Come on, you can do this!
Ned was preparing himself on his walk to school, trotting along with his head tilted to the bright blue sky. The sun glaring down on him, he twirled his inklike hair until it tangled around in little swirls. Passing by Chris’s house, he instinctively waits outside by the curb until he remembers that he’s suspended. Laughing at himself he continues his jaunt along the sidewalk.
Quickly making his way to school, he takes the first few steps up to the entrance. He crosses his fingers and prays that no one approaches him or even heckles. Slowly approaching the entrance he was stricken with fear as he heard a tough sounding voice holler from behind him.
“Hey Ted!” The voice said.
Not again please!
He slowly turned around and was mentally prepared for what faced him. To his surprise it was a casual looking teen walking up to him. He wrapped his arm around his neck and took his knuckles and scratched the top of his head.
“You took those punches like a champ!” He was weirdly complimenting him. “With your physique I thought you’d surely be paste, but you held your ground back there.”
“Thank you?” Ned sounded confused.
“You’re welcome, you little rascal.” He let go of him. “Can I get a pic with you?”
“Sure.” He wasn’t really ok with it but he didn’t want to seem like an asshole.
The guy put his hand behind Ned’s back and pulled him close as he lifted his phone in the air, snapping the pic and putting his phone back into his pocket. “Thanks man.” He walked away.
I thought I would get shit on for getting beat like that, never would’ve expected that people would actually want a picture with me. It’s like I’m some sort of celebrity. Ned was standing there stunned.
He got himself back down to earth and continued on into school. Walking into the courtyard he heard multiple people looking at him, then turned away immediately and whispered to a friend nearby and pointed at him.
“Hey there Ted!”
“My man!”
“Good to see ya!”
“You ok Ted?”
“Are your injuries healed?”
“Can I get a pic?”
“Yo Ted let’s hang out at lunch!”
Those were few of the many sayings he heard people call out to him. Even with all of this praise, he could only think of one thing.
Why do people refer to me as Ted?
Getting close to the cafeteria and on the way people giving him praise and compliments. He caught the attention of one eye in particular, a blonde haired girl who was on her phone. She swiftly took a snap of Ned and turned back to face her group of friends. Her pink nails clacking on the phone screen as she zoomed in on his face.
“Whatcha looking at Sarah?” One of her friends peered over her phone. “Oh Ted? Taking a liking to him.”
“Maybe.” She responded, her caucasian cheeks lighting up with a little blush.
“You always like popular guys like that.”
“I know, but this one will be better than the others. He looks like a kid who’s very antisocial, so that means he has very few people who talk to him. If I even talk to him and pay attention just a little bit. He’ll fall for me in an instant.”
“You really think he’ll be easy?”
“I mean come on, look at him. He looks like a total loser.”
“Heh, you’re right.”
“I’ll approach him during one of the passing periods, soon after that he’ll swoon all over me.”
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First period came and went, with Ned getting the usual call out. The bell rang out and people were quick to pack up their bags and rush out the door. Usually Ned is the one left behind, as he usually takes his time. Unlike most of his peers, he actually likes learning in school.
He walks out into the hustling hallway, multiple groups of friends talking to each other. Couples holding hands down the hall, some of them leaned up against walls being intimate.
Passing them he heads to his math class, eager to see Michelle he’s in a little bit of a rush. Out of nowhere as he turned the corner, he ran directly into someone, making him fall back onto the ground. He looked up at the person he knocked into, he couldn’t see her face as it was covered as she sat there sitting flat on her rear like he was.
He quickly jumped off the ground and offered his hand out to her. “I’m so sorry.” He apologized immediately. “I totally didn’t see you there, I’m so so so sorry.”
“It’s ok.” She responded as she took his hand and got back up on her feet. She swiftly adjusted her blonde hair back in place, glazing her violet eyes to meet his. “Oh my god, you’re Ted right?”
“Yeah, but my name is actually-”
“It’s great to meet you Ted, I’m Sarah.” She still held on firmly to his hand and shook it like they were at a business meeting.
“Nice to meet you too.” He cracked a smile.
“I saw that fight video yesterday.”
“I’m pretty sure everyone has at this point.”
Sarah laughed. “True, true.”
He noticed that she was still holding onto his hand. “Can you let go of it please?” His eyes gestured down towards hers.
“Oh sure thing.” She giggled. Her arm dropped and sloped down to her side, same thing with his. “I was wondering.” She stepped closer to him. “Are you seeing anyone right now?”
He looked confused. “I mean, I’m looking at you right now, so I guess you?”
“I didn’t mean it literally.” She pouted.
“Oh, what did you mean?”
She looked at him surprised and dumbfounded, raising her eyebrow a little. “Like are you dating someone right now?”
“Me? Dating someone? Nah. Not right now at least.” He said that last bit under his breath.
She smiled sinisterly. “That’s great to know.”
“It is?”
She changed her smile into a more convincing one and slowly tilted her head up at him. “Wanna hang out sometime, like after school?”
“Sorry I can’t but maybe some other time. I’m gonna be late for class so I’m gonna go.” He started to walk away but she placed her delicate and soft hand on his chest stopping him dead in his tracks.
She leaned in close into his ear. “I can show you a good time.” Her breath flowed onto his ear, being pretty hot.
“Umm.” Ned got pretty nervous as he scratched his head. “I-I’m good.” He tried to shove her off of him but she was persistent.
“Please!” She used a tactic that always worked for her, she gave him those puppy eyes as she leaned closer to his face.
He quickly pushed himself back and shook his head. “I told you I’m good, maybe later I just need to get to my next class.” A bell sounded, warning every student that there was only one minute left to hurry off to class. “I’m sorry but we’ll hang out later or whatever you want from me. I promise.” He ran down the hall.
She was left there stunned. “That always works.” She said in shock, slowly sounding out the syllables.
While Ned was running down the hallway, barely making it into class, which made all of the other kids stare at him. He rushed over to his seat and sat his ass down in a second just as the school bell rang.
As he rummaged in his backpack for his notebook and other school supplies, he thought back to the conversation he just had with that weird girl. Then a sudden shock of realization hits him.
She was flirting with me, right?
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He was able to push that thought into the back of his mind and focus on the lecture the teacher was currently giving. Though at the same time he couldn’t resist the temptation to take a glance over in Michelle’s direction. He remembered that she sounded concerned for him when he was being escorted to the nurse’s office yesterday.
He wonders if she’ll ask him about what happened or not, but he wants to go up and tell her at the same time. He also realizes he’ll never have the balls to go up to talk to her. That’s usually how he handles conversations, waiting for the person to come and speak to him first.
Changing his focus back at the white board at the front of the classroom, now being drawn on with equations, which he soon copied. His mind was scattered all over the place, it’s been one pretty insane week, almost dying three days in a row and now dealing with the suddenness of gaining popularity. That is so much attention he was not ready for nor has he ever gotten in his entire life.
He was so deep in self-reflection that he didn’t even notice that the period ended, the loud ringing from the bell startled him, making him jolt up in his seat. Gathering all of his stuff, then zipping up the backpack so fast he almost broke it.
Getting off of his seat he turned around where Michelle stood there, waiting to get his attention. “Hey, Ted.” She gave him a little wave.
“H-hey.” He shyly responded.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah.” He sounded positive as he gave her a thumbs up.
“Good, I thought you would have some serious injuries. You looked really hurt back there.”
“No it was nothing serious, just some left over bruising and scratches.”
“That’s great to hear.” She paused for a second. “Look Ted, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah what is it?” He started to get real nervous, she couldn’t be asking him anything real serious. They only talked for a total of like thirty minutes on Tuesday.
“I’m now starting to get the hang of these new equations, and I really want to thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But now since this test is coming up Monday.” She continued on. “I want you to teach me again.”
He took a while before he responded. “Sure, yeah I can do that.” He blattered out. “Want to meet at the library after school today again?”
“No, I have work.”
“Oh, ok then.”
“That’s when I thought, maybe we can do it over the weekend? That’s only if you’re free.”
“Yeah I’m free, got nothing going on.”
“Also, this may be weird but, can we study at your house?”
“My house?” Those words echoed throughout his head.
My house? MY HOUSE!? Holy fucking shit dude.
“Will that be ok?”
“Y-y-Yeah, that’ll be completely fine.” He was kind of quivering, his heart beating a mile a minute.
“Let me give you my number, so you can text me the address.”
HER PHONE NUMBER AS WELL!
Ned was barely keeping it together about how nervous he was, awkwardly exchanging numbers. Once it was all said and done, Michelle bid him farewell and left the classroom, leaving him standing there overflowing with a huge tense feeling, a little bit of sweat dripping down from his forehead.
She’s going to come over to my house, she’s coming over. Wait! But my house is messier than a pig’s den. I’ll need to clean it thoroughly, all the way from the bottom to the top. But my mom, god she’ll be a pain in the ass to deal with but I think I know how to set her straight. She better not fuck this up for me.
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Sarah is sitting around the lunch table with all of her friends, waltzing in her own world still left in shock from how Ned blew her off.
“So, how did swooning Ted go?” One of her friends asks, snapping her back to reality.
“He rejected me.” She said,
Her friend gasps. “No way.”
“I even used every tactic in the book.”
“Even the puppy eyes?”
“Even the puppy eyes!”
“How could he not fall for you?”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking! It’s like he’s the most ignorant and blind person in the world. Even people hotter than him fall for it in an instant, like being cast under a spell.”
“Don’t worry about it too much, if he doesn’t fall for that he isn’t for you. Just let him live in ignorance bliss and make him regret not dating you.”
Sarah whipped out her phone and started scrolling through Instagram, going into her saved posts where she has a video of the fight between Ned and Micheal.
“He promised to hangout with me some other time. Maybe I’ll have a second shot.”
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The school day ended and Ned was the first out the school, rushing all of the way back home, sprinting on the sidewalk and jaywalking, almost getting hit by a car in the process. Making it back home he flung the door open and started to clean up the house, wanting to make it spotless.
First he started with the living room, where his mother left her usual mess again. Grabbing a trash bag and picking up the cans and needles. Using a broom and duster to get rid of some white powder from the table. Spraying the couch down and getting rid of most of the stains on it.
Next he grabbed some Febreeze and started lacing the whole house with its scent. He also washed down some of the yellow stained walls and the carpet as well. Thoroughly scrubbing out some other stains, using all of the cleaning supplies he had access to.
One of the final steps he did was the most crucial of them all. He went to his mother’s room and grabbed all of her drugs she abuses, including all of the alcohol in the fridge. Carrying all of them in one overflowing trash bag, threw them in the garbage bin and rolled it outside for the trash collectors to come and pick it up.
This whole cleaning process took him a total of three hours of nonstop scrubbing, washing, and spraying. He went up in his room and plopped down in his bed, exhausted and ready to go to sleep early.
A vibration came from his phone and the screen lit up, saying he’s received a text from an unknown number. He reached out his hand and snagged it. Opening up his notifications, the text was from Michelle.
“Hey Ted, is it ok if I come over Saturday at around 1?” The text displayed.
He quickly got typing.
“Yeah, that’ll be ok.”
He sent the text and patiently waited for her response. His phone vibrated on his rapid beating chest and he opened it in a second.
“Alright then, see you tomorrow :)”
He responded with a simple, see ya. He placed his phone down and his cheeks blushed red.
I texted a girl over the phone! Holy shit!
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Night comes around and Sandra pulls up to the house in her mustang, the humming noise from the engine being pretty louder than any other car. Parking in the driveway she steps out and walks into the house.
She marches upstairs and into her room, where she rummages through her drawer, desperately trying to find her drugs. Her panic starts to rise as she realizes that they’re not there.
She storms down the stairs and searches through countless kitchen cabinets. Her frivolous search was pointless as it was nowhere to be found. She runs over to the fridge and scans it over for some beer. None are there and now she really panics.
Turning her head around as she heard the slow creaking footsteps of Ned slowly coming down the stairs, giving her a stern look.
“Looking for your drugs?” Ned asked sarcastically.
“Oh hey honey, um uh-” She was now sweating. “Y-yeah, you know where they are?”
“Nope, no idea.” He put on a monotone voice.
“Well, if you find them, can you bring them to me?”
“Will do.” He leaned up against the railing. “I have a friend coming over tomorrow.”
“Ooo! Is it Chris?”
“No, it’s a girl.”
“Oh.” She let out a little burst of nervous laughs. “That’s great sweetie, when she’s coming over?”
“At around one.”
“Cool, I’ll be up around then. I’ll dress my best and greet her.”
“No.” He hastily interjected.
“No? What do you mean no?”
“Mom, I don’t want you to meet her.”
“Why?” Her voice turned into a more concerned tone.
“Because I know you, you’ll just fuck things up.”
“Ned, how could you say that about your own mother?”
He looked at her intently. “You wanna know why? You fucking wanna know why!? I’ll just give you a few examples. Everyday I come home from school you’re passed out on the couch, leaving this huge pile of drugs and alcohol, not to mention the stench that comes from that. The place you work at is a huge shithole and I’m not even sure what you even do there. Anytime I try to tell you something, you’ll forget in a second like you have your memory zapped out of you every fucking second. Hell, yesterday I got in a fight and I called you to come down to the meeting afterwards, and you didn’t pick up! I have to walk to school everyday because you’re not up that early in the morning. You never cook anything, I had to teach myself everything I know, laundry, unclogging the toilet and even the smallest bit of cooking skills. We don’t even own this house we’re living in! We barely make twenty thousand per year! We are the poorest family in this county!”
Sandra started to form tears in her eyes, wiping them away.
“I never had that bond with my parents like so many kids have nowadays, I don’t even know who my father is! No going to amusement parks, no playing catch outside, no vacations anywhere, and no one ever helping me with anything. My whole life is just learning by myself with no help. I might as well not even have parents at this point, you’re more of a burden then a mom to me.”
Sandra started sobbing, her legs giving out and she collapsed to the ground.
“There’s a reason I threw away the drugs and alcohol, and those are all of the fucking reasons why you should just not be here when she arrives!” Ned continued on, not even realizing he brought her to tears. He finally calmed down from his anger fueled rant and realized the state she’s in. He felt really bad, but he needed to say it, she needed to hear what kind of pressure she’s put on him.
He slowly turned around and walked back up the stairs to go to bed, he even expected her to say sorry or even a tiny bit of apologizing. Not a single word was said to him, he tilted his head down with dejection and laid down on his bed, curled up in a little ball as he let out a little cry, creeping on the brisk of falling asleep, closing his eyes and letting the silence engulf him174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0khB2CiF3b
