Miscommunication

Chapter 4

Amy walks him home, waving to his mom who greeted them at the door. He quickly walks past her, putting his face down. Once his mother stops conversing with Amy, she closes the door and angrily turns to Ryu.

"Ryu James! What happened to your face?!" She runs over to him, cupping his face tightly. Moving it all around to get a better look at his cheek.

"It's nothing! I got hit with a baseball in PE today!" He takes his mother's wrists, pulling her hands away. Her face softens. She takes a deep breath resting her hands on her hips.

"Okay, I was worried for a second. I'll get you some ice."

"It's fine, doesn't hurt much anymore!" He reaches up and touches his cheek. Slipping off his shoes, he sighs.
"My phone was dead all day." He awkwardly chuckles, trying to change the subject. His mother waves him into the kitchen. Following, he sits at the kitchen island, and putting his arms on the counter, he leans forward.

"I could tell. You woke up late today, and that's so unlike you. Is everything okay?" His mother grabs an ice pack from the freezer, sliding the little pack across the table.

"Everything is fine! It's just that my charger apparently wasn't plugged into the wall, so my alarms didn't go off." Ryu picks up the ice pack and holds it, not pressing it against the giant bruise growing on his cheek.

"Okay..." Her tone made it obvious she didn't believe him.
"I want your father to look at that." She points to his face.

"No! It's just a baseball bruise! Why does he need to look at it?" He groans loudly, being interrupted by his mother clearing her throat.

"I don't care where it came from! I want it off your face! So, he's going to see how bad it is." She's made up her mind, and Ryu knows it.

"But-" He starts.

"No." She glares at him, crossing her arms. He sighs, setting the ice pack down.

"Fine. Can I go upstairs now? I've had an... interesting day." His mother sighs, waving him off.

"Go." She rubs her temples. Ryu immediately stands, leaving the kitchen, grabbing his bag, and running upstairs. Quickly throwing his bag in his room, he goes to the bathroom to look at his face.

"Ugh, it's worse than I thought..." He groans, tapping around the bruise, the throbbing pain eating away at his cheekbone.
"Getting punched in the face wasn't as painful as I thought it would be." He scoffs, leaning away from the sink. The black and purple spot stuck out on his pale face. His eyes traveled to his stretched-out collar, the image of Daren glaring down at him sent a shiver down his spine. I should take up boxing... He takes a deep breath before leaving the bathroom. Cold air pours into his room from the open window. Quickly walking over, he slams it shut before falling back on his bed.
"Daren probably told Erin I was watching the team!" He covers his face, the bruise throbbing under his palm.
"Fuck you, Daren." Ryu closes his eyes, deciding on sleeping the pain away. After what feels like 5 seconds, a gentle knocking comes from the door.

"Put it away. I'm coming in." Ryu rolls his eyes while sitting up in bed. His dad walks in, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Your mom didn't want you sleeping much longer, so I decided to knock out two birds with one stone."

"It's not even 5!"

"You're right, it's 8." His father grabs his jaw, leaning his head closer to see the bruise. His dad grumbles something before letting go.
"A baseball huh?" Ryu looks away, red creeping on his ears.

"Yup! I was talking to my friend, and it just came out of nowhere!" He smiles awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with his bear of a father.

"Ryu, do you know how many teens have come into my office, saying it was because of a sport? I can see the knuckle marks." His dad pokes Ryu's cheek. Ryu groans, covering his face.