Headphones

I don’t think I even know his real name. I just know him as the dude with the headphones.

You never see him without them. When he doesn’t have them over his ears, like a pair of large black earmuffs, they’re around his neck, settling beside his shoulders, with the cord snaking under his shirt.

It’s not so unusual for a person to have their headphones with them constantly—Walk into any class and you’ll see at least four people with one earbud in, sneakily providing themselves with music to get them through this class and into lunch period.
But the thing about Headphones is, he doesn’t bother with earbuds. He doesn’t bother being sneaky. When he gets bored in class, he pulls his big, high-quality, retro headpones off of his shoulders and onto his ears, and listens. Not caring if the teacher gets pissed about it. Not caring about anything going on around him.

He’s one of the many who’s reached that point. He’s a senior. He just doesn’t give a crap anymore. (I’m sure all high school students, even those who aren’t seniors, are familiar with that feeling.)

He’s friendly with the other guys in class; he’s probably even close friends with some of them. He laughs quietly at their jokes, and his teeth are very noticeable when he does—They’re straight and white, and very large, so even the smallest of smiles on his face looks like a wide grin. But he doesn’t talk much, or maintain much eye contact with anyone. Even when he’s smiling, at someone else or to himself, his eyes are usually downcast.

Today we do a group activity in class. Headphones joins a group with a few other guys, but doesn’t really take part. It isn’t long before he’s sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall and his headphones back over his ears. His eyes glaze over, staring at the wall opposite, and it’s suddenly noticeable, more than ever before, the reason he looks down at the floor so much of the time. There’s a kind of distant sadness back there in his eyes, that he tries to hide.

And I wonder what he’s listening to, that made that look come out. Come to think of it, I’ve never actually seen him scrolling through his iPod. I’ve only ever seen the headphones.