Chapter – 5

The high ceilings and the light falling on me by the ornate chandelier right above me made me feel under dressed and out of the place. When Beth told me about dinner, I hadn’t expected it to be somewhere so fancy.

I looked at my Dad and Beth and I was assured that tonight would be perfect. Hayden was staying over at Alex’s, I had good news; it all seemed to have fallen into place.

The stars had aligned for me.

The waiter arrived and asked if we wanted wine an offer my Dad politely declined. My Dad had been sober since I was seven, so nine years, now. I was about six when I lost my mother to an accident after which my Dad lost his way and turned to alcohol.

But occasional drinks got frequent and before he could understand, he had developed an addiction. It started with occasional yelling, maybe a few slaps and it ended with me in the hospital adorning my already scarred self with a life-long scar on my shoulder.

It was a relief that Mrs. Dale had arrived when she did or else… It’s a thought I am too scared to even think about. After that, Mrs. Dale took me in, while my dad was admitted into rehab. Mrs. Dale, although having been the kindest of women, wasn’t the richest of them. So, when my Dad came back with a heart filled with remorse and eyes filled with tears, I agreed to go back. At that time, his sight alone made me want crawl into a hole and never come out but with Mrs. Dale living right next door and her frequent visits, I was finally kind of okay. Right now, I was striving to be happy.

Beth ordered for me, because one look at the menu made me realize how poor I had been up until this day. We were alone, our order had been taken and Beth’s encouraging look nudged me to break the news.

“Dad, I was offered to be in one of the advance classes for Math.” I tried to slip it in casually, I didn’t want to look over-eager which I was.

“Oh! That’s great! Doesn’t Hayden take those classes?” He asked Bet.

Beth’s face turned expressionless as I was sure my dismay had proven to be evident on my face. Dad wasn’t happy or even excited, not a quarter of what Beth had been for me. I guess; it really wasn’t a big deal. I now, lived in the same home as the boy who was most probably going to be the Valedictorian. One advance class, that was it. What had I even been this excited for?

It all seemed silly in that moment.

Beth nervously laughed and said, “It was different for Hayden, he had always had private tutors. It would be disgraceful if he hadn’t made the Advance classes, but Jake did it all by himself, that’s commendable.”

My dad suddenly jerked his leg and made a pained look, it was evident that Beth had hit him from under the table.

My dad abruptly said, “Of course! Jake, I am so proud of you.”

“Never mind, Dad. It isn’t a big deal.”

Throughout the dinner my dad kept trying to start a conversation with me. He told me he was proud and that he was happy but my spirits that had so thoroughly been crushed couldn’t be lifted. So, although I wanted to happy, all I did was be sullen, throughout the dinner and the way back.

As soon as we reached home, I declined every invitation for a conversation or ice cream and just went to bed.

The stars had fucked me.

I went to bed and was surprised to receive a text from Kayla, Mrs. Dale’s niece. As a kid, when I stayed with Mrs. Dale, Kayla often came to visit and unlike her sons, Kayla was a sweet child in whom I found a friend. We talked occasionally but to be honest even the best of friends drift away with passage away.

The text was a simple ‘Hey’

So, after a quick reply and without putting much thought into it, I closed my eyes and awaited sleep after an exhausting day.

Close, Open, Slam!

Wow, major disappointment and chances of being murdered the same day, couldn’t say that I was surprised. I rubbed my eyes and checked the clock, it was 2 a.m. and the door of the room beside mine had been slammed.

Hayden’s room

So, it was safe to assume that either Hayden had returned or an intruder had broken in but the possibilities of the latter were exceedingly low owing to the high tech security system this house had.

But I was already a nervous wreck and this incident only added to my anxieties so, to calm myself I decided to check it out for myself.

I got out of bed and walked to Hayden’s room. There were low noises coming from that room, curiosity took over fear and I etched closer.

The door was slightly ajar so, I took the liberty to peep in.

And I saw it, Hayden on the bed with the light from the screen of his laptop illuminating his body. His hands buried deep in his pants, moans being painfully audible from both the laptop and him.

Needless to say, I panicked and rushed to my room, my mind replaying the sound of Hayden’s moans.

OK, so this chapter was scheduled to be published later but I'm uploading this right now because I hit a HUNDRED subscribers.

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