Chapter 2: A Long Day: School
Mikey Appleton: March 2, 1964
“AHHH!” I shout, hearing the sound of my alarm clock.
Oh that stupid alarm clock, its loud ringing always frightens me. I don’t like loud sudden noises like that, and parents know it. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to be woken up by my parents so that’s good… I change into my red shirt and jeans and head out to the kitchen. I notice my mom is there, watching the TV. I stand to see if she notices me before I say hi to her.
“H-Hi ma…” I say
She promptly ignores me, as always, watching her Bonanza show again. I walk over to the kitchen to see if there’s any breakfast for me.
“Mikey, don’t even bother. There’s no breakfast for you.” she tells me.
“B-But can I-I get a-an apple?” I ask, as loudly as I can.
“Sure… that’s fine.” Ma replies.
I grab an apple and begin to eat, it would have been a little quiet if it wasn’t for the sound from the TV. I hope this day goes well for me, both at school and at home. I quickly finish my apple, brush my teeth, and grab my backpack; and now for the challenge for today…
“Hey m-mom… Can I-I have lunch m-money?” I ask her, already nervous.
I hear her sigh, “Fine Mikey, but you better not spend the change; it’s my change!”
Ma hands me 3 dollars, as I quickly place it in my pocket.
“Now don’t be late for the bus, Mikey.” She exclaims, as I head for the door.
Luckily for me, the bus stop is close to the door; especially during the winter as it snows a ton here. Well a ton for me as I’m kind of small. I wait for the bus, it gets a little lonely; it’s just me at this stop. What seems like forever later the bus arrives and I hesitantly enter. I see the seats of my classmates chatting with friends, all having a good time. But me, I don’t know anyone else here; Cherry takes a different bus to school. I sit in an empty row, dreading the day that I’ll have next… I am not ready… I am not ready… I am not…
The bus arrives at the school, all my classmates line up to exit and I promptly follow. I was about to enter the building until I hear someone yell at me. Oh no… It’s him…
“Hey scaredy cat! Can’t handle The Twilight Zone? What a baby!” I hear Todd shout, as he and his gang laugh at me.
“I-I-I’m not a b-baby!” I try to exclaim back, until I’m promptly interrupted.
“How come your dad fought in a war, and you can’t even get through a not-even-that-scary-show!” He yells back, laughing at me again.
I ignore them and walk away, oh Todd… my bully. He and his group always like to pick on me for whatever reason, always saying I’m easily scared, shy, and just overall not like them. And if I ever make the mistake of showing them my comic series… well I’ll probably get picked on even more. Todd is much bigger than me, does more sports than me, and even gets more attention then I will ever get/want/need. Well whatever, this is all stupid…
I sigh and enter the building, heading towards my class before the bell rings and I sit at my desk. It’s a little lonely, other than the teacher there’s like maybe 3 other students here. Well… it might be a little bit of a long day, oh well…
3 hours later: Lunchtime
The bell rings in my math class, signalling the start of lunch. I walk slowly towards the cafeteria, making sure to not accidentally encounter Todd or anyone because they’ll end up stealing my money. I enter the line, it’s a little long but I think it’ll take five minutes at most. I notice they’re serving some salad, not my favorite but I’ll still eat it. I nervously look around, observing that I won’t get mugged. I get my salad, the croutons, and orange juice I pay for my lunch. I have to remember to keep the change, or else my mom would probably lock me in the basement again… I walk outside to the bench and notice Cherry, she’s sitting on a bench overlooking the swings and slides. I walk over to her and sit down.
“Oh h-hi Cherry!” I say
“Hi Mikey! Did you make it through the day?” She ask.
“Y-Yeah, I d-did,” I reply, “It w-was easy…”
We begin to eat, Cherry is eating some pasta which she brought from home. If only I ever had the chance to do that, my parents would just tell me no anyways. I observe what else she has in her lunchbox, a milk carton, some chips, and funny enough; some cherries. We continue to feast for a little while before she ask me a question.
“So, how are your grades in school Mikey? Are they good?”
“U-Uh… I t-think they’re a-alright. M-Mostly Bs b-but some A-As…”
“That’s still nice, you know. Good job!” Cherry says excitedly
“A-Aww thanks, y-you know how my m-mom and d-dad… can be.”
I finish my salad and begin to drink my juice, remembering to keep my lunch money change so my parents don’t get angry at me.
“W-Well… I’m h-halfway d-down with the l-latest issue of M-Mighty Man and T-Techno-Girl…” I mumble out to Cherry.
“Aw nice! Can’t wait to read it Mikey!” She exclaims excitedly.
We continue to chat, right until the bell rang signalling for us to go back inside; well almost done with school… at home might be a huge different challenge…