Chapter one: Back Pain pt.1

    Rays of light filtered through the curtains as the morning birds chirped chipperly, waking up Aeolus. He turned in his bed to look at his alarm; 7:27 it read.

    He had 3 minutes before it went off at 7:30.

   Aeolus stayed in bed staring at the ceiling not doing anything before getting up and getting ready.

    A loose-fitting shirt with an oversized sweater and jeans, perfect!

       I put the clothes on before turning off my alarm and going downstairs for breakfast. I ate some toast, brushed my teeth, grabbed my bookbag, said good morning and goodbye to my dad and the maids before heading out to my bus stop just in time for the bus to come rolling around the corner. Almost missed it...again.

    We arrived at school at 9:00, 15 minutes before the bell would ring so I booked it to my first A-Day class, English I.

     I sat near the cluster of tables by the window waiting for class to start as I finished some of my other classes work. The atmosphere in school was kinda loopy since it was near the end of the year, especially for me since I'll be homeschooled after this school year finishes. My back started hurting, so I fixed my posture and continued with my work before the teacher came in. 

        She told us we would be starting our poetry unit.

    The bell rang just as I turned in my poem which meant it was time to go to math 1 and then lunch. 

       In math we didn't do much besides learn how to compare quadratic and exponential functions and complete a practice test for the upcoming one next week. While working on the practice test the pain in my back started coming back again, but worse... afterwards it was harder to focus on my work so I gave up and doodled till the bell rang.

        Aeolus walked through the halls to the cafeteria with his bookbag before leaving it at one of the tables and heading to the lunch line. Today they were serving teriyaki chicken popcorn with sweet potato fries, boiled broccoli, and a small single roll of bread. He took one of the cartons of chocolate milk and a yellow fruit (whatever it was he would find out later.)

    He walked up to the lunch lady putting in his order, said "thank you, have a great day!" before grabbing his bag and walking outside to the courtyard picnic-benches where his few friends sat Terry, Maddie, and Logan. "Good afternoon, Terry, seeing as how you are eyeing my food, please do take the sweet potato fries and chicken teriyaki would ya?" Aeolus greeted. She only looked up to Aeolus before saying back.

      "Snappy today arn't chya? Anyways I don't have any forks" Terry then looked to the spork, the only silverware the school gives out and continued "or sporks."

      Maddie chuckled at that statement. Aeolus only handed over his coffee straw that went with the spork saying "Here, you can use this. I'm using the spork for the boiled broccoli." with a tired smile. Terry grabbed the straw to use and lunch continued on, chatting between the three of us.

    Near the end Maddie's Boyfriend came by, he greeted and checked up on Maddie before greeting the rest of us. "Good afternoon everyone, how's the day going?" The three of us (Logan, Terry, and me) responded all at once with good, boring and meh.

      Maddie's boyfriend, Olive, continued to chat with us for a bit before the bell rang for restore and next period. Olive slapped my back before saying bye to the group, but I was distracted by how much that back slap hurt. It was like my entire back was on fire, each wave more painful than the next. What made it worse was it encompassed my entire back instead of the place where he was hit.

      Aeolus knew something was wrong and continued to think so as the back pain only got worse as the day went along. By his last class, fourth A-day period, he had done nothing except trying to bear with the pain and just doodling on paper. He was getting hungry again which was odd as he doesn't usually get that hungry so quickly after eating lunch. 

   Aeolus stopped doodling soon after, the back pain had only gotten worse and putting pressure on it hurt like a sore muscle. He laid there on the table waiting for the bell to ring so he could get home quickly.

      Time seemed to slow down just as he wanted it to speed up. A little while later the back pain was lessening until someone patted him on the back to supposedly wake him up from his "nap". He almost yelled at them right then and there just from the pain alone. He slowly looked up from his arms as the person who patted him spoke softly, "um Aeolus, the bell rang 3 minutes ago..." It was Emma. Now don't get me wrong she's a kind girl, honest, but my back is hurting like a devil's spawn stabbed and ripped my back into pieces. So, I was pretty pissed off. I only gave a grunt before grabbing my bag and papers and making my way to the bus slot.

     Logan was on the same bus as Aeolus and noticed that Aeolus seemed pissed off and just "off" in general. Other people who knew Aeolus noticed this as well.

       When he got on the bus, Aeolus was asked by Logan why he was pissed off, the only response he got was a simple, "Back pain" before Aeolus shoved some earphones in his ears and scrunched over so his back wouldn't be against the bus seat.

       Logan knew something was wrong. It was pretty obvious, but seeing how Aeolus was behaving it probably wasn't the best time to ask. So he stayed silent. His fluffy hair rustling with the bumps and shaking of the bus.

       The moment Aeolus got home he let out a tired yell, the few maids working there turned to look at him questionly. He said sorry before dragging his bookbag into his room.

           He collapsed onto his bed, regretting that immediately. He froze a bit from the pain before flipping over onto the other side. Aeolus dozed a bit, floating between consciousness and unconsciousness.

       "Bubbah! Are we going to make that human dessert?!" I looked up towards my bubba as he carried a HUGE basket of green apples! I wanted to help, but bubba instead held my hands and said "Mhm, but this time we are going to try a foreign dish! Lulu, I've got the basket." Bubba chuckled, "We'd need two Lulu's if you wanted to carry the basket, but~ I'll let you carry my hand and an apple!" Bubba chuckled at me again, I only hmphed and held my Bubba's hand as we walked home, smiling.

*Bubba is an affectionate term of calling your older brother, similar to calling your mom, Mama, or dad,  Dada.

    Colors and sound blurred as Aeolus slowly woke up from another dream he couldn't remember. His back still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before. As he sat up Aeolus realized he was starving and his head hurt. He looked at the time 7:45pm; he sighed before walking to the kitchen for water.

         As Aeolus sat at the table, his dad, who was working on a sudoku puzzle, looked at him and asked what he wanted for dinner.  Aeolus sat there thinking about it before deciding, "either apple pie or chicken tenders, Mhm... yup; we could we also get charcoal puru chicken"

        Aeolus's dad knew how something was bothering his son (the maids told him how Aeolus had yelled before taking a nap for 2 hours out of concern) , so he then asked Aeolus if something was bothering him. The response he got was tired and short, "My back" Aeolus said quickly. "Your back? Would you like a massage? I could ask one of the maids or Su if she could make an appointment with a masseuse?" He asked.

Aeolus only said yes please and continued to sip his water.