SCHOOL

Chapter One: Life On File

Scott Inman was born on a Tuesday. He was a healthy human boy. A clean slate. But that wouldn't last for long. He would be shaped and molded by the people and events in his life. And this boy would see many dark times.

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Scott's parents were in love. So not long after he was born, they got married and moved in together. Diane and John Inman raised their son the best they knew how to within their budgetary constraints. They sometimes went out to have a good time while Scott stayed at home with a babysitter. Some times, it was a relative. Other times, it was a friendly teenage girl who lived next door. Her name was Sydney.

As he grew older, Scott was able to play outside on his own. He made some friends in the neighborhood and would often play with them. He would also become friends with Sydney. Even though she was nearly ten years older than him, she became like the sister that Scott never had.

But one day when Scott was only five years old, a tragic event occured that would change his life forever...

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Scott didn't notice all that much of a difference in her mother due to his young age. She got sick and soon would be taken to the hospital while young Scott slept. He would awaken to an empty home the next morning, except for Sydney. She explained to him what had happened and tried her best to comfort him, saying that she would be fine. But Scott's father returned home that evening alone. Diane Inman had died that day. And so would the livelihood of the family itself.

Scott and his father cried over his mother's death for days, especially during the funeral ceremony later that week. Relatives would try to console them, but it didn't help all that much. Scott wouldn't even talk back to them. Or if he did, he would speak so low that they could barely hear him. He would have this problem for the rest of his life.

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Scott's father could no longer afford the house that he was now renting alone. So they moved to the apartment complex in which his father worked. The apartments were nice, but they could afford it due to an employee discount.

John Inman still wanted to go out some nights to have fun, without his son. But with the difficulty of finding a sitter and with Sydney unavailable because she was away at college, he would begin leaving young Scott home alone way before he could handle it.

One particular night, Scott's father stayed out a bit too long and Scott began to cry loudly. An elderly neighbor next door heard his cries and came to the rescue. She invited Scott into her home until his father returned some time past midnight. Not long after that, John lost his job and was asked to move out.

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Scott and his father eventually found a new apartment complex and a new job to support them. And Scott was able to make new friends. Unfortunately, his new friends convinced him to do mischievious things, like steal and vandalize. He began to shoplift from the nearby convenience store. And once stole money from one of his friend's parents.

Meanwhile, Scott was struggling in school as well. He was enrolled in a special program to help him raise his grades. But his fellow classmates calling him names and making fun of him didn't help. Even years after his mother's passing, he found it difficult to speak to anyone but his father. This made it hard for him to make friends.

Scott also bonded with his father's parents and became rather close. But they too would soon pass away, leaving Scott hurt twice more since his mother's death. He didn't wish to be hurt that way again.

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Scott and his father soon moved once again, to the worst apartment complex they had ever lived in. But this was the best that John could afford. They would end up living there for the next decade and beyond.

Considering the neighborhood, Scott once again made friends of the mischievious sort. With one of them, he would break into a house that was under renovation and run amok in the sports stadiums of a nearby college. In the latter case, they would be caught by a university policeman.

In school, Scott would discover the subject of UFOs and aliens. He would become fascinated with the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth and would read all the information he could on the subject. This knowledge would help him write short science fiction stories about contact with such life. He felt this was the only true talent he had. Since his life wasn't that great, he some times wished aliens would come and take him away to a better life. He some times even stayed outside on the porch all night just looking toward the dark sky, hoping to see something extraordinary.

The few school friends that Scott had weren't of the mischievious sort, luckily enough. Most were part of the special program in which he was enrolled. One of them would almost become his first girlfriend. But he was unable to overcome his speaking problem, so nothing ever happened between them. They eventually parted ways.

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When Scott made it to high school, he found the work harder than ever before. And his grades showed it. But when he discovered the new computer lab with Internet access, he became obsessed and got online every chance he got. There was so much UFO information to absorb and so little time. Once he got a used computer connected to the Internet at home, Scott began going to school less and less. He stayed at home and online instead. He loathed all the pressure from his teachers and other students. Eventually, he dropped out of school altogether. But Scott didn't realize it at the time that it would also sever all ties to most of his friends. Since he was blinded by the Internet, he also stopped talking to his neighborhood friends and rarely went outside. He did make a few friends online, but they all seemed a half a world away. And some of them were.

With the help of his father, Scott was able to begin recieving money from the government when he was eighteen due to his rising depression and speaking disability. But instead of using the money to support himself, he mostly spent it on DVDs, CDs, video games and books. He feared making a life for himself, so he lived at home with his father. Scott's obsession of the Internet had spread to TV shows and movies.

But the Internet had also got Scott back in contact with Sydney. Sydney had just contacted him out of the blue one day. She had looked him up and they began communicating via e-mail. Sydney also began visiting Scott at home. She was disappointed at where Scott was in his life, but she wouldn't tell him that. Due to Scott's lowering confidence and the fact that he would rarely leave his home, he rarely bathed or groomed himself. He just didn't see the point in doing so for no reason.

The world wasn't yet done with Scott. There was much more tragedy to come...

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When his electronics didn't work correctly, Scott got pissed and cursed at them. He would also sometimes react with explosive bouts of anger. This was his repressed emotions erupting from deep within. These bottled up emotions made him a very pessimistic person who always saw the worst in things. Scott knew he had a problem with that, but his speaking problem prevented him from venting to a psychiatrist.

Scott tried his best to ignore his father as he began to get ill, hoping it would just go away. But it didn't go away. It got worse. Once he could no longer stand the pain, Scott's father finally went to the hospital. A few weeks later, a surgury took place to remove a cancerous kidney. The surgery was successful, but John would have to go to a hospital for dialysis many times a week to maintain his health.

But it didn't work as well as they had hoped. Scott had to watch as his father got worse and worse, as if a higher power wanted them both to suffer. His father would keep voicing that he wanted to die and suffer no longer. Scott quietly voiced that he wanted to die as well. And one day almost a year later, John Inman finally died.

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Scott hated that his reaction to his father's death wasn't more emotional. His obsession with media had brought with it an emotional disconnection with his father. He didn't want to be hurt again in the way he had when his mother passed away. Scott and his father had just stopped hanging out together, except to watch TV. His father had blamed his bad hygiene. But they still hadn't spent time together when he did clean himself up.

Instead, Scott's reaction was the fear of being truly alone for the first time in his life. He also feared attempting an independent life. Scott couldn't take any more pain that the world had inflicted upon him. He was ready to give up...

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Scott Inman looked through his late father's bedroom closet until he found the black case that he was looking for. He carefully sat the case down on the bed and opened it. He then took out the small gun and weighed it in his hands.

He had considered suicide many times before in his life, but had always wussed out. But his father's passing had changed everything. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but Scott was afraid to live his life alone. It seemed like every little thing in his life always went wrong. He couldn't handle it all on his own.

Scott's shaky hand loaded the gun carefully. Then he closed his eyes and placed the end of the gun's barrel under his chin.

So many thoughts ran through Scott's head. The funerals of his mother, grandfather, grandmother... and finally his father. The teachers pressuring him to do better in school. The students who would pick on him. The only girlfriend he never had. Himself sitting alone in his room for the rest of his pathetic life.

Do it... Don't do it... Do it... Don't do it...

Scott slowly placed his index finger on the trigger.

Do it... Don't do it... Do it... Don't do it...

He pushed down on the trigger.

Do it... Don't do it...

Do it.

Scott quickly pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel and punctured Scott's chin. It broke through many bones as it entered the brain and left through the top of the skull. Blood and brain matter splattered the bedroom's ceiling. Scott's body fell back on to the bed lifelessly.