Finally out.

I ran through the pouring rain to my bike and fumbled with my lock, as fast as I could to stay ahead of my classmates. Thunder and lightning. Lovely.

I raced across the schoolyard, turning left, veering right, left again, right, left...

I cycled to grandma's, sweet, caring grandma. I dumped my bike in the bike rack in front of the apartment building where my grandma lived. I opened the heavy metal door, went to the elevator, and pressed the button. It had to go from the seventeenth floor to the ground floor. Ugh.

I decided to walk for those few floors. I still arrived at the top with a sweaty back and took the last few steps, exhausted from climbing six floors. I know. I have poor stamina... I also don't participate in any sports like all the other kids; I want to, but I'm not allowed to play soccer, hockey, or basketball, I don't mind which, but my parents already spend all their money on drum lessons, soccer training, swimming lessons, and after-school care. I'm not good enough for my parents, I don't make a big deal out of it and I won't beat around the bush, but they don't give me a chance to prove myself either. I should consider myself lucky if I get one sweater per year, if I even get one... I get one euro per week, but they usually forget to give it to me, while the average teenager gets three times as much. My little brother behaves like a toddler, they usually don't get pocket money, but they receive one euro more than me every week, and my parents don't forget that. I have a bike that's the same size as my brother's, but the brakes, gears, and both lights are broken.

My little brother is the golden child. He gets EVERYTHING and I get NOTHING.

Unfair.

But hey, I'm invisible anyway, air. And why would you give air things or attention? I asked grandma once, she responded, as kind as always, that I wasn't air. Still, it did feel like it. Maybe it seems like I'm talking about it lightly and I don't care, but in the meantime... in the meantime, I'm completely on edge, day and night, my muscles (to the extent that I have them) are tense and I'm always stressed. The only reason I'm still here is because of my grandma, my dog, and my geography teacher.