A Different Future

How would you feel if everyone in your family was blindingly spectacular, amazing, fully contribute to society and deemed as the people that everyone strives to be? And you were just you?

“Oh, it’s snowing...”

It was around 6 in the evening, a blanket of light gray clouds covered the sky and a gentle snowfall fell to the ground below. There was a chill in the air and everything was soon covered in snow. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk was eighteen-year-old Jewel Moore, a senior attending a prestigious high school called Great Valley Academy. This would be his last winter as a high school student and he stood there, staring up at the bleak sky above with an equally dismal expression on his face. His lips parted slightly and he breathed out a soft sigh, taking off his silver-rimmed spectacles and brushing the snow off of the lenses before placing them back onto his face, pushing them up properly.

“I don’t want to go home...”

Jewel was an average looking young man. He had messy black hair, hazel eyes always covered by his glasses, he was lean and slightly muscular but not much. His fingers were thin, his hands were soft, he had lanky legs and almost always wore a frown on his face though he wasn’t upset most of the time. His personality was average as well, he enjoyed things that were enjoyable and he disliked things that seemed unfavorable. He also had a bit of insecurity and rarely got angry at anything, even the things he wanted to get mad about. What would he have to be upset about?

His family was filled with amazing people. The head of the house, his father Vincent, was the founder of a nationwide corporation that continued to expand by the day. A powerful man with a powerful personality and a level of intimidation that put most men to shame. Then there was his mother Nadine, a classy and charming woman who had the heart of twenty saviors combined and was as kind and soothing as she was tactical and quick thinking. She worked as the manager for an overseas modeling business. Next, there was Jewel’s older sister, Novella, a recent university student graduate with a Masters in psychology and medicine. With her fascination of the human body and how it worked, she planned to become a doctor and open her own clinic in five years time. Last, there was Jewel’s younger brother, Valentine. A quiet child, same as Jewel, he was still in middle school but his IQ was much higher than that of any normal middle school child. When comparing Jewel to everyone in his family, one had to wonder how special and marvelous he was? But he wasn’t.

In school, he would just barely pass his classes, he mostly slept during the day and stayed up late in the nights reading a manga or watching anime. He collected all sorts of figures, posters, plushies, etc and felt no shame, even after his father scolded him for ‘hording a bunch of Japanese nonsense’. And when he spoke of wanting to have a career of drawing manga, the anger that burst from his father was truly terrifying and he remained silent on the matter ever since. When he was younger, he often wondered why was he so different from his family. He wasn’t remarkable or extraordinary in any way and even when he tried, he failed so miserably that the lashes from his father remained as scars on his body to this day. He would stand in the bathroom and stare at his mirror, looking at his sullen expression and just sigh, wanting to know why. But he began to stop wanting to know. Maybe because he didn’t want to know or because he just gave up on hoping that the knowledge would somehow change him in the way that he wanted.

As he trudged down the sidewalk that evening, his earphones snuggled in his ears and his music playing at full blast, he glanced about him and took notice to the festive decorations that each building adorned. Christmas was only two weeks away and although people had long before put up their décor for the holiday, there was still much more to do. Christmas trees lined with tinsel, silver and gold, bright balls and stars, wreaths hung upon the entrances, bells everywhere, ringing with radiance and the smell of cinnamon wafting in the air as cookies and other sweets were made. Jewel felt nauseated and wondered when was the last time he actually enjoyed Christmas.

The buzzing of his phone tore him out of his depressing thoughts. He pulled out the black device and looked at the screen. Novella’s name flashed at him and he sighed heavily, reluctantly sliding the green button to answer the call. “Hey, Novella.”

“Where are you, Jewel?” she asked, not even bothering to say hello back. “Cram school ended already, right? You should be home now. Mother and Father are waiting for you so we can all have dinner together.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be home soon, I guess.” he told her nonchalantly.

He heard his sister pause for a moment. “Jewel, you know why we’re having a family dinner tonight, right? Mother and Father...they still haven’t given up on sending you away. I heard them talking earlier and they are going to discuss it at dinner. Jewel, I-I wish you would understand that if you just try a bit harder and listen for once then maybe they would reconsider-”

“Stop it, Novella,” Jewel said in a low voice, halting in his tracks. “I know they want to send me away so that I can become just like you, just like Valentine, just like them. I know that already. You don’t think I’ve tried to do things their way? How hard I’ve tried to live up to their expectations and become the son that they would love and be proud of? I’m different than them and my future isn’t going to go the same path as theirs has gone. You all have great things waiting for you but not me. I’m not going to be what you all want me to be because it’s just impossible.”

“Jewel, don’t talk like that. Just come home and we can talk-”

“I’m hanging up.” And he did just that. He held his phone in his hand, staring down blankly at the ground.

That’s right, he thought. They’re ashamed of me. They were blessed with two other spectacular children who both have bright futures awaiting them. If I can’t be like them then they’ll force me to. But what will happen when that doesn’t work? What will they do with me then? Will they completely disown me?

With the heavy thoughts weighing on his mind, he slowly slipped his phone back into his pocket and stuffed his gloved hands back into his coat pockets, finally moving from the spot where he stood. He wasn’t heading home, he didn’t know where he was going but he just kept walking forward, ignoring everything else with his music. People glanced at him and whispered to themselves.

“Look at that boy, he looks so sad.”

“His girlfriend probably just broke up with him. I bet it’s because he’s so pitiful looking.”

“Or maybe he dropped out of school and his parents are furious.”

“How can someone so pathetic allow himself to be walking around like that? It’s really dulling the happy, Christmas mood.”

“People like him should go brood somewhere where we can’t see them.”

I’m not brooding, Jewel thought as he rounded a corner. He stopped and looked up, realizing he had mistakenly walked straight into an alleyway. A sigh escaped his lips and he rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling weak and exhausted. He backed against the concrete wall and slowly slid to the ground, plopping heavily into the snow. His scarf covered his mouth and nose for a moment but he pulled it down and his eyes gazed up at the gray sky overhead. It had gotten much darker and colder. His fingertips felt numb even through his gloves.

“I don’t feel like moving...” he muttered, his eyelids getting heavy. “D****t, if I had to pass out somewhere then why not near a maid cafe or a manga store? Even when I’m barely able to move, I’m totally….useless...” He finally let his eyes close and slipped into the grasp of the darkness.

Author's Note

Do you find this exciting? Point out any and all grammatical and spelling errors.

Reviews

[Stanley R. Teater]

I work in a high school so I've seen a lot of kids like Jewel. An interesting piece. As far as errors go I'd like to point out two: " took notice to the festive decorations that each building adorned." Unless I'm missing something I believe it should read "took notice OF the festive decorations that adorned each building."

I used to write TV spots for a living. One thing I learned is that when you read your work out loud your ear catches a lot of typos and mistakes that your eye can overlook. You might give it a try.