Although he could persevere and intently focus on the class, he was just as relieved as everyone else when the bell finally rang. The sound of that bell was an echo of freedom, severing the students from their eternal torment. The teacher''s droning monotony was a vicious weapon almost perfectly tuned to bore one to death, but the protective spell of the bell drowned out the teaching voice, allowing everyone to escape.


    It was a veritable stampede of organized chaos, hands snaked for notebooks and textbooks, feet sped to the exit, and none even waited for final dismissal. The long purgatory was finally over, and he could finally start living. He was excited to exit the cramped and oppressive halls into the refreshing open city. Before he could obtain his freedom, he had to stop by his locker to collect his belongings.


    The small green locker was confidently sealed shut by a small little numlock; like all the other locks, it rested powerfully as a deterrent for all those curious and brave enough to test it. He never updated the password from its default value of one-two-three-four though. He actually preferred it that way; the security theatre always gave him a chuckle. The true security of the locker was the complicated puzzle barred within, the impossible dilemma of how to get any textbook either in or out.


    He was in the process of deciphering the puzzle of how to fit each textbook in his bookbag when a familiar friend approached. "Yo Dixy, you''re not going to chicken out on us, are you?"


    He stopped his decoding when he heard his annoying nickname. He couldn''t help the irritated twitch of a brow at the teasing. "Nah Missy, I''m down. Just gotta bring my pack." He gave a final shove of a particularly large math textbook with as much force into his bookbag as he could.


    Amiss ignored his own mocking nickname and grimaced watching the overstuffed bookbag like it were a freshly mangled corpse "Seriously? Do you ever not study."


    "Unlike you, I actually plan on being useful to society after school."


    Amiss raised his arms placatingly. "Hey, that''s your mistake to make. Outside, west gate, ten minutes."


    He rolled his eyes at his friend''s antics. "Got it."


    Getting the confirmation that he wanted, Amiss then ran off to interrogate the rest of his victims into showing up. Once Amiss left, he could finally return his focus to the bookbag dilemma. After an embarrassingly long amount of shoving and tossing, he finally managed to get all his books inside, and he hurriedly zipped the bulging bag closed before it could regurgitate its contents. The bag was heavy with the weight of knowledge, or at least of things which believed they were knowledge, regardless of the truth he was convinced they were, and knowledge was the key to true freedom. He slumped the bookbag over his shoulders, a temporary burden for now.


    Down the hall he could see a group of younger girls laughing. Among them he spotted the victim who could alleviate his load. He made his way to the group. "Hey Nubnub, I''m not going home right away so can you take my bag for me?"


    The group of girls stopped briefly to look at the intruder in their little circle. The girls then broke the silence, bursting into a roar of giggles again. His sister reddened in embarrassment. "I told you not to call me that. And since when did I become your pack mule? What makes you think I''m going home right away anyway? I''m a busy person you know."


    He raised an unconvinced brow to his sister and then looked around at the rest of her friends. "Are you going home now?"


    "No, I''m going over to Edifice''s house."


    "Our house is practically on the way over. Barely a detour."


    His sister deflated slightly as she tried to battle against her brother''s stubbornness. "Your bookbag always weighs like a million pounds!"


    "It''s good exercise. Put some muscles on that skeleton."


    Luckily for his sister, a heavenly savior spoke from behind. "Don''t worry, Nubnub, I can take it."


    Nubnub immediately filled with energy and glee. "Thank god, I''m so grateful I''ll even forgive the fact that you called me that."


    The girl let out a delicate chuckle. "Thank you for forgiving me."


    He turned to the girl who reached for his bag. "Thanks Kith."


    He handed his bookbag to Kith, who slumped it over her shoulder. "No problem." An awkward silence managed to sneak itself into the conversation while the two looked at each other. The circle of girls was gleefully observing the soap before them.


    Upon noticing the piercing gazes, he realized what was occurring and unshackled the group from their silence. "Well I got to go, but we''ll be having steak for supper tonight since it''s my mom''s birthday. You should join us."


    Kith quickly straightened her posture, her body was more animated with her rushed response. "I couldn''t."


    "It''s thanks for dropping my bag off. I''ll come to pick you up for supper at 5, kay?"


    An undeniable grin filled Kith''s reddening face. His sister''s friends chorused suppressed giggles as they watched. "Alright."


    "Perfect see you then." He shot a glance down to his wrist. A simple watch peacefully ticked the seconds; sadly, the hour hand was broken, but it was still useful for determining smaller intervals, such as how there had certainly been ten minutes since he spoke with Amiss. He waved to the girls and made his way toward the west gate.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    As he headed off, Kith called out to him, "Hey, Radix."


    He turned to face her. "Yeah?"


    The words seemed trapped behind Kith''s tongue, something wanting to be said but unable to. "Never mind, I''ll tell you when you pick me up."


    "Sure thing." He quickly turned his back to her and continued on his way through the now mostly empty halls. He went through the pair of doors which led to the outside and was happily welcomed by the busy ruckus of the world. The cacophonic sound of countless people speaking over one another and the faint sound of flicking traffic lights in the distance. He could hear the humming of many cars driving and breaking on the streets, the sound of their heavy multi-ton metal carelessly being pushed ahead by rapturous engines that growled away. He felt a vibration gently shake his leg. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had received a message from Amiss.


    ''10m smh''


    The phone had fallen to two percent life, so he quickly turned it off and placed it back into his pocket. He went to the west gate, where a group of boys awaited him. When he approached the group, they were too busy bantering amongst one another to notice him, except for his very punctually inclined friend. "Finally, you''re here. Took you long enough."


    "I got caught up."


    "Do you know how worried I was? You promised me that you would be here in ten minutes, so when ten minutes passed and you weren''t here. I was so worried that you died or were kidnapped or something. Since obviously there''s no way you would betray my trust and not show up when you said you would?" His friend pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pretended to dab away tears from his eyes. The tallest boy of their little group of friends asked in befuddlement, "Why on earth do you have a handkerchief? Did you carry that all day just for this bit?"


    "Dixy never shows up on time!"


    "Well I''m here now." The group started heading towards their destination while sharing jokes and discussing their weekend plans. They were waiting at an intersection for a traffic light to welcome them across when one of the boys aimlessly flailed his hands toward the group. "Check out that girl."


    The boy made a not-so-subtle gesture towards a girl a few years older than them walking down the crosswalk. She had long blond hair that flowed down to her shoulders, and her bangs were held back by a large yellow headband that reached across her forehead. "Yo, she a dime."


    The boys were caught gawking at the girl. She stared back at them and gave a wry grin. Her gaze then turned towards Radix, and she squinted in confusion as she tried to discern him. She then hurried her pace and walked towards the group approaching Radix. "Hi there, this may be a little forward, but I think were both in a hurry to get somewhere. I saw you across the street and just wanted to say that I want to see you again when we''re both more available, can I have your number?"


    The traffic lights turned red, heralding the vehicles not to pass, and the pedestrian light glowed a welcoming green. Radix''s friends quickly understood to get out of the way and not hinder this legend, so they started crossing the street. It was just Radix and this beautiful girl with the yellow headband alone on the curb. Radix found himself overwhelmed with a strange bound of anxiety and nervousness at the turn of events. "I''m not in a hurry to go anywhere."


    The girl let out a soft, warm laugh at his eager response. "Sadly, I am right now, but I''d love to meet up another time."


    "Uh yeah, sure." He pulled out his phone and brought up his number. The girl moved beside him and, with her soft, dainty hands, tilted the phone towards her. The battery life of his phone fell to one percent at this point. She turned her head up to face Radix, who was significantly taller than her. He noticed then, as he looked back at her, that she had the most beautiful dimples, emphasizing her bright smile and perfectly white teeth. She was so close to him that he could smell the faint aroma of her perfume. He couldn''t help but redden like a tomato.


    She spoke chipperly. "Thanks, I''ll text when I can. Hopefully we''ll be able to talk more then."


    "Can I just ask why you came to me?" He didn''t think it was possible, but her smile grew even wider. He finally noticed her beautiful cerulean blue eyes that seemed deep like the ocean.


    She adjusted her headband a little bit before responding. "I just really want to observe you… the lights are about to change, by the way."


    He personally wouldn''t have minded missing the light, but the girl seemed to be waiting for him to go before she herself went off to do whatever her day entailed her to do.


    He grimaced as he witnessed his phone die, and he shoved it in his pocket as he ran the crosswalk. At about halfway across the intersection, his friends'' eagerness could not wait any longer. They shouted out over to him. "Yoooo, what was that!?"


    "How do you always get the hot ones?"


    Radix quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure she wasn''t still there hearing all of this; thankfully, she had already left.


    Amiss excitedly questioned just as he approached the end of the crosswalk. "Did you get her number?"


    "No, I gave her-" He could feel a heavy, cold metal press against his body. Like soft clay, his body simply compressed onto itself, moulding into a new shape smoothly like fluid. He could feel his muscles move and swim around his bones, which in turn, under the immense torque, would snap out their insides, such as the blooming of a visceral flower. A brief lapse of tranquility led to no longer feeling that cold metal, in its place a light breeze; strangely enough, he couldn''t hear the bustle of the city anymore.


    He just now realized that he was no longer looking at his friends; he just now realized that he was not speaking about the girl he gave his number to. He just now realized that he was staring at rushing pavement quickly approaching. In some ill-thought defence, his left arm outstretched to brace for impact, but his momentum did not stop once he touched the ground. He immediately came to terms that against the brutal power of velocity his arm had the strength of paper which predictably crumpled to the wrist, and further to the elbow, and further still as an accordion cry into a small stump as his body rapidly embraced the pavement. With a quick set of tumbles along the road, the arm had leapt off in protest, neglecting to join the rest of his body as it continued rolling across the street.


    He didn''t think he was rolling anymore. His cheek was pressed firmly against the pavement, but for some reason, the pavement was sprinkled with a paint of red and flesh; he thought that pavement was supposed to be grey. Somewhere off in the distance, he could see rushing feet and hear shouting people; some of the shoes looked like those of his friends. Why were they so far away, why were their voices so quiet? It seemed like they were on a completely different planet; what were they doing on that planet? Radix thought to himself that it was amazing how so many organs could fit in your body, and you don''t really ever feel them in everyday life; miraculously, he seemed to be able to feel every organ, every single one, he quickly realized he didn''t like the feeling of organs.


    It was really rather strange; he had had such a great sleep last night, but now, in the middle of the day, he found himself terribly tired; he realized that he was already lying down. He wasn''t quite sure when exactly that happened but perhaps no one would mind if he just took a short nap, if he just closed his eyes for a second.


    His friends were calling out to him from their planet so far away. ''It''s okay, you guys go on ahead of me. I''m just going to rest here a bit.'' It seemed his voice couldn''t reach their planet, but he was sure that they understood, and so he closed his eyes.