Clack. Clack. Clack.

Little drops are dripping from the water tap, which I just turned on to splash the cold water on my face. It is 3:27 a.m. I haven't slept a minute, not that this is anything new for me. Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I don't. And sometimes I don't even know.

The floorboards creak under my weight as I silently walk back into my room, lying down on the bed. I start counting from 1 to 100, then from 100 to 1, desperately hoping sleep would soon claim me. I must've fallen asleep at some point because soon enough, I was woken by the rough sound of my alarm. The time passes unnaturally fast as I follow my mundane routine and then head outside the door, riding my bike to school.

I take in the cold, sharp morning air while cycling past the crowd of people my age, chatting and laughing with each other. It almost feels like they, let it be just for a fragment of a second, stop what they are doing to stare at me. Might as well be my imagination. The schoolyard is especially crowded today so I need some time finding an empty spot to lock my bike before taking a deep breath and heading through the school gates.

My apologies, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Nox, Nox Reed. I am 16 years old. I live with my aunt in a one-family home that is very much too big for the two of us in the suburbs of New Jersey. I am so ordinary, it almost makes me extraordinary again. Funny, isn't it? I have a ginger tabby cat named Freddie Mercury. The only friend I have is faker than the happy white families in those television commercials or at least it feels that way. I can by far not claim to have a good knowledge about human nature and I don't know what despising somebody I call a friend says about me. It is all just a feeling, a penetrating feeling.

But I don't mind, we are living in a symbiosis together I guess. She can make herself feel like a heroine for hanging out with the strange, introverted boy while I don't need to feel like an unsociable burden to society and can ease my mothers mind. Even tho I'm unsure if I care about stuff like that.

I guess describing my appearance should be mentioned to my introduction. My hair is a dark brown, just like my eyes behind thick glasses. Like I mentioned, everything about me is ordinary, except for my name at least. I consider putting your whole personality and preferences into two sentences an admirable craft, which I am unfortunately not capable of. Well, I am obsessed with mint chocolate and my collection of snow globes. This is everything I can think of to say about me, someone who might as well be invisibility.

The school day goes by like tacky bubblegum. At lunch I push myself past the queue of groups, trying not to trip and spill all my food over the floor. I felt like a fearless warrior who just overpowered a horrendous dragon after finally managing to find an empty spot with enough distance from any other human beings.

„Hey there, how come I haven't seen you until now? Thought you were sick. Hey, you liked peanuts didn't you? They've got peanut butter cookies at the cafeteria today" 

Well, I guess I did not quite fight the dragon yet. Normally I would've flashed her my most awkward smile by now and conversed with a short answer that can only be perceived as polite. I don't want to be mean, I don't want to be a loner and I certainly don't want to hurt the only person who seems to be able to cope with me. But is that really what she is? Or am I just a charity case for her? Nevertheless, in this moment I was tired and stressed. It felt like a suffocating heat was building up, let it be because of the mass of students swirling around or my general unease. But in that very moment I was so sick of acting like a hyper-friendly flight attendant.

„I told you I'm allergic to peanuts, Lilly." 

Apparently, Lilly did not expect such a rough response, judging from the twitch of her eyebrows and the way she suddenly remembered someone else was waiting for her. In that moment I felt indescribably sorry but relieved at the same time about finally being alone with myself.

Having honey smeared around your mouth can truly be pleasant. Just be prepared for the bees that might come one day.

After finishing my cafeteria lunch, or whatever nuclear waste they call a chicken sandwich, I drag myself toward my next lesson. You can definitely count escaping being called on my teachers, an undeniable help while trying to survive the school day with astonishing two hours of sleep, to the perks of being somewhat invisible.

Finally; not like I could have stood it for another minute; the school bell rings and I cycle home, inhaling the now stuffy, humid summer air. Next to me the immaculate, white houses with their perfectly green lawn turn into a blur.

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes."

- Arthur Conan Doyle