Andrew was in his glory. He couldn't wait until the dance tonight. As he moved through the hallway he felt like he was walking on clouds. It had been a long time since Andrew felt this good. In fact, he couldn't actually remember a time when he did. All of his memories were mostly filled with pain and tragedy from as far back as he could remember.
Andrews mom had left him and his dad when Andrew was just a young boy. His dad was a union longshoreman who made great money. But an accident at the workplace had disabled Andrews dad, and was now collecting a small pension and a social security check every month.
Quickly things got tough for them financially. It became a struggle to keep the bills up to date, and Andrews mom and dad were fighting a lot. The more they struggled it seemed the more they fought.
His dad began drinking to drown out his sorrow and shame, and his mom began spending more and more time out of the house. When asked of her whereabouts, she would tell Andrews dad that she was staying at her mother's.
Of the memories Andrew had of his mom, the one that he remembered the most was one that had scarred him forever. It was of the day she had abandoned him and his dad, and Andrew would forever hold resentments for leaving him behind with his alcoholic father.
His dad had become worse after she had left, and even became very abusive towards Andrew. He would drink himself into a coma most nights, and he became extremely abusive. He would blame Andrew for his mother's disappearance, and even got violent on occasion.
Andrew grew to resent his mother and hate his father. But despite it all, if it weren't for his father, today would be as miserable as usual. His dad had been giving him shit about finding a job since his sixteenth birthday last month. In fact, it was the only thing he got from his father on his birthday, ever! But it was while he was out looking for work that his life suddenly had new meaning.

Andrew walked past the gymnasium where the nights festivities were being set up. He glanced in through the open doors to the gym, and saw the balloons and other decorations being set up. There was a small stage that had been brought into the gym and set up for the hired DJ. Among some of the decorations were blown up posters of 90's era rock bands and hip hop artists. Including a poster of the cover from Pantera's album,' Vulgar Display of Power', which depicted a man's face being punched. The picture made Andrew laugh.
"Hey Andrew!" said a voice behind him.
Andrew turned around to see Mr. Bogan standing behind him with a grim look on his face.
"Mr. Bogan?" answered Andrew.
"Shouldn't you be headed to your class?" asked Mr. Bogan.
" Yeah, I guess. I'm just sneaking a peak at the decorations, sir. That's all."
replied Andrew as he slowly started to make his escape from the vice principal.
"Andrew?" Mr. Bogan said before Andrew could get away. "is there anything going on that I should know about?"
Andrew was almost at the end of the hall and about to turn the corner and out of sight, but answered Mr. Bogan without turning around. "No, sir. see ya!" he shouted as he turned the corner.
As soon as he was out of sight, Andrew picked up the pace, and ran to his next class, bumping into Jimmy hard along the way. Although this was an accident, Jimmy got angry and shouted at Andrew.
"Hey asshole!" Jimmy said. "What the fuck is your issue anyways?"
Andrew stopped dead in his tracks.
"What the fuck did you just say, faggot?" Andrew turned toward Jimmy and said.
Jimmy stood his ground, and the hallway was stilll and silent as every student was in awe. Andrews jaw tightened, and his blood began to boil. But then he did something that nobody expected. Andrew took in a deep breath, then he smiled, and then he apologized to Jimmy.
Mr. Bogan stepped around the corner just in time as the bell rang for students to be in their respective classes. Andrew smiled, teeth gritting tightly. The hallway began to clear, and Andrew turned and headed quickly to his classroom before Mr. Bogan caught wind of the situation that just transpired.
Jimmy wasn't buying Andrews bullshit apology. He was sure Andrew was up to something. So he wasn't gonna let his guard down. Not today, not ever!


© Kinga77