I'm Not Your Protege, Just Your Kid

My alarm clock went off next to my bed and I jolted awake. I snatched the annoying contraption and flung it across the room. The sound of the alarm clock shattering into pieces met my ears and I put my head back down.

Not even a minute later I heard someone come in and walk over to my bed.

“Jayden, wake up,” Devon said.

“No,”

“Come on we have to leave here in one hour,”

I sighed and threw my covers back allowing the chilly air to attack my bare legs.

“Yuck Jayden, put on some clothes,”

“Shut the hell up,”

I pulled down my shorts and slowly crutched into the bathroom across the hall.

I brushed my teeth and went into the shower after taking off my pajamas.

After washing my hair I shut off the water and stepped out while wrapping myself in a towel. I limped across the hall and shut the door so I could get dressed. I put on my underclothes and started towel drying my hair while picking out clothes from my duffel bag. I put on a pair of black basketball shorts with a wife beater and my school hockey team sweatshirt.

“Ready?” Devon asked by my doorway.

“Yeah,” I said slipping one foot into my old beat up converse.

I looked up at him and just shook my head.

“What?” he asked.

“Why are you matching me?” I asked and looked at Devon’s outfit which was the same as mine.

“Mine looks better,” he answered.

“It’s the same exact outfit you moron,”

Ms. Brown came into my room and picked up my duffel bag along with Devon’s. She walked out and Devon and I followed behind her. She opened the door and brought our bags outside where a cab was waiting. We slowly descended the old concrete steps and stood in front of her.

“Alright, well hear you are,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I guess this is it?” Devon asked.

“I’m going to miss you guys so much,” she said pulling both of us into a hug.

“We’ll miss you too,” I answered.

“Just remember if you need anything at all just call me okay?”

“Okay,” I answered.

We let go and got into the cab while the driver put our bags in the trunk.

“Call me when you guys get there,” she said.

“We will,” Devon said.

The cab pulled off and I watched Ms. Brown’s figure wave to us until we couldn’t see her anymore. I turned back around and sighed as Devon put his arm around me.

“Everything will be fine,” he said.

“I hope so,” I said and continued looking out the window.

Our plane was to arrive in about 30 minutes and my leg wouldn’t stop shaking. This would be my first time on an airplane and I was absolutely terrified. Devon on the other hand, kept his cool and looked as if he’s done this hundreds of times.

“Will you stop shaking your leg? It’s really fucking annoying,” Devon finally said.

“No, I don’t want to,” I huffed like a little kid.

“Is it because you’re scared of flying?” he asked.

“Of course not Devon,” I lied.

He stared at me and saw straight through my lie.

“I’ve seen you get your arm broken in six different places at one time, and you’re scared of a plane?” he questioned.

“Planes are different. What if this one decides to run out of fuel while we’re only halfway through the flight?”

A skeptical look was shot my way and Devon raised an eyebrow at me. I looked away from him and started to scratch my arms. I tried to secretly scratch them but Devon saw anyway.

“Quit scratching like that in public,” he said and slapped my hands away.

“Great, now I can’t get rid of my itch in public now?” I asked and rolled my eyes not even caring if he answered or not.

I knew that Devon knew why I was scratching. My body was itching for drugs that I’ve neglected to take for the past two months. With all the medication I was prescribed to take for my broken leg I didn’t have to shoot up my arms with anything. Just than I remembered that I had one or two pills left from Rick that I had bought the other night.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I announced and got up from my seat.

“Be careful,” he said and eyed me up as I crutched away towards the bathroom.

I finally made it in the bathroom and went to the sinks. I dug into the pocket of my sweatshirt and pulled out a little bag that contained my last two pills. Most likely they’d help calm down my fear of getting on the plane and would last the whole plane ride. I made sure no one was in the stalls and quickly popped the two pills into my mouth. I swallowed them dry and closed my eyes, waiting for the familiar sensations to kick in.

I started feeling light and I looked at myself in the mirror. The light beaming off all of my piercings started to blur a bit and a feeling of euphoria started. I gave myself a lazy smile and made my way out of the bathroom. I crutched my way back to Devon and sat back down in my seat.

“Our plane just came in so we’ll be loading in about 30 more minutes,” Devon said, already knowing what I did in the bathroom.

I nodded and just stared out the airport window letting the drugs take over my body and patiently waiting to board the plane.