Chapter 5 - Birthday

Catherine hadn't even seen him fall. She had only assumed that Alex had decided to take a break during the work and was throwing a fit. Not that she would have cared even if she had known about his current condition. After all, she had been the reason for the majority of his blackouts since coming to the high school.

Without even waiting for him to reply, Catherine continued to pass her orders to him as if she really was his employer.

"WHAT? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think it is unfair? Want me to apologize to you?"

Of course Alex felt that it was unfair but how could he voice out his concerns without getting the sh*t beaten out of him so he remained as mum as a corpse.

Catherine knew that she had successfully conveyed her point when she saw him lower his gaze like he was trying to hide inside the very ground to save himself from what was awaiting him after such a transgression. Since she knew that Alex would no longer have the guts to say anything, she continued with her threats so as to make him work faster.

"I don't want to be late because of your tardiness. I have a lot of stuff to do after this so you better get your ass moving or I will use all my remaining time of the day doing my favorite activity. You know what that is, right?"

Alex knew what that was. Her favorite past time naturally involved humiliating him and beating him to within an inch of his life.

Goosebumps crawled on his skin as he hurriedly turned away from her. He didn't want to provoke her any more than he already had.

Therefore, he got up from where he had fallen while carefully balancing his cleaning supplies in his hands.

His earlier condition had been resolved. He wondered if it was because of the adrenaline boost or what but he felt completely fine except for being slightly tired. His earlier foggy senses had also all cleared up.

Rejuvenated by her threats, Alex called forth all his vitality and endurance that he had built up over the period of time and picked up the pace of the cleaning of the storage room. It didn't take him as long as he had thought to get it to perfectly clean standards. Each nook and cranny of the room had been wiped till they shone brightly. Catherine looked around and finally felt satisfied with the result as a devilish smile appeared on her face.

Alex could finally take a breather as he knew that the woman was satisfied with his work and would probably spare him from his daily dose of humiliation because of that.

Catherine didn't look back once as she ran outside the room after having made sure that everything within the storage room was in order. She reported to the teacher on duty without stopping in the way. It appeared that she truly was in a hurry to leave the school.

"Teacher, I have cleaned the pantry thoroughly. I even scrubbed the corners and wiped the walls properly so the next team on cleaning duty would not have to put in that much effort. I felt that I should at least do that much for my classmates since I am not very good at other things."

The teacher on duty felt the sincerity in her words and could not help complimenting her.

"If only all my students were as diligent as you."

"I am sure that you don't mean that. There are so many good students in the school that are so much better than me."

"No need to be so humble. Anyways, you must be tired after working so hard. Be safe on the way and rest properly once you reach home."

Catherine nodded like an obedient student who had worked hard diligently the whole day which was the exact opposite of her true self. She practically spun around displaying an excited appearance in front of the teacher on duty as she skipped out of the office; the two-faced hypocrite.

If only Alex could have seen how his hard work was being cashed by someone else. Alas, he wasn't there as he had already left the school premises to go home.

Alex returned home both physically and mentally exhausted. He threw his bag into one corner of his room and began to undress while throwing the clothes all over the room as if he was throwing a fit.

The clothes he had just removed were strewn about the room as he headed towards the bathroom to freshen up. A nice hot shower after a tough day at work was the perfect way to relieve stress and pain.

After a hot shower that rejuvenated his soul, Alex dressed up into his comfortable home wear that consisted of a shirt that was a few sizes too large for him and a loose trouser with it.

Despite being offensive to norms and fashion sense, the outfit seemed to be tailor made for him as it complimented his personality and his inner thoughts that were just as chaotic and otherworldly.

Water trickled down his forehead as he had yet to dry his wet hair after the shower. His loosely hung hair fell down his forehead almost covering his eyes and a part of his vision but Alex didn't appear to be bothered by it.

As if possessed by some supernatural entity he walked towards the refrigerator while hesitating slightly after every step or two like he was reconsidering his decision to do so at every moment. It appeared as if he was fighting back some primal urge that was trying to take devour his consciousness.

Alex had never been so indecisive even when he had been having a hard time or when he was being bullied by others at school. He had always known what to say or do to get out of a situation. He had had his whole life to practice that but this was something he could never get used to despite having hoped to do so.

The walk to the refrigerator was as perilous as walking on a road made up of smoldering firewood and ashes. At the end of the perilous road, he pushed open the door to oblivion and pulled out what looked to be small cake that was no larger than a cupcake in size. There was hardly anything else in the refrigerator. If someone didn't know any better, they would have thought that he was some kind of a poltergeist haunting the room that didn't have to eat anything.

After pulling the pitiful looking cake out of the empty abyss that was his refrigerator, he pranced about looking for something before eventually finding what he was looking for in one of the side compartments of the refrigerators. The other pitiful resident of the abyssal prison was also rescued by him. It turned out to be a little colorful candle that people usually used for their birthday cakes.

The condition of his refrigerator and the size of the cake and candle was enough to estimate the current conditions that Alex had been living in. He was dirt poor and had no money to treat himself to a better cake even on a day like this. It was obviously his birthday but no one had been by his side to wish him a good day; to wish him a 'happy birthday'.

To Alex it wasn't a surprise at all that nothing had changed for him even this year. Each year he would make a wish that his life might turn for the better but he had started to lose hope in the divine as his condition never improved despite the passage of time.

Time was supposed to heal all wounds and right all wrongs but why was it that he was left suffering all this time? Was it that the divinity had forgotten about him and he had been left alone? This was the greatest fear that Alex had been hiding deep inside his heart as he brought the cake to the table and placed the candle on top of it.

Just like the size of the cake, his own condition hadn't improved this year as well.

Alex lit up the candle and blew on it to extinguish the flickering flame that was mocking his pitiful life.

"Here's to another year of full of suffering, misery and humiliation."