PRETTY VOICE | HOODIE

C H A P T E R 64

It was his fault. He should have skipped dinner and studied. What was another meal lost? If he ate while working, he'd get so much more done and get his grades higher. And maybe he should cut back the time he spent calling his friends. Maybe the calls were slowing them down, and why would he need to talk to them when he saw them at his extracurriculars anyways?

But that wasn't to be dwelled on now. For now, he needed to prepare for how his father would react. And from the looks of it, it definitely wasn't going to be good.

Unfortunately, Ben was right.

Bruises covered his body and ached to rest. Ben closed his bedroom door, careful to make minimal noise. He wanted to breakdown. Throw something at his wall, cry, anything. But he knew he couldn't. Because if he showed any retaliation towards his parents, his father no less, the unimaginable would happen.

Ben changed his clothes and was about to curl into his bed, wanting to end this horrendous day already. Instead his Nintendo 64 caught his attention. A gift that one of his aunts gave him despite his parents insisting for her to not. His favorite game was on there. A Legend of Zelda game. Ocarina of Time. He cherished that game, playing it whenever he had free time. It was a safe haven for him. An escape from all stress and all the misery in his life.

10 minutes wouldn't hurt.

~

"Nothing happened! I just had a bad dream is all. But I'm fine! Everyone gets bad dreams!" Y/n said, their voice going up an octave. It wasn't like they were lying. Technically what Y/n had experienced could be classified as a dream. It was in their sleep, and that's all that Y/n needed to prove their point right.

However, they didn't know if they'd be fine. Everyone noticed it, especially Brian. Y/n's mood was dimmed. The usual happy glint in their eyes was gone. They lost hope.

But who could blame them? Y/n was basically choosing either their voice or their family. And nothing but an empty promise was keeping them from already making their decision. From the moment of meeting Brian, they knew they would eventually die. Never like this though. They assumed this stuff was just a bunch of myths.

"Bullshit. Y/n I've known you for four months. You can't hide shit like this from me." Tim pursed his lip and mentally decided he should leave before shit gets awkward. But how to leave.

"Oh well look at the time... I have to get going." He said, looking down at his non existent watch. The pair paid him no mind as he got up and left, though not too far away so that he couldn't listen to their conversation.

"Well what do you expect me to say? Yeah no I had a terrible fucking week and no one can do shit about it!" They sarcastically said, venom laxing their tongue. Brian scoffed, shifting his body so that he was directly facing them. Y/n had put their carton of ice cream down, though didn't dare to look Brian in the eyes. If they did, Y/n would probably end up crying. And they were not losing this argument.

"Look Y/n I get it's been hard for you and I'm fucking sorry for dragging you into this mess but I can't help you if you don't tell me anything. We're supposed to be in this together!"

"Right because you can do so much for two fucking monsters that want control over me. I'm not like you Brian. I'm not a serial killer. I don't have superpowers or something unique about me!" They stared directly at Brian, eyes red and tears threatening to spill out.

"My life has been nothing but problem after problem. My whole life has been me caring for everyone before I even thought about myself! You can't fucking expect me to let you be some fucking knight and shining armour so suddenly! You-" Y/n took a shaky breath, using their sleeve to wipe the tears that ran from their eyes down to their jaw.