Hobbes Schueton238Please respect copyright.PENANAbiWBmMVZ9M
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The darkness terrifies me but the light hurts my eyes. I clutched my head pain and groaned from deep within me. I felt everything in my body but death. They promised not to come today, they said they'd leave me alone. If that were the case, then why was I trapped in my closet? If that were the case, then why was I so afraid? If that were the case, then why did feel so cold and alone? 238Please respect copyright.PENANA3z00HY6jEe
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I had asked them to let me be in peace as it was my first day at Schueton Middle and it was foolish of me to think they'd keep their promise. I haven't been listening to them lately, they want so much out of me. The more I put them off, the more they want. I can never seem to satisfy them or anyone for that matter. I really did not deserve to have a good day. I deserved to stay in this closet and cry.238Please respect copyright.PENANAXbc988Q0V3
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I did not feel much else, I just wanted this to end. Whether that be in death or in the struggle of life, I just wanted all this to end. I began to feel afraid, worried, like someone was coming to kill me. They laughed, someone was coming to kill me! Oh joyous day!238Please respect copyright.PENANAXJkNYl2o1u
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Mama came in my room and called my name. I had ceased crying as panic struck me in a new form- don't let Mama notice you. However, she knew me and opened the closet door. I cannot see exactly what she witnessed but I can tell you what I saw. I saw a woman, not even thirty years of age, with gray hair and caring blue eyes. She looked at me tenderly and said, "hey, I'm here to comfort you. Is that fine by you, my darling?" I nodded quickly and she hugged me. I could feel myself shaking and she stroked my hair gently. I sighed and the pain I had previously felt went with my breath. I don't really feel connected with my mother, but she understood my needs. I am grateful for that but our relationship is complicated, as you'll come to learn.238Please respect copyright.PENANAvmYnq53M1d
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I rode my rusty red Schwinn to school. This was my absolute favorite bike in the world! I named him Claudio but I'm pretty sure that bikes don't have genders. Well, if a man can call a boat "she" then I can call Claudio "he" and not be weird about it. I was thinking about this as I tried to figure out the route to school.238Please respect copyright.PENANAWaamxThZjq
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After what should have taken me fifteen minutes, but instead took thirty-five, I arrived at Schueton Middle School. It was a medium sized school for such a small town. I looked for the bike racks, then someone caught my eye. His skin was a warm brown and his hair looked about ready to curl but it was too short to really tell. He had on a worn looking black V-neck nd he moved too fast for me to notice anything else. I smiled awkwardly at him and raised my hand in a greeting manner. I soon found the bike racks.238Please respect copyright.PENANAwW7DqrdWBt
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I struggled to find the classroom because the classroom did not have any room numbers, but it indicated that they would on my schedule. The teacher's name was Matthews and with the first name Jaime, I had no clue on their gender. So I wandered around the school and found the nurse's office.238Please respect copyright.PENANA424bbz2xHW
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"Excuse me," I began with. I didn't want to talk too much as it always manages to make me tired. She looked at me and asked me what I needed so I mumbled that I was looking for my teacher as I was new this year. Also that I didn't have orientation as I was an eighth grader. And if I could have a glass of water and a late pass as I was tired and light-headed from talking so much.238Please respect copyright.PENANAz4RZkXLeRd
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She nodded, gave me the water, and scribbled down the pass. She was a nice looking lady with blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail She had welcoming brown eyes but they were covered by thick glasses, which were far less welcoming. She walked me more than halfway to the class then pointed to the classroom once it was in view. I thanked her and walked down the empty hall and into the classroom. Luckily it wasn't like a movie and I did not have to introduce myself to the classroom. I just sat down and the teacher went on about himself.238Please respect copyright.PENANA3zlpA3e2Zz
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It was hardly a whopping thirty minutes into class when The Scratch appeared. His beady diamond red eyes were soon the only thing I could really see. I raised my hand and asked for the hall pass, saying it was an emergency and the teacher let me go (but not without a fight and a tough glare that was supposed to make me sit back down). However, I was more afraid of The Scratch and not some lanky forty-something year old.238Please respect copyright.PENANAMAWTBC1esH
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I'm pretty sure I royally scared the living crap out of the nurse when I was hyperventilating trying to explain what was going on. She let me lay in the back area after letting me know that everything would end up okay. I probably would have let the same bull spill from my mouth, too.238Please respect copyright.PENANAhIO5YBlAtZ
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I took a short nap, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime and the nurse said it'd be good for me to get some food. I was feeling a little bit better and it was always good to have objectives to distract me. At that moment, my objetive was food. A very fine objective that usually does not cross my mind very often.238Please respect copyright.PENANAVXPQl462xk
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I walked down the main hall to the cafeteria which was bursting with middle schoolers. Only the sixth graders were my age but I looked and carried myself as an eighth grader, which I happened to be. I've heard my father was a very tall man although I'm usually the smallest around. Not this year, however, I would own this year and give it my all.238Please respect copyright.PENANAmDCOJbh7us
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I had one of those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that looked an awful lot like oversized ravioli. I sat alone until mid-lunch (aka ten minutes later) when he sat next to me. The dude that distracted me from the bike racks.238Please respect copyright.PENANA6YvzLpyJSs
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"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asked after he was about to sit down and it was almost as if he suddenly remembered his manners and he was hovering over the bench.238Please respect copyright.PENANALTob0rVmcM
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After a long while of thinking about how to answer that (do I say "no" but he takes it as he can't sit there? Do I say "yes" and have him think I'm not educated the same as him? Something like this is bad to assume because I'd be assuming his education!Danger zone!) I finally croaked, "No, I do not mind at all. You may sit." By the end, I was exhausted, as I imagine his thighs were. Talking took the most out of me when I have to really think about my wording.238Please respect copyright.PENANAnqRBefbCBb
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He gave me a strange look then completely sat down. At least I wasn't the one hovering awkwardly over a metal bench. No, of course not, I was the weird one. 238Please respect copyright.PENANAyxN8AGuWDM
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"I'm Tino," he said after he settled.238Please respect copyright.PENANAwVgajIMjc6
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"I'm Hobbes," I was going to say more but I would have rather sat in silence. I also dd not want to lose this potential friend by scaring him away. So I saved my energy for an actual conversation that required it. 238Please respect copyright.PENANAL6Yax5CvxW
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For the rest of lunch, we sat in peace. He uttered nothing more than a "how's your sandwich" or a "poor chicken that was killed for my nuggets." He seemed like the perfect friend for me. When the bell rang, I asked him what class he had next.238Please respect copyright.PENANAo5ws9UlJed
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"Phys Ed with Kristol," he replied, taking his trash to the garbage bin. He gave me a certain look, one that made me stumble over my words. Then I finally said that I also had Kristol right then and that we should go together maybe?238Please respect copyright.PENANACnqJuLBZJT
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"Of course, I'll show you my posse... My Phys posse... which sounded way cooler in my head."238Please respect copyright.PENANALY8WQcJNtz
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Changing for gym wasn't as bad as it seems in movies. Tino showed me around the boys' locker room and taught me my way around a lock. Then he showed me to his "posse" once we actually went into the gym. They were right in the middle while everyone else stuck to the walls or bleachers. There were two guys and a girl. One guy was a tall, thicker black boy, and the other was a short, lean white guy. The tall guy (whose name I learned was Cas- short for Caspian) had blond afro-textured hair and glasses that were a tad too loose on him. His gym clothes were a bit too loose also. The shorter guy was very pale and had dark circles around his eyes (which I later learned were just genetic). He had light brown hair and eyes darker that Cas's. This fellow was known as Ponder. The girl's name was Winniper. Winniper was short and was Indonesian (she said this as if I were going to ask her of her ancestral origins and as if a million other boys like me had asked her the same thing over and over again. I just wanted to know her skincare routine but by then I was too shy to ask).238Please respect copyright.PENANADukjgxJlbo
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"I'm Hobbes," I announced to them proudly. I had felt very comfortable with this group of people. I just wish I could see them all alive again.238Please respect copyright.PENANAsLEXwxrt27
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After school, I took Claudio home. Mama wasn't home but everyone else was.238Please respect copyright.PENANA2LAFziMDOP
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I'm sorry, allow me to clarify. I'm an only child and I never knew my father, so when I say "everybody," it's misleading. Let's just say if Mama were to walk in rather than me, she would have seen an empty home.238Please respect copyright.PENANABMRqJGeaLF
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Gemini and his gang were staring at me as they stood all along the hallway. The hallway always makes me shiver, even when they're not there. Even when it's just me. I looked at the pictures on the wall next to me as I walked to my room. Gemini and his gang only stood on one side, so as to let me pass. The pictures, the memories they held soothed me slightly. Mama and me at the beach back home in California. I would have tried to remember her words to comfort me but what are words without the meaning and emotions behind them?238Please respect copyright.PENANAxtxub0oYtr
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Hunter, an old friend, followed me from behind as I entered my room. It was unlike him to split from the group. It must have been important. 238Please respect copyright.PENANABvJhMsrVsq
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"Hobbes, why won't you look at me," Hunter asked when I sat on my bed in silence for about ten minutes. I was stalling, as Mama would be home in just twenty more minutes. 238Please respect copyright.PENANA4zbQmJcfxQ
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For me, it was obvious why I wasn't looking at him even if I didn't want to stall. Then again, maybe he had never seen himself in the mirror. In this case, he couldn't see his grotesque features, his torn face, and exposed body. I would describe his entirety to you but I am biased when it comes to Hunter. Sometimes I still see him as a friend and I'll partially see him as beautiful. In a platonic way, I was In love. Then he had brought Gemini. He brought unwanted attention to me. It was because of him that suffered. It was because of him that I lost trust. And it was because of him I found hope. I had no idea I could have a friend like Hunter.238Please respect copyright.PENANAldnHdLxm4J
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I put my palms om my eyes and my elbows on my knees. Hunter called this "denial position one" but I called it "coping."238Please respect copyright.PENANA2k5ZQF7qnI
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"Look," I began, feeling the heat in my eyes. I didn't want to cry. "I can see you but I dare not look. You are a vile being and you are me but I am not you, I can never be you. I don't have to look at you. You are not real. 238Please respect copyright.PENANA29SKNeA26u
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He began to laugh and I could hear laughter through the wall and echoing down the hallway. Then in my head. Then all I could hear was that horrid laughter. I began to cry. It will never end- the fight for our lives. 238Please respect copyright.PENANAk0cRzKTfIH
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"Hobbes, please just listen to me." There was pain in his voice. If he could feel pain. If he could even feel.238Please respect copyright.PENANARDy4dvEvVE
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I looked at him, his blue eyes, his sort of soft-looking hair. Then I looked deeper, past my bias. I didn't have to dig that far to do this. To see his rotting skin, his torn torso. I could not see him as ugly. He was too kind to me, even now.238Please respect copyright.PENANAveRqsSeGJB
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"Hobbes," he choked. Maybe he did feel after all. "You are your own damnation and if you do not listen to me now, won't be able to help you later.238Please respect copyright.PENANA7dlQCJsTDg
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I scoffed, "Go away, Hunter. Go with Gemini. You're not my friend anymore." And then it happened.238Please respect copyright.PENANAmApPbFZ3qA
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He grew bigger, looming over me. He grinned and the skin around his mouth tore even further. His hands distorted into claws and his eyes popped out of their sockets. He opened his mouth real wide, as if to devour my head, and whatever facial skin that was left fell apart and the muscles underneath became exposed. Thousands of spiders with throbbing eyes and needles for legs crawled down his tongue.238Please respect copyright.PENANAj7Xxnd58vf
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I didn't scream. Mama had come home early. If I drew attention to myself, bad things would happen. I laid back on my bed and the spiders engulfed me. The last thing I heard was demonic laughter.238Please respect copyright.PENANA5AudN8rNxu