The first thing he tasted that morning was smoke.
Not breakfast, not toothpaste—just the burnt bitterness of the last half of a joint he forgot to put out the night and before.
He groaned and rolled off the mattress on the floor, kicking aside a hoodie that hadn't been washed in weeks. His room looked like a tornado made of regret had hit it. clothes, energy drink cans, ashtray overflowing, and textbooks unopened since the first week of school.
Zeke: Another day. Another mess. Another reason to not care.
He shuffled to the cracked bathroom mirror and stared at his own reflection. Red eyes. Hollow cheeks. was this really him?
Zeke: "whatever." He lit another smoke, and headed out.
School was just a building that he passed through. No one really noticed him anymore. Not the teachers, not the students, not even the security guards who used to yell at him. he stopped turning in work two months ago. He barely remembered the last time he did cheat in a test. His grade's where clinging the drain and honestly so was he.
"Yo." Someone said behind him. A classmate. Probably.
He didn't answer. Just pulled his hoodie tighter and walked.
At lunch he sat alone under the stairs. Headphones on at max volume pretending music could drown out the thoughts. His thoughts took over the music telling him he was a waste of space
Your not worth saving.
He believed it.
Until—
A shadow fell over him
He blinked and looked up, expecting another teacher or someone trying to start a fight. But it was... A girl. Around his age, dressed weird, to clean for this place, and her white clothes somehow sparkled in the grimy sunlight.
Zeke: "are you... lost?" He muttered pulling his headphones off.
Aya: smiled softly, like she'd known him forever. "No" she said gently. "I'm right where I need to be."
He stared at her, confused
She sat besides him like she belonged there. Like she wasn't afraid of the stench of smoke on his clothes or the rumors that followed him like shadows.
Aya: "I've been watching you. And I'm here to help." She said gently.
Zeke: scoffed. "Help? With what my GPA."
Aya: her eye's sparkled like stars. "With your life." She said softly
Zeke: he stood already irritated. "Who are you?" He said angrily
She stood. No hesitation, no fear.
Aya: "I'm your guardian angel."
Silence.
He laughed. Actually laughed for the first time in months.
Zeke: "yeah, okay. Sure. My angel. Did god send you, or are you just high like me?" He said teasingly.
She didn't flinch.
Aya: I'm real. Whether you like it or not. I'm staying.
He rolled his eyes then walked away.
Zeke: you're wasting my time.
But she didn't follow. She just said one last thing before he disappeared around the corner.
Aya: "you don't have to believe me. I already believe in you."
He didn't sleep that night.
And for the first time in a long time he felt watched. but not in a bad way.
In a way that he felt like... Someone cared
Even if he didn't believe it yet.
[END OF CHAPTER 1]