Short Story

It was a day just like any other. The sun rose at 7:03, right on schedule. The light poured through the blinds of his bedroom, creating streaks along the sea blue walls. The chirps of the neighborhood’s sparrows made the morning feel alive. It was amazing how many people were up this early. The paper boy had already completed his loop. The stay-at-home moms had already walked their dogs. And the working husbands were on their way, driving their Mercedes, to the city for a day at work.
Jason lived in a suburb where all the houses looked like miniature doll homes, and each was the same. It was just the four of them in the toy house: mom, dad, and Jules. Their relationships weren’t typical, and they were bound together by Jason’s countless outbursts. Jason’s condition has been following him since his fifth birthday. Some mornings he wakes up fine, he feels great, and nothing goes wrong. But with a rare form of Bipolar Disorder, things can change in an instant for Jason.
Beep Beep. Beep Beep. Beep Beep.
“Ugh,” Jason groaned as the piercing sound of his alarm filled the silent room. He hit the snooze button and shut his eyes, hoping to drift off and forget that he would be forced out of bed in the next few minutes. He silently hoped today would be a good day. Why? He thought to himself. Why can’t summer just go on for one more day? He heard his door slip open, just like it does every morning when Tiger jumps off his bed to get his own day started. The shaggy dog had left behind a layer of himself, but Jason didn’t mind the white fluff that covered his navy duvet. He actually loved the company at night and the heat from Tiger’s eighty-five pound body.
Beep Beep. Beep Beep. Beep Beep. Beeeepppp.
Jason blindly smacked his nightstand, hoping to hit the button for the damn alarm to silence itself. Normally it wasn’t this hard for him to get out of bed, but just the thought of sitting in a classroom all day instead of hiking around the town with his friends made him feel sick. He rolled over, not to fall back asleep, but instead to go over everything he needed to remember to bring to school. Binders, paper, pens...Oh! Wait, what is my schedule again? I know my locker combination. It is 09-23-36. Ok ok, I should really go get up now.
With that, Jason popped up out of bed, suddenly full of energy, and walked into his bathroom. He undressed and jumped into his steam shower, which is clearly the only thing he looked forward to every morning. The water rushed down his body as the steam filled the bathroom with hot, moist air. After soaking up the water for a good ten more minutes, Jason turned the water pressure off and towel dried his wet skin. The mirrors were fogged, the air was humid, and the tiles had a layer of moisture on them, just the way Jason liked it. A gust of cold air hit his face as he opened the connecting door into his room. The sudden chill shocked him, but in a good way. He proceeded to get dressed in his personal uniform: distressed jeans, a t-shirt three sizes too large, and his favorite Burton striped hoodie.
He walked down the hall and down the wooden stairs to where his mom and little sister were sitting, chatting about the excitement of the first day of school. He rolled his eyes at the sight of the two of them, already annoyed at his little sister for being so overly happy.
“Morning Jay, how are you feeling today?” He heard his mom say with a smile on her face, happy to be back in the rhythm of things.
“Morning Mom, just a bit tired. Hey Jules,” he heard himself say in response.
He wandered past the table they were sitting at into the kitchen to grab some coffee.
“Why don’t you eat something too, Jay. It is your first day of school, and I don’t want my growing boy to get hungry,” his mom yelled from the other room. Jason ignored her. He came out of the kitchen, a bag of Chex Mix in hand, and walked passed their table to lie on the couch. “Um no, you are not having Chex Mix for breakfast. Let me toast you a bagel at least,” she offered. And without a response from Jason, she got up, sliced a bagel, and put it in the toaster.
“Mom, aren’t we going to be late for school? We should go. Jason, are you ready?” Jules excitement was too much for Jason to handle. She was going to be a seventh grader. Big deal. Middle school sucks anyway. Jules had her dark brown hair perfectly straightened, and Jason even noticed that she was wearing mascara. Her outfit was one that she had picked out back in August, when Grandma took them both back-to-school shopping. It was a bit ridiculous, comical even. Jason knew the only reason she was so excited was because she wanted to see Harry, the boy she had been crushing on since last year.
Jason’s mom handed him the unwanted bagel with his daily pills and kissed him on his forehead like he was ten years old. “My little boy is growing up,” she said, her tone a bit sad. Jason was about to begin his junior year. It was the most important year in high school, or so everyone kept saying. Jason wasn’t that outstanding straight A student like Jules, but he did try and teachers generally liked him. His best bet for college would be either a soccer or lacrosse scholarship, and his coaches told him that would be likely.
“Ok Jules, go get in the car, I will be right out,” Jason said at last. Jules leaped out of her seat. She had been ready for this moment since about a week ago. She walked out of the door, Jason in trail, to her brother’s beat up truck. It was an old stick shift that barely went sixty, but Jason loved the thing. He was one of the only kids in his group of friends who had a car, and it was like a member of the family to him. On any given day, it was mexi-packed with four or five kids, where they would all drive somewhere and hang out. He had saved up enough money to pay for two thirds of the car, and his parents had agreed to chip in for the rest. His car was his ticket to freedom. Ever since he got his license, Jason was able to stay out however late he wanted to, as long as he was responsible and stayed somewhere safe.
Oh shit. Jason felt deeper into his pocket, and then reached in the other one. He walked to the driver seat to scan the area for his keys. Where did I put them now?
“Jason let’s go!” Jules whined. And then, “What are you looking for?”
“Keys,” Jason mumbled, and ran inside to check his room, even though he knew they weren’t in there. He emerged empty handed a few minutes later, annoyed that his day was already off to a bad start. Luckily he had a hide-a-key above his front left tire, so he grabbed the rusty spare and slammed the car door shut.
Jules was angry with him, and he knew it. He knew she had wanted to get to school early to set up her new locker and mingle with all the girls she had missed over the summer. It wasn’t exactly his fault they were going to be late now. But much to Jules’ disappointment, they arrived at the two story brick building twenty minutes late. Great. Jules hopped out of the car, still not speaking to her brother, and clamored up the front steps. Jason, on the other hand, parked in one of the only spots left, which happened to be the farthest one away form the entrance. He meandered inside to his locker, realizing that he had spaced on his locker combination even after all of his efforts to remember it.
Jason trudged down to the first floor, all the way to the front desk to get a copy of his schedule and combo. As he walked in, now twenty minutes late, to his first period class, everyone silently turned around and stared at him with worried expressions. Jason looked around and recognized all the familiar faces, except for one. Jason just stared at the ground, unsure what to do. He must have been seven feet tall, and Jason could tell from the silent class that the teacher meant business. In his left hand the teacher was holding a yard stick, although this was eleventh grade English, not math. And he was probably in his mid-fifties or so; you could tell by the gray hair and few wrinkles.
“Sit. You can come talk to me after class.” Jason assumed the man up front was directing that at him. A couple kids snickered as he took an open seat in the back of the classroom and sunk down into his chair.
Thirty more minutes lecture followed. Jason figured there was no need to pay attention since more than half the class seemed to be going out of their minds. Rinnnngggg. The bell cut Mr. Smoler off mid sentence, and the students jumped to life. Jason strode over to his desk, nervously awaiting the teacher’s reprimand.
“Of course you have a good excuse for showing up late to my class,” Mr. Smoler said, not even glancing up at Jason.
“Sorry, it’s the first day. Give me a break,” Jason replied in return.
“What’d you think of the lecture?” He questioned.
“It was good.”
“Would you be ready to take a test on the matters we discussed today,” the teacher challenged.
“What?” Jason didn’t think he had heard him right.
“I am here to teach. Now, if you don’t plan on learning, we are going to have a very hard year together. I’d like you to be prompt for my class everyday, no justifications anymore. You are an upperclassman, time to grow up.” Mr. Smoler excused Jason and he turned around and began walking. Jason couldn’t help but think the whole situation was a bit comical, and accidently let out a small laugh. Instantly, he heard the booming voice of his new teacher. “You think this is a joke son?” Mr. Smoler was almost yelling, and he was a bit intimidating.
“Nope. I’m just leaving,” Jason replied in a smart-ass tone.
“Dunes office. Now.” Dunes was the principal, had been for five years now, and he wasn’t very reasonable with any kind of discipline.
At this, Jason had to smile. “Look, I am now going to be late for my next class. So how about we skip all of this and I will just see you tomorrow?” Jason put on a sheepish grin and tried to get away, but it was tough. Inevitably Jason knew he would have to give in to Mr. Smoler’s commands, but it was definitely not going to be today.
Like clockwork, Dunes pushed open the door and strode in to Mr. Smoler’s classroom. Speak of the Devil. “Hello there, Pete. Just wanted to check up to see how your first day had been going,” Dunes said in his deep voice. They began having a light conversation, and until Jason moved, he seemed unnoticed.
“How was your summer Jason,” Dunes asked him, half joking. Jason didn’t think Dunes was curious with his answer, and turned towards the door.
“And where do you think you are going?” Mr. Smoler walked Jason back over to his desk.
“Is there a problem here?” Dunes asked.
“I think you should talk to this young man over here for yourself,” Smoler retorted and went back to organizing his papers.
“Why don’t you and I take a walk down to my office,” Dunes suggested in a sarcastically sweet tone, although it wasn’t an optional thing. Jason trailed behind as Dunes lead him down the hallway the administrative center. They sat down in Dunes’ private room facing each other.
Jason looked around at all the familiar pictures on the wall. He had been in this position quite a few times before, not because he was a bad kid or anything, though. Jason enjoyed arguing with teachers and proving them wrong. He was naturally stubborn like his lawyer father, but it never got him in too much trouble. The two of them had quite a history. Jason was usually in his office every few weeks. He’d been suspended twice last year, but it Jason’s opinion it was completely irrational and ridiculous. Other than that, Dunes went easy on him because he knew Jason couldn’t control his mood swings. But for some reason, the aura of the room seemed to be different.
Dunes was silently staring at Jason, so Jason began talking out of instinct. “Well, to be honest I actually have no idea why I am here. I was a little late for class today. Sorry,” Jason offered.
“Mr. Smoler comes from the Upper East Side, he is used to much more respect than that. There must have been something else as well,” Dunes urged. Jason just sat quietly playing with the strings on his hoodie.
“Don’t lie to me Jason.” Jason laughed and got out of his chair. Dunes was being irrational and Jason just wanted to get to his next class. He was sick and tired of the teachers here treating him like he was seven. “That’s it,” Dunes said, his tone now angry. Jason turned, a bit scared of what was to come. Jason was never the type to let people, teachers even, to walk all over him. He was almost seventeen; they can’t keep telling him what to do. “You’re off the soccer team!” Dunes sat down, pleased with himself, and took his focus off Jason.
“What? What are you talking about? You can’t do that!” Jason countered. A switch turned in his brain. Jason was naturally a smart-ass, and got a kick out of messing with teachers. But this was serious. Sports were his life. It was September now, and soccer pre-season had started a month ago. Jason had attended each practice to shape the team together. After all his hard work, he was named varsity captain, as a junior. Besides the fact that he was easily one of the best players, Jason’s team needed him.
“I just did.” Dunes smirked and walked back behind his desk.
Jason stormed out of his office, to caught up in the moment to fight back. Dunes last words ran over and over in Jason’s mind, each time causing Jason to become even more outraged. He ran down the hallway cursing and slamming lockers. His anger was getting the best of him, and he knew it. Jason didn’t bother going to his next class. Nothing mattered to him at the moment except for the fact that he had no clue what to say to his coach. Jason got into the driver’s seat of his car without so much as a word to anyone and pulled out of the school parking lot.
He sped down the highway to his favorite spot about a mile out of town by a secret lake. It was about a five minute walk from the road, but it was surrounded by a lush forest of trees, making it impossible to see any homes. Over on the left side of the lake Jason and some friends had created a whole area full of benches crafted from logs and big rocks that were all centered around a campfire pit. It was far enough from society that Jason didn’t have to think about what just happened. He came here to unwind almost everyday. In the summer, there were countless late nights spent up by the lake. Jason took his girlfriend April up here all the time to watch the sunset view and cuddle up on the grass.
He cracked open a cold beer can that he had stashed in the woods to help him forget about Dunes’ last words. He guzzled it down pretty fast and then another. He lay back in the grass to look at the swirling clouds. His mind was still enveloped with fury, and he searched in his pocket for more of his anger meds. Jason didn’t know the time, and he didn’t care. He was probably going to be in even more trouble for ditching school, but it didn’t matter. His mom would be mad at him, but she would understand. It was easy for Jason to get away with things; he could always blame it on his condition.
Hours later, Jason hiked down to his car to drive back into his small town. School had long since ended and it was dusk now. Jason hopped in his truck and speeded back into town, realizing he had promised to eat dinner at April’s house.
Jason was a tad delusional; the combination of being tired and tipsy wasn’t too good for driving. Not to mention the buildup of anger inside him. Even after cooling off, he still felt rage towards Dunes, and couldn’t believe his fate of this year. Jason was speeding home, going about ten miles over the recommended speed limit. He just wanted to get home and escape his mind with April by his side. As his mind started to drift off into the arms of April, a deer jumped out of the forest on the left into the middle of the lane. Jason wasn’t fully paying attention, and the sudden movement shocked him. Without thinking, Jason slammed on his brakes and swerved into the right lane, just as a semi was coming his way.
He heard a piercing sound. Honkk Hooonkkkkk Hhooonkkkk. It was honking but there was nothing that could be done, a truck that size could not slow down in time. Jason’s car was sideways in the left lane, trapped. Jason was screaming at the top of his lungs, his anger overcome with fear.