The bell rang and once again I was late to psych class. I kenw that Mrs. Crow would be cool with it because, one, we never do anything in her class, and two, because I've done it before, but to my horrow today we had a substitute teacher. All I could see was his back but even then I knew who it was, Mr. Ziken, our prinicipal. "Ah nice of you to join us Mr. Burrows," Mr. Ziken announced as I proceeded to my seat. " Mike you picked a bad day to come in late. Mrs. Crow is sick and Mr. Ziken is making us actually discuss something rather than just watching a movie," whispered Jeff Dugan, one of my best buds. "How the hell was I suppose to know that Mrs. Crow would be sick and Mr. Work-A-Holic Ziken would be our subsitute," I angrily whispered back. "And where is Chris? He's never late." " I thought that you would know," said Jeff. My mind began to wonder as I thought blankly to myself, wow so I'm actually rubbing off on my best bud, Mr. Over-Achiever Chris Rommel!?! I was awaken out of my daze with a loud roar of laughter and Jeff hitting me and saying "Mr. Ziken just asked you a question." "Oh sorry Mr. Ziken. I wasn't paying attention. Can you repeat the question?" " Ok Mr. Rommels. I asked you waht you thought made teens commit suicide seeing as it is so frequent these days," repeated Mr. Ziken. "Frankly, I don't see why teens commit suicide. It doesn't solve your problems and it takes away your future. People say that suicide is normally involved with depression but I would think that if people are depressed they would tell someone so they could get some help," I replied. "Well Mr. Burrows makes a good point there but can anyone tell me what depression is? Mr. Dugan?" " Depression is an illness which is sometimes caused by a chemical unbalance but most often it is brought on by low self esteem and constant disappointments." "Thank you Mr. Dugan. That is exactly right in both instances but alcohol and drug abuse are also causes of depression because they affect your judgement. Depression is the biggest cause of suicides among teens today..." Mr. Ziken had started off on one of his little rants again so I knew he wouldn't notice if I took a little nap. I was awoken by the bell and got up to go to my next class. I had to go to my locker to get my Algebra 2 book and Chris was waiting there for me. "Hey man waz up? Why weren't you in psych class today? You missed Mr. Ziken droning on about suicide and depression." "Oh I...slept in late today and couldn't make it for 1st period," he answered nervously. "Is everything OK man? You seem a little off today." "Yeah everything is fine, nothing more than usual anyway." Chris's parents fought all the time and they always found a way to piss each other off and Chris was always stuck in the middle. I could tell that it was slowly tearing him apart although he always said he was fine. He only talked to me about his parents a few times when he couldn't handle it by himself anymore. We've known each other forever and can tell each other anything and we know when the other is lying which is why I could tell that Chris wasn't fine and that something was up, especially since he actually missed a class, which he has never done in his whole academic life. "What are you doing after school today? We could get together and play video games at my house or something if you're up to it. But remeber I did beat you the last like 150 times we've played so perpare to lose." "Oh it's on now, but remember we still have play practice tonight, seeing as it is tech week and all." Chris replied. I knew that would get him out of his little funk.
To be continued...(Sorry I have more but I don't feel like typing the rest of it in here...besides it's not like anybody will actually read this thing.)