Forest

Chapter Eight

                                 Forest Gray

   I think I died and went straight to hell. This is what hell is like, it has to be. I officially regret everything I said to my father on the phone a couple of nights ago, because now I have zero freedom. It's not that I don't mean what I said to him, because trust me, I do. I just wish they never exited my brain through my mouth. He made my mother fly home so she can monitor my every move, and by that I mean she's practically breathing down my neck. She tracks when I eat, what I eat, how much I train, how much weight I'm gaining, and how much muscle I'm building.

   This week my schedule has consisted of school, practice, training, studying, and then straight to bed. Mom even takes me to and from school. I don't have my phone, I can't hang out with friends, and staying up past 9 o'clock is a no go.

"When are they gonna set you free?" Jackson asks as we run beside each other around the track. We're at football practice, and we always conclude with ten laps. I push myself harder, loving the burn of my legs as I pump them faster. It means I'm doing something right.

"A couple of days, if I'm lucky." I say, ending our final lap. Jackson and I are the fastest runners. It's not bragging, just the truth. When we finally get a break, Jackson pours his entire water bottle over his head while I practically pour mine down my throat. Water is extremely important if you want to keep fit, and healthy in general.

While the rest of our team finishes their laps, we head to the locker room to get cleaned up. However, just as I'm about to enter, a voice calls my name from behind me. I turn to look, and freeze when I see Atlas a few feet away. I haven't seen him since after our last football game. He hasn't been coming to class and I can't contact him because I don't have my phone. I've been thinking a lot about what he said, and I'm starting to think he's right about my dad being jealous. I've always thought he wanted to create a second version of himself through me, but I never thought there was a possibility that he could be jealous that I'm better than him.

   "Go ahead and go in, I'll be there in a second." I tell Jackson, ignoring the pointed look he gives me. I know he wants me to stay away from Atlas, but I really couldn't careless. He doesn't understand, he never has. Atlas does, though. "Hey, stranger!" I yell to him as I run to catch up with him.

   "I'm the stranger? You're the one that hasn't been answering your phone." He says when I finally reach him. His eyes are void of emotion. His face is blank. His body is tense. There's something seriously wrong, I can feel it in his demeanor. I just don't know what. "Are you alright?" He asks, resting his hand on my arm and squeezing. God, that shouldn't comfort me as much as it does.

   "I'm fine. My parents took my phone away after the way I spoke to my father on the phone. My house is basically Alcatraz right now, I haven't even been able to hang out with my friends outside of practice." I don't miss the way his jaw clenches at the mention of my friends, but I choose to ignore it because it would bring up something that doesn't need to be talked about at the moment. "Are you alright, Atlas? Why haven't you been at school?"

   He doesn't answer right away, but the few seconds of silence in between tells me everything I need to know. "Are you sure you are? I know how hard that must've been finally opening up to your dad, him punishing you for it." He says, completely dismissing my questions. He's hiding a secret, he's hiding his feelings. I wish he would just open up to me, trust me with it. Because if he did, I would keep it safe. I would make sure nothing bad touched it ever again. I could take care of him if he let me. But he's not letting me, yet, and I respect that.

   "It's okay, I shouldn't have lashed out on him anyway." I mumble. Even though I don't really mean that, I say it anyway, because it's a reflex. The answers just spill out of me, like a routine. Atlas was about to respond, but I cut him off before he could. "We have a project in calculus. We basically have to create a lesson plan on how to solve factors and present it, which I thought was weird since everyone should know how to solve factors since we've been learning this for years, especially the people in gifted classes. Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come by my house to work on it? You don't have to- I mean I can just do the project-" He cuts off my nervous rambling, his head tilting to the side like it always does when he's amused or confused.