Over Your Head

Beginnings

"Mitchy" took a step back before turning and taking off running. He didn't make it far before "Trev" lunged forward, grabbing the hood of his tattered hoodie. He yanked back, making "Mitchy" fall onto the ground, before the thugs surrounded him.

"Hey hey hey, let's not get crazy. I got my laptop back, that's all that matters," I tried reasoning as I held up my free hand.

"Don't make us fuck you up too," "Trev" threatened.

I swallowed nervously before looking down at "Mitchy". I sighed in defeat before turning and walking away. I turned and left, pretending like their wasn't a helpless 19 year old boy getting the shit beat out of him behind me.

...

Not too long later, I was sitting in my mom's kitchen, scarfing down some Chipotle while she caught me up over the last few days since I'd seen her last.

I was trying to listen to her, but I couldn't stop thinking about the homeless boy. I couldn't believe that I just left like that.

I mean, the punk did steal my laptop. That didn't mean he deserved whatever that man and his friends did to him. And sure he was irritating and a thief, but no one deserved what he was probably going through.

I wished there was something more I could've done. But I knew I wouldn't have been able to take on 5 guys.

"Scott!" My mom whined, pulling me back into reality, "you aren't listening to me!"

I snapped out of my daze and looked up at her, "Sorry, my mind is somewhere else," I muttered.

"It's always somewhere else. God, what do I have to do to make you love me again?" She whined as she reached out and placed her hand on my wrist.

I looked up at her sympathetically, "I do love you, Mom. I promise. But I'm just really out of it tonight," I assured her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

I shook my head, "Nothing," I replied, regretting it an instant later.

"Of course," she muttered with an exaggerated eye roll, "You never tell me anything," she moped.

I was so not in the mood for this right now. "I gotta go, I'll talk to you later," I stated quickly as I stood up, threw away my takeout container and headed to the door.

That was when she snapped, "NO! You can't just run away! You coward! Face me like a man! If you leave then you're dead to me!" She screamed.

I ignored her and left. I'd heard that threat, countless times, so at this point I didn't care when she yelled.

I drove home, without even turning the radio on for the first time in forever. I couldn't get my mind off of the situation from earlier.

If I had just let him have the laptop he probably wouldn't have gotten beat up. Actually, he probably would have. Because that's how life was on the streets. I mean, I didn't know from firsthand experience, but I got that vibe.

When I got home, I cleaned up a bit before watching TV. And by watch TV I meant I just sat on the couch with the TV on, letting my mind wander.

I wanted to do something to help that boy. I knew this nagging feeling wouldn't go away if I didn't do something.

I got up abruptly before going to the linen closet and grabbing a blanket. I went into the kitchen and laid the blanket out on the counter.

I grabbed two water bottles, an apple, and quickly made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and put it in a Ziploc bag, before placing them on the blanket and bundling it up. I was smart enough to know that bringing something obvious would just get him into more trouble.

Before I left, I grabbed an ice pack and put it in a bag before adding it to the bundle. I ran into my room and grabbed something else before I headed out and before I knew it, I was back in that homeless area.

Mostly everyone was asleep, but everyone who was awake gave me threatening looks. I ignored them and headed to the little hut of old boxes and sheets.

I pushed the curtain out of the way and slid in before pulling it closed and sitting down.

I felt him flinch and scramble away from me as I entered, "Calm down," I ordered.

I flinched and exclaimed in surprise when a light flashed in my eyes. It was a flashlight. I shielded my eyes and squinted at him.

"What the fuck?" He hissed at me before averting the flashlight, blinding me a bit less.

He had a split lip and black eye, but nothing too severe looking. "Hide this," I ordered before shoving the bundle towards him.

He furrowed his eyebrows at me before unbundling it. "I'm not a charity case," he grumbled before handing me the bundle.

"I know, I'm just trying to be nice. If you don't want it, I'll take it back," I muttered with a shrug.

He quickly took the bundle back, before unbagging the sandwich and eating it desperately.

"I also thought you would want this," I stated as I hesitantly handed my laptop to him. I'd transferred all of my stuff onto a flash drive, and I could afford a new one.

"Usually when I steal people's shit they threaten to kill me, not bring me food and laptops," he informed me, "Were you dropped on your head as a baby? You shouldn't be nice to a street rat, I might stab you in the back," he muttered as he gave me a tantalizing stare, with an eyebrow raise before going back to his sandwich.

"I try to help people that no one cares about, because I know what it's like. Not to the same extent, but you know what I mean," I explained.

"Oh, did Daddy forget to take you to your baseball tryouts? Aw, that must be so hard," he stated sarcastically, "Don't fucking say that you know what it's like, because you don't," he retorted angrily.

I sighed, trying to remain calm, "No, you're right. I have no room to talk. Because, since I have a place to live nothing can be wrong in my life," I retorted.

He rolled his eyes before finishing the sandwich, "Whatever," he muttered.

I took a deep breath and grabbed the ice pack before handing it to him for his eye. He took it and tossed it aside, like garbage, before grabbing the apple.

He was infuriating.

"I didn't catch your name," I muttered.

"Mitch," he replied simply.

I nodded, "Scott," I replied.

"I didn't ask," he remarked.

That's it. I didn't need this. I'd paid my dues.

"Ok, whatever. I tried to be nice. Have a nice life, Mitch. I'm going home," I stated as I crawled towards the exit.

"Hey," he exclaimed, making me stop.

I looked over my shoulder at him, "What?" I asked impatiently.

"Bring ham sandwiches tomorrow night," he instructed.

I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking that maybe he was joking, but he looked dead serious. I scoffed at him, "I'm not coming back tomorrow night," I retorted with a fake smile.

"Ham. Tomorrow night," he replied sternly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was unbelievable. I wasn't coming back to this dump.

"Not happening," I muttered as I pushed the curtain out of the way.

"See you tomorrow night Scooter," he commented. I wasn't going to argue this with him, so I just left.

There was no way I was going back.

I wasn't going back.

A/N: Well here's the first chapter. It's such shit i'm laughing. I'm horrible at editing, so if something doesn't make sense, I'm so sorry. I already have most of this story written, so updates should be rather frequent. Let me know what you think of it, I would really appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism. Until next time, goodbye.