This headache kills. It's so bad, should I just kill myself? My head's been aching like this for a week now. I've been in a super bad mood for a week now too. I didn't know almost dying hurts this much. As part of my punishment, I have to let the wound heal by itself. No funny business like taking painkillers or medicine or anything like that. In a week, the wound has completely healed but the headache seems like it'll stay for an eternity and a half.
There's a knock on the door and in comes my mother. I give her a look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks.
"Why did you send me off to become some kind of experimentally created mutant? Ever since then people keep shooting at me and I'm beyond tired of it," I reply.
"C'mon what's done is done. I'm proud of my strong son who fights bad guys and keeps the peace in this chaotic world," she declares proudly.
"Isn't that right Miranda?"
What? Miranda? Wait, wait, wait, why is she here at my mom's house?
"Don't be shy Miranda, come in. Please excuse the mess in my son's room. He's been having a hard time lately as I'm sure you know. Take care of him, will you? Better yet just become his girlfriend; I don't get why you guys are not dating. I can clearly see that…"
"Mom stop! What about you? Are you still waiting on dad? Didn't he leave before I was even born? Forget him and move on," I interrupt.
As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I regret it. My mom's face darkens.
"Don't talk about something you don't know. Your dad will return, he just has to finish something important first," with that she leaves the room.
Miranda comes into the room; she's wearing a dress. She's wearing a dress, I repeat, she's wearing a dress. How cute.
She drags herself into a corner of the room and sits down cross legged. She just sits there glaring at me.
Should I like say something?
"Um, Miranda, what's up? Why are you here?"
She just glares at me. What does she want? Women are so hard to understand.
"If you want to say something, get on with it."
I should've said that in a better way because now she looks like she wants to strangle me to death.
"I don't know Jason, what do you think I want to say? Why did you agree to the punishment? You did nothing wrong! You never stand up for yourself! Do you know how I felt when…," Miranda was saying when I intrude:
"I get it, you just came here to tell me how stupid I am. If I make you so angry why did you even come?" I snap.
"I came because I was worried about you. But now I see you're doing fine seeing as you have enough energy to be a dick," Miranda retaliates.
"You know what? I'm really not in the mood for a quarrel right now. I'm going to go for a walk, feel free to leave when you want to," I say.
"Wait Jason I didn't mean it like that."
"Miranda, another time, I want to be alone right now."
I leave the room. My mom's saying something to me but I don't bother and just leave the house.
I shouldn't have left Miranda like that but I didn't want the situation to get any worse. First I make her worry and then I make her angry. Why did she even come to see how a loser like me is doing? I keep showing her all the bad, embarrassing parts of myself. After I cool down, I'll get back to Miranda and apologize till she forgives me. I can't have her hating me, I wouldn't be able to bear that.
I walk down the street to my usual place. I've been going to this bar for a while now. It has a really nice atmosphere and a really chill bar owner. After a hard day of training, this bar is really a good place to relax and unwind. It also helps that the place is really close to my mom's. I can visit my mom and grab a drink afterwards.
I enter the bar and sit down at my usual place. I don't have to say anything, the bar owner already knows what I want.
A couple minutes later a man with a not-so-bartender-like build comes over and gives me my drink. This guy is the chill bar owner I was talking about. He certainly doesn't look like your average bartender. He probably works out a lot and I must say he's pretty good looking for a middle aged man. I want to look like him when I'm older.
He is usually very relaxed and composed but today something's a bit off. He's watching something very seriously on the TV. What's he watching? Oh, it's Dr. Animus' most recent interview on the Alvarez show. The interview where he spilled all the beans about the numbers. That Alvarez guy was acting kind of weird when he heard about us. What's his deal?
Anyways, I've never seen the bartender so interested in something before. He usually looks like his body is here but his mind is somewhere far away.
"What are you thinking about?" I ask.
"Just, you know, how the rest of the world will react to the numbers," he replies.
"I don't think anything will change to be honest," I say.
"Maybe but maybe not. Do you think the rebel groups will just stay quiet now that such a big announcement has been brought forward?" he inquires.
"What do you think will happen?" I ask.
"I think that this is the calm before the storm. Things are about to change big time, for better or worse."
I didn't expect such an extreme answer. That can't happen. That's not how it's supposed to be. My goal is already really hard to achieve, I don't need it to get any harder.
"Why do you always get ginger ale?" the bartender asks.
"I don't drink," I tell him.
"Oh is that so? Me neither," he tells me.
"What kind of a bartender doesn't drink?"
"I don't want to hear that from you," he chuckles.
I smile. The world knows about us now all because of me. Whatever the consequences, we will figure it out. I just need to believe.
After a long while, I calm down. My tension drops; I finally get rid of the headache. I tell the bartender to switch the channel and we watch some basketball instead.