It was a gloomy day. One of those when the clouds block out the sky, yet there’s no rain. Just dark.

The school bell rang. A flood of kids sprinted out of the school trying to be the first one out.  But there was one kid in the back that everyone avoided. He was looking for something, someone. As he walked through the crowd he relished the feeling of being feared. With each step he took, more kids, arms flailing, stumbled to get out of his path. He loved the feeling of attention as he walked up to his next victim. People, feet running, scrambled away, knowing if they did anything they’d be next. He watched as only one kid remained, his target, backed up against a wall.

“Please Mike,” the kid called out. Mike didn’t respond. “I didn’t mean it!” To this he thought a bit. What did this kid do? He didn’t remember, but it didn’t matter. There was nothing that would change his mind. He smiled and took a swing.

He wasn’t always like this. He used to be that kid in the classroom, the one you would ask to borrow a pencil from, the one that everyone knew, but not well. He had a couple of friends that he would always talk to. He had messy brown hair going every which way, seemingly controlling itself, deep brown eyes, almost soulless, and a big build. He wasn’t tall, nor short; he wasn’t smart, nor dumb. He was, for the most part, average, but to everyone something about him was off, with a lack of better words to explain it. No one knew why, so they just let him be.

Now things were completely different. His friends just disappeared. No one dared to speak to him, sneaking glances and keeping their distance away like predator and prey as he approached. He looked at the terror in their faces, only to grin. Even the teachers refused to meet his gaze. Something caused this change in him. No one knew why. He loved every moment of it, until he got home. He hated everything about his home. Home is where the only person that truly helped him feel at peace was no longer. Home is where he broke. That’s when this side of him started to show.

Ever since his mother passed away a few weeks before, he hoped that his father would take her place. His mother was the one person who helped him be at home, the one person who noticed him. So after that day, every time his father got home he hoped his father would talk to him, notice him. But everyday his father went to his room, only leaving to eat. His father just ignored him.

“Dad?” he would call.

“What?” his father would reply. It didn’t matter what he said next. He might’ve asked for help with homework, or to go shopping for school supplies, but the reply was always the same. “One moment,” his father would say. But his father never came. It broke him. And one day something just snapped. He couldn’t take it anymore. He stopped caring, and he stopped calling for help. He stopped, and he was truly alone. That next day something changed. He was never the most popular kid at school, and there was this one group of kids who he could always hear talking about him. Once again in the hallway he heard them. Before he didn’t care. But this time it was different. When he got out of school he looked around and saw those kids once again. He turned to walk away, fist clenching. He started to walk to them, and one of them noticed.

“Hey loser, you don’t belong here,” the kid called out. He just ignored them and continued to walk forward. Something in him kept begging him to move. He took one step at a time. One, two, three... They continued to call names, and to this he only sped up. Eight, nine, ten… The kids started to look genuinely worried, unsure of what was to happen. Seventeen,, eighteen, nineteen… When he reached them he stopped, and he finally let his anger loose. He didn’t remember exactly what he did. He was almost possessed, but there was something urging him to keep going. The last thing he remembered was teachers dragging him off the kids.

The wind blew heavily. As he walked up the steps to his house, the usual comforting, glowing dim-lit light, the one that felt like home on the second floor, wasn’t there. He felt something was missing. There were no sounds either, just cars driving by. It was too quiet. He peeked through the window, and no one was there either. He entered his house, looking around, but no one was there. The only thing was a note saying:

I need a break. I’ve gone away for a bit so it’ll be just you.

 - Dad

                                                                                                   

He stopped and reread it. He reread it again. There was no way, he thought. How long? Why? But as he thought some more he turned to more serious matters. How would he get to places? How would he get food? He can’t be gone for that long, he thought. But he wasn’t sure.

After a good bit of time he turned to more important matters at hand. He did his homework, made his dinner the best he could with what little there was, and followed the typical routine. What else could he do? But when he laid down to go to sleep he couldn’t help but find himself thinking about his dad again. It isn’t fair. How come he could just leave? Why would he just leave me? Why can’t I take a break too? His thoughts trailed on and on. Who said I couldn’t? He lingered on this thought, heart pounding, for a second. He could just leave. He could take a break. What was stopping him?

            Mike’s dad opened the door to his house. “Mike,” he called. “Sorry I left, I’ve done some thinking and I need to make this up to you.” There was no reply.

-Ian Zhang