A lanky 17 year old boy with messy brown hair sauntered away from an unmade bed and to the connecting bathroom to get ready for school. He paused, and gazed at the mirror in front of him. With slightly sunken eyes and pale skin he looked like sleep was a concept unknown to him altogether.

He reached for the small orange pill bottle that sat to the side of the counter and twisted off the cap. He quickly popped one of the small white pills into his mouth as he did every morning, and leaned down to get a drink from the sterling silver faucet.

After wiping his mouth he grabbed the lone toothbrush from its holder beside the faucet and applied toothpaste before putting it in his mouth. With another brief look in the mirror he walked back to his room, flicking the light off behind him.

The toothbrush lazily dangling between his lips, he grabbed a balled up pair of jeans from the chair in the corner of his room and slipped them over his boxers. He sat on the edge of his bed still brushing his teeth, and shivered slightly, feeling the cool early-fall air on his bare chest.

His phone vibrated from beside him on the bed.

Mom: Hey Oscar, I had to go into work early. I'll see you when I get home tonight

The boy sighed quietly and texted back.

Oscar: Okay see you then

A few seconds later his phone vibrated again.

Mom: You still at home? Don't be late

This prompted Oscar to look at the clock for the first time since waking up.

"Ah, shit" Oscar whispered, and quickly stood from the bed.

He frantically texted his mom back.

Oscar: Leaving rn

He raced over to his closet and grabbed an olive sweater off the hanger, swiftly pulling it over his head, and then slipped on a pair of black Vans. Oscar picked up his backpack from where it sat beside his desk, and headed towards his bedroom door.

While reaching for the doorknob he realized that he was still holding his toothbrush. He sprinted back to the bathroom and put the toothbrush in it's holder, and quickly rinsed his mouth before hurrying out of the room.

He reached the bottom of the staircase and was met with an empty kitchen. The only sound in the room was his shoes hitting the dark laminate wood floor. He peered around the corner to see the door of his Dad's office, which was closed, as usual. The brass placard hanging from the dark mahogany door read "Matthew Fleming, PhD."

Oscar turned his attention back to the kitchen, and walked over to open one of the dark brown cabinets that lined the white-tiled wall, and ripped into an unopened box of energy bars. Remembering the time, he shoved the snack into his back pocket and grabbed his keys from where they sat on the kitchen counter.

Before leaving, he halfheartedly yelled, "Bye Dad!" in the direction of the closed office door. He closed the front door behind him and was met with the freshly risen sun, beaming down into his car that sat in the driveway.

Throwing his bag into the passenger side, he turned on the ignition and switched on the radio, haphazardly changing stations until he found one playing "M.A.A.D City" by Kendrick Lamar. Satisfied, he pressed his foot to the gas and drove off.

Later that day after sitting through several hours of lecture, Oscar found himself leaned against a row of lockers in the hallway of his high school, half-listening to the rambling of his best friend, Kim.

"I just don't get it!" Kim exclaimed as she slammed the door of her light-blue locker shut, revealing Oscar's small, angular face behind it.

His curly hair fell over his emerald green eyes, which were accentuated by his white complexion, and his full, pink lips formed a goofy grin.

Kim turned on her heels to face him and said, "Did you even hear me?"

"Yeah I heard you," he said.

"I mean, how does Sierra have a boyfriend, and I don't?" She paused. "I'm way hotter than her. I mean, you think I'm hot right?"

Kim's dark hair cascaded like a curtain past her shoulders. Her eyes, being a similar color to her hair, were without doubt, her most captivating feature. They were amber, like fire, but also had a kindness behind them. Her skin was a warm olive and she was tall, but not as tall as Oscar.

Oscar turned away with a slight look of discomfort on his face. Kim was his best friend in the entire world, but he had never thought about her like that.

"Uh, yeah..." he choked out.

She sighed. "You know what, forget I asked."

Oscar and Kim began making their way across the tile floor, down the locker-lined hallway. "So are you still coming over tonight to study?" Oscar asked.

"For sure," she said with a smile.

They continued down the length of the hallway, and came to a pair of blue double-doors at the end with a banner hanging above that read in a large bold font.

His train of thought was suddenly derailed by the sound of Kim's voice.

"Sorry, what'd you say?" He asked her.

"Dude, where is your head today? I asked if 7 is a good time for me to come over."

"Yeah that's fine. Sorry, I was just thinking about, uhhh, a test I took earlier..." he lied.

"Alright, see you then," Kim said, before wrapping Oscar in a quick side hug before starting off in the opposite direction.