Empath

A guy in a red hoody walks to his next class. Feelings and urges wash over him, with a gentle push or mighty shove, as he passes a large crowd. He feels his focus shifting from one extreme to another, tryin to pay it little mind as he reaches his locker. After three attempts he opens his locker and gets his books for his next class. As he heads to class he sees a garbage can and feels like hitting the aluminum lid to relieve a little stress he was feeling. When passing the trash can, he swings downward with a light swing. As his fist connects with the lid, another fist slams down on the lid. Somewhat startled by the timing of both fists hitting the lid at the same time, red hoody walks into class.

As the teacher stands at the front of the class, mid-lecture, he is overcome with sadness. The guy with the red hoody looks around, somewhat confused, and notices a classmate crying in quiet. He remembers that the classmates father was K.I.A. recently and wants to try cheering them up, but feels too sad to attempt conversing. He stands up and turns to walk out of the class, but realizes that his books and bag were still set out. Turning back to his seat he nearly bumps into his classmate, still quietly crying, heading for the same door he was about to walk toward. The guy in the red hoody sits back down and notices that the sadness he was feeling has dissipated some and he wasn't needing to go anywhere. He glances at his classmate leaving the class, and feels the sadness begin to swell-up again. He pans across the class and feels bored, then tired, then hyper. A feeling of dread fills him as he looks at a student, frantically taking notes while sifting through a pile of papers on their desk.

"These are their emotions I'm feeling," he whispers to himself as he leaves the class. I wonder how SHE is feeling, he thinks. SHE is referring to the girl he has had a crush on, but is too shy to ask out. He sees her in the hallway, laughing with her friends. As he passes her, he feels happy and a bit confident. "Hey!" says the guy in the red hood to his crush. When SHE turned and saw the guy with the red hoody standing there with his hand waving, a different feeling washed over him. He didn't know this feeling, but he could feel his confidence slip away. The crush rolls her eyes and turns back to her friends, pulling them to walk away with her. The guy in the red hoody turns to head to class, a little embarrassed, but instead walks into the garbage can he had previously hit.

At the end of his classes, our red hoodied friend heads home. He passes an elderly person and a feeling of joy floods him as he says hello with his halfhearted smile, brining his real smile out. The joyful feeling begins to fade as he walks away, glancing back with curiosity. "Whats going on?" he whispers. The guy with the red hoody opens his bedroom door and collapses on the bed, thinking about how he thought he could feel his classmates emotions. "Was I just imagining it?" He thinks then, thinking about his crying classmate, realizes he wasn't imagining what he was feeling. Taking off his red hoody then sitting at his computer, he begins to search for answers. Answers that would open his mind, body, and soul in a way he never expected.