Chapter Text
The day started off as per usual, I went to school, got harassed for 6 hours, came back home, got harassed by the geezer that lived with my family and collapsed in my bed. I should've been used to this by now, but surprisingly I haven't.
"You look like hell." My sister, Lyra, spoke up as she crawled into the bedroom by the window
"Yes…Yes, Th-Thank you." I grumbled, rubbing my face out of annoyance due to the uncomprehensible whispers crowding my head
"What ruffled your feathers now?" Lyra chuckled as she sat on her bed which was on the opposite side of the room.
"That old bas-bastard makin' my—Fuck you!— my life h-hell" I sat up and turned to Lyra who seemed obviously tired, "Took your precious time getting home" I pointed out, she hadn't been back since 8 PM of last night so I assumed she might've been downtown.
"Extra shifts over at the counter and mind your volume, if he overhears you he will give you more than an earful." She warned
"I…I know I know…" I took a deep breath before a box was shoved a box into my lap
"Happy early birthday" Lyra said, giving me a warm and tired smile
I glanced between her and the box feeling puzzled for a second before opening it hesitantly; feeling as if something were to jump out as soon as I opened it. As I took off the wrapping tissue I noticed Lyras camera sitting neatly at the bottom, I gasped as I quickly took it out of the box and held it in my hands carefully and tightly, hoping a tic wouldn't make me drop it.
"Ya like it?" Lyra asked with a huge giddy smile in her face
"I love…I love it!" I responded, inspecting it carefully with a smile to match
"I knew you would like it" Lyra ruffled my hair playfully and nudged me to go outside to try it out
I gave her a cheerful nod before climbing out the window and running off into the forest, which I considered my backyard due to how close it was to my house. I walked through the forest and took quite a few photos until the sun began coming down. I hurried back home and went to bed with a satisfied smile on my face, feeling happy with the amount of photos I managed to get.
I woke up earlier than usual the next day, I hurriedly ready, ate something small and headed out for school. I would've completely forgotten about my birthday if it weren't for the gift which had improved my mood by a huge amount. I eventually reached my school, the positivity completely draining off me as soon as I stepped inside and was greeted by glares and mocking whispers.
First period was always the worst out of the other periods. The teacher didn't care at all what anyone did which was surprising since it was only the first few weeks of school, which made it a lets-harrass-toby-for-fun period; paper airplanes, paper balls, name calling, and occasional mocking jokes of my tics or whatever they could come up with was mostly what was in the menu, but I would mostly manage to ignore it.
School was uneventful apart from the occasional happy birthday wishes I got from the teachers, which would be nice if only they didn't stare at me like I was a pitiful charity case. After school I decided to hurry home to avoid getting beat up in the bus but my luck decided otherwise, as I walked by the abandoned house which was a block away from mine I was thrown something at the back of my head. I quickly turned and saw Carter and his goons. Carter was an overly confident jerk who happens to enjoy bullying people who are different than him which includes me.
"Well if it aint Tobias Erin Rogers." Carter said with a huge stupid grin that showed his crooked teeth, "I heard its your birthday so I decided to give you a well deserved gift." Carter said as he cracked his knuckles like a cartoon villain and walked over
"A-And who let—Bam!— let you out of the nut— nut house?" I mocked, taking a few steps back as he walked over
"My charm can get me anything, unlike you, I’m not some freak." Carter scoffed as he quickly grabbed my collar and lifted me a bit before I could make a run for it.
"Well a-ain’t that a sh-shocker, from what I've seen you've n-never been good at m-minding your P's and Q's—" I said before he punched the soul out of me.
"Shut it Rogers!" Carter yelled as he tried punching me once more but I managed to knock his wind out with my foot making him drop me, "Son of a— what are you guys doing?! At him!" Carter yelled at his goons who couldn't process what he said fast enough which let me escape
I quickly ran back home as soon as he fell and didn't look back until I was inside. I took a deep breath before setting my bag down and sneakingly glancing at the living room to see if the devil was home and thankfully he wasn't. I walked into me and Lyras bedroom and saw her packing up her things in a suit case
"Well wh-where are you g-going?" I asked, Lyra turned to me and took a deep sigh
"We're moving to the west" Lyra said, I must've given her a strange look because she closed her suitcase and turned to me with a tired expression, "Ma hasn't told me why either, just pack your things, we're leaving tomorrow night." She explained
”…T-This is so s-sudden, w-why didn’t she tell me h-herself? Where—Whoop!—i-is she an-anyway?” I asked, moving was definitely one of the last things I expected to happen today
”Shes signing you out of your school, I know it’s last minute but it’s what Ma said” She said, her expression darkening as she looked away
”B-But…We already h-have a life s-settled in h-here, it’s small but—“ Lyra interrupted me with a familiar stare which meant ‘stop asking so many questions’
“I know it sounds unsettling but look at the brighter side of things, new state and new school which means there’s the possibility of making new friends!” Lyra said, trying to cheer me up which I appreciated
”I g-guess s—Shut it!— So…” I mumbled as I began packing, I would say I was hoping shes right but in all honesty it seemed like it was more probable for the bastard on the couch to get a job than for me to get friends.