My alarm went off and I hit snooze 3 times before I decided to finally open my eyes. The afternoon sunlight shone through the blinds and I rolled from my side to my back. The clock showed '6:30 AM' in bright red digits. I grabbed my phone, answered some texts from the night before, and mindlessly scrolled through a few apps before I got out of bed. Another day. The days seemed to pass like pictures in a book. I couldn't even remember what I was doing a few days ago; probably the same as today, yesterday, and tomorrow. My daily routine had already begun. I fingered the necklace across my chest and pulled myself out of bed. I picked up the towel on the ground from the day before and walked to the bathroom. I took off my clothes and turned the shower on cold. I stepped in and gasped as the water hit my back. I got used to the water and sat down; letting the water fall down my back. I sat for a while before I heard a knock on the door.

"CATO! Hurry up before we're late!". My sister shouted from behind the door.

I ignored her and decided of my own free will to stand up and wash as fast as possible. I dried off and walked back to my room after looking in the mirror to make sure I didn't have some crazy new acne. I glanced at myself and looked away. The heavy scars on my chest were still as clear as day. I picked out the most culturally acceptable outfit I could find (That I didn't wear the day before). I ended up wearing ripped denim jeans and a hoodie, an outfit that looked like I wasn't trying too hard to look nice but was still good enough for a pass.

I drive my 2010 Toyota Camry to school every day and since my sister, Cora just entered her first year in high school and now I have to drive her as well. It's not like I didn't like spending time with her; she just has a very different personality from mine. She's that typical girl that wears expensive clothes and walks around school with a Starbucks drink in one hand and her phone in the other. She also talks with that annoying high pitched voice that every one of her friends has.

Since Cora taps furiously at her phone every time we are in the car I make sure to turn on some music to avoid the awkward silence. I also make sure to play some music that I know she likes.

"Hey, Cato can we please stop at Starbucks today. Pretty please." Cora said as she suddenly looked up from her phone

"We already went 3 times this week; how much Starbucks does a person need." I was already expecting this question since we hadn't gone the day before.

"I'll buy you something, c'mon please"

"We'll be late and I already have 9 tardies this year because of you. One more and I'll get detention."

"Yeah because I'm the one who stays in the shower for an hour before school."

"Okay fine, we can go." My annoyance grew a significant amount on the drive to school.

We arrived just as the first bell went off. Cora jumped out of the car, Starbucks in hand, and left in a hurry to not be seen walking through school with her older brother. I let out a sigh and slung my backpack over my shoulders. As I made my way to the attendance office my friend Travis spots me from across the hall. I immediately brighten my smile and widen my eyes a little.

"Yo Cato, late again huh?" He walks over to me and holds out his hand out for the school bro handshake.

"Yeah, my sister made us stop again," I say, shaking his hand casually making sure not to mess up.

"Damn that's a pain in the ass. You know, I wouldn't mind taking her to school myself." He said looking at me out of the corner of his eye with a grin.

"You know she'd never even let you come 5 feet close to her."

"Yeah whatever she isn't all that hot anyway". Travis says walking towards the bathroom. "Hey I think Alex and Colin are in the bathroom right now if you wanna come, we just bought a bunch of new flavors off the seniors."

"Naw not right now, I have to get to class first."

"Aw, okay see ya."

My smile dropped from my face the second I turned away. I wasn't really interested in vaping like every other kid at my school. I didn't see the appeal of harming your body just for something that tastes like garbage and burns your throat. But now every day the bathrooms are filled with kids vaping their lungs away and teachers doing nothing to stop it.

I pick up my tardy and detention slip from the office and make my way to first period. I open the door and every single head turns to look at me.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Payne, please have a seat." My teacher says as I pass him my tardy slip.

"Haha sorry teach It won't happen again."

"Uh-huh," he replied.

I take my seat near the back and look over to see a girl looking at me with a big grin on her face.

"Late again huh? That's a bad habit y'know" she says, still smiling.

"Yeah, yeah you know it's not my fault."

"Oh, excuses, excuses," She says sarcastically. "Hey, you wanna come over again today?"

I put my head down on the desk and lift the detention slip between my fingers.

"Well, that's what you get. Next time we go out it's on you."

"Ugh, I know," I say with a sour face.

Jade was the only person I cared for in the entire school. She had dark brunette hair and deep brown eyes. She was nearly as tall as me at 5'9 and played basketball and was a cheerleader. Needless to say, she was one of the more popular girls in our grade. We met after one of my friends introduced us at a homecoming party two years ago. After that, she would come to my basketball games and after many nudges, I finally asked her out. We're the super couple of the school.

After an hour of note-taking and whispering; the bell rang signaling the end of class. Since Jade and I have the same first two periods; we stand up to walk together to the next class.

"Damn that class is so boring," Jade says pretending to yawn.

"Yeah I know, Mr. Branch is the lamest teacher I have." She nudges me with her shoulder and makes a downwards gesture with her eyes. I roll my eyes and grab her open hand. She made sure to lace our fingers. We walked down the halls hand in hand making our way to class on the other side of the building.

"Wassup Cato. You two are as close as ever" says one of the members of the basketball team. He held up his left hand and I lifted mine and high-fived him in response. This exchange happened with about four more people until we finally reached our next class.

-

"I'll see you at lunch," I say to Jade as I leave for my next class. Which means it was now time for my least favorite part of the day. The hours I have to go listening to depressing teachers and annoying classmates.

I stop just before opening the door. I lift my head and brighten my face to look as cheerful as possible. I reach down and pull the door open.

"Hey! Cato's here!"

I respond to the greeting and sit down at my desk. A few classmates were already on their way over.

A particular student also approached. "So, how's it going with Jade?" He lowered his voice and grinned. "Did you hit it yet?"

I feel a small amount of rage swell deep down. I have no idea why he would ask me as if we were best friends.

"C'mon Dillon you shouldn't ask that," says someone else.

"But she's the cutest girl in our grade, you can't tell me you aren't curious." He looks back at me as he speaks.

"Haha, who knows," I say.

"Tch, man that's lame." The smile dropped from his face immediately and he walked away.

Everyone else in class avoided the topic after the awkwardness, which I was thankful for. However, I'm sure they'll just ask tomorrow because almost everything you say and do during highschool is immediately forgotten by everyone except yourself. Every person in school lives day to day doing nothing different from the day before; they're only here because they have to be. Is that how we should be living? Is that what school is? We were lucky enough to have been born at all. Why should we waste it?... who cares.