1:58 Blues
hen Cassian Lewis got home at 9:00 PM he realized he was probably having the worst day of his life.
After school he was driving his girlfriend home, when they had stopped and retreated to the back of his Saturn for a while�
Then, at 4:00 PM, he had to go for swimming practice for two hours. After that he�d met his girlfriend again. But the circumstances weren�t quite so favorable this time. She�d accused him of taking advantage of her and they got into a big fight.
�It was your idea, remember,� Cassian said.
�Yeah, but you pressured me, what if I�d gotten pregnant?�
So this is what it was all about, he thought, and moved closer to her to giver her a hug�
�Don�t touch me! I think you�ve done enough, I never want to see you again�� And she�d turned around and walked away, pouting.
The enormity of the situation hadn�t struck him until about an hour later, when he was taking the public bus home.
He quickly got off at the nearest stop and went to Denny�s and ate, alone. He forced himself to think of anything but the breakup. Then he went to his favorite pub�where they never carded you�and had three shots of tequila. Through the haze, he checked his watch and was startled: 8:40 PM! He ran home�or at least the silliest semblance of running he could perform under the circumstances�and fell flat on his face when he tripped over the doorstep.
Nursing a bloody nose, he eased the door quietly open and saw his mom, straight in front of him, on the couch. He looked up�
�Where the hell have you been, Cass!� she yelled. �It�s almost 9:00!�
�I went and�um�had some dinner.�
�You went and got drunk, didn�t you?�
He didn�t answer, collapsing on the linoleum floor.
When he came to, he was sitting in the tub and his mother hovered above him.
�Your father and I would like to speak to you, young man.� She hadn�t called him young man since he was twelve.
However, he barely heard her, and followed her to the living room. All he could think of was the test�what class?�he had tomorrow, and vaguely tried to reconstruct the afternoon�s events from his hazy subconscious.
He fought with his parents for almost three hours. About his drinking, and the phone call they�d received from his ex-girlfriend�s parents, and how he never spoke to them anymore.
�You don�t communicate with us anymore,� his dad said. �We�d like to know what goes on if your life�we�re a family, remember?�
Cassian nodded a lot and thought about when he was going to study for the big chemistry test.
�You can�t just lock yourself in your room and do�and do whatever it is you do�you see, Cass, we don�t even know�!�
Cassian looked at his watch and shook his head, trying to keep his eyes open.
He finally managed a tactical retreat to his room and lay on his bed.
Cass pushed the power switch on his old stereo�
Suddenly the music started up at approximately 30 times how loud he normally listened�the volume knob being way up.
�Ah!� he screamed, as 20,000 jackhammers dug at his gray matter. He turned the stereo off and swore to kill his sister.
He rolled over to check the time on his alarm clock, and rolled right off his bed�landing on the hard floor with a thud.
�Agh�� he moaned, and stood slowly. He shook his head, trying to see straight. He tried for the last time in vain not to think of his girlfriend. He shook his head and slowly sat down.
At 1:58 AM Cassian opened his chemistry book and the tears welled in his eyes.
