//------------------------------// // Chapter 1; Life As Usual // Story: A World Away // by Hodd //------------------------------// A World Away By Hodd. Credit to Mihaaaa for the Cover Art Warning; This fanfic does have some strong language. ================================================================================ Chapter 1; Life as Usual ================================================================================ I awoke with a jump, and focused on the clock hanging just above the chalkboard. Good I only dozed off a couple minutes. Maybe Mr. Nix didn't notice. I glanced around the room at all the cheesy posters, half-assed projects, randomly assorted beakers, test tubes, and graduated cylinders. Chemistry class. God, how I hate chemistry class. Every day was the same old thing, come to class, take notes, sleep while he drones on about something totally irrelevant, fail the test, repeat. I watched, as he wrote equation after equation up on the board, adding up to well over twenty. Above, the word "homework," was written. Homework. Wonderful. I glanced over at my friend, Nick, who was equally disdainful. This blows, I mouthed to him. He smiled a bit, and turned back around to face the front, not wanting Mr. Nix to get on our case for being distracted in class. I stared at the clock once more, focusing on the second hand, willing it to go faster. It kept its normal cadence, however, and ticked round and round, slowly shaving off time until the bell. Time always seemed to move especially slowly in chemistry class. Perhaps it was the fact that I hated chemistry, or maybe because my teacher was a complete ass. Whatever the reason, Father Time seemed especially keen on making the torture drag on as long as possible. Keeping my gaze on the infamous black and brush steel clock, I took note of the time. Eight forty.First period lets out at nine fifteen. Thirty five minutes. Awesome. Mr Nix called out over the class, making a feeble attempt at a drumroll with his hands. "Well, it's the moment you've been waiting for! You're tests have been graded!" Mr Nix always had an affinity for theatrics when it came to handing graded tests back out. I cringed slightly, remembering the exam. I never did terribly well when it came to chemistry, but this last test had been particularly brutal. When it was finally my turn to receive my test, he gave me that kind of "should have studied harder" condescending look. Just give my damn test, I thought to myself. He handed it to me, and I eyed the top of the page. Sixty-seven. My heart dropped. But I studied for hours on this. What happened? I put my head back into my hands with a sigh, and let my hair fall down over my eyes. In no time at all, I was drifting back off to sleep. The bell was what woke me. Its loud and obnoxious ringing would be enough to bring Sleeping Beauty back to consciousness. All the other students began to funnel to the back, as was ritual, crowding for the door. I scrambled to grab my things, and hastily stuffed them in my backpack. Maybe if I hurry, Nix won't get the chance to grill me for sleeping. I blended with the crowd, and eventually found myself almost at the door. "Oh, Mr. Wade," Nix called out after me. I cringed at the sound of my name being called out into the crowd. "Perhaps since you are so keen on sleeping in my class, you'd enjoy a nice little detention slumber party after school on Wednesday?!" he continued, easily loud enough for what was left of the class to hear. "Can't wait, Mr. Nix!" I called back, making sure to go heavy on the sarcasm. I made my way through the door, and started down the hallway; Dammit. I'm never gonna hear the end of this. Mom had always hated it when I did poorly on tests. She was adamant about me going to college, and would do whatever it took to make sure I got good grades, even if it means controlling all aspects of life. From behind me, I heard Nick approach. "Oh, hey Nick," I said to him. "Hey dude," he responded. "You catch the new episode?" "Yeah, man," I chuckled. "Amazing season finale. It's a little weird that they didn't mention Shining Armor earlier though." "Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I gotta get to class, Miss Turner hates it when I'm late." "Okay," I said again with a chuckle, and returned the brohoof gesture that he made. Nick was the other brony of the school. We always talked about the new episodes, the songs, the writing, voice acting, plot, animation, references, memes surrounding My Little Pony, so on and so forth. To be honest, we may have been a little too into it. After all, the average brony doesn't learn the Flim Flam Brothers duet with his friend. The day dragged on, as it always does. Every minute seemed like an eternity, as the second hand crept along, knocking off a minute after every sixty ticks. World History was about eventful as it sounds, and German II had little to offer in terms of excitement. This was how I lived life at school. Scrape by, waiting for the bell to sound, sprint to my next class, and repeat. To most people, it would be maddening, but for a high school student, it was just another school day. Finally, the final bell of the day sounded, and not a second later, I was out the door of seventh period, and on my way to the front atrium to wait for my ride. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, I saw a familiar plain grey sedan pull into the school. Seconds later, it sped around the parking lot, and pulled into the student pick up and drop off line. I walked up to the car and began placing my books in the back seat, when I noticed she wore a familiar face of frustration and anger. Great. She's pissed. About halfway home, she broke the awkward silence that had formed. "So I got an email from Mr. Nix. You failed another test." I sighed aloud. And so it begins... She was still on her tirade, and showing no signs of stopping when we walked through the front door of our house, a small, one story place, fit for just the two of us. "What am I going to do with you Damien? You fail tests, you sleep in class... What's going on in your head?" she asked rhetorically. I simply stood there, as the verbal barrage fired down on me like howitzer cannons. These had become a regular occurrence since I began high school, two years ago. I'd do well in the first semester, and then bomb the final months of school. April was winding down, and finals were the only saving grace that could bring my grades back up. It was a near carbon copy of what happened last year. She continued on with her fiery ranting. "For god's sake, you're sixteen years old! I'd think you'd be able to get your damn grades up! Is that so much to ask for!? You're just like your father; lazy!" That last statement stung. Ever since Dad passed, Mom had to take care of me. I'd always loved my Dad more than anything, and always chose him as my role model. I'd never been close to my Mom, and to be honest, preferred to be with Dad. I looked Mom in the eyes. "Don't talk about Dad like that." She was slightly taken back at my retaliation. "I'll talk about whoever I want, however I want! But you will not speak to me like that! Go to your room, and don't come back out! I'm tired of dealing with your shit!" I complied, and walked down the hall, and entered my room, making sure to put extra emphasis on slamming the door. Every day with this crap. Life as usual, I guess. I sighed, and walked over to my computer. The screen flickered on with a push of the power button, and soon the familiar images of Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were displayed. Night after night, I spent watching this show. What was it about this particular show that intrigued me so? Sure, the animation was wonderful, but a lot of shows have good animation. Voice acting was good, but again, other shows had that too. Whatever the reason, I always found myself entranced, as images of ponies, and dragons, and what-have-you flickered on my screen. After a few hours, I took a look at the time up in the top right corner of my monitor. Eleven thirty-eight. It's amazing how slowly time scrapes on when you're miserable, and how quickly it flashes by when you're entertained. With a yawn, I powered down my computer, and trudged over to my bed. Soon, my eyelids fell closed, and sleep came and took me in its calming embrace.