Escape From It All
From Create Your Own Story
You remove your hand from the door, having second thoughts about continuing this pointless routine. You turn around, but your heart beats faster as you do so. "What are you doing?" you question yourself. "You'll get detention - or worse, suspended!" In spite of the voice's convincing reasoning, you choose to block it out, partly because a deeper and stronger motivation of breaking free from this endless cycle calls out to you... and partly because you just feel lazy today. Escaping from your troubles is what you do best, after all, and you are in big trouble.
You look at your watch, a cheap Casio brand that says 10:30. This is a new record in lateness. Your parents would sure to give you hell today should they know what happened. Not that you have to tell them, of course. You could simply waste your day away at some arcade or a fastfood restaurant. Good thing you brought along your Nintendo Switch. Nothing like Zelda to kill a boring morning. The thought of playing video games on a school day excites you and leads you stepping away from the class. Your footsteps quicken with every new thought about what fun things you could do with this newfound freedom.
Outside feels different for the first time. You inhale deeply. The air feels fresh, and the world seems colorful. Despite being late on occasion, you were never really much of a delinquent and tend to obey the school rules as best you can - including coming to school everyday. Now that you've finally played hooky for the first time, the taboo nature of it feels exhilarating. Now pumped up with adrenaline, you feel like you could do anything, that the world is your oyster and all that jazz.
And yet, the freedom feels rather hollow. You are not sure what exactly it is you want to do, or why you want to do it other than for the sake of doing things you normally wouldn't have the chance to do at this hour; in this case, fooling around like an idiot. What happens after you waste your time away at the arcade? Will anything change tomorrow when you return to the school again, being part of that mundane system you abhor so much once more? What greater meaning does getting the high score at that Street Fighter game your classmates talked about grant you? Would leaving your name suddenly make you look cool? Would that one girl you really like go out with you after your newfound popularity? Or would she look down upon your existence as a lazy, useless delinquent, considering how much smarter and more hardworking she is than you? In fact, maybe you should just turn around and head back to class. You are already deep in trouble as it is; you shouldn't dig that grave any deeper.
Either way, there's a scolding awaiting you regardless of what you choose, so you might as well make the most of it. In fact, as you are thinking, you've came up with another idea besides the arcade: you are starting to feel like visiting the cinema instead. There's a new movie coming out that you've been wanting to watch. It's been getting rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, so it must be good.
What shall you do?
