THE JOINING: The Cycle of the Shards Book One
Chapter 7

The light was streaming in through the separation between the window curtains, and the alarm was buzzing its continuing annoyance, but neither of them mattered to Kyle, who was lost in his own world of worry and thought. He had woken back up again an hour earlier and his brain had stubbornly refused to allow him to be lost in his dreams instead of facing the day ahead. Between the awkward feelings that Shanna awakened in him, and what was due to take place between Brian and himself, to say nothing of what to do about his father, he was surprised he even had the energy to open his eyes. To get out of bed and actually be a willing participant in the events that were to come was another story. The thing that actually got him to move was fear of confronting his father, who was probably only a few minutes away from coming in and yelling at him to get up and to shut the alarm off. This was his morning off, and considering how hard he worked the rest of the week, he thought deservedly that he should be able to sleep in as long as he wanted. Kyle couldn’t argue with that, and considering how strained they already were with each other, he didn’t want to exasperate the situation. So finally, he moved his body around, put his feet on the floor, and reached over to press the off switch on his alarm. With great difficulty and argument, he stood up, and began the morning routine on what he thought could possibly be his last day on the planet, or at the very least the first day of the rest of his life.

The shower done, he dressed slowly, not willing to exit his room a moment earlier than he had to. It was his teenage appetite that betrayed him. He was planning to just head straight to the door, but after his stomach growled, he realized that no matter how bad the day was looking, it would be that much worse if he had to do whatever it was he had to do while starving. Once dressed, he grabbed his bag and reached the kitchen only to replace his father sitting at the table, quietly and perhaps a bit sadly eating his own bowl of cereal. He looked at Kyle, nodded, and then continued to eat. Not wishing to cause last night’s argument to erupt anew, Kyle quietly got his own bowl, poured the cereal and milk into it, and quietly sat at the table, avoiding eye contact. When he finished, he was almost a blur getting to the sink, grabbing his bag again, and heading towards the door. He was almost out when his father called to him. “Kyle…”

Kyle sighed. He turned around. “Dad, I’ve got to go to school.” There was no time for any discussion. As Kyle continued and moved out of the house, the last thing he heard from his father was a plaintive “I love you.” Kyle didn’t reply. He didn’t have any time for that right now. Maybe after school, if he survived.

His nervousness increased the closer he got to the school. It had to be his imagination, but his legs felt heavier. As he approached the crosswalk to get to the school grounds proper, he thought very strongly about continuing to walk past the school, and just see what would happen if he chose the option of not dealing with any of it, leaving Brian and Shanna and his entire so-called-life behind. Somehow he managed to think better of it, since he wasn’t really in any position to forage for himself, and even if his father disowned him and Brian beat him to a pulp and Shanna ignored him for the rest of his life, it was better than living life on the streets, if only just. It was the thought of Shanna that got him to turn towards the school, cross the street, and head towards the entrance. He tried to imagine what her reaction would be to the imminent fight. Would she be disappointed? Proud? Could he work this in his favor somehow? He kept a wary eye on the outskirts of the school for Brian, not wanting to have his day end before it began. Fortunately it was close enough to the start of school that there were very few students milling about outside, and he was able to breeze inside just as the five-minute warning bell started to ring. Knowing that there was little chance of both making it to his locker and making it to homeroom on time; he made his choice to forgo his books and chance of finishing any leftover homework and slid into his seat safely and with a minute to spare.

There was nobody in the homeroom he wished to talk to, and it was short enough that he didn’t really have time to relax or even think about the same things that had occupied his mind for the past day. As soon as the bell rang he was out the door again without time to think, only having time to run to his locker to get the books for the remainder of the morning’s classes, though he knew that there was little chance that he would be able to concentrate through anything that was going on. As he got to his seat at his first real class of the day, his mind went right back to Brian, Shanna, and everything that could possibly happen in a few short hours. As he watched the second hand of the clock slow down, he realized that this was going to be the longest morning of his life.