Pandora's Box

Chapter 4: August

43 hours until The Sealing

***

August had done a fairly good job at hiding away from his family upon arriving home. When he entered his house, his mom was on the phone in the kitchen. He snuck upstairs before she could see him and headed for his room. On the way, he spotted his little sister, June, who seemed to have the same idea that he did.

June was 12, and she was a little over four years younger than August. He wasn't sure what fascination their parents had with naming their kids after months in the year, but it had resulted in a lot of unnecessary teasing. June, like August, sported brown hair and hazel eyes. However, she definitely took after their dad more than their mom. She could easily pass as white if she wanted to. August, on the other hand, was noticeably Korean, and he had his mother to thank for that.

"Hey June," August said as he passed her in the hallway that separated their rooms. "How was school?"

"Fine," June stated before switching to a pout. "It sucks that you get off a whole week before I do though."

August chuckled and responded. "You'll be at the high school before you know it, and then you'll be getting out a week early too!"

This answer didn't satisfy June very much, but she seemed to shrug it off and go back to scrolling on her phone. With that conversation abruptly ending, August pivoted towards his room and tossed his backpack onto his bed.

August knew he had a few hours to kill before his dad got home from work and they had family dinner. He grabbed a book from his bookshelf on Greek gods and flipped open to where he had left off. He wanted to freshen up on the different gods before playing Pandora's Box this weekend.

The previous chapters had focused on the big three gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Each problematic in their own rights, August had always found stories of them amusing. Poseidon creating storms whenever he had a temper tantrum and Hades angrily isolating himself in the world of the dead made them sound like overdramatic toddlers. And all of Zeus's problematic love affairs could warrant a book all of its own. They just seemed so over the top, and they provided a nice escape from the outside world.

Over the next couple of hours, August read through some of the other gods, taking intermittent breaks to text Mari. There was Ares, the god of war, who was known for aiding various cities in their battles. Next was Athena, the goddess of knowledge. She was responsible for many of the inventions that aided the Ancient Greeks. Then there was Aphrodite. Largely regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world, she became the goddess of love.

Before August could get any further in his book, he began to hear his dog yapping downstairs. Knowing this meant that his dad was home, he closed his book and placed it back on his shelf. As he headed out into the hallway, he saw that his sister was making her way out of her room as well. The siblings proceeded down the stairs together, settling at the dining room table.

As August and June took their seats, Chalupa, the family chihuahua, came prancing over. The dog was as old as June, and he had the temper to match. Chalupa would only allow June and her mother to pick him up. August had tried a few times before, but this had only resulted in bitten fingers and bloody bandages. Chalupa took his spot at June's feet, patiently waiting for her to inevitably drop food for him.

Shortly following Chalupa were the kids' parents, Sarah and Steven Donnelly. Mrs. Donnelly had dark brown hair and brown eyes, similar to her children. She was Korean, although she was raised in the United States, so she didn't have much of a connection to that culture outside of her parents. Mr. Donnelly, on the other hand, was Irish, with brown hair and blue eyes. His parents were born and raised in Ireland, and August and June had only met them once or twice in their lives. August's parents didn't seem like the likeliest of pairs, but they were high school sweethearts, and together they had their perfect little suburban family.

As their parents took their seat, August and June sat in silence. June was petting Chalupa, although this act seemed to be more comforting for her than it was for the dog. Mrs. Donnelly noticed this, and gave a stern look towards June.

"June, I'm not going to tell you again. Don't touch the dog while we're at the dinner table." Mrs. Donnelly said coldly.

June quickly retracted her hand and apologized. "Sorry Mom. I'll go wash my hands again."

June jumped up from the table and made her way to the bathroom. Meanwhile, August continued to sit in silence, doing his best to avoid eye contact with his parents. This fruitless effort didn't last long.

"August, now that school's out, do you know what you'll be doing for work this summer?" Mrs. Donnelly asked.

August inwardly sighed, knowing that the interrogation was about to start. "Well, I applied to the library in town, but I haven't heard back from them yet."

Mrs. Donnelly frowned at this. "I thought we talked about you shadowing at the office with your father. What happened to that?"

Mr. Donnelly worked at a pediatric office just outside of town. His wife had been pushing for August to get an internship at the office for quite some time now, despite August's protests. August didn't mind working with children, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to do it in a medical setting.

"I told you, I'm just not that interested in working at Dad's office. I'd rather work at the library, or maybe the ice cream shop that's opening across from the high school." August answered.

This awarded a deep sigh from Mrs. Donnelly, who followed it with, "Frankly, your 'interests' haven't really been what's best for you lately."

August twitched in his seat at that comment, but said nothing. By now, June was taking her seat at the table once again. August hoped that this would cause the conversation to be dropped, but he experienced no such luck.

"Wouldn't you agree that your interests haven't been the best for you lately?" Mrs. Donnelly asked with a hint of superiority.

August's cheeks flushed red and he cleared his throat before answering. "If you're referring to Josh, then yes. If you're referring to my sexuality in general, then no."

Josh was a guy in August's class that he had a thing with for the past month or so. However, like a majority of the guys in August's grade, Josh turned out to be an asshole. August tried to break things off with him politely this morning, but Josh ended up making a huge scene about it. Unsurprisingly, this somehow got back to his mother.

"I just don't get how you can like both guys and girls. And if you do like girls, why can't you just stop liking guys?" Mrs. Donnelly asked, as if the previous explanations from August on this matter hadn't registered.

"I like both chicks and dicks?" August responded sarcastically. This got a stifled laugh from June and slight smirk from his father, but his mother was not amused.

Unsatisfied with this answer, Mrs. Donnelly returned to her previous topic of conversation. "I expect you to go with your father to work on Monday. If you want to work another job on the side, that's fine. But you will be shadowing your father this summer."

Without leaving room for argument, Mrs. Donnelly then started to eat her dinner. Mr. Donnelly and June followed suit, and feeling a sense of defeat, August joined them.

After finishing dinner, August and June cleaned up dishes and put the leftovers into the fridge. Parting ways, they both went back to their rooms, while their parents sat and watched TV in the living room.

August glanced at his phone to see that it was nearly 10pm. He walked into his room and grabbed his laptop. He wasn't exactly thrilled with how the conversation went during dinner, but he wasn't going to let his mom spoil this weekend for him. One by one, as the time hit 10pm, August watched as each of his friends' names popped up in the Encore video chat.

August checked his reflection in his computer screen. He ruffled his hair a little bit and took a deep breath. Upon exhaling, August smiled and clicked join.