My Boys (boyxboy, girlxboy)

My Boys

PREVIEW

CASSIE'S POV

It was late afternoon on March 15th 2017 that 2 police officers arrived on my front porch received to tell me my parents were in a car wreck and both were now in intensive care. It was early evening by the time I arrived on March 15th to find them alive but only just. It was a little after 11pm march 15th when they died.

I was sixteen then. Alone. I was offered an opportunity to stay in our family home here in Philadelphia only with the permission of my aunt who lived in Texas. She was pretty busy with work and didn't like the thought of moving to a new state. I shared her feelings. We came to decision that I would be allowed to live at home alone so long as I updated her daily and she came to visit every few months. 

I was left then alone in a big six bedroom, two story home that was built by my mom and dad after they got married. Back then it was small to me, never any privacy to have my own thoughts. how quickly that can change. Now it felt like all I had were my own thoughts, the longer I was alone, the more intrusive they became. I try listening to music, reading, keeping the TV on a night, these things help, but sometimes I feel seconds away from insanity. During the weekends I often find myself startled realising I have not spoke a single word in a day, maybe two, its lonely. 

The year my parents died I dropped out of school; with only a semester left I didn't see the point in dragging myself there. I wanted time by myself to grieve, away from sympathetic smiles and shoulder rubs. It did not take long however for the silence to make me crack, I re-joined school as a junior when I was 18,  and now having just turned 19, I'm starting my senior year.

I went to see a therapist once because my aunt thought I was suppressing feelings of guilt or something. I wasn't guilty, I wasn't even there and my parents weren't on their way of get me so it really had nothing to do with me. How could I feel guilt? I was just good old fashioned sad and lonely. When she was satisfied I was right she sent me home with a diary project. I never did it but I did buy the diary just in case, maybe inspiration will strike me one day and I'll realise why I'm doing what I'm doing. Maybe I'll find out why I invited three homeless boys, STRANGERS none the less to stay in my home, 24/7

Sometimes I wonder why I didn't just get a dog. It would definitely be cleaner and cheaper to feed. It might even pay more rent. I wonder what my therapist would say about it.

Riley says that I have a saviour complex, like mother Teresa; he may or may not have been under the influence of fresh chocolate brownies at the time.

He is the first of my....strays?

A year ago on my 18th birthday I was convinced to go into the city with my best friend Jessica.

flashback, one year ago (the meeting)

We were going to get some food and attempt to get into a club. Me and Jessica were taking a shortcut through Love Park. I was always surprised by the number of homeless lining the benches, I was never exposed to this out in the suburbs. My eyes skimmed over all the different people as Jessica strode on quickly, whispering about how dangerous it was.

For some reason I wasn't all that scared and I lagged behind taking in their faces as they stared back at me. I stopped when I saw a guy maybe in his late twenties coughing and grabbing at the railings in the park. He was trying to get a nearby bench but he seemed to be having trouble catching his breath. It was cold out and I could see the sharp burst of air coming from his mouth infrequently. He was struggling badly when I stopped nearby. I don't even know why I did, Jessica had taken a phonecall from a friend who would be joining us at the club, she didn't notice she had left me behind.