Chapter Text

Chapter 1:

"Life of a loser."

Your sore eyes dragged along towards the sight of the window as your head turned to the side, the dim light of blue morning sky trespassing through the thin curtains that blocked the view outside.

A half-annoyed grunt escaped you. Morning already? Sigh... Of course.

It was almost like every time you tried to sleep early, your mind just blanked out while you were gaming on the lousy old computer—one that had been a gift from your older cousin a few years ago. It was slow at times, but it ran World of Warcraft well enough to not make you complain too much.

Frustrated with your notion of time sucking ass as usual, you turned off the monitor after a minute of staring blankly at the screen. Your eyes stung a little from staring at the blue light for hours on end, and for the same tiredness that you didn't realize you had up until now.

Rubbing your eye, you got up from the chair and clicked off the computer. You had learnt the bad way that this old thing heated up like crazy, after you hadn't bother to turn it off one night and woke up the next morning by the loud buzzing of it's fan, desperately trying to keep the box full of metal and wire cool while it threatened to either melt or explode.

Or both at the same time.

You flopped on the bed face down, letting a tired sigh hit the pillow and subsequently, get muffled by it.

You lazily crawled further into the bed, shrugging off your unzipped hoodie and tossing it at the foot of it. You thought about your old bed with nostalgia—now more than ever before—as you shuffled into the cold sheets and the still-too-hard new mattress you had been using for the past two months.

You buried yourself with the blanket almost up to the top of your head, closing your eyes, but not drifting to sleep right away.

Last few days of winter break, then back to school.

Your stomach twisted at the thought of going through those doors, so different yet still familiar from the ones your previous school had.

You couldn't really escape it at all, it was already your last year of highschool, just the final stretch before graduating.

But the swarm of unfamiliar faces, voices, mutter in the halls and the ever-present eyes that stared.

You weren't particularly terrified of the idea of being alone in a room full of people, but... It still made your insides twist and feel like you were going to be sick.

You'd rather keep doing what you always do. Game, get absorbed in yourself and your own world, hide away behind books and drawings to pass time.

It was an embarrassing solution you opted towards way more than you'd like to admit.

You shook your head, nuzzling your face on the pillow in the process. As if trying to shake off the never ending thoughts like a dog shaking off drops of water from it's fur.

You forced yourself to stop thinking, for your mind to go blank and allow yourself some rest. It took what it felt to be hours, but you eventually were able to sleep.

The same day—just later in the afternoon, you woke up with the common tune of chatter in the house. Clanking of plates and cuttlery, some commercial break on the Tv, your parents talking. It was always better than waking up in silence, not knowing if everyone in the house vanished or if you slept the entire day.

Your legs slowly fall to the side of the bed as you sit up and pull off the blanket from yourself. You do what you always do, go brush your teeth, take a shower maybe, eat some breakfast.

Then you go back to hiding in your cave–Ahem, room, and satiate your vice of videogames.

"What are you doing staying in your room again?" Your mother calls out from outside the open door, looking at you as you sat in front of the desk, your hands already on the keyboard when you got interrupted mid-typing.

"Yes? I don't have anything else to do in here..."

"Why don't you go out? Explore town a little, it won't kill you." She suggests, holding a basket of laundry in her arms. You groan audibly and lean back on your chair. Going out? Hell no! It was cold outside and you didn't have anyone to hang out with.

"And where would I even go? The grocery store?? No, thanks. I got plenty of entertaintment right here." You argued, gesturing to the computer before your mother scoffed and glared at you.

"I heard there's a comic store around. Why don't you go check it out? At least then, you'd be reading instead of staring at that screen 24/7."

"Wh- I don't stare at the screen 24/7!"

"Yes, you do. Now, out of the room. Come on!" She pressured you to get up, and you did so with an annoyed groan.

"Uuugh... Fiine! I don't promise I won't come back in 5 minutes if I don't like it."

Your mother rolled her eyes as she resumed her march to the laundry room. You went over to close the door to change.

You were lazy, but not enough to go out in sweats and the One Piece shirt you sleep in.

Something simple would do. A pair of lose jeans, your favorite band's shirt, and a black hoodie. Of course, you couldn't leave without your most precious items—your mp3 and your headphones.

They were a must every time you went out, they saved you from awkward small talk—it was a clear sign that screams "don't talk to me!" And it worked like a charm. Plus, you wouldn't get bored.

You ended up grabbing some money, just in case you found something you wanted. And you made your way to the front door, saying goodbye and heading out.