Upside Down

I woke up that fateful morning in a daze. I was the perfect son, and I hated it. My parents expected me to be perfect. I was a straight A student, never stepped a toe out of line, and even though I was only 17, I already had a scholarship for a full ride to Princeton. I went to a private school and wore my uniform with false pride. My sister Emma was a different story.
Emma was totally rebellious. She wore nothing but black and her everything else was black. Her bed sheets, her clothes, her walls. She went to a dingy public school and got straight Cs. She was the black sheep in our family. I envied her for all of it.
I hated being the perfect one. It’s just not my style, but there has to be some kind of balance in the family, and I got dumped with the responsibility because my older sister beat me to the punch on the evil one. My older brother Liam was the median. He was neither good nor bad. He was 23, my sister 21. He didn’t fight with either one of us and he hung out with both of us occasionally and never took sides when Emma and I had our squabbles.
I tapped my alarm the same way I always do, took my shower, bitching at my sister for hogging it like I always do. I got dressed like I always do, in the same uniform that I always do. I had been turned into a robot. Hell, the only thing that was pleasant in my life was my girlfriend, Amanda. I went downstairs for the same breakfast for a healthy lifestyle of a perfect son.
“Morning, kiddo! How’d you sleep?” my father asked me as I stepped into the kitchen. “Fine.” Same as always. Just then, my sister walked in. “Well, isn’t that just lovely. The Glory child is up bright and early, just like daddy and mommy likes him,” she said. I held my tongue for the sake of the balance, grabbed my books, told my mother her cooking was wonderful, and left for school.
I hadn’t even reached my desk yet when I was grabbed, and turned around, and then pushed against the wall by a pair of dainty hands. I only had a split second to see that it was Amanda before her lips captured mine. I gripped her ass in my hands as I pulled her body to mine and kissed her back. “Mmm, I love it when you do that,” we said together, then we both busted out laughing. We’d been together for over a year and I was in love with her.
“So baby, are we still going to that party tonight?” I ask. “Yes we are! I can’t wait, honey,” she said. I lifted her half into my arms and kissed her passionately. We sat down together as class started. The rest of the day went by the same way it always does. I hated my life. Thankfully, the party started at 6, so I didn’t have to wait as long before my boring life was exciting for once. Amanda was meeting me there, so we just walked straight to the party. “Hey, baby!” she met me at the door and we walked in holding hands.
The party was fun as all get-out. I danced with Amanda until before we knew it, 9 o’ clock had rolled around. “Oh, jeez!” Amanda said, looking at her watch, “let’s take a break, sweetheart, I’m gonna go get a drink, and I’ll meet you back here, alright?” she said. “Alright, love, I’ll be sitting over there, okay?” I smiled. “See you soon, babe.” I went to find a seat as she walked off toward the porch where the coolers with the drinks were.
I sat down and waited for her to come back. 5 minutes passed by… then 10… A half-hour passed by and I started to go looking for her. Maybe she ran into some friends and lost track of time. I had looked all over until there were only the upstairs rooms to look in. I looked in every room until the last one at the end of the hall remained. I knocked on the door, like all the rest. No answer, so I walked in, and I couldn’t believe what I saw.
My brown-haired, green-eyed girlfriend was riding my best and only friend, Daniel, reverse cowgirl on the bed. Amanda’s eyes grew double in size and something inside me snapped as she spotted me. “Oh, my God! Lee! I-” “Stuff it! What the fuck! I think you can guess what I’m not bothering to say. Good-bye, Amanda, and fuck you, Daniel.” And with that, I left the party and took a walk home. The pain of it overwhelmed me as I reached the backyard, seeing as my room was the basement, and I had the door right there. I collapsed, no longer caring…
It was after midnight when I finally decided to get up. I had done a lot of thinking and had decided that I longer give a fuck. I walked into my room but went to the kitchen. I walked through the living room to find my sister watching TV. “Mom and dad left, Golden boy. Left me in charge cause Liam is still at JobCore,” she said. “Whatever,” I replied. I went right to the fridge and made the most anti-diet sandwich I could think of. Leftover burgers, bacon, cheese, ranch dressing, and all put in a pan to be deep-fried.
My sister walked in just as I took a bite into Heaven. “What the fuck is that and why does it smell so good?” she said. “Deep-fried bacon cheeseburger with ranch dressing,” I said nonchalantly. “You know mom and dad would have a fit if they knew you were eating something so bad for your arteries,” she said. “Don’t give a fuck anymore,” I said. “Don’t you talk to me like that, you little shit! I’m still older than you,” she said, getting pissed off. “Fuck off, bitch. I’m tired of your shit,” I said as I walked right past her and down to my room.
I took out a knife from my collection and started carving up the wall. On one wall, I carved the words “FUCK EVERYTHING” into the drywall. I then threw the knife into the floor next to my bed and picked up the weights in the corner of my room and lodged one of the lighter weights into the door. My sister came bursting through the now half-splintered door. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” she shrieked. “Shut the fuck up and get out of my room!” I said, throwing the knife in her direction, lodging it in the wall next to her head and resumed the process of flipping my bed over.
Her eyes got huge and she timidly backed out of my room as I slammed my fist into the mirror on the wall. As the door closed I let out a scream of anger. I dropped to my knees, completely out of things to take out my anger on. I yanked my blankets out from under my mattress and went to sleep.
The next morning my alarm went off at 6am, but I simply threw it at the wall, letting that yank it from the plug. About a half hour later, my sister tentatively poked her head into my room. “Time for school…” she muttered. “I’ll go when I damn well please,” I said. She saw the pieces of my alarm clock on the floor and backed out of my room. I went back to sleep and relived the nightmare of seeing that ex whore cheating on me with my ex friend, my only friend until now.
I woke up at around eleven and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed off to school, not even bothering with my teeth or hair. When I arrived at the school I was stopped briefly by security. “Not wearing your uniform is against regulation, Mr. Dramen.” He said. I simply said “Fuck regulation” as I brushed past him to my 3rd period class. It was the second class of the day with which I shared with both Amanda and Daniel. They both stiffened as I walked in. “Lee, you are late,” the teacher said. “Fuck off” was my only reply as I found my seat. Sadly, the only open seat was the next row over from Daniel. He was a skinny blonde guy with brown eyes. He could have any girl in school, so why did he have to take Amanda from me?
“Pssst, hey, bro, listen I-” Daniel started, but I cut him off with a pissed off glare he knew not to fuck with. Amanda was sitting behind me and put her hand on my shoulder, but I brushed her hand away. “Don’t touch me or talk to me. Ever again. Not a fucking word,” I growled, and they both turned back to the teacher.
Lunch time was next and so I went. I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I sat there after I had finished eating and it only pissed me off that Amanda and Daniel thought they would come over and reason with me. “C’mon man, I tried to say I’m sorry,” he tried. “Sorry doesn’t fix jack shit, Daniel. Now you can either walk away clean or bloody,” I said calmly, despite the rage inside. “You won’t do it, man. I know you and you don’t have it in you, Mr. Perfect.” He said that a little too smugly. “Oh, I won’t?” I said, and then paused as he smiled. That was it for me. I stepped on his foot so he couldn’t step back and decked him across the jaw.
He fell to the ground and everyone stared. I jumped on top of him and began wailing on him. It took 3 security guards to drag me off that bastard. Needless to say, I was ejected from campus. No more Golden bitch lifestyle for me. I could have cared less that I’d gotten expelled and that Daniel’s nose would most likely be crooked unless daddy or mommy fixed it for him. Usually I got home after my sister but these were special circumstances. She was just getting home as I walked up the drive.
“Lee?” Emma asked as I unlocked the door and walked in. “What are you doing home?” she asked. “Expelled,” I said, handing her a note from the Dean as I headed to my room. “What did the Golden boy do?” she shrieked. I was in her face so fast she flinched. “Call me the motherfucking golden boy one more time and I won’t miss next time I throw a knife,” I growled. Her eyes widened again and I turned and walked away, going back to my room.
The only thing I hadn’t trashed was my entertainment system. I turned on the stereo and cranked up Alone by Bullet for my Valentine. I sat on my bed, having dragged the mattress out, motionless for the next 2 hours until I heard the doorbell ring even over my music. My dad had had an accident and could only hear out of one ear, so the damn thing was loud. I lowered the music to hear my sister welcome someone in. “Yeah sure, but be careful, he’s kind of volatile right now. I have no idea what’s wrong, but he nearly took my head off. Maybe you can get through to him…” I heard her say. I heard a knock on my door a couple minutes later.
“Enter at your own risk,” I said. The door creaked open but from my bed I couldn’t see who yet. They must have seen the knife in the wall, because I heard a female squeak. Steps echoed down the stairs and there she was: my whore of an ex-girlfriend. I looked at her and my blood boiled instantly. “Get the fuck out.” That was all I had to say to her. “But baby, I-” but I cut her off. “DON’T YOU FUCKING ‘BUT BABY’ ME! YOU FUCKING CHEAT ON ME WITH MY OWN BEST FRIEND AND YOU EXPECT ME TO FORGIVE YOU, DON’T YOU? FUCK YOU! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM! IF YOU FEEL SO BAD THEN GO FUCK DANIEL AGAIN LIKE THE WHORE YOU ARE! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!” I roared at her as she backed against the wall.
For a moment she just stood there, paralyzed in shock at the fact that mild-mannered Lee Dramen had become so violent. After another minute I hear heavy footfalls coming down the stairs. I looked just in time to see my sister yank Amanda and drag her up the stairs by her hair. There was a loud “slap!” that sounded more like a “crack!” and a girly scream.