Misfits

sixteen

The next day came with dark clouds hovering over the small town, and the air was heavy from the smell of rain. It was only a matter of time when it would start to fall, and I really didn't want to leave my bed.

Maybe I could just pretend to be sick and take a day off. Michael wouldn't even know since he was already off to work, and even if he did, he couldn't really do anything about it.

It was reasonable enough for now, so instead of getting up I turned around and pulled my covers up a little so they covered my face. Soon enough I was drifting back off to sleep, the thoughts of school and responsibility slowly fading away.

When I opened my eyes again a few hours later I felt even more tired than before. I sighed and sat up, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes in the process. God, I hated waking up.

Deciding that a shower was probably the best thing to get my circulation going for the day, I slowly pushed off my covers and clumsily stood up. When I opened the curtains I was met with the sight of rain and thunderclouds, and an annoyed groan left my lips. Not really the perfect weather to get motivated.

The music blasting out of my speakers was only slightly drowned by the falling waterdrops when I took my shower, and once I was done I put on the sweats and a hoodie from yesterday, not even bothering with styling my hair. I wouldn't leave the house, anyway.

My mood was awful today, and there was nothing that could change that. I didn't want to dress nicely. I didn't want to face people. I just wanted to hide away in my room and pretend the world had stopped moving for a few hours.

"Fuck no," I mumbled as I picked up my phone and saw the new text message from Ruby. We hadn't talked much these past few days, which wasn't really unusual.

Since I had been here we had fallen into this routine, sending each other occasional texts and random thoughts. Not enough to spark a deep conversation, and only once or twice a week.

So this was this week's text from him. I skipped over the few words, trying to process their meaning.

He wanted me to come home and hang out.

"Why don't you come out here if you wanna see me so badly," I mumbled, turning my music's volume down a notch. Great, now I was already talking to myself. Maybe a little socializing really wouldn't be so wrong.

I replied, telling him how I was busy with soccer practice and the upcoming games and that we should talk about meeting up once I was done with that. I had already told him about me joining the soccer team, so I already knew how little he cared for it. While I wasn't a particular fan of sport, Ruby straight up dispited it.

I yawned and tossed my phone onto my mattress, my gaze wandering back out of the glass wall. What a shitty day.

My stomach ended up forcing me to leave my room and search for food. When I opened the fridge I was once again met with a gaping void that caused me to silently curse. Shit, now I really had to leave the house.

Only ten minutes later my hair looked slightly acceptable, so I was ready to face the world. I grabbed my keys as well as my phone and some money, and finally left the safety and comfort of Michael's house.

The music coming out of my earbuds drowned out my thoughts as I made my way to the store. At least it wasn't raining anymore. God, I was craving some strawberries right now.

The store wasn't far away so I got there pretty quickly. It was almost empty when I entered, and I took out one earbud as I walked over to the fruit section.

"No, not again," someone groaned behind me. I turned around in surprise and automatically rolled my eyes when they fell on Asher.

"Yikes. Are you following me around?" I asked, taking the other earbud out as well. He sighed and took in my appearance.