Prodigal Catharsis

Chapter One

Four years after Ms. Gloria's Funeral

Every morning, I grimace at the idea of having to go to school. Why do I need school? I am terrible at it anyway. I have one teacher who ignores me, three that are always calling me out, two that I want to punch in the face, and the other two I can swear are out to kill me. I lazily rolled out of bed and put on my three day worn black Metallica shirt, my black semi saggy pants with a silver chain hanging off of it, and my solid black converse sneakers. In the closet sits my black fedora hat that I use to complete the heavy metal look. Then I threw my backpack over one shoulder and headed out of my adopted parents' front door. Before I could actually open the door, Jessica, my adopted mother, said, "You have worn that same shirt for three days. When are you going to change your clothes?"

"Whenever I feel like it," I sneered. So I swung the door open, stepped out, and slammed it shut. Who the f**k does she think she is, my mother? I'm sixteen years old, and i dont need her two pennies every time she disagrees with me.

Jessica was a pushover.' I could get away with pretty much whatever I want. Her husband, Gregory, on the other hand, I had respect for because he has proven that he will not take s**t from anybody. I once saw him lay a guy flat on his back for looking at Jessica in a s****l manner. That was the coolest thing I had ver seen. Ever since then, Gregory and I were somewhat cool unless I crossed Jessica.

Rolling my eyes on the way out, I began my walk to school. It's not that we dont live on the route of a school bus, I just dont like riding the bus with he other kids because of Tommy Richards. He is the school bully who borrows money from his dad to hire the other kids to f**k with me and I really dont feel like dealing with that s**t today. Honestly, with the way I view things, if murder wasn't illegal, I would definitely take great pleasure in dismembering Tommy slowly.

Instead, I headed toward the wooded area that is directly in the middle of the straight shot path to the school. Which is nice to me because it is dark, quiet, and creepy; just like i like it. During my walk through the woods, I thought I heard the sound of a twig snapping, causing me to stop dead in my tracks, and felt the cold tingling up my spine. As I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, I gazed over my left shoulder in the direction the sound came from, seeing nothing. I then continued walking when I heard it again, except louder this time.

I spin around in a panic, yet again, nothing. Now I know. I definitely heard something. I squint in the opposite direction of where I was headed, and behind a bush, I saw a shadowy figure. Stricken with fear, I began to sprint in the direction of the school. If there was one thing I knew, it is that the school really is not too far when you travel in a straight line. All these damn curvy roads made it such a long distance to get there.

I slowed down when I reached the tree line, which was in clear line of sight from the front of the school. If there was something or someone following me, it was gone now. Straining to catch my breath, I make my way to the school entrance where I see my two friends, the only friends I have in this stupid school, Peter and Cody DeShazo, sitting on the ground with their knees up and their backs against the wall. Peter and Cody were fraternal twins; Peter was tall and lanky while Cody was short and chubby.

"Whats up faggots" I open up sarcastically.

"Hey," they both exclaimed, "Whats up dude".

I sat down with them on the ground, "Not much, just that b***h, Jessica. She wont f*****g leave me alone man. It's really making me f*****g sick how she always needs to put her two cents into everything I do."

They were both playing mobile games on their phones so I figured I'd pull mine out of my jean pocket as well, along with my noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones from my backpack. With Avenged Sevenfold blaring their classic, Chapter Four, I wasn't able to hear the first bell go off. Peter, being the caring friend that he is, tapped me on the shoulder, "Come on bro, it's time for class."

Now, being the rebellious troublemaker that I was, I responded with, "Come on, let's go down to the river and hang out. We don't need this place."

"No, dude," he responded, "Let's go to class."

"Whatever," I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

I'll spare you from the boring details about how I always slept in the back of the class. Instead, I'll let Jessica tell you about what happened back at home after I left.

So, I'll begin by saying that when Gregory and I adopted Jeffrey about three or four years ago, he was already a little bit older than the majority of the other kids. The caretaker of the orphanage had previously informed us that he was a bit of a handful. We were fine with that, being the patient Christains that we are, but we learned quickly that sometimes it becomes too much.

After Jeffrey caught an attitude with me this morning, and slammed the door, I sat down on the couch and cried, wishing I could call Gregory, but he told me not to call him at work unless it was a dire emergency. Anyway, I turned on the TV to find some kind of distraction and...

Hang on Jessica, I'm getting to a good part of school. You all probably thought I was going to let that drag on forever, didn't you, lol.

Anyway, second period rolls around, and I'm sitting in the back of this boring Physics class. There was a great distraction though, and her name was Rachel Richards. Yep, you guessed correctly, Tommy Richards younger sister.

I had such a major crush on Rachel, and the thought of being with her always made me forget about Tommy's existence. From a long flowing wave of her bronze hair, to the glimmer in her emerald green eyes, and the hour glass shape to her body with her sun-kissed tan skin. She was the image of perfection in my opinion. In addition, she always comes into class with a juge smile that covers half of her face, and always very humble and kind to everyone. Heartwarming in my eyes, but in reality, she probably doesn't even notice my existence. That Doesn't stop me from admiring her beauty for an hour and a half each day.

Now, Tommy Richards is an eighteen year old senior who likes to poke fun at the freshmen and sophomores, which is understandable to a certain degree. With me, however, he has gone as far as planting stink bombs in my backpack, writing, "Jeffrey likes to suck c***s for real cheap" on my locker, and even telling girls that I want to f**k them, leading to the result of me getting slapped the s**t out of. His description is not too different from his sister. He's a pretty boy, jet black fresh haircut that his daddy gets done at least once every two weeks, green eyes, and a sculpted jawline. He was always in great shape, especially since he was the lead football jock in the school. How he's Rachel's brother is beyond me, shes an angel, and he's a d**k. His attitude and hers don't really fit the billet.

"JEFFREY!", the Physics teacher, Mr. Croache began, "What is the difference between Centripetal acceleration and Centrifugal force?"

William Croache was a man that lived an extremely lonesome lifestyle in an empty one bedroom apartment. He had never been married and has no children to speak of despite the fact that forty-two years of his life had already passed. Although he never complains aloud, the glimmer in his hazel eyes scream for the arrival of death. He has always been overweight but never grotesquely obese and his belly clearly claims the beer he likes to drink during the weekends.

I look away from the daydream of Rachel and I to the empty void that is Mr. Croache.

"Um," I begin, and then the sweetest voice in the whole world chimes in.

"Centripetal Acceleration is the acceleration something experiences as it travels a certain velocity along and toward the center of an arc. Centrifugal Force is the imaginary force an unrestrained object experiences as it moves around an arc."

"I dont remember asking you Ms. Richards," the teacher sneered at Rachel.

I looked over toward Rachel and catch a wink she sent my way. What an angel, I lip 'Thank you' to her and she lipped 'You're welcome' back to me. Her grin seemed slightly mischievous before she turned her head back to the front of the class. I just cannot take my eyes off this girl. She is amazing in every way and I'm just a nobody, but for a second there, it almost seemed like we connected in a way.

After secone period came lunchtime. Heading to the cafeteria, trying to keep my head down, I passed by Tommy and his group of Jock friends. Within this group was the head of the pack, Tommy hisself, along with, Trevor Davies, Frank Williams, and George Cunningham. They're all built relatively similar; muscular, at least six feet tall, and each one of them are stars in the football team.

I glance over to assure that they aren't going to follow and harrass me as they usually do. Just as soon as I do, Tommy catches my gaze, gives me his grimacing smile, winks and I knew I was f****d but they didn't follow me right away.

In the cafeteria, I purchase a chicken sandwich and salad from the secondary line as I normally do, and take my seat in the back corner booth with Peter and Cody.

"Guys!" I started with a hint of excitement. Peter notices and says, "You seem chipper, did something good happen for once?"

"Yes dickhead. You know that girl rachel from my physics class" I smirked.

" You mean Tommy Richards's sister?" Cody chimes in.

"Yeah, anyway, she smiled and winked at me today" I said in confidence.

Then Peter and Cody looked at each other in worry. Peter then mentioned, "Dude, you probably shouldn't try something stupid. Tommy is liable to murder you."

"f**k TOMMY RICHARDS" I half ass shouted, and just as I did, Rachel approached our table.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked with that beautiful angelic voice of hers.

I slid over to make some room for her and said, "Sure, there is plenty of room."

She sat down next to me and stated, "Tommy has been an asshole to you for quite a while, hasn't he?"

I nervously answer, "Yes". I can't take my eyes from her hypnotizing gaze.

"Don't worry about Tommy, I'll take care of him" she assured me with a big beautiful smile.

There is just something about Rachel that sets her aside from the rest of the world. Looking in her eyes, she can make the world disappear. For a moment, I had found Heaven.

"HEY, FAGGOT"

Terrified, I knew that voice, I could point if out from one hundred miles away. A lump forms in my throat but before I could say anything Rachel spins around, "f**k OFF, TOMMY" she aggressively exclaims.

"SHUT UP RACHEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING SITTING WITH THESE HOMOS ANYWAY" he yells back.

***To be continued***