Guns and Roses - Part 1

Guns and Roses - Part 1

The boy woke to the pre-emptive beep of his alarm clock, for the fourth time this week. Waking early was necessary, if he was to avoid his parents before leaving for school. Recently, they had taken to questioning his downhill attitude in class at every opportunity they had, which he had been able to put up with for a while, but after a couple of weeks, found he couldn't.

He slid out of bed, standing in front of the mirror before dressing. At fourteen, he is tall for his age, but is well aware that being a veritable giant among his grade 12 peers, doesn't guarantee respect, or at best, unfriendly invisibility. He was just as much a victim of bullies as the kids with angled ears or red hair.

After washing and moving downstairs, he munches through a few slices of toast, through routine rather than necessity, whilst turning over idea's in his mind about what reason for leaving early would least alarm his parents. Yesterday it was playing football before school. He was sure they saw through it immediately, and their worry would have gained momentum, but it went unmentioned at dinner, and he wasn't interrupted while spending the evening cooped up in his room.

A bump from upstairs. He hurried to collect his bag, sat his plate on the counter and was out the door before the person moving upstairs made it to the bottom of the stairs. It was only halfway to school before he realised he had forgotten the note.