"Great monday morning isn't it, Tal?" Nicole laughed, as she walked by to see him slamming his hand repeatively into the door.
"YEAH! A merry fucking monday morning!" Tal screamed, raking a hand through his knotted blond locks. His face was disheveled and his once clear blue eyes were blood shot and tired. Nicole stared in disbelievement, he looked as if he had gone from hell and back. Without thinking, or saying another word, she turned and headed down the hall, wondering what was irrating the happy-go-lucky Tally.
Shutting his eyes, Tal let his forehead slam against the locker, as he slowly began to count his breaths. Normally this was able to calm him down, but then again...he was never this stressed out before. 1...2..."FUCK! Don't touch me!"
Laura stood next to him, her eyes wide with shock and amazement, "Is that your new word? Tal, you never used to say it, and then last night..."
"I'm not Mr. fucking sunshine anymore, okay?" Tal snapped, his voice becoming more bitter with every word, "And you know what, let me just enlight you on my life. I'm always so close to getting everything I ever wanted, and then in steps my big brother to rip it from the tips of my fingers, here comes mighty Gil to steal back what he thinks he had."
"...what are you talking about?" Laura muttered, giving him an ackward look.
He just looked at her for a moment, then brushed away a few of his unwanted tears that were clinging to his face, "Will you just leave me alone?"
"No." she whispered, "Your in bad shape, I can't just turn my back on you."
"It's just a fucking twisted game? You heard Gil...you fucking heard him last night didn't you?" Tal suddenly cried, by now about a half a dozen people stopped in the hall to watch him scream, watch the pain etched deep in his eyes. "Don't just stand there and act stupid, don't stand there and act like you haven't a clue what I'm saying..." he choked out, feeling a wave of tears, or perhaps vomit from his upset stomach creeping up his throat.
"Tal..." Laura started, but she was quickly cut off by the sound of Tal slamming his fist into the locker, which now caused the tops of his knuckles to be scraped off. Fresh blood rolling down his clenched fist as he stared at it. Almost in shock.
"I hate my life, you know that." he balled, "And why? Why...you fucking want to know why? Huh Laura? Is it eating away at your mindless brain because your friends with my asshole of a brother? Has he brain washed you enough that you can't see for yourself what you and everyone else is doing to me?"
"Tal!" she quipped, "Quit it, just shut up."
"Why?" he growled, "Can't you take the truth, can't you swallow it all? Or is Gil the only thing you can swallow?" With that, Laura took a nice swing at Tal, nailing him right under his left eye. He stumbled backward slightly by the impact against his weak body.
He quieted. Now he was hunched over on one knee, his bleeding hand shaking rapiadly on his knee, the other clenching the carpeted hallway so tightly that his knuckles were turning a ghostly white. He wasn't crying anymore, in fact, Laura didn't know if he was even breathing...he was absouletly quiet.
"Do you ever get the feeling that your reaching so high in the sky to touch that very special star, and your inches away, but the entire time you've been holding your breath..." Tal choked out, "You've been holding in the air, holding in the feelings, holding in what you need to survive...But you can't let go, the anticipation for the greatest thing in life is only inches away..." He glanced up at her, his crystal eyes swollen and etched deeply with pain, "inches, just inches, and your about to win, or die...I guess, I died."