no struggle or tease or desperation.
He was constantly around people, never alone.
He was the most energetic boy there was.
Someone, somewhere, disagreed. Maybe in another time, another life, or right then and there.