Alex stared at the book in front of him. This time around, he wasn't wearing any hoodie or clothing that could cover his face. He was just plain. His long shiny black hair was tied up into his favorite hair position - the ponytail. His sharp jawline could be seen clearly just fell a side view.
In front of him were different books from different authors and at first, he looked like someone who didn't a get a thing that he was doing. He picked up the pen and got closer to the small table that was about his size - the sitting position and proceeded to read something. He tore a sheet of paper and wrote a few things but then stopped. He stared at it and squeezed the paper into a ball before throwing it away. He tore another one and tried to write a few words again but it proved abortive. Nothing was happening and he clenched his fist line and closed his eyes as many memories flood in, words from different individual greeted his brain. "You are nothing without me... without us. Nothing is going to work out for you. You are nothing but a useless vessel in terms of something like this!" "Come back and learn something tangible, all of these makes no sense." "Oh, what do you think you are going to do? You really you are going to make history by doing this? You are only wasting your time, ha ha ha." The voice burst into a terrible laughter inside his head. Alex's body started to shake and he could hardly control his breathing. He screamed and scattered the table, throwing all the books away. He lifted the table and smashed it against the wall, breathing hard. It felt as if something in him kept building up inside his brain and he couldn't control himself. He kept tearing the things that he saw and yelled with all his might. He was trying to stop himself from breaking any more things so he fell to the ground instead and curled up crying hard, he folded and held his legs to stop them from creating more mess. Alex kept sobbing and reached for his head instead to hold it. The door was opened. "Hey, Alex, you wouldn't believe.. Alex! Alex, what's wrong?" A young man quickly threw the things that he had brought with him and rushed to the unstable boy. "Hey, Alex, hang on there. Hold on." He quickly rushed into and brought out a box. He filled the syringe just like he had been instructed before injecting Alex with it, that seemed to calm him down after a few minutes later because he stopped crying and only sobbed gently. The man went back to the kitchen to bring a glass of clean water. He put it down beside him and tried lifting Alex up a bit so he would be able to rest his back against the couch. "Hey, just relax. Don't force yourself to think anything. Relax...breathe in... breathe out. That's it. Here, take your medications. That should be enough for now. We can go to the hospital if..." "Jonathan, I am fine. Thanks." Alex stopped him as he collected the medications from him and used them. He closed his eyes afterwards, placing his palm on his eyes as he relaxed. Jonathan looked at the smashed table and the books before he sighed. He changed his sitting position to the same as Alex, he then stared at him. "What happened this time around?" Alex took his time in answering the question. He sniffed. "Nothing." "You don't expect me to believe that when I can see the mess that you have created." Alex then removed his palm from his eyes and looked everywhere. "I am sorry. I just overstressed my brain and the usual happened." He whispered. Jonathan nodded and touched his shoulder as a way of comforting him. "Nothing seems to be entering. Everything is not going great at all. Sometimes I wonder how I got to this grade in school when I hardly remember anything or know anything." Alex confessed. "Hmm, I have been longing to say this before but I just felt like it might not work out for you however I am going to say it. Try mingling with others." "No!" Alex didn't let him finish his sentence before he jumped in. "Hold on, I mean only a person. Someone who is brilliant and can encourage you to read. Perhaps someone who can understand you." Jonathan proposed. "Who? I hardly know anyone there nor does anyone know anything about me." "Listen, Alex, if you really want to work according to your new plan, you have to start making arrangements about that. You can't just lock yourself in because of something so trivial like that. I am certain that there is someone there that cares about you and nothing else. Just take the opportunity and let's see how things turn out, okay? Be it both genders - male or female. Just a friend is enough. Trust me when I say this, it will work a lot." Jonathan advised him. Alex didn't agree or disagree with what he said, instead he continued staring at the television with the glass of water in his hand. He stood up after a while and picked up the pieces on the ground. "I am sorry for this." "It's fine, bro. Go in and have a rest. I will let you know when dinner is ready, I will make something really quickly for the both of us, okay?" Alex walked away and shut the door of his room. Jonathan exhaled heavily and shook his head. He didn't want to meddle in his affairs but seeing as things were going from bad to worse, he saw the need to interfere. ~~~~~~~~ "And as usual, the top most students are no other than the pair of friends, Ashely, Josh and Sammie. " The students clapped as the teacher distributed their scripts. Ashley happily collected hers and did a 'high five' with her friends. The test was so easy for them to crush and nothing more. The teacher looked at the only paper in her hands before raising her head. "The last paper belongs to Alex." She didn't say his score, instead she went over to him and presented the script to him. Others knew that he could have failed the test because his name was always the only one not being mentioned whenever scripts were shared in class. Sometimes, the students would always feel that the teachers knew more than them about the issue. "I wish to see the improvements in your studies, Alex. This isn't satisfying." The teacher whispered and walked to the front of the class. "Alright, students. Listen up." She clapped. Ashley looked behind her, Alex was simply staring at the window again after dipping the scripting into his bag. She sighed and stared at her palm. What could be wrong with him? Didn't he like schooling? ~~~~~~~ The class came to an end after forty five minutes and Alex got called to the Principal's office not quite long after the first lecture. He took his time before actually going there, not minding the curious glances sent his way. He knocked on the door after getting there. "Come in." The principal said and he opened the door afterwards. The plus size woman looked up from her table and smiled a bit after she saw Allen. "Mr Allen, my boy, have your seat. I actually thought that you weren't going to honour my invitation." Alex didn't say a word but sat down with his head lowered. The woman looked at him compassionately. She was a mother of five and her middle child had the same behavior as Alex but he was better off Alex because at least, he was associating with people because of the help of siblings. She took Alex to be her son and tried keeping her eyes on him but there was nothing suspicious about him. He had no criminal record or anything...not even parents except his brother, Jonathan, that brought him to the private school in the first place. "I will go straight to the point then. Some of teachers talked with Mr about your academic results and how low they are. Listen here, boy, I see you as my son and I wish to help you. I understand that you don't want to open up to anybody yet but your academic...your education is your future. If you are trying your best and need help then let me know, I can help if it's about that." She paused and waited for his answer yet he didn't say anything again so she took that as a clue to continue talking. "So, I came up with something, I will assign a student of your class with high intelligence trait to teach you and help you. Of course, that's if you are interested. It isn't mandatory but it can help because the student is open to more conversations and can help if you don't mind. So what do you say? Do you want to try this out and see how it goes?" Alex looked up from the floor and finally gave a nod, causing the woman to open her teeth more widely. "That's good. Get prepared then." She winked.Ashley knocked on the principal's door and entered when she was given the chance to. She bowed her head a bit to show her respect as she took her seat. "Miss Ashley, how are you doing? It's been a while, don't you think?" The principal smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am. I am great, thank you. How are you too?" "As you can see, I am glowing." "That's good." Ashley chuckled. "Anyway, I called you here because I need your help with something or someone to be precise and you are the only option I have unless you don't want to do it." Ashley raised her brows, "I can only decide that if you tell me, ma'am." "One of the students in your class needs help with his schoolwork. Alex." She revealed. Ashley's heart sank - not in a bad way but rather in a good way. Her heart raced after she heard that and she gave her lips a quick lick while adjusting her sitting position. "You must know him too, right? That secluded guy..." "Yes, ma'am." "Great. Some teachers that cared about him laid a few c
"Are you sure that you will be able to teach him? He looks like someone who is not interested in learning." Josh whispered as he stared at Alex who was sitting not quite far from them. Ashley also looked at him briefly before turning to her friends. She smiled. "He is going to be fine. I will handle him well. How hard can it be?" She shrugged and flipped the pages of her book for a quick review. ~~~~~~~~ "Okay, I give up. I know that I said HOW HARD COULD IT BE?" Ashley exclaimed as she slumped against the chair inside the cafeteria. She had visible lines on her forehead that showed how stressed she was just after a few days of teaching Alex. Josh reached out to her and smoothened the lines on her forehead. "Thanks." She collected her energy drink from Sammie and opened it so she could take a sip from it. "You haven't even started yet but you are already fed up, what type of a teacher are you?" Sammie laughed. Ashley frowned and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Mr. Zach, good day. " Ashley greeted the salesman as she entered the bookshop. A man who seemed to be in his early fifties came out from the backyard carrying a small laundry basket. His hair was white as a sign of old age but Ashley felt like it was just too early for a man in his fifties. "Ashley dear, you are here. Welcome, it's been a long time. What books do you need?" He asked her as he quickly dropped his basket so she could get his attention fully. "It's been a long time indeed. Do you have children's books? Books with virtual pictures? Elementary books or something like that?" She inquired while going through the different books on the shelves. Zach was amused, "Did your momma give birth?" Ashley was stunned, "Give birth? What do you mean and how is that related to this?" "I mean no harm, I am just wondering why you need an elementary book when you aren't even in that grade anymore." Ashley finally realized what he meant and laughed. "I get th
Jonathan entered the sitting room carrying a small bowl of popcorn that he had made that evening by himself. He gave some to Alex but the latter rejected it as he had no interest in eating. He brought out the children's books that Ashley had given him and set on working on them. This got Jonathan curious and amused at the same time. He looked at Alex. "What is going on?" He asked him. "I am reading," Alex replied bluntly. "A child's book?" "She said that it's good if I start from here." He answered. "Wow. She's a great observer and a good friend to be with. Don't you agree?" Alex was mute. He picked up his pen and started working on the exercises. Jonathan seemed pleased to have seen this because he had tried finding ways to make him study even though he really wanted to but unfortunately, he lacked the clues and ways to do so. "I told you that there will be someone out there who is gonna care about your state of living," Jonathan said proudly. Alex
Alex was sitting at a secluded spot with his usual hoodie on. He had his books in front of him and just like how everyone behaved, they walked past him, whispering about how weird and psychotic he was for not mingling with others. He didn't mind all these accusations but faced his books. He had been advised that somehow, if he continued on this path, he would be able to prove a particular person wrong and he needed to achieve that so badly. That was why he had to bear with a talkative and stubborn girl like Ashley. "Hey!" Ashley yelled from afar immediately after she got to see him. Well, speak of the devil! Alex sighed and closed his book as he heard her footsteps running eagerly toward him. By the time she got to where he was, she was already breathing loudly so she slumped to the ground to take a rest. After catching her breath, she turned her head in his direction and luckily got a full profile of his face. Her heart raced surprisingly when his eyes met
"Alright, students. Gather your things and get into line." The teacher blew his whistle so loudly and clapped his hands in the most annoying way that got the students frowning so hard about it. "I see no need for him to be here," Sammie mumbled while Josh chuckled. "Don't blame the bachelor. He is excited to go to the city so what do you expect?" He answered on the teacher's behalf. Even though the teacher had instructed and shouted at the top of his lungs that the students should get in, no one entered the bus because it wasn't time for departure yet and some of the paid students were yet to come. Sammie who was looking around aimlessly suddenly caught sight of someone coming and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened wide. "What's wrong with you? Why are you...?" Ashley was forced to stop talking when Sammie kept hitting her hard and forced her head in the opposite direction. Ashley choked on the water that she was drinking and was trying hard to stay on Earth rather than have a
Later that same night, students gathered around the campfire that was on the beach, listening to their teachers tell them stories about their childhood. Some were funny and others were gross - like the story of how they met their loved ones. Out of the five teachers, there were only four who gave their stories, excluding one which was Miss Hera. "Miss Hera, you haven't said anything yet. What about your love story or don't you have one?" Josh brought her out from the dark. "Yes, Miss Hera. You have not said yours yet. Come on. We are all waiting for it. Say something." The students started singing her name in a song. She became a bit embarrassed because she was a shy person who really didn't like to talk too much. "Alright, I will you about mine briefly so pay attention." She finally agreed and the students did as she said - they paid attention to listen to her love story. "I do have a love story and I am glad that he is the one I am with now even though it was no
The next day, the teachers organized a trip for the students to check out the diverse artworks and even to go to the museum. While everyone was excited, Ashley was the opposite. She kept staring at Alex as if she was monitoring him. She didn't have the time yet to speak with him...maybe because he was intentionally avoiding her so she would not be able to say THANK YOU. This was not the first time he was gonna do that to her. "Alright, students. You should have your things ready and by that, I mean your phones and cameras because we are going to take some lovely pictures." Miss Hera announced. She then went to meet Ashley with a smile and brought out her phone. "Here is your phone. It has been repaired." Ashley nodded, "Thank you, Miss Hera. " She answered. The woman turned around and left. The bus was on its way and the students were talking amongst themselves while Alex was left alone as usual. He was wearing his headphones to lessen whatever distraction was bo