Plaything (H2Ohm)

Chapter 1

"That's one of the only good things about this shit hole of a town," Vanoss says under his breath.

I look away, and sigh to myself. Vanoss has made it clear for years that he doesn't like living here anymore. I just wish he would remember some of the good things about this place that he would miss. Like, maybe, me.

"So why do you still have to work overtime," Vanoss asks.

"I have some bills coming up, and I won't be able to afford them after spending my money on the car. Anyways, it was great catching up with you guys, but I need to go catch my bus."

"Wait," I say just as Ohm starts to turn away. "I can give you a ride home."

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want you to go out of your way."

"Your apartment is only a few blocks from Evan's house; it would only take a couple minutes, so, I don't mind."

He then turns back to us and says, "Alright. Thank you."

I smile and unlock the car. Ohm jumps into the back seat, Evan goes around and takes the passenger seat, and I jump into driver and start the car. As I drive us away from the business side of town, we continue to talk about when Ohm will finally be able to play with us again. The answer wasn't exactly what we were hoping for.

"I just need to get wifi for my apartment and get a day off of work and I could start playing and recording again. I'm just not too sure when that'll happen."

"... Well, you know, Luke has suggested we do a live stream to help get you the money you need to get you back on YouTube."

He chuckles, "Of course Cartoonz wants to do that. Well, I appreciate the offer, but even if you guys did the stream, I wouldn't accept the money. This is something I need to do by myself."

"But you shouldn't have to do this," Evan yells. "You're only 17; you've been living on the streets for over a year because of the pieces of shits you're parents married! Right now, you should be worried about which college you're going to go to, and what you're going to be doing over the weekend; not how many hours do I have to work just to make sure I can eat or have a warm bed!"

"Vanoss," I say, turning my head towards him to glare at him.

"No, it's fucking bullshit that less than six months ago, you where jumping from couch to couch, living in your car, losing weight by the day, and almost dropped out of high school do to the fucking stress! You have a apartment now, but you still need money, which isn't a problem for any of us. Just let us help you!"

I look in the rearview mirror and see Ohm at off his mask and glare at Evan. "Vanoss, I get that all of you guys care about me, and none of you liked what happened to me, but this is my life. Yes, it's unfair that my parents chose two assholes that didn't want anything to do with me and they sided with them. Yes, it's unfair that I had to sleep in my car and jump from friend's house to friend's house just to have somewhere else to sleep; and yes, it's unfair that although I still talk to my parents from time to time, neither has offered to give me anything to make these passing months easier for me. But I need to ask you this; what good would you guys giving me money do? If it was from my parents, I could accept it as a way to help me since I'm their kid. But from you guys, I would feel like I needed to pay all of you back. I would be trying to work even harder, because now my friends are trying to help me, and I have no way to pay them back for all of the nice things that they've done for me since I ended up in this situation."

"But-"

"I appreciate everything you guys have done for me so far, but I need to do the rest on my own."