Shaun
Shaun woke up on the 17th of July at about 9am. His first lesson was at 1pm so he had all morning to go out with the group. He followed his usual morning routine. He plumped each cushion twice on each side and tucked his cover under his mattress, spending a few minutes trying to eliminate any creases that had been left. He picked up his bedroom bin and changed the bag. There was only a few bits of paper in the other bag but as Shaun walked across his room he couldn't help noticing a peice of paper sticking out, so he had no choice but to change it. He walked down the stairs counting each one until the end, every morning it would come to the same total. Shaun found this fact extremelly comforting. He would take 6 steps forward and 2 steps left and be in the kitchen, where dishes from the night before would be stacked high, covered in left-over food and crumbs that his siblings had left.
Shaun shivered at the sight of the dishes and, like every morning, knew he had to clean them. He would use a tiny amount of water for each dish, but would change the water after washing each dish. If he didn't, the last dish would be washed in filthy water and that idea scared Shaun. He would pick up his water filter and fill it up, watching the water drip slowly as he thought about what he would do with his day. When there had been 76 drips, Shaun would pick up the water filter and tip it into a glass. He would then tip the water back into the filter to eliminate any chemicals that had managed to get through the first time. He did this three times before tipping it into a brand new glass and using it to take his daily vitamins.
After this he went back upstairs and picked up his "Saturday clothes", all on one hanger, and got changed. Ticking the previous day off of his calendar, It read "2 months, 14 days until i'm 18". He went out of his room and turned around the sign on his door to "Gone out", spending a further 30 seconds making it straight. Shaun walked downstairs, counting the steps again, and picked up the phone. He wiped it over with an anti-bacterial wipe before dialing voicemail. He listened to the message he had been left from Laura.
" Shaun.. Shaun.. Pick up the phone you lazy ass. It's me... Laura. Shaun? Shaun! Eugh. Meet us all in the park at 11. Ciao.."
Shaun swallowed and struck a saddened look. He hated going out with his friends but knew that it was a major part of his recovery process. He hated putting on a false act around the people that thought they knew him so well. He hated the germs and bugs he would face on a daily basis, but was too afraid to reveal what he was really like, too afraid to do the things he would do if he was in the comfort of his own clean room, away from wonky lines and bad spellings. He'd get so angry, wishing that he could tell his friends about his real self, his anger had been boiling up inside him for the past 8 months and he had found no way to let it out. He'd just have to carry on.
Shaun looked up at the clock. It was 9:43 but he decided to leave. He always left an hour early, just in case something delayed him or his clock was an hour slow. If it was an hour late then he'd be in an even better position as he'd be even more early. He smiled at this though as he walked through the porch and out of the house into the bright sunny outdoors, carrying an umbrella in his backpack in case it rained and he got wet.
More on the other 5 tomorrow