Cellar Door

"I can't do this!" His scream left a cloud of heat in the cold December air. He clenched his hands furiously, willing himself not to cry. Not here, not now.

"Don't say that. Of course you can." Long, thin arms wrapping themselves around him, stroking his hair, pulling him into the warm body in front of him, burying his head in the thick woolen jacket. "I know you can."

"No...it's over, Sil. We can't win. It's over."

The clock rang once, then was silent.

Light poked through the window, illuminating Kanja's sleeping face. He rolled over, groaning.

"No...I want to...sleep." Getting up had always been a problem for him; it didn't matter how much sleep he had gotten the night before, or how excited he was about the coming day. He'd always rather stay in bed.

"Kanjaaa! Time for breakfaaaast!" His mother flung open the door, her long hair flying everywhere, a bright smile lighting up her face. "I made your favourite!"

"Come on, Mom...I'm not even hungry," he moaned, not opening his eyes.

"If you don't eat breakfast, you won't do well in school! Now, come on, get up!" Lalita Adani was the kind of mom all of his friends wanted to have; why they did, he would never know.

Reluctantly, Kanja pulled himself up out of bed. He half-heartedly attempted to dress himself (in clothes that may or may not have matched) and made his way down to the kitchen. Dried drool crusted one side of his mouth and his his curly black hair stuck out at odd angles, but he could hardly cared less.

Breakfast in the Adani household was always an experience. What with the twins, Riya and Anuj; his 12 year old sister, Prema; and of course, their mother, there was no way it couldn't be. It always amused Kanja to see his father calmly sitting at the kitchen table as all hell broke loose around him, sipping his coffee and flipping through the paper as if he were on a peaceful beach on some desert island.

This morning Riya had Anuj in a headlock and the two appeared to be grappling over a giraffe-shaped spoon.

"You got the prize last time! Now it's my turn!"

"Yeah, but you took it!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

Prema stood nearby, wringing her hands and looking worriedly on.

"Please, stop fighting! I-It's just a toy, you guys!" Her words were clearly lost on the two fighting children. It wasn't until Lalita stepped in that they finally gave up their battle.

"Anuj! Riya! You better stop right this instant! If you keep doing this, I'll stop buying cereal altogether!"

"Yes, mommy..." They hung their heads sullenly and Kanja smiled. His siblings were annoying, but, man, they could be cute.

He walked over to Pema and ruffled her hair. "They're just kids, it's normal for them to do this." She didn't seem to be appeased.

"But...mmm, I just don't like fighting, Kan. I really don't." She looked up at him, her brown doe-eyes tinged with anxiety. He kissed her head and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I know, I know. Come on, we'll be late if we don't get going soon."

---

"Aden Ackerly?"

"Here."

"Kanja Adani?"

"Here."

"Sam Becket?"

"Here."

Homeroom was the same as usual. No mysterious transfer students, no crazy adventures. Just the same kids he had known since freshman year. In a way he was kind of glad; an uneventful life meant a less stressful life.

"Silas Reed?"

"Here!"

Kanja perked up. There was Silas, sitting in the front row like always, his hair a mess, his glasses askew.

"Actually, everyone, I have a bit of an announcement to make!" He strode to the front of the room, shuffling through a sheaf of papers he had in his hand. "This morning, the student council has decided to start organizing the prom committee! If anyone is interested in joining, you can just talk to me and we'll get you started right away. Thank you!" He started to walk back to his seat...but not before tripping over his own feet and landing face first on the ground. The class laughed as he cheerfully pulled himself up. "Ha ha, sorry about that, guys!" He was such a dork...but at the same time you couldn't help but like him.

In fact, Kanja liked him in more ways than one.

He had come to terms with that fact pretty quickly. It was one of those things that had never bothered him much; his family wasn't religious, and they lived in a relatively tolerant area so it hadn't been much a problem. Of course, he still hadn't TOLD anyone yet...but that was irrelevant.

Now all he needed to focus on was getting through the day.