"Stephen... Hold me... I'm scared," He said. "Don't worry, come to my arms... we'll do this together..." I said. He quickly rushed to my arms, and I embraced him. And... they were coming. You could hear multiple beeps. Multiple loud beeps. It almost sounded like... An alarm clock! I got out of bed, and put the alarm clock to rest. I took out my uniform, ironed it, and laid it out on my bed. I brushed my teeth, had breakfast, and went back to my room to put my uniform on. I was greeted by my mom. "Well good morning, Stephen! Why are you up so early?" She asked. "Mom, you know I always wake up at 6:30," I replied, "I'm already ready to go to school. I just need to put my bookbag on." "Okay Stephen, be safe then. I love you," mom said, as I walked out the door. Oh boy, another day at school, full of anxiety and doubt. I'm just really insecure, but my grades are fine, so my teachers all just think I'm good. It's actually not like that. I feel very alone... but I have a lot of friends to keep me happy during these times, so I have that going for me. I arrived at school, and the first thing I see is one of my best friends, Aaliyah. "Hey Steph!" She said. "How are you doing?" "I'm doing just great, no sarcasm intended. My hair is in that stage where it looks kinda awkward and ugly, since, you know, I'm growing it out." I replied. "I think it looks cute, personally. Aw man, if only your parents would let you dye your hair brown. Then you would've been a guy magnet." "Yeah, but the school would be like, "Oh... Mr. Stephen... dying his hair. Dye it back immediately or you're going to get detention and I'm going to make you die it back. And I told you not to mention the thing when we are around multiple people. I don't want anybody to know except you and Anna." And so, it was time to line up. Anna came barely on time, which is quite odd, for her. We did our usual tradition of the principal giving announcements, then us pledging alliegance to the U.S. flag. After that, we went upstairs, ready to "learn".