2021
A blaring alarm rings through my room. I slowly wake up and rub my eyes before I turn the alarm off. I sit on the edge of the bed for a moment before I muster up the will to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I brush my teeth slowly before I wash my face and look in the mirror. Tired eyes stare back at me. Messy hair, an oversized shirt, and baggy shorts. Not the most appealing outfit, but a comfortable one. I head downstairs and see my mom preparing a lunchbox for me.
"Good morning, Xyle". I respond with a blatant "Yeah," before I quickly change for school. I bump into my dad while rummaging through my clothes. I don't say anything, and neither does he. I say bye to my parents before I grab my bag and head off to the bus stop. I try to get out of view from my house first before I slow my pace.
I slip into my white, old jacket and steadily make my way to the bus stop, occasionally staring up at the big ship in the sky, before I reach. I wait for a few minutes before the bus arrives. I sit in the first seat in the front. No one usually sits there at first, so I get to enjoy a few moments by myself. After the bus goes to all the stops, the bus is filled to the brim. I am now sitting with a stranger, but he doesn't seem social. Easier for me, I guess. Now it's time for the main show. High school. Being a freshman itself isn't that hard for me; it's the part where I have to socialize that's difficult. I normally stick to myself. Although I have a few friends, I only ever greet them before I go my own way. I make my way through all of my 8 periods before I head back home on the bus.
I hesitate a moment before I ring the doorbell. Shortly after, my younger brother opens the door.
"Welcome back". He says. I reply with a short "Yeah" before I walk past him. Entering the house, I hear my parents arguing in the kitchen again. I quickly get changed and go upstairs, trying to avoid their gaze. Halfway up, I hear my name being called.
"Xyle! Come down here!" My dad yells. I heave a deep sigh, before slowly making my way back down. "What is it?" I ask, trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. "You come home and you don't even greet me, or your mother!? What kind of behavior is that?" I keep my head faced down, letting the words go through one ear and out the other. After he screams his heart out, I make my way upstairs, turn on my pc, and stay there the rest of the day, coming down to eat dinner, but that's the only time I'll ever come down. Every time I'm down there, I somehow get yelled at, no matter how small the reasons, so I spend as much time as I can upstairs.
This is my daily routine. I've been keeping up with it for about four and a half years, but it eventually gets to you. I think subconsciously, I've equated my parents with people who just take care of me, not people who love me. Although they say it, they've never once shown it in these past years. I wonder where it all went wrong, but there's nowhere left to go but forward. I'm just waiting to go to college, somewhere far away from here, so I can be free from this cage.
I scroll through the web, trying to find something interesting, before I find an article titled 'Another Enchanted Discovered! Friend or Foe?'. Ever since those extraterrestrial freaks showed up, people have started to get powers from an unknown source. No one knows for sure how it happens; it just does. I'm also pretty sure that everyone's main power is unique to themselves, so no two people can have the same powers. Enchanted people also get access to something they call "The Info Nexus". From what I can tell, it's basically a status window from your typical video game. I dig a little deeper into this article, and find that the new Enchanted has gained memories that he knows is not his own. This is called an "Inheritance Enchant". These are rare to come across, and only have the memories of the previous user. The extraterrestrials stated that their technology allows them to jump dimensions, and they have been to 100 Earths before this one, making us Earth number 101.
I shut my pc down, calling it a night. I prepare my bed before I hop in and doze off to sleep. I wake up to a loud ringing in my head and my room rumbling. I open my eyes and see a bright beam of light in the middle of the room.
"No way…" I say to myself. I begin debating in my head. Is this what makes people Enchanted? Won't I get attention if I do this? What happens to my family once I do this? I shove all those thoughts to the side. Somehow, I feel like nothing will ever change if I don't do this, and with that last thought, I clench my butt cheeks and hands before stepping into the light.