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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Locked In
Bored.
Bored.
Bored.
Bored while eating food.
Bored.
Bored.
Double-Bored.
Lemon Zest pulled her headphones out of her locker and turned them on, causing the manicured halls of Crystal Prep Academy to explode with life. Her aural canals injected her brain with a calmingly harsh wall of sound that subsumed into her body as she danced through the halls to a tune only she could hear. With her sound shield activated, the disapproving expressions of her fellow schoolmates appeared as smiles before her eyes as she twisted and swayed all the way to the bus, where she took a seat while bopping and bumping to the miasmic beat that cleared her thoughts.
She didn’t like her school, she thought as she tapped her foot to the song. It exuded a certain… pallor, which unequivocally harshed her mellow as it ironically made her too mellow. To be fair, it was a prison of her own design—she had been scouted by the Principal herself because her grades were killer and Principal Cinch wanted some of that Lemon Zestiness for herself. She didn’t have any idea it’d be so dreary, not to mention mad competitive.
She mused on—
Wait. Best part of the song was coming up. Lemon Zest bobbed her head and threw up horns with her hand as the toxicity of the music enveloped her in the sickest of trances. When she came to, the student—Fleur, or Suri, or whatever—glared at her. She stuck out her tongue and resumed her musings.
Yeah, it was totes competitive. She wasn’t really a fan of that vibe, just wanting to rock out and enjoy high school. It was like the school didn’t give her a choice, though. Everyone seemed indoctrinated into the ‘in it to win it’ mentality, so she eventually followed suit in her own way. Suffer through school, rock out on her own time.
It’s not like she didn’t have friends. Quite the opposite, actually. She had dozens of friends on the internet, and that was perfect for her. Always there when you need them. Just ignore them if you don’t want to talk to them. They always assume you’re busy with real life stuff.
Back to school, though. Why did she suffer the slings and arrows of day to day boredom just to put up with this until she… and there was her answer.
College.
Crystal Prep students always went to good colleges, even universities, which were also colleges, she guessed, just with fancier names. Her parents would literally kill her if she didn’t get into a good school. Her parents went to good schools. That’s how they were able to afford Crystal Prep in the first place.
There was her second answer.
She didn’t want to let her parents down.
They worked long hours at careers they sometimes didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with to be able to afford her enrollment at such a prestigious institution. Lemon Zest didn’t want to ask for a transfer because that would imply that her parents had wasted their money. The last thing she wanted to do was let her parents down. They had invested so much money in her success, and Crystal Prep produced successes, even if it’s at the expense of fun. She could put up with the oppressive atmosphere to appease her parents.
She was so enraptured in the booming bass line that engulfed her very being that she jumped when the student next to her, who she confirmed was Fleur, nudged her. She pulled off her headphones and gazed at her, wide-eyed.
“Yeah?”
Fleur glared at her. “This is your stop.” She snorted. “And try to keep your hands to yoursel—”
“Alright, cool!” Lemon Zest soared out of the bus and down the street to her house, where her mom waited for her with a smile as she chopped carrots on the counter.
She threw her bag on the table. “Hey mom.”
“Hey, honey, how was school?”
This question always worried Lemon Zest. Should she tell the truth about the interminable boredom that characterized her day? Should she tell her about the hyper-competitiveness that leaked into every facet of scholastic activities? Should she tell her mother that the only time she felt anything resembling happiness was nowhere near school?
In the end, she always went with the answer that she knew would make her mother happy and keep the peace in the house.
She smiled. “It’s alright.” Lemon Zest put her headphones back on.
Bored.
Bored.
Bored while eating food.
Bored.
Bored.
Double-Bored.
Lemon Zest pulled her headphones out of her locker and turned them on, causing the manicured halls of Crystal Prep Academy to explode with life. Her aural canals injected her brain with a calmingly harsh wall of sound that subsumed into her body as she danced through the halls to a tune only she could hear. With her sound shield activated, the disapproving expressions of her fellow schoolmates appeared as smiles before her eyes as she twisted and swayed all the way to the bus, where she took a seat while bopping and bumping to the miasmic beat that cleared her thoughts.
She didn’t like her school, she thought as she tapped her foot to the song. It exuded a certain… pallor, which unequivocally harshed her mellow as it ironically made her too mellow. To be fair, it was a prison of her own design—she had been scouted by the Principal herself because her grades were killer and Principal Cinch wanted some of that Lemon Zestiness for herself. She didn’t have any idea it’d be so dreary, not to mention mad competitive.
She mused on—
Wait. Best part of the song was coming up. Lemon Zest bobbed her head and threw up horns with her hand as the toxicity of the music enveloped her in the sickest of trances. When she came to, the student—Fleur, or Suri, or whatever—glared at her. She stuck out her tongue and resumed her musings.
Yeah, it was totes competitive. She wasn’t really a fan of that vibe, just wanting to rock out and enjoy high school. It was like the school didn’t give her a choice, though. Everyone seemed indoctrinated into the ‘in it to win it’ mentality, so she eventually followed suit in her own way. Suffer through school, rock out on her own time.
It’s not like she didn’t have friends. Quite the opposite, actually. She had dozens of friends on the internet, and that was perfect for her. Always there when you need them. Just ignore them if you don’t want to talk to them. They always assume you’re busy with real life stuff.
Back to school, though. Why did she suffer the slings and arrows of day to day boredom just to put up with this until she… and there was her answer.
College.
Crystal Prep students always went to good colleges, even universities, which were also colleges, she guessed, just with fancier names. Her parents would literally kill her if she didn’t get into a good school. Her parents went to good schools. That’s how they were able to afford Crystal Prep in the first place.
There was her second answer.
She didn’t want to let her parents down.
They worked long hours at careers they sometimes didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with to be able to afford her enrollment at such a prestigious institution. Lemon Zest didn’t want to ask for a transfer because that would imply that her parents had wasted their money. The last thing she wanted to do was let her parents down. They had invested so much money in her success, and Crystal Prep produced successes, even if it’s at the expense of fun. She could put up with the oppressive atmosphere to appease her parents.
She was so enraptured in the booming bass line that engulfed her very being that she jumped when the student next to her, who she confirmed was Fleur, nudged her. She pulled off her headphones and gazed at her, wide-eyed.
“Yeah?”
Fleur glared at her. “This is your stop.” She snorted. “And try to keep your hands to yoursel—”
“Alright, cool!” Lemon Zest soared out of the bus and down the street to her house, where her mom waited for her with a smile as she chopped carrots on the counter.
She threw her bag on the table. “Hey mom.”
“Hey, honey, how was school?”
This question always worried Lemon Zest. Should she tell the truth about the interminable boredom that characterized her day? Should she tell her about the hyper-competitiveness that leaked into every facet of scholastic activities? Should she tell her mother that the only time she felt anything resembling happiness was nowhere near school?
In the end, she always went with the answer that she knew would make her mother happy and keep the peace in the house.
She smiled. “It’s alright.” Lemon Zest put her headphones back on.