Lewis knew better than to skip class but also knew the sender of the note was more important than the wrath he would receive from an adult. “Besides, it’s only homeroom.” He rationalized while walking through the now vacant hallways of Gold Springs High School.
It was crazy to think that his father also walked down these same hallways nearly twenty years earlier. Lewis highly doubted the building had any major changes since his dad, Edmund, attended. Even with shared DNA, they were complete opposites during their teen years.
Edmund was a popular jock, with acing classes and scoring with the ladies. Lewis was smart but not athletic. He tried out for the basketball team freshman year but never made the final cut. From that day forward, he swore to never try out for sports again. Even if Edmund was a sports star, he never pushed Lewis to compete in such activities.
Instead, Edmund encouraged his son to shine in other hobbies. For example, Lewis was a very talented artist. Even as a kid, his drawings always outranked his classmates. The fridge in the kitchen, the hallways, and even the doors were covered with the baby artists’ drawings. As Lewis grew, so did his skills. Now he specialized in pencil drawings and loved to sketch the human body. More specifically the female physic. There was just something about the female anatomy that caught this teenager's attention. To be honest, every teen boy noticed the beauty of the female body but he never viewed them sexually. But rather with reverence. Knowing that the female body was capable of doing anything but most beautiful of all, they could create and nurture life.
Lewis excelled in the art world and in academics. He led the class in becoming valedictorian. Learning just came naturally to him. He was like a sponge, soaking up every single detail allowing him to pass tests.
Sure on paper, Lewis sounds like a normal kid who had loving parents. His peers respected and even looked up to him. While everything seemed wonderful on the outside appearance, other issues ran deeper. A topic that should never be taken lightly, Lewis did suffer from depression.
“It’s common amongst teens these days with all the influence of social media, video games, and TV,” the family doctor commented as he wrote up a prescription. “It’s perfectly normal,” he said with a smug grin of self-righteousness.
But Lewis never felt like this was normal.
Even as a baby, Lewis always seemed sadder compared to others. Never a cry baby but more like a child who looked at the world with a gloomier view. His drawings as a child were detailed but rather melancholy.
When he was ten years old, there was one particular drawing that caught the attention of his mother, Denis. “Honey, is that the house in your drawing?”
“Yeah, mommy. You like it?”
“Of course,” she lied. “But the house is yellow, why did you color it black?”
“Because it’s scary,” Lewis stated simply and returned to drawing.
Denis wanted to pry further but justified this comment as normal. Besides, Lewis had never mentioned an imaginary friend nor monsters in the closet. Not even night terrors woke her young child. But she still couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that the blackness of the house had a deeper sinister meaning.
“Hey slowpoke, glad to see you finally arrived!” The girl with golden hair and sea blue eyes set behind the oversized hipster glasses. Makenna was a spitfire who fought against the patriarchy, the ongoing threats of global warming, and was a hardcore true crime junkie. Even though their stark opposite personalities, these two had been best friends since kindergarten. Right after Makenna shared her juice box on the bus ride home one day, it was an instant connection. “What took you so long?” She asked while hopping off the rusty gate that separated the football field to the mountain’s backside.
“I was sneaking out of school, Kenna. I couldn’t just walk right past the offices through the front doors, now could I?” He asked sarcastically.
“Sure you can! That’s how I did it,” she smirked while pulling out her vape mod from the pin-covered book bag. The latest pin was the largest and most obnoxious one. She was binge-listening to a new podcast and was OBSESSED with the hosts. The pen stated “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered” with a giant bloody knife slicing right through the middle. Lewis never understood her fascination with true crime. But then again, not too many people could understand the horrific truth about murder unless one saw it for themselves. “Smoke?” She held the vape pen out for Lewis.
“Nah, I am good. Why do you even smoke that stuff?” He asked while pulling at the backpack straps. A nervous habit thinking he might get in trouble for skipping homeroom and smoking while on school property.
“Because it’s cool. Duh!” She giggles and blows out a puff of smoke. “We all know smoking cigarettes is bad for you. But vaping is a little better,” she stated matter of factly.
“Right, not like studies have proven over and over again that vaping may be less harmful but it can cause popcorn lung. Which in fact, can be worse than lung cancer caused by cigarettes. So yeah, I’ll pass on being one of the cool kids,” Lewis said short-tempered.
Blowing a long puff of smoke from her mouth, she stared him down before saying, “okay Mr. Perfect. It’s not like you haven’t vaped before, you know?”
A deadly silence fell between the two childhood friends. The unspoken rule was the first person to speak after a quarrel owes the other person a Coke. Lewis used to speak first every time until he learned the power of a silent treatment. And so, with another nervous tug on the backpack, he turned and headed towards the school.
Makenna stood there all alone with only the vape to keep her company.
Lewis thought about returning to homeroom. He’d make an excuse about an upset stomach explaining his tardiness. He finally decided that this excuse would never work and chose to face the wrath of his grandma, Penny.
