I meant to add more, but what the hell. It's already at almost 2,000 words. Enjoy!
Also, what I'm afraid this is going to turn into is a long story with no real... plot. The intro is, sadly, going to be probably be slow. I'll try and fix that, but give me tips if you notice I'm failing terribly.
Chapter 1: The Invitation
It was the last day before winter break. It is that fateful day when everything at school – end of the term exams, teachers, assignments, projects, waking up early – doesn’t matter. Even before the final bell had rung, it was still nigh impossible to get the students to calm down. People joked and didn’t pay attention to the teacher, who had already given up at trying to actually teach the students anything.
As students started to exit the building, they felt the cool air rush upon them. The grass was frozen and the sky was cloudy. It wasn’t supposed to snow that night, but some doubted it. It had that menacing feel to it. The clouds were blocking the sun; the trees were swaying slightly from the wind.
One of the students looked up at the sky, and a reminiscent look appeared on his visage. His thoughts were drawn away from the cold and dark Connecticut and back to where he grew up, on the coast of Florida. His minds flashed to that time when the tropical storm was coming. He shivered and started to walk home. Their school system didn’t have buses anymore.
The students laughed and joked and made plans to get together. Some sophomores were heading onto cars, but most were walking too. The Juniors and Seniors had their own parking lot, and the teachers one as well. Some people were staying after school for their own reasons, and others were starting to gather.
The lone boy who had been staring at the sky, waiting for the storm to come was walking down a paved path. His petite features looked even stranger on this day; the cold weather had forced him to bulk on up his clothing. He thought no one was paying attention to him. Not that he disliked attention, of course. His day was finally ending, though, and he needed the rest. His exams were never easy.
A red sedan stopped by the side of the road where the boy was standing. The window rolled down, and he saw a familiar face. A grin appeared on his face as the new boy called out to him.
“Kyle!” the boy in the car exclaimed. “Want a ride?”
A grin appeared on Kyle’s face and he responded with a quick, “Yeah, thanks.”
* * *
Kyle, the one who was walking home, sat in the passenger seat. His backpack was thrown into the messy backseat, and he was starting to take off the gloves and unzip his jacket. He rubbed his nose for a second and the glanced at the driver, the grin still on his face.
The driver merely glanced at him, and snickered. “You look like you need something,” he said, his eyes now looking back at the road. He had only gotten his license in July.
“Nah, I just didn’t expect to see you. You usually just go home, right?” Kyle took off the beige hat he had on, and glanced back to the driver. His closely cut brown hair was pointing in odd directions, but he did not try and smooth it.
“Yeah, but I knew you were walking home—”
Kyle’s hands flew down to his pocket, where the sound of his ringtone for his phone trilled. He fumbled with the controls for a moment before placing it up to his ear. “Hello?” A short pause, until he said, “Nah, I’m getting a ride with Jonathon. Thanks though.” He pressed the end button, and the phone was replaced in its pocket. “Sorry about that,” he said to Jonathon.
“It’s fine. Anyways, I knew you were walking home and, well, I was thinking of inviting a few buddies over,” Jonathon said. He was biting on his lip and glancing from the road to Kyle and back rapidly.
“Is there going to be any drinking?” His eyebrows rose just a bit, and the grin was starting to fade from his face.
“There’s only going to be a few Juniors. No one to get us any alcohol. Don’t worry so much. It’ll just be Seb, Anthony, Ethan, Tyler, Felix, and me.” Jonathon’s shoulders relaxed and his stayed on the road.
“Sebastian and Anthony are going to be there? I thought their parents were taking them New York for the week.”
“Nah, they canceled that. Decided it would’ve cost too much.”
Kyle laughed. The parents of Sebastian and Anthony, who were brothers, owned Enderson Interpreting Inc., one of the largest companies for translating software. “I’ll probably be there. When is it?”
“Tonight,” Jonathon answered while flashing a grin at him.
“Whose house is it going to be at?”
“Mine.” This was even more of a surprise to Kyle. Jonathon’s parents almost never went out of town. “My parents will be gone for the week.”
Kyle grinned at him, though not as he once was. “Think you can pick me up?”
“Yeah, seven all right?”
Kyle nodded and started to gather his stuff, as the car was entering his neighborhood. “Thanks for the ride.” Exiting the vehicle, he waved to him. Jonathon’s car drove off and Kyle made his way to the house.
It was a nicely sized house, but nothing too extravagant. While the town was a “rich” town, his parents preferred to have a simple lifestyle. He opened the door and immediately went upstairs.
Since his mother didn’t come home until six, he had the house for another three hours. The backpack was dropped off, and he pulled off the jacket and shirt. Throwing them into the basket, he kicked off his shoes and started to pull off the remaining clothing.
The day itself was passing rather quickly. It had seemed like seven in the morning just moments ago. The skies were clear that morning. The smell of coffee had wafted through his house, and he forced himself to get out of bed.
His parents were leaving for work. School started at eight-thirty, but he was catching a ride with the neighbor’s son, Nick. Though a senior, Nick was outgoing and amiable; Kyle found it easy to talk to him.
He shook his head, not meaning to be lost in the morning. He sighed and started the shower, desperately needing to calm his nerves before the party. His social anxiety was, for some reason, worsening this year. He had the fewest of problems around people whom he socialized with daily, but in a group setting with people whom he did not know that well, he was dreadfully timid and quiet.
The shower was uneventful, but it lasted longer than he meant it to last. When he completely dried off, the clock’s hand was already almost at the four. Nerves still frayed, he heaved a sigh and grabbed a pill bottle. Its label read “Lorazepam”, which was for anxiety. He took two tablets and pushed them into his mouth. They easily dissolved and did not leave a foul taste.
Kyle had dealt with anxiety issues for most of his life. Psychiatrists and therapists had been unable to rid him of it. Even the best of them only lessened it. In truth, most of it was probably caused by him not wanting to let go of his childhood, even though the anxiety did have its issues at times.
His family moved from Florida at a young age. Kyle was probably only four at the time. They had lived in New York City for two years until they inevitably moved to Connecticut. He developed social anxiety after moving from Florida, and everyone assumed it was due to the large city. His parents decided to move again, his father having a job offer in the town they currently lived in. When his anxiety only worsened after moving, the psychiatrists discovered the moving was what wrecked his social skills. He thought it was a problem within himself, within the things he did that made his parents move. After that, they were able to help him much more efficiently.
Kyle had stopped the sessions two years ago, deciding that he was all right at that point. He hated the sessions, and was not about to go back to get some more just because he was still anxious around a few friends. He forced himself to smile and grabbed a pair of boxers.
He made his way downstairs and grabbed a water bottle. He found himself at the couch and lay down on it. He grabbed his laptop, which was still lying on the ottoman from this morning. He checked his email account, the weather, the news, and everything else he checked. He then started to play music, which was emanating from the stereo system his family had. He connected the two a few weeks ago when he was tired of the speakers on the laptop itself.
He did menial tasks which were long overdue. By the time his mother got home, there was absolutely no space wasted on that computer and everything was organized. While it wasn’t necessarily good of him, organizing helped calm his nerves.
“Hey Mom, mind if I go to Jonathon’s tonight?” Kyle called out; setting the computer down and getting up to greet his mother.
“Mm? Sure, I don’t see why not. Is he going to pick you up?” His mother called out.
“Yeah, at seven.”
“All right. Do you know when you’ll come home?”
“Nope, I’ll call you.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him and hugged him. It was apparently a common occurrence for Kyle to be nearly naked in the afternoon. “Have fun tonight.”
“Thanks, mom.” He smiled at her affectionately and then went back to the computer. Though exceptional at soccer, he was usually lazy besides those times. Despite this, he still managed to be on the honor roll for the past six years.
The next thirty minutes were barely even noticeable. It was almost ten ‘til seven, and Kyle was barely even dressed. With a heave of a sigh, he sat up and quickly made his way to his room. Getting dressed was far too easy to him. Simply put, his routine was to just throw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. He grabbed a pair of socks and slid them on. As he was fitting on his shoes and grabbing a jacket, the doorbell rang. Inevitably, his infectious grin came back. He
was excited.