Glass

Chapter: 1 This school day has felt long. Not the kind of long that is tiring, more so just lonely. Not talking to people and not being heard has never bothered me like it has recently. All I have been able to think about today is that bell ringing. The feeling that school was over, and I didn’t have to live in misery. Just like I had been doing for the past seven hours. The bell doesn’t ring for me; it rings for the other kids in this school. I wait until the whole school is cleared before I leave. Wait until the coast was clear and I didn’t have to worry about making a fool out of myself in front of all those people. That's something I’ve always had to do. I have always had to stay behind or miss out on things; I’m not exactly in the world everyone else lives in. I have a list of things that I don’t do compared to others. I’m a Glass kid, there’s only two of us. Marvin and I, we live life in the Glass. I’m not exactly sure how they choose for people to be in the Glass, it just happens. A couple of years ago I wasn’t in the Glass at all, in fact I had a wonderful life. I had many friends who cared for me, loving parents who always supported me, and a good sense of self. I can’t exactly remember when I was made a Glass child; maybe I choose to forget. Once you’re in the Glass it's unknown how to get out. At least that's what Marvin told me. He was put in the Glass too, sometimes I wish he wasn’t. Marvin has had my eye since we were little, I always thought he was cute, my friends used to say I had a “crush” on him. I can’t tell if I still have a crush on him or not. I have an unsure feeling if I want friends, or if I need friends. I wouldn’t call it a crush so much as I would say that I’m desperate for anyone to talk to me. I’m not exactly sure of the difference anymore. I haven’t talked to anyone other than my parents and Marvin in over two years, or at least since I was put in the Glass. The Glass was a giant room made in school, for those inside this room, you can see and hear anything going on outside. However, from the outside looking in, you wouldn’t know it was there. The kids who attend normal school are unaware the Glass room is even a thing. There is no way to communicate, see, or know anything about anyone in the Glass. Every day I walk into school an hour earlier than everyone else. I sit in the room which is fairly large considering that there are only three people in there. Marvin, Mrs. Lynn, and I were the only ones who ever were in the Glass. A four-sided clear wall that you could always see your reflection in, and three desks with three red chairs. Mrs. Lynn’s desk was the biggest one, used for grading and finishing her teacher work I always assume she’s busy doing. My desk was small, just enough room to put a folder and a pencil. My favorite part of the room was the red chairs Marvin and I had. They each fit perfectly under our desks and were very comfortable for our backs to sit in all day. Our backs were facing each other. We would have to turn our bodies at an angle to see each other. Not that we would want to anyway, but I always questioned why our desks were so far apart. He was on the left side of the room and mine on the right. Mrs. Lynn’s desk faced both of us. She saw both of our side profiles. Always monitoring us as we sat there and did the same thing day after day. I wondered what she thought of us, were we smart to her? Did she think we were cool? Or did she even care about us? Was it just another babysitting job to do? I’ve had a lot of time to think about these questions, but I would never ask her. Sometimes I even wrote them down in my journal. The journal my father gave me when I was still young and fun to him. A pocket size notebook that said “Entries” in a fancy cursive font only intelligent people would think to use. It was a beautiful crimson color and the pages had gold flakes on the sides that gave it a professional look. It had quite a number of pages considering I started using it since I was put in the Glass and it's only half filled. I never found a reason to use it before other than a fancy shelf decoration. But now that journal was my life. It had all of my thoughts and feelings, my goals, and experiences that happened in my life. I’ve wondered if maybe when I die someday it will be published and my children can make millions of dollars off of it. I wondered about a lot of interesting things like that. The school bell rang and there was now twenty more minutes before I could go home for the weekend. My life outside of school wasn’t much different than in school, but I could do many more things that excited me. I like bird watching, painting, and taking photos of all the different breeds of birds in my backyard. Once all of the other students are gone, Marvin and I are now released to go home. My mom always waits for me outside the school by the bench near the entrance. “Felt like the weekend couldn’t come any sooner” I said as I came in for a hug. She hugged me back but it was a side hug. She was reading something on her phone. “Busy day at work for me, I have a couple more phone calls when we get home”. My mom was a hard worker so I never interfered with her and her job. Besides, I’ve pretty much mastered loneliness.