Street Youth Rising ~Septiplier~

Come Out

-- Mark --

Time seemed to slow to a stop with every step closer to my house. It were as if Father Time were trying to make a mystery of my return to the house - no matter how predictable the outcome was. Of course I didn't want to go home. I wasn't ready for the 2000 word speech about responsibility. I wasn't ready to be grounded until I turned eighteen (which was a highly unlikely chance and an example of me just being over dramatic).

As I stepped outside my house, I felt unease take over me. It was 2:45 in the afternoon, so I decided to sit out the next fifteen minutes. I sat on the sidewalk outside of my house, a sigh escaping my lips every now and again. I dreaded when 2:55 came in and I had to go inside. Glancing at the watch on my wrist, it was now 2:47, giving me more time to sit and think about what I was going to say. How was I going to explain my spontaneous act of abandonment on my family the night before? How was I going to tell them that I had been snuggled up to Jack under the sheets of his bed last night? How am I supposed to even begin to explain myself?

"You can't just sit out here all day." A jogging passerby said. She's already passed me a few times.

"Of course I can! I live here." I tell her. She quirks an eyebrow at me.

"On... the sidewalk?" She asks. I sigh, realizing she has a point. Glancing at the watch on my wrist again, it is now 2:54.

"Showtime." I mutter, waving the woman off. She smiled and continued her jogging as I stood to go inside.

Turning the doorknob was a slow and painful process, one that required all of my strength and dignity. Of course, it took me nearly a full five minutes to get into my own house (which by then it was 3:00 in the afternoon). I didn't want to talk to my dad about the events from the night before. I had been outside for a full fifteen minutes and still hadn't thought what I would say to him. I felt like a teenage girl that was about to tell her father she was pregnant - I've watched Juno, and I am definitely certain that things would turn out much worse than my father threatening to kick my boyfriend in the nuts when he sees him.

"Mark Edward Fischbach!" My father called out from the couch. He turned down the TV (which displayed the ending of Homeward Bound, a movie that always made me cry no matter how many times I'd seen it). I sighed, kicking off my shoes by the doormat.

Thomas stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking my only path of escape if I were to try to make a run for it. Not that I would, but it's not like I wouldn't either. Even if I wasn't going to, I definitely couldn't deny that I wanted to. My brother blocking my path just lessened the temptation.

"Why don't you get yourself a drink and have a seat?" My father said. I took a deep breath, grabbing a Dr. Pepper before my father stopped me. "Let's all have a beer together. I think we're going to need one." Those words scared me, but I grabbed my father a beer. Thomas came and grabbed himself one, returning to his position at the bottom of the stairs. I hesitantly grabbed one, popping open the tab but never taking a sip.

"Now, Mark. Do you want to tell me what's going on?" My father asked me as he sat up, shifting position to face me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, deciding to play dumb. I pretended to take a sip of the beer, pressing the bottle to my lips and tilting it up. Not a drop passed my lips.

"Why are your grades dropping?" He asked me. When I stayed silent, he continued, "You're not even looking for a job! Listen, Mark, keeping this place payed off is going to be a family effort and you're not even making an attempt. Do you want your own room?" He asked. I nodded. "Do you want food on the table?" He asked. I nodded again. "Then I suggest you start helping. Thomas is pulling more than his own weight and so am I! We're both tired. We understand that you're only seventeen and you need time to be a kid still as well, but you need to grow up. You can't live in outer space your entire life, you have to come back to earth at some point." My father said.