Dove Sport

Chapter Seventeen: Arsen Alone

Arsen wasn't sure what made a place home, but he was sure he didn't have one. His dad's place lacked the warmth and familiarity of Arsen's childhood back when his mom and sister were still around. Maybe what was missing was the love of a family. After all, Arsen was fairly sure his parents didn't love each other anymore, and while he knew he still loved them both, it had been awhile since he'd seen his mother or talked to his dad. A part of him longed for the idealized make-believe version of the American dream that he so often saw on television. He missed the simple safety of a home to return to at the end of a tiring or upsetting day. Instead, Arsen had a father who couldn't hold down a job because of his addictions and the rest of his family was gone. He was alone now.

After finding the car with Blair on Saturday night, Blair had called Sheriff Kins with her parents. She'd told him about what she and Arsen had found and he'd headed out that same night to investigate. Early the next morning, Blair had called Arsen, frantic, saying that the car had been destroyed. Someone had set fire to it before the Sheriff could get there and all that remained were the pictures Blair and Arsen had taken and the car's smoldering metal shell. Arsen spent the rest of his weekend with Blair, attempting to figure out what was going on and how it was possible that someone had managed to burn the car when the only people who knew where it was were Blair, Arsen, and Grace. Needless to say, Arsen hadn't gotten a ton of sleep.

He was rudely awakened on Monday morning by his phone's alarm clock and his first thoughts were: this is my home now. He peeled back the blankets he'd amassed and slithered out of his sleeping bag. Checking his phone, Arsen realized that he'd need to charge it later that day. He pulled a cleanish t-shirt on and layered a warm hoodie over it before heading to brush his teeth.

Ever since the Cinema was demolished Arsen had had to find a new place to crash every night. Previously he'd been sleeping on the couch in the old projector room. It hadn't been much, but at least he could lock the door and had something soft to sleep on. Now Arsen had migrated to the boy's locker rooms at Doveport High. Every morning he woke up an hour before students arrived and erased all signs of his presence. His blankets were shoved in his locker and anything else ended up in his backpack.

On this particular Monday morning, it was bitterly cold in the locker rooms. Warm September had come and gone and the seasons were moving onto colder weather. When he was done cleaning up after himself and getting ready for the day, Arsen headed to the news/media room to wait for classes to start. At least this way he was never late.

Arsen had just unlocked the room and sat himself in a chair by the window when someone else joined him. Shocked, Arsen checked the time on his phone to see that even the earliest students wouldn't be showing up for a while. He jerked his head around to see who was joining him and yelped. Blair had come to stand right behind him while he'd looked over the time.

"What are you doing here?" Blair asked as he recovered from the scare.

"Oh, you know," Arsen began sarcastically, "I'm always trying to get a head start on my education."

Blair laughed a little but it died off quickly. "No, seriously, Arsen," she said, "Why're you here so early?" Her blue eyes pinned him to the spot. Arsen's brain scrambled for an answer that he could give to her. After a moment of deliberation, he realized that it was unlikely Blair would accept anything less than the truth from him. After all, she knew all his tells when he lied.

Arsen told her the truth; about how he hadn't been living at home since his mother had left; how his dad couldn't hold down a job; how he had nowhere to go now. He showed her his locker and the rolled up sleeping bag he had stored there. He took her to the bench in the boy's locker room that he'd been sleeping on.