Torn Between Two Ways

I was rudely awakened by my brother. He pulled one of my ear plugs out of my ear and shoved the alarm clock against it. I screamed.

I glared at him. “John, why did you do that?”

He smirked and answered, “Because I wanted to cry baby. Why do you wear ear plugs?”

“Because you snore,” I shot at him. And, God, did he snore. Sometimes I still heard him even with the ear plugs in. I hated sharing a room with him.

He ignored me and entered our bathroom. Of course he was the first one to take a shower. He always was. He blasted hid CD player. Although my mom couldn’t stand that, I really didn’t mind. At least he had a good taste in music.

When he finally got out of the bathroom, he rammed my shoulder with his. I ignored him, though. There was no point in retaliating.

I knew I hat to hurry, or he would leave without me. I wouldn’t get to eat breakfast. No wonder I was so skinny. In my haste, I forgot to lock the door behind me.

I hopped into the shower after setting my glasses on the counter and throwing my clothes on the floor. I closed my eyes and just let the water soothe me.

I got out and put on my old jeans and my worn out Anthrax shirt. I went to grab my glasses from the counter, but they weren’t there. I checked to make sure they hadn’t fallen off. I still couldn’t find them.

“Hey, has anybody seen my glasses?” I called. There was no answer.

So it had been John. I clenched my teeth and tried to control myself. It I went to him and demanded that he give my glasses back, he would just deny that he took them.

Knowing John, I knew he probably hid them. So I searched out room frantically. Finally, I found my glasses underneath his pile of dirty clothes. I grabbed them and pushed them on while I was dashing to the kitchen.

Gerard was eating a bowl of cereal.

“Where’s John?” I asked.

He looked up at me sympathetically. “Sorry, Mikey. He just walked out of the door.”

Without another word, I scrambled out the door. John was driving away. I ran after him, but he just started laughing.

So I ran to school. Think I’m crazy? I probably am. Especially because although I hated all the little things John did, I didn’t hate him. I ran towards my locker, stumbling because of how exhausted I was. I saw John talking to Anna, leaning against the locker next to hers. He was smiling slightly and looking at her closely. Actually, I could tell he was admiring her. Although I didn’t like the satisfied look on his face, I couldn’t really blame him.

There were plenty of tall, blonde, scantily dressed girls at our school. To me, they weren’t at all impressive. Even so, I was surprised that they didn’t really catch John’s attention either.

Anna was just naturally beautiful. She was different from every other girl. She wasn’t rotten, black, cold, or twisted on the inside like most of the others were. I imagined that if everyone looked like their personalities, she would’ve been the most gorgeous person on earth, if that wasn’t already true.

I slowed to a walk. Anna hit John playfully and looked at me over his shoulder.

“John,” I said threateningly, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to tell Mom what you did.” I was blushing because I knew I looked horrible, and Anna would notice. At least she looked concerned for me.

John rolled his eyes and said dismissively, “Whatever.”

The warning bell rang, and Anna got her books and went to her class. When I opened my locker, John pushed me in and locked it.

I missed my first class, but I was saved by a courteous student after that, who heard me banging on my locker from the inside.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. When I got home, I watched TV. Well, until my cell phone rang at around five thirty. It was Anna.