Coming home was the easy part, walking inside was the hard part. Nothing was beautiful inside, all of the joy house were supposed to have didn't exist in his house. On the outside, it was a painted a mellow color, a soft lime green. With the white accompanying the green, in contrast, it was a rather beautiful apartment complex. Whoever owned it took pride in the simple beauty of buildings. The interior of the first floor was simple as well, just a dark mahogany color, and the staff always took care of the place. Leading up to the fifth floor of the complex, it was pretty much the same, through and through. Yet, once you reach his door, room 525, it emits a feeling of regret and depression that only get's stronger once you open the door. Nobody took care of the place, it reeked of stale food and uncleanliness. They never bothered to replace the TV, and they left almost all of the blinds open, but covered in black curtains. The rug was filled with dust and cheerios that were long forgotten. It was large on the inside, but the feeling alone made the place feel like a wasteland, where only you exist, and you alone. The fridge wasn't covered in papers copies of his best work, he didn't have anything to show that was very impressive. Nothing was in order, just left carelessly in a place, and that's where they were left, since nobody was going to pick them up. He looked over at the fridge, hoping that maybe that there was going to be something at least. Yet, Casey walked over to the fridge only to discover the inevitable.

The fridge was empty, again...

He looked in the cabinets, and found nothing but a few slices of bread in a bag. He sighed, and left them there, it was better to save them then eat them now, since he would need them later. He closed the cabinet, and walked out of the small kitchen, towards the hallway leading to the rooms. He walked towards the closet, that was never opened, except once, when they first moved in. That was the last time he saw a smile on his parents face, when they still had a tiny bit of hope for the future left in them.

It was all gone now...

He passed by his room, he was headed towards his parents, to see if they were home. He approached the door, opening it a little bit, only to see the bed unkempt, and empty. He opened the door fully, glancing around, taking in the site that he's gotten used to seeing. There were paper everywhere; all the applications that they had filled out a thousand times, and the missing person's reports filled out more often they should've been. The bed was small, but enough for two, and yet, his dad slept on a couch. Casey had known before had that this was going to start happening, and he knows how it will end.

Divorce.

They kept trying to hold on, but it was pointless, futile. It was a failing relationship, and it was only getting worse. For his sake, they held on, just saw other people, they agreed to do that, and sleep in different beds as well. The curtains all throughout the house were black or grey, the bed sheeting doing nothing but adding to the misery in the place. The closet was filled with nothing but business clothes. They go to work everyday, come home late, sleep in opposite places, and give each other a hug, no kiss, and go to sleep. Then the cycle starts over again. They don't tell anyone about the problems they accumulated, or had back in Sacramento. They don't pay attention to him, and he just had to accept that fact. They didn't push for more out of him, and didn't get him anything accept for on Christmas, and even then, it wasn't much. Maybe a pair of jeans or something like that. What he had was what he had, and the rest he had to get himself. He turned around and walked out, turning his back on the place that he dreaded seeing everyday of his life. It wasn't like he hated his parents, they didn't care about him, and he had no choice but to deal with that fact. He closed the door but no matter what, the feeling of despair just seeped through the cracks of the door, no matter how shut tight it was. He walked towards his room, opening the door, walking in, and shutting it behind him. He didn't put many posters up, and the walls were stainless, and painted blue and black. They had did that for him when they had first moved in, before they gave up on caring and trying all together. The bed was next to a single window, that was facing the front of the building, towards the city, the building reaching the sky, but far enough away to be gorgeous a night. He threw his bag down, next to the window, that went from the ceiling to the floor, with no curtain in front of it. He glanced over at his clock, seeing that the time read 3:59 pm. He kicked off his shoes, and laid down on his bed, looking at the ceiling. 

"I wish things were different, it almost makes me miss Sacramento" he said aloud, closing his eyes slowly, and allowing for imagination to take over. He flashed back to his friends that he had to leave behind, Chris and Lacey, the only people that wanted to understand him and stay by his side. Lacey cried when he had to leave, it was heart breaking. Lacey was his strong friend, the only female that bothered to socialize with him, and to see her cry was like a stab in the heart. Chris tried to hold back tears, but while Casey was being driven away, he was balling his eyes out. They had been together for years, since kindergarten. Nothing could drive them apart, they had been through puberty and bullies together, it was just heart-wrenching. He looked back at the Chris's pale blue eyes and Lacey's green eyes as he was driven away, clouded over with sadness. All the times he tried to get the two of them together, all of scoldings they had received from Lacey, everything. 

It was all erased in an instant...

No more laughter, no more jokes, no more happiness. It was just all gone when he moved away. He couldn't hope for anything better when there was no hope to begin with. He couldn't care for anyone when nobody cared for him. 

He just...

...couldn't...

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that the room wasn't very well lit anymore, it was darker outside. He glanced over at his phone to notice that two hours had passed, while he was dwelling on the past. He heard his stomach growl, but he forced himself to ignore it. It could wait till tomorrow. It was better to save then to eat and starve later. He looked over at his window, they sky was blazing with colors. The sky looked purple, with a faint orange surrounding the sun as it dipped below the horizon. Casey walked over towards the window, sitting down on the carpeted floor, and pulling his knees up to his chest. He faced the window and watched the lights of the city turn on. They were like stars being made into existence, they just glowed, but he knew they were artificial. Yet, they were like stars, and he just wanted to reach out and touch them. He wanted them to give him hope, hope for a better tomorrow. 

But he knew that was pointless...

He couldn't watch as everyone's happiness glazed over him.