It’s hard being the fuck-up of the family, but it’s worse when your family is so well-known. Every mistake you make is intensified in the eye of the public because they think highly of you. Silas’ parents choose not to acknowledge him in the public and he likes it that way. The community thinks that he is at some boarding school in New York or London or some other place his politician parents made up to make themselves look better. They have their oldest son, Gideon, who was once a star athlete in High School and is now a Major prospect to go pro after college for football, their only daughter Ramona, who started a non-profit in order to help families with food insecurity eat three meals a day as a senior project and decided to forgo college to be hands on in the creation of a farm-to-table community kitchen that allows people to to grow the food that they will be eating in a community garden, and then they have Silas, the black sheep who coasts through school on his intellect but lacks any ambition beyond finding the perfect high.

Today, Silas wakes up in just his boxers and immediately walks over to his dresser and looks for the joint he made for himself last night. When he finds it, he walks over to his bed and sits on it, hunched over with his elbows on his legs and his hands near his mouth. He flicks open his lighter and inhales the best herbal refreshment his parent’s money could buy. He lays back on his bed with his feet dangling off the side and thinks back on how his week has been. He replays different parts over and over in his mind until he lets his thoughts picture the love of his life, Miss Julia. She was so beautiful and gone so fast. He had to see her again, but when would another teacher need a substitute. No other woman has ever put a longing in his heart like she has. With a sigh, Silas finishes his joint and lies on top of his bed. He likes to think of his room as a bachelor pad even though he never has any girls in it. He is scared of what they might find out. It is much easier just to fool around with them at their place and leave right after. This is the best way to ensure that there is no future contact and no chance of them finding out about his life. With Miss Julia, it will be different. He will have his own place and a way to provide for her. She is a good woman and deserves the best his parents... erm, he can provide them with. Suddenly there is a knock on his door, and Silas bolts up and starts spraying his room with Air Freshener.

"Silas, your family is already gone for the day, you don’t have to freak out. I already know you smoke in your room, I’m the one who cleans it." a familiar voice says from the other side of the door. It is the housekeeper, Gladys. Silas slows down, but quickly puts on clothes. Gladys knocking means he’s going to need to leave for school soon. With a sniff of his pits, he decides to skip a shower and just walk to school early today. Gladys already has a toaster pastry and a bottle of water ready for him, as well as his backpack sitting near the door. Silas kisses his pseudo parent on the cheek as a thank you and walks out the door towards his daily prison.

The brisk air makes Silas feel every emotion and think every thought he has been trying to suppress. He cannot wait until he can get home and spend the weekend alone. Gladys doesn’t work on the weekends so she can spend time with her family and his actual family are all out being the superheroes they believe they are. Silas brings out another joint he pre-rolled. He lights it and lets the morning sun rays bless his face as he advances closer to the high school. At this time in the morning, everyone is either getting ready for work/school or already there. There is complete solitude on the street for at least the next 10 mins. He can enjoy openly partaking in the only thing that helps him even remotely focus in his classes.

Silas makes it to the school faster than he thought he would so he sits on the bench near the front and daydreams. He lets his mind race with scenarios, like how beautiful Miss Julia’s long blonde hair looks against her buttery skin and shockingly intoxicating hazel eyes or how their kids would look with her features mixed with his wavy brown hair and pale blue eyes. How his tall stature would allow her petite frame to melt into his. How, even though she was a couple years older than him, he wanted to make himself a better man for her... eventually. As his mind churns out thoughts, his sense of time gets shut off and someone walks up to him. Before Silas can bring himself back to reality, the joint is snatched from his hand and a deep, angry voice proceeds to chastise him. He tunes it out until the words "Saturday Detention" spew out of the teacher’s mouth like the droplets of spit that hit Silas’ hand. He takes the demerit slip and just walks into the school with no arguments, there’s no point in defending yourself when they already see you as a problem.

Next Chapter: The Day It Started- Darnell