Human

Masie wakes up, the light beams of sunlight glowing across her mattres, resting on the shirt she's wearing. Just the idea of having to be at school tomorrow made Masie's stomach churn out of worry.

What assignments awaited her?

Was there going to be a fight?

Tests?

Sundays were always Masie's least favorite days, not changing whether it was summer or school. Rolling in her bed, she tried to go back to sleep, but fails as always.

Hopefully, today can just be a relaxing day.

Clambering out of bed, Masie heads downstairs and greets her parents before sitting down and scrolling on her phone. Let's see... Masie scoffs as she notices another picture of Matthew's cousin Sarah sent. Looking at this new one, Masie decides to be careful and not save it in case he somehow got his hands on her phone once he became an enrolled student at her school.

"Sarah must really like this guy." Masie mumbles, still looking at the photo. This one seemed a bit different, he looked a bit more serious. Where was Sarah getting all these photos? Masie just sends a thumbs up emoji to Sarah before getting off the messages app, pressing her finger on the search bar.

'What's the best way to end someone's obsession?' Masie asks, and she reads a few un-true answers before sighing and face-palming. Guess she had to deal with an obsessed Sarah for a while.

"Uh- uhm, I. Why won't you just!" Masie's brother's voice rings out around the house. Huh?

"What is it?" Masie asks, curiosity peeking over her good manners.

No response.

Masie stands up as her brother's grumbling just gets louder and louder. Entering the kitchen, she finds him bent over the freezer, pulling out bag after bag after food and every possible thing that needed to not go bad.

"No, no, stop!" Masie's tone is quick to fill with anger, and she stomps forward, shoving a bag of peas and other frozen foods back into the freezer as her brother's venomous gaze moves to her.

"No! Just go away-" Her brother rambles on.

Masie squeezes her eyes shut in frustration, anger threatening to take over.

"Put those back! We can't have them go bad. It takes money to nut this stuff y-" Masie's voice grows, and she quickly set the food back into the freezer over her brother's work. He looked at Masie, and once again, it felt like she was staring at death itself. She steps back as he just stares. Like she was prey and he was the preditor.

Guilt clawed at Masie, but she knew she had to do it. Food was not meant to go bad, it was meant to be saved and eaten.

"Sorry." Masie says, sighing. She couldn't meet his gaze. No way. Shuffling out of the kitchen, she walks to the front door and opens it, slipping on her loafers quickly and walking to the river trail.

The dirt and rocks beneath the soles of her shoes felt like thorns aching to go into her feet, and the dew that hung on the grass made her feel like mud was all she ever knew.

A couple tears well up in her eyes, burning like a bee sting. She didn't know why her eyes were like this, her teardrops would fall if she closes her eyes, and if she kept her eyes open, they would burn. Just burn.

Right now, Masie was teetering on the edge. She didn't want to cry. She felt like the worst sister in the world.

He had mental problems, and she just... let anger get the best if her. Masie knew she was slightly wrong and right in the situation, but again and again, her brother's stoic face made her guts feel wretched and painful with every step.

Why was she not able to do that? Why does she just leave it all behind, and wear a smile so that depression lingers with her and away from others? It shouldn't be this way.

She shouldn't be smiling because of this reason. Smiles shouldn't be used like this. A couple salty tears make their escape and flow down her face, trailing into the curves of her lips and bringing her tongue a salty taste.

She keeps walking as it drips down her chin and neck, it made her feel disgusting. It made her feel human. Too human.

.........

The warm air of the bus flows up and around Masie's and her friend's ankles, keeping them from coldness by a couple notches. Her eyelids felt heavy. Mondays were always like this, and fatigue was no joke to Masie.

The book in her friend's hands rustled as she turned the page.

Her dark hair flowed down her shoulders onto her back, and her eyes remained gentle as the book captivated her. Alycia, by far one of the kindest people I've met. Masie gradually started sitting with Alycia since Abby sat with that other girl.

If she was honest, Masie liked this better. It was quiet but the conversations were exciting and enthusiastic.

Tilting my chin up and looking ahead, Masie spotted the reason the bus was going so slow. Garbage truck. Sighing, she listened to the bus drivers complaining once again.

"We're already late." It was faint, but Masie could tell that her tone was more vicious then kind. Focusing her attention back on Alycia, the pages flipped for a couple more minutes until the school comes into view.

..........

Masie's leg went up and down in her seat under the desk, her feet making it look like it was going berserk. The assignment her science teacher was talking about was nothing short of the meaning 'blood, sweat, and tears'.

Masie watched like the rest of the class as what seemed like a never ending explanation went on and on, notes would be useless at this point. There was no way she could get all of the information needed with this kind of speed and literature flying out of her teacher's mouth.

The bell goes off, and her gaze instantly flies over to the clock hidden in the other side of the room. Masie knew it was not for her class, but the bell seemed to quench her thirst to get out of there at least a little bit.

Once the papers were handed out to each individual in class, Masie had gone from a loose, fidgety student to a stiff body with a mind. She picked her pencil up, and with strained ease, began to trace and write, the lead of her pencil making little noises on the paper; soothing her. Remembering the 3rd to last piece of instructions she caught, she began working again; sounds of other students out in the halls bustling through her thoughts but not invading them.