Know what sucks? Sitting here in detention, looking outside of your prison cell to watch everyone else have fun while you "think over your actions." All I did was miss 7 of the last 6 school days!
Really though, life sucks. Lately, my dad's business has been running low on crew so I've been ditching school to help out. My best friend Kile was letting me study off his notes and homework, so I had good grades and everything (before participation kicked in anyway). I bet all my teachers started class with "Miko, absent."
Oh yea my name is Miko.
Truthfully, I was missing a lot of school, and I guess I wasn't really helping my dad either. Every day when we'd get home from work, he'd be grumpier than the Grinch and take out his anger on me. Why's your school calling me! Why's business bad! Like I'm supposed to answer our problems. I get he's stressed out, but I wish he'd lay off me a bit sometimes. I'm doing my best. I even quit my martial arts and sword training to help.
Anyway, I guess I still really need to step it up.
We have our big yearly field trip coming up, and I promised Kile I would make it. Truthfully, I shouldn't be able to go, as I missed more than double the amount of school allowed. I'm lucky that Ms. Smith is a kind soul. Even with all of my mistakes, she gave me one last chance.
If I spend a week in detention and don't miss another day of school, I can still go.
So here I am in detention, dutifully following my task. At first, I tried studying calculus, but I decided to keep my sanity and moved on to psychology. I don't know when I'll use any of this in programming, but I guess it looks good for college or something. I mean, when all other justifications fail just say it's for college.
After a few hours, my daily sentence was finally up, and I was free to go home. It was later in the day, around 6 pm, so I knew my dad would've been home for a few hours. More than enough time for him to go to sleep, leaving me free to study some more without interruption.
My home sits in what was once a nice part of town. When my parents moved in, they said it was a nice upstart town, attracting new businesses. For the longest time, that was true. My dad's business was growing at a rapid pace, and the town followed suit.
More businesses, more residents, more hungry mouths for him to feed. He had devoted his life to cuisine, citing a delighted face that's experienced heavenly food as his number 1 inspiration. My mom worked a nice job as an accountant. Nowadays, the town is dying as much as anything else.
I knew it was going to be a long night when I saw my dad's lunch on the counter, untouched. It was a rough day at work. My fear was confirmed when I heard his thundering steps enter the room. His beer belly was sticking out in such a way that you would laugh if this was a rom-com. Unfortunately, this was real life and the anger on his face would follow with yelling.
"Nice day at school?" He muttered.
I knew it was a long shot, but maybe I could find a way to keep the tone at this level.
"Y-yea. I just have to stay long enough for the field trip. A- after it's done I-"
"Trip? With that, uh what's his face? Kile kid?"
"Y-yea."
My dad nodded his head, but I couldn't tell if it was in approval or to calm himself.
"He's a nice kid. That's good. Go do your kid things. Hopefully, when you come back-"
I could hear his voice rise and become more aggressive with each word. I braced myself for what was to come, knowing the attempts for a calm discussion proved futile.
"-There's a home to come back to. Y'know, this crap's not cheap. I work all day long for you, and you either half-ass your job or you half-ass school. Look."
He closed the distance at first, but then backed up and leaned on the fridge, scowling at me.
"Look. I told you how it is, right? You wanna go to school, fine. That's good. Get your degree, get a real job. I told you that, right?"
"Y-yea."
And then you still got mad when I couldn't help you work...
"And what, you don't think you need to listen? Huh? That's it?! I'm a stupid beer-belly drunk that works a crap dead-end job, so you don't need to listen to me. Well, think about why I'm here! Doing the same stupid stuff you do. Look, you don't wanna provide for the family, that's fine. I said it's fine already. You can't deny that! But you aren't gonna skip school to half-ass your job, then just skip your job to do some stupid school stuff so you can go on some trip. Grow up."
"O- ok."
Bad response.
My dad punched the fridge so hard I thought he'd start an earthquake. I could feel the tears forming but fought them back because otherwise, this situation would get a lot worse. You're a man, men don't cry! He started pacing back and forth, shaking his head and smacking his hand against his thigh. I messed up either way.
"I've asked you to clean this house for weeks now. Give me your backpack and get it done."
I set my backpack on the table and went straight for the cleaner. So much for studying. As I opened the cabinet door, I heard a loud bang! My dad threw my backpack somewhere I guess...
Luckily for me, my dad fell asleep shortly after and I got the cleaning done in a few hours. Sink, walls, trims, dishes, etc. He really isn't usually this bad and he will apologize sometime later. It's fine. There are more good times than bad.
For example, one time he even saved 2 years' worth of money just to take us to the beach for a week. And besides, he has good reason to be angry.
After I finished cleaning the house, I cleaned up myself. I fixed up my hair into a more dignified bird's nest. It's easier to clean that way.
I smiled at the red highlights in my otherwise jet-black hair.
Gavin's dad would never allow him to wear highlights.
I took off my Dragonball shirt and threw it into the hamper.
Spencer's dad says anime is for pussies.
I took off the necklace my mother had given me. 2 years before-
She got it from this local gift shop while we were on vacation at Myrtle Beach. While some people get a necklace because they like the design, or they think their loved one would like it, my Mom had a much more innocent (and funny) reason. She had thought it was a new fashion trend. She made sure I never felt left out or unwanted. I loved her smile. I-
Anyway, after a refreshing shower, I did manage to get a bit more studying done that night. Unluckily for me, I studied more psychology and forgot all about the physics test.
I tried to get Freudian theories out of my head and focus on wavelengths but to no avail. As I sat there pondering over formulas, thoughts of my mom kept flashing across my mind. Her image helped me focus. I suddenly remembered the formulas, and in all, I think I aced the test.
As I handed in the paper, I realized how good success can feel. If only I did this well at home... I miss the days when there was no fighting or arguing, and nobody was angry. Maybe it is just harder to be mad when bills are easy to pay. I just need to do better. Maintain grades and help the business. Finish college. I can make my dad happy again.
Kile and I share a calculus class in 6th period, which is very good for me because calculus is straight up just witchcraft.
I still remember this one theory that we proved by using a theory. Basically, you prove something you made up with something you made up. That's how I understand it, anyway.
Kile could probably tell you all the ins and outs of anything, even integrals. If it wasn't for Newton and that apple (fake story by the way) then Kile would've been the one who found out all these formulas. And kids like me would hate him for his torture.
We talked at the end of class about how I was doing, and I showed him how hard I was working. I'm positive I aced the physics test. He smiled. I like it when I can make someone smile, it's a nice feeling. I wish I could make everyone smile.
The week flew by, and I kept my end of the bargain. After a hard week of constant studying, I was going to go on the trip!
Admittedly, when I was first called into Ms. Smith's office, I was worried I failed. Her smile set aside those doubts though, and as she explained how proud she was of my behavior the past week, I felt elated. Even still, Kile was infinitely more excited than me. His gleeful squeal must have rang out through the entire city.
My dad was agitated throughout the week, but last night we went out to the movies. No matter how rough things get, we patch it up.
I have been dealing with this insane headache though. Last night I had some weird fever dream of a fantasy world. Almost like it was out of Lord of the Rings or something. There were swarming demons, warring kingdoms, a talking cat; you know, normal dream stuff. It's weird, though, because it felt so real.
No time to think about that though, because I had to beat Kile in chess. It's a really cool thing with phones, you can play all kinds of games on the road. If we brought an actual chessboard, 1: it would be pretty weird, and 2: the bus driver would kill us every time he hit a bump. I made every move with very careful deliberation. This would be the day I beat Kile.
I got checkmated 6 games in a row.
"Hey, we're here!"
We hadn't realized how deep we had gotten into the world of chess until the shrill scream of our counselor rang throughout the bus. The leading teacher of our field trip, Mrs. Tyson, got up at the front of the bus, holding papers in one hand and preparing to screech a yell louder than a war general.
"Listen! We are going to have 4 groups; I'll call out your name and your group. We are to be respectful, which means no roughhousing, clean up your trash, and all the other things you're too old to be told about. We are here to have fun in a safe environment so please don't mess this up. Ok? Ok, let's go have fun." She sang that last part. Mrs. Tyson may come off harsh sometimes, but truthfully, she's the nicest, most easygoing person ever.
Since we were in the back of the bus, it took forever to get off.
For some reason, we high schoolers have a severe aversion to remembering our names and a number. Also, we just like to get in fights regardless.
This one girl's boyfriend stole her phone as a prank and she socked him (playfully, I think). After 500 years, I finally got my group, group 4, the same as Kile's.
I stepped out of the bus and into a sacrifice for a cult.
I had to have been scanning the landscape out of instinct because my mind was racing from confusion. How did I get here? Why does this place look like my dream? Am I gonna die? KILE IS PANICKING!
Hopefully, I exuded confidence on the outside because I was surrounded by at least a million people. I mean, anywhere I turned I saw at least 3 or 4 people dressed in medieval armor. For some reason, they seemed to be keeping their distance. Analyzing their livestock maybe? Stop those thoughts.
The room was candle-lit but was honestly still brighter than any room I've ever been in. That's probably due to the 100s of candles sprawled everywhere. All over the walls, hanging from the ceiling, and even some scattered next to the many tables that filled this gigantic hall. Even if I don't get skewered, someone is going to trip and I'll end up burning alive.
Directly opposing me was a giant throne, with a behemoth of a man seated on it, looking at me. The people around me were chattering (somehow in perfect English) in what I think- and hope- was excitement. "Hero! The prophesized one! We're saved!" All the stuff you hear in a bad Isekai. The king huffed his throat, and I knew he was searching for a response.
Here goes nothing.