Daniel Cherub [District 9]

My dark brown hair is short, but still long enough to look spiked on top of my head. I don’t know why, but it just naturally sticks up like that. I wonder what it would look like if I grew it out? Hmm. Anyways, my eyes are hazel, but with more brown than green, and they have some specks of blue in them. I usually don’t shave unless I’m growing a visible beard, but I do like to have a slight 5 o’clock shadow. I have some muscles, but not like crazy or anything. In other words, I can lift around 100 pounds. Certainly no leg muscles though because I am not fast at all. My 13 year-old sister can beat me in a race! It is kind of pathetic, but oh well. Hopefully I won’t ever need to. I am 6’2, which is about average in my district. I have pretty big, clumsy feet, yet another reason why I can’t run fast. My walk, however makes up for my run, because I walk with lots of swag. I’m sure the girls swoon when I pass! Ok, maybe not, but a guy can dream can’t he?

I usually dress accordingly to where I’m going. For school, a nice shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. For weekends, a T-shirt, jeans, and boots. For something formal, a nice shirt, my one pair of tan pants, and my dad’s old dress shoes. I hate to admit the slight wealth of our family. We honestly just got lucky in life, which I am really grateful for. I am 149 pounds, so I’m not fat, but I’m not skinny either. I have nimble hands, and a strong upper body good for climbing and throwing. Like I mentioned before, no leg strength, or at least none compared to my upper body, that is.

My nose is flat, not too big, but not small either. My ears are small and lie flat against my head, so I don’t look like a monkey. I share a lot of traits with my sister, Hanna, but not May. My face is thin and long, and my forehead is a little bigger than normal, but I really don’t care. My teeth are white and fairly straight, but that’s only because my dad makes me wear a nightly retainer he bought made out of fence wire. Hanna and May have one too. I know I should be grateful for these goods, but they really just set me apart from my friends. I always want to wear not-so-perfect clothing so I can feel more like I’m part of my district, instead of just a snotty rich kid, and trust me, no one likes those. Yes, sometimes I purposely rip holes in my jeans and then patch them up just to be more like the other guys at my school.

If you haven’t noticed already, I tend to get sidetracked on the simplest of thing. No matter where I am or in what situation, it is hard for me to concentrate. I think that I have a minor case of ADD, but what can I do about it? It doesn’t really present much of a challenge in daily life, but that might be why I’m at the bottom of my class at school. I don’t really care that much about my grades, unlike my sister, Hanna, who’s an absolute nerd. I’m more of a social kind of guy.

I am grateful for the advantages I have, but sometimes I wish things were different. Like a typical teen, I wish I didn’t have the life I do, except my complaints are the exact opposite of everyone else’s. I don’t necessarily want to be dirt poor, just more reliant on myself, I guess. Most guys my age already have jobs, or part-time at least. For me, I don’t need one, but, I wish I did. I guess I just want to fit in, even if it means I have to sacrifice things I’ve been given. I want to have more struggles in life, not the fluffy rich one I seem to lead.

Forgiveness isn’t something I’m that into. I’d much rather avenge a bad action than simply let it go. My motto, “Do unto others as they do unto you and then some”. Don’t get me wrong, I never go looking for fights, but I don’t exactly try to avoid them either. Whatever loser has the nerve to mess with me or someone close to me will pay, I’ll make sure of that. I will never let an offence to me go over my head, and revenge will be given. Harsh.

Like my sister, I’m fairly stubborn, like to have my way, etc. I can’t stand it when someone gets in the way of my plans! Although I don’t usually plan much farther than a day, I hate it when those few ideas I have in my mind are interrupted or changed by someone else. I have always believed that I can control my own life, so it kills me when I can’t control a situation. I’m not saying that I like to be a leader of everything, just myself. Actually, I hate the people who like to be in control of everything. They can’t have me.

I was born on January 6th 17 years ago, in the same house I live in now. My mom wanted to have me at home instead of the healer’s. She doesn’t trust people like that, and I can’t say that I do either. The next year, my sister Hanna was born, but of course I don’t remember it. The first big memory I have was when I was five and my youngest sister, May was born. I remember how much I had hated having siblings as a kid, but now I’m secretly glad to have their support.

Hanna and I always fight. In fact, once, when we were 12 and 13, we got in a really big fight and didn’t speak to each other for a month. All because I “accidentally” tore the head off of her childhood teddy bear which she adored. I didn’t realize how much I loved my sister until she refused to talk to me. Since then, things have really changed between us, and we seemed to grow closer.

When I was 16, I met Kyla Starrings, my current girlfriend and the only one I have ever loved. I know she loves me too, and I hope to one day make her mine, always. She’s 17 too, and we are always together, literally. One day, I went to her house, after we had been together for just about a year. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Just as I was leaving, I saw a glimpse of Kyla and her mom through the dirty shutters. I couldn’t help but go closer, and then I heard Kyla scream. I’m not exactly sure what I did or how I did it, but I somehow got into her house. Her mom was beating her, so I took her away to my house and she’s been here ever since.

I hate to say it, but my life’s been way to soft and fuzzy for my liking. I just wish now that there was more that I had done. More risks, more fun, more mistakes. What do I have if not memories of truly living?