Mein Kampf as a Teenage Outcast

I picked myself up from the living room floor at four-fifteen in the morning. My head was throbbing and I couldn't see for a minute. I staggered to my feet and was happy to find I could move them just fine. I went to the bathroom to inspect the rest of the damage.

I bump had formed over my left eyebrow, but it wasn't noticable enough to matter much. I pulled off my shirt and found that my dad learned the less damage you show, the more you can beat them. I had about six new bruises along my torso.

My neck was aching and I was sore all over, but I was giving myself the benefit of the doubt and said it was from passing out on the floor. I dropped onto my bed and decided since I still had two hours until I had to get ready for school, I should take advantage of it.

My dad had left the house by the time I was calling Danni to walk to school. She lived about a block away, so I always walked with her. "Hey, Danni. Ready to leave?" I asked to the phone.

"Yeah, just give me a sec." she said, though I was already outside of her house. "Morning." She smiled bubbly up at me when she finally emerged from her house. God, sometimes it really surprises me how pretty she is. Even in a pair of my shorts, which were pretty baggy on her small frame, she looked amazing. Her dirty blond hair hung at her shoulder blades and her shirt hugged her skinny upper body.

"Morning. When did you steal that pair of shorts?" I asked.

"You left them sometime a couple months ago. Sorry, I was out of clean pants and just grabbed the first pair I found. Don't expect these back, though. They're so comfy!"

"Dude, they're huge on you!" I pointed out.

"All the more comfortable." she smiled.

"Whatever. I guess I could spare them for you. So did you ever read the book? I need to copy you for the test!" I said, hating the fact that English was first period for us.

"Uh, about that. I never really started, so I was kinda planning on cheating off of you." she said nervously.

I groaned. "God, my dad's gonna kill me. My fricken phone doesn't have internet, otherwise I could get us the summary from there."

"Chill. It's one test." she tried to calm me down. For you, maybe one test. For me, it's just another excuse for my dad to beat the crap out of me. God, I wish he would just have let me read last night!

We got to school as the bell rang. "Maybe we could just ditch first period." I thought aloud.

"But remember the last time we ditched together? It's too obvious, Deryk." She reminded me. It's true; all the teachers have figured out that we're good friends, so whenever we have the same class, it's impossible to ditch together.

"But I hate being alone." I sighed.

"Well, what do you hate more; failing, or being alone? Remember, I need your test next to mine in order to get any credit, so think hard about this one." she folded her arms over her small chest.

I sighed. "Yeah, you're right. And maybe there will be a retake." I said hopefully.

"Doubt it." she stated blunty.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Well, to our dooms." I said, opening the English building door for her. God, my dad is going to kill me.