Damien Drake, to most people he was just that strange kid who sat in class wearing the same grungy hoodie, old jeans, and basic shoes that you would find at a grocery store. To most people, he was just plain. Damien Drake had more to him than that met the eye, he just refused to ever show it until his senior year.

  Damien's days suggested the never ending loop, wake up, school, video games until he was mindlessly numb and up way later than he should have been. Leading to an exhausting next morning, but every morning was exhausting for Damien Drake. Because the loop was always the same.

  Now, Damien wasn't a senior yet, he was in Junior high and it was going about what you'd expect. “Damien!” A shout echoed, his eyes flickered open and there he was in the middle of class with a string of drool. Across from him was his teacher, Mr. Cliffe. Mr. Cliffe was a tall string bean of a man, mid 40’s, with scruffy facial hair with salt and pepper streaking the dark hairs on his head and face.

  Mr. Cliffe taught English, typically one of Damien's favorite classes, but ever since 8th grade he hadn’t cared too much about anything involving school. “Sorry Mr. Cliffe.” Damien wasn’t cool enough to get away with this, at least not from the kids around him. Damien lifted up, he could feel the eyes on him smirking and chuckling.

  His eyes fell on his desk, it was cleared of everything but he would have had to pull out stuff for it to have been cleared of it. Mr. Cliffe's fingers tapped the desk and sighed, “It's fine son. Just, try and keep yourself awake. Mice and Men isn’t that boring.” Damien's eyes softly looked up as he turned his back and proceeded to read.

  With that, his class continued. Damien spent the majority of his day in his own little world, doodling on his notebooks and waiting for each class to end. He was brown haired, tan skinned, and had his ears pierced. From that, everything was normal for the boy. He always wore a black hoody. It was his go too over shirt even now as the sun was getting hotter and the temp outside was warmer. His jeans were baggy, trying to hide as much of his true body as he could, and he wore the same white off brand sneakers for over four years now.

  The loop was continuous, he could almost predict the next events after his English class. Stepping out of class, he felt a shoulder slam into his back sending him stumbling. He couldn’t catch the person who did it, mainly because everybody had done it at least once to him. Damien was a shadow in the school, he even believed the kid didn’t notice he had even hit him.

  However, school wasn't the only place he was a shadow. That morning, it was the same as always. His alarm blared, the same song he had always used to wake up, ‘Mr. Blue skies by Electric Light Orchestra.’ Blared through his bedroom, his groggy greasy hair stuck too his face. His hand slapped the alarm clock and he flung his feet over the edge leaning on his arms.

  His dreams were always nightmares, shadows hunting him down, people standing at the edge of his bed watching him. Damien wondered if sleep paralysis demons would ever leave him alone. He doubted it every time he questioned it. Sometimes he showered, that day was one of them. It was one of the few things he controlled, didn’t brush his teeth? That was his decision cause no one could tell him too. Hair too long? Good, he liked being in control. Hungry? Only when he decided to be.

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  Damien's eyes struggled to stay open, stumbling through the small two bedroom house. His mother dead asleep, she was only home for probably an hour. She worked every shift she could handle to provide for him. He appreciated it, but wished it could have been different. Opening the fridge he pulled out an energy drink, it was a green Monster, one a day kept the nightmares away. At least, that's what he had told himself the entire time he drank one.

  Then, it was off to school honestly, the walk there was the most peaceful part of his day. Something about looking up towards the sky and feeling the cool breeze on his face really filled him with adrenaline. His headphones plugged into his phone, his eyes closed for a moment taking in that deep long breath. He could smell the dew grass on the cool morning.

  He lived in a small town, maybe a thousand people? One direction was corn fields, the other direction was hay. Honestly, he didn’t mind it but it did make things a little more close minded. Surprisingly for a small town, they managed to still have some pretty active sports teams. Baseball, football, volleyball, granted every guy played these sports except for him.

  For Damien, he preferred video games. He watched some anime and he wanted to design a video game one day. The closer to school he got, the more his body fell with dread. More kids were starting to walk past him, he could feel them smirking, watching him. He wanted to hide but knew it wouldn’t have done any good for him. Damien was the pariah amongst the school for being different.

  Then, class began, and shortly after he was dead asleep on his desk in Mr. Cliffe's class, exactly where we began. Walking through the hallways it was his least favorite time of the day, Gym class. This was his last year of Gym, after this he had all his credits he needed and could move on to his senior year with what he hoped was some better curriculums, but he knew he didn’t have much options.

  Moving forward into the locker rooms, he had stripped down and changed into his gym clothes. Some basic basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, one that felt tight to his body. Reality, it wasn't, it was just in his head. Standing in the gym, the dodge balls began flying. He loved dodgeball, it was a fun game but they targeted him.

  Damien could see them before they hit him, it was like time was slowed as they moved towards his body. He just wasn’t able to do anything about it, his body wasn’t quick enough, and it led to the dodge ball slamming into his hip, his arm, his leg, before he could even dodge it. The laughing and snickering, then it was the words from a random boy. “OHH, You wish you could get away from me! Think again! Damien!” Some boys laughed with him, Damien didn’t even know the kids name but they knew his.

  Bam

  Bam

  BAM

  POP

  POW!

  Over and over Damien was the first one out, every game, every turn. He even got hit while already out, “SORRY Ball slipped!” They laughed high fiving. Damien stared out towards the floor boards of the gymnasium questioning the reality he was living in. ‘There's more than this right? Like…It can all be this bad, can it?’ The thought that haunted his mind daily. Why him?