It's hard not to notice the looks I'm getting from friends and enemies alike as I wander the halls at school. I force myself not to think about what this may mean. They know something I don't, but to be honest, I don't want to know either. There are looks of sympathy and sorrow which make me feel sick inside. Throughout the day I am bombarded by hugs which I grudgingly accept. I've never been one for much affection. I guess it's because I have never experienced much. My mother and father never kissed my goodnight or gave me a hug before school, I would just leave. I don't talk much either. People call me introverted, but I just prefer to listen. I try to leave the public as fast as possible so that I can retreat into my quiet shell. When I get home, my Mum is drinking. She doesn't usually, only when something bad is happening. I whisk the bottle away from her which she barely notices and I sit down beside her, comforting her. I refuse to look as she strokes my vivid, black tattoo. I sit there for a while focusing on anything but …show more content…
They are so smudged that I can barely read them. I can only just make out 24-08-20. The final two digits are so entwined that I can't tell them apart. A pit of dread fills my stomach, eating at me from the inside out. I snatch my hand, completely covering today's date. I'm not ready for this. I should be dead. That little number tattooed on my wrist since I was born? That was my death date. Everyone has one, it gets darker the closer it gets to that day. I was one of the unlucky ones. I was doomed to die early. Before I had even finished school. Now comes the hard bit. My death date was yesterday. I lie in bed blinking. I can't hear anything or feel anything. I am numb, and scared. A soft noise fades into my consciousness. It's the sound of someone sobbing. I can hear my mum crying and my dad comforting her. It's heartbreaking and confusing all at the same time. My mum never cries. She never hugs me, cries or expresses her emotions. She was treated harshly and she grew up with many cruel siblings so she learnt to hide her pain, her emotions. I instinctively slip out of bed and tread silently down the stairs to comfort