peppermint smiles

four.

cooper

i had a lot of fun at the park today. after we skipped school, i asked travis if he wanted to hang out at my house. he said he couldn't tonight, but this weekend we could. it made me excited, him saying yes. it reminds me of our childhood together, when everything wasn't completely fucked. 

i hated going home. my dad and brother were never there, and my mom was always sleeping. she's so sick she doesn't even get out of bed anymore. the only person at my house i have to talk to is her nurse, amy. (at least i think it's amy). we didn't really talk though. the only time my mom wakes up is during the middle of the night, so amy sleeps during the day. i've always hated the quiet, but i hate it more especially now. i know my mom is going to die soon. she's the glue keeping my family together. without her, my brother would've gotten kicked out to the curb and i would've never seen him again. but she's gonna die soon. and there's nothing any of us can do about it. "keep her comfortable" is what the doctors said.

as i walked in the door, i put in my headphones and walked to the kitchen. i grabbed a can of arizona out of the fridge and headed to my room. i already missed travis. i only dropped him off a half an hour ago, but i already missed his smile and they way he smelled. so i decided to text him.

hey, i had a lot of fun today. thank
you for skipping with me <:

there was no response. i know i only sent it five minutes ago, but i'm impatient. and i'm lonely. you'd think that because i'm the star quarterback i'm popular, but i only have a small circle. to be honest, i know most of my 'friends' use me to get girls or to smoke. since my brother is 21, and he understands how hard everything is for me, he gets me shit. of course i have to pay him, but at least i can trust where it's coming from.

i grab my dab pen out of my backpack. sometimes i hate the person i became. when we were younger, travis and i would always make fun of people who smoked and told each other we'd never do drugs. i hope travis forgot about that. i think at one point or another in fourth grade or something everyone did this kind of stuff, but whenever you make travis a promise, you better not break it. i did, and it makes me mad i did. but i can't stop now. not a lot of people know about my problems. they just think of me as the guy who can always bring shit to parties.

i was getting deep into thought when i heard a notification come from my phone.

heyy, sorry i was busy lol i was helping
my mom cook dinner. thank you for
letting me skip with you!! i missed u ):

it's embarrassing how excited i got for those 24 words. i missed travis.

i missed you too. sad we couldn't hang out
tonight. i wanted to talk more. maybe if
you're comfortable with it we can sneak
out and go back to the park?

i'm down, my mom works night shifts lol

okay. see you at 12?

aws you then (:
see^ lol

it made me happy that he could sneak out. my parents didn't care. of course my mom couldn't, and my dad is always at work. i basically did anything i wanted.
my mom has always been sick, even since i was little. she got better for a long time. around four months ago, everything started to get worse again. my mom was always skinny, but she was losing weight fast. her cancer had came back and this time it was terminal. she only has three months to live. ever since her diagnosis, my dad decided to stick around. my parents were never perfect. they seemed like they were, but they were always arguing behind closed doors. sometimes i'd wished they were divorced, but at the same time, i liked the thought of my parents being together and this was just a rough period in their lives. they were going to get divorced, but once my mom got sick again, he decided he was going to stay married to her and take care of her like they said in their vows. it made me mad that my dad was staying. deep down, i know he's staying with my mom because he'll get the money when she dies. it sucks. but what can i do.

i lay in bed until i hear my phone go off. it's a text from travis.

hey, i'm gonna leave in 5 minutes.
i'll text you when i'm there :D

okay. c u soon

my mood flips. i grab my skateboard, phone, and headphones. i lock my door and open my window. carefully i drop out of the window and grab my things off of the ledge. i'm excited to go out, at least i know i can have a real friend to talk to.

{873 words}