Categories > Original > Romance > Is Anybody Listening?
Chapter 4
It was Monday morning again, and I was sitting in the corner of the classroom, trying to disappear from the world. My mind wasn’t on the English class which was taking place, but instead on the doodles I was producing on the paper in front of me. As usual, there was no one sitting next me, but it didn’t bother me, for some reason, I was in a better mood this morning. I wasn’t sure what was causing it, but I felt like today was going to be a good day. At least I hoped it was going to be.
The door of the classroom opened, causing everyone, including the teacher, to turn their heads in that direction. Standing there was the boy who had helped me from the floor on Friday. His black hair was matted to his face, probably as a result of the storm we were having outside. His guitar was slung over his back, with a backpack dragging on the floor next to him, leaving a wet trail behind him.
The teacher shook her head at the boy and motioned for him to take a seat before continuing on with the lecture she had previously been giving us. My head dropped, back to focusing on the drawing I was doing in front of me. Guitars and music doodles littered my page, and I continued shading in the music note I had drawn in the corner of the page. The chair beside me moved and I looked up to see the class’s late arrival placing his backpack onto the table.
My eyes dropped again, a small smile touching the corner of my lips. He nudged me softly with his elbow, and smiled back at me, whispering a small hey/. My smile began to creep up the sides of my face. I whispered back a /hi and let my hair drop to cover my face. I stared at the table, looking at the drawings in front of me, until they were pulled away from under my nose. My head shot up to watch him as he intently looked at the papers he had just taken away from me. I tried to snatch them back from him but he moved them out of my reach, still looking at them.
“These are really good,” he finally said, handing the papers back to me.
“Thanks,” I muttered and pushed them away into my bag.
“I’m Toby.” He didn’t need to tell me this. I already knew his name, as I had been admiring him from afar for the best part of a year now.
“Charlie.” He nodded back at me smiling then leaned in closer to me. Toby’s lips were barely an inch away from my ear.
“I know,” he whispered. I was taken aback and opened my mouth about to ask how he could possibly know, before he put his finger to his lips and just mouthed the words /‘I just know’/. The bell rang and he made a quick exit motioning a quick wave before leaving me sat there, amongst the exiting people, I sat there dazed, not quite computing what had just happened.
The rest of the day seemed to pass fairly quickly. I couldn’t stay focused on any of my lessons that day; my mind was too busy wondering to other things. Somehow Toby already knew my name. So he may have heard it during one of our classes together, but the more surprising thing was, was that he actually bothered to remember it.
My stomach rumbled, as I began my walk to my front door. Skipping lunch had become a regular thing for me now. It wasn’t as if any one would ever notice it. Instead, it was quite easy to sneak to the back of the art rooms and carry on my drawings whilst everyone else bothered themselves with food. No one was home, most likely still at work, or in the case of my brother, at friends’ houses, so I made my way upstairs and straight to the bathroom.
The bathroom scales were in the corner of the room, just beside the bath and I made a beeline towards them. I dragged the silver metal out into the middle of the room, making it more comfortable for me to stand on them. Pushing down on the platform, I waited for the numbers to register at zero before I fully climbed onto it.
I held my breath, as I waited, with my eyes held closed, for the numbers to properly register on the screen. A 16st 12lb stared back at me and I rubbed my eyes hoping I was seeing wrong. The numbers meant I had lost zero pounds this week. Nada, zero, zilch! I clenched my fists in anger. The whole week I had been trying so hard. I had hardly eaten and yet I still didn’t see any results.
In a desperate action, I jumped off the scales and climbed back on them, hoping there was some kind of error in its calculations. But still the scales read the same value, and this time I couldn’t control my anger. Instead, I grabbed the worthless piece of metal from off the floor and flung it towards the mirror.
The glass smashed and crumbled down around me, as I slumped to the ground, tears falling from my face. This had ruined my good day. Then again, I was stupid to think that I could have had a good day. Something had been bound to come along and mess it all up for me, as it usually did.
It was Monday morning again, and I was sitting in the corner of the classroom, trying to disappear from the world. My mind wasn’t on the English class which was taking place, but instead on the doodles I was producing on the paper in front of me. As usual, there was no one sitting next me, but it didn’t bother me, for some reason, I was in a better mood this morning. I wasn’t sure what was causing it, but I felt like today was going to be a good day. At least I hoped it was going to be.
The door of the classroom opened, causing everyone, including the teacher, to turn their heads in that direction. Standing there was the boy who had helped me from the floor on Friday. His black hair was matted to his face, probably as a result of the storm we were having outside. His guitar was slung over his back, with a backpack dragging on the floor next to him, leaving a wet trail behind him.
The teacher shook her head at the boy and motioned for him to take a seat before continuing on with the lecture she had previously been giving us. My head dropped, back to focusing on the drawing I was doing in front of me. Guitars and music doodles littered my page, and I continued shading in the music note I had drawn in the corner of the page. The chair beside me moved and I looked up to see the class’s late arrival placing his backpack onto the table.
My eyes dropped again, a small smile touching the corner of my lips. He nudged me softly with his elbow, and smiled back at me, whispering a small hey/. My smile began to creep up the sides of my face. I whispered back a /hi and let my hair drop to cover my face. I stared at the table, looking at the drawings in front of me, until they were pulled away from under my nose. My head shot up to watch him as he intently looked at the papers he had just taken away from me. I tried to snatch them back from him but he moved them out of my reach, still looking at them.
“These are really good,” he finally said, handing the papers back to me.
“Thanks,” I muttered and pushed them away into my bag.
“I’m Toby.” He didn’t need to tell me this. I already knew his name, as I had been admiring him from afar for the best part of a year now.
“Charlie.” He nodded back at me smiling then leaned in closer to me. Toby’s lips were barely an inch away from my ear.
“I know,” he whispered. I was taken aback and opened my mouth about to ask how he could possibly know, before he put his finger to his lips and just mouthed the words /‘I just know’/. The bell rang and he made a quick exit motioning a quick wave before leaving me sat there, amongst the exiting people, I sat there dazed, not quite computing what had just happened.
The rest of the day seemed to pass fairly quickly. I couldn’t stay focused on any of my lessons that day; my mind was too busy wondering to other things. Somehow Toby already knew my name. So he may have heard it during one of our classes together, but the more surprising thing was, was that he actually bothered to remember it.
My stomach rumbled, as I began my walk to my front door. Skipping lunch had become a regular thing for me now. It wasn’t as if any one would ever notice it. Instead, it was quite easy to sneak to the back of the art rooms and carry on my drawings whilst everyone else bothered themselves with food. No one was home, most likely still at work, or in the case of my brother, at friends’ houses, so I made my way upstairs and straight to the bathroom.
The bathroom scales were in the corner of the room, just beside the bath and I made a beeline towards them. I dragged the silver metal out into the middle of the room, making it more comfortable for me to stand on them. Pushing down on the platform, I waited for the numbers to register at zero before I fully climbed onto it.
I held my breath, as I waited, with my eyes held closed, for the numbers to properly register on the screen. A 16st 12lb stared back at me and I rubbed my eyes hoping I was seeing wrong. The numbers meant I had lost zero pounds this week. Nada, zero, zilch! I clenched my fists in anger. The whole week I had been trying so hard. I had hardly eaten and yet I still didn’t see any results.
In a desperate action, I jumped off the scales and climbed back on them, hoping there was some kind of error in its calculations. But still the scales read the same value, and this time I couldn’t control my anger. Instead, I grabbed the worthless piece of metal from off the floor and flung it towards the mirror.
The glass smashed and crumbled down around me, as I slumped to the ground, tears falling from my face. This had ruined my good day. Then again, I was stupid to think that I could have had a good day. Something had been bound to come along and mess it all up for me, as it usually did.
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