The Lightwalker in Maple Hills (Boyxboy)

Chapter 32

My mother walks in the kitchen in her sleeping gown and nearly screams when she looks up at me. The fight at the party left me with a bruised and swollen cheek and this is the first time that my mother sees a mark on me. I am not the type of child to go out and start fights, let alone be in one.

"What happened to you face?" My mother says as she runs up to my face and start rubbing it, nearly knocking the coffee glass with hot coffee out of my hand.

"Nothing mom, I just slipped while I was out with William and Allison and I hit my face, that is all."

She looks at me with a face of horror as she looks around my face and continues to rub it in several different places.

"Mom I am fine I promise. Plus I need to start getting ready for school."

"Are you sure you'll be already going to school like that Josh? Your face is swollen."
"Mom, I promise, I'll be fine." I say as I finish sipping what is left of the coffee, and placing it down on the counter. I walk towards the living room and hear my mother sigh. I turn to my mother, who continues to look at my face with a concerned look and seems like she knows that I am lying to her. She shakes her head and turns around and opens the cabinet, taking out a coffee glass and filling it with coffee.

I run upstairs and begin to take off my shirt and throw it towards the pile of clothes slowly building up. I look through my closet, only to pick out a nice blue button up shirt and a pair of khaki jeans. I slip them on and quickly run down stairs where my mother gives me the same pitiful look.

"Mom, I promise. I am fine, can we just get to school."

She lets out a sigh and starts to walk towards the door, grabbing her keys off the table near the door, and walking out the door. Confused at the fact that she is still wearing her nightgown, I chase her out the door.

"Don't you have work today?"

"No," she says unlocking the car and climbing inside. I stand for a second before I walk over to the other side and climb in. She starts the car and slowly backs out of the driveway. "I don't have work because my boss told me to take the day off. I have been there almost everyday of the week and she decided I needed a day off to cool down and come with new designs tomorrow."

We continue down the street and for some reason I feel uncomfortable with my mother not having work. Seeing her in her nightgown makes me feel like everything that happened last night was just a dream. That the past few years was just a dream, and that my mother is still an assistant at Agadora, and her schedule isn't set. But she pulls up in front of the school and I realize that it isn't a dream. They usually never are. I turn to my mother and smile before I kiss her on the cheek and climb out of the car.

I walk up the steps as my mother drives off. I pull my headphones and turn on my music as I pull my hood over my head. The music blasts in my ears as I walk through the front door and everyone looks at me. Different faces follow my down the hall, and the only thing I could think of is the party. Obviously not everyone went to the party that night, but people talk and word get around. That or someone recorded the fight and sent it to everyone, making me either the hero or the monster depending on who you ask. I pass a group of nerds huddled by a locker and watch as they look at me with a face or absolute awe, while the group of wrestlers pass my by with a face of pure disgust.

"They attacked me first! How the fuck am I the bad guy?" I think to myself as I lower my head and walk into the library. I walk past Mrs. Gloria only to hear her rush from her chair and the tapping of her high heels as she chases behind me.

"Oh dear, Joshua are you okay?" She asks as she walks in front of me.

"Yeah," I say keeping my head down and looking at her light brown high heels.