Running from You

5

"So, yeah. Can I come over to your house after school?"
Lucas smiles at me, expecting me to say yes. As I always do.
"Uhm... No".
His smile dissappears instantly.
"Why not?" he asks.
I point at his phone. He looks at the notification lighting up his screen, and his eyes widen a bit.

Mom:
Your father and I are expecting you to come home this afternoon. Love, mom.

"Oh, that's not important" he says, and he flips his phone upside down.
"Lucas, Dean. Please stop distracting the others and continue working".
Lucas smiles his angelic smile.
"I'm so sorry miss" he says. "We'll work now".
"That's okay Lucas, just put your phone in your bag, please".
He nods, and slides his phone into his backpack. Our teacher walks off, and starts helping a different kid.
"Listen, my parents just mean I come home before dinner tonight. They were a little pissed at me yesterday".

He's been eating at my place every day for the past week. My mom doesn't mind, she thinks it's fun to have another person at the table. She loves Lucas. A lot of people love Lucas. It's kind of the same as with Landon, except that Landon is popular at school. The only people who really know Lucas and me there are the volleyball team, Landon, and Jay. Our teammates probably only know us as 'Landon's friends' though. Except for Kathryn. Kathryn sees us as disappointments and a waste of space.

"Really?" I ask. "It seems pretty serious, your mom has been messaging you a lot these days".
"Yes, and she's signed off every text with Love, mom" Lucas sighs. "I try to tell her that's not necessary, but she just won't listen".
"Listen, obviously, something is going on with you" I say. "And I didn't want to say anything about it because you really didn't seem to want to, but it's starting to get serious".
"How would you know that?" he asks quietly.
"You're running away from your house, Lucas. I know you and your parents don't really talk after dinner, and you've never been at my place so many times in a row".

I look up, but our teacher isn't looking at us. Then I look back at Lucas. He's staring at his table, fiddling with the neck of his shirt.
"You can go home with me after school" I say. He looks up, immediately smiling again.
"But only if you tell me what's going on".
He pouts, and turns back to his table.
"You're mean".
"And I'm worried. About you" I say.
He looks up again, and tilts his head a little. I cross my arms, and stare at him. He stares back at me, and squints his eyes a little.
"Fine" he murmurs. "But you have to buy me chocolate too".
"Will you need it?"
"No, I just really want chocolate and I'm broke".

After school, me and Lucas get on the bus to go to the store. Lucas is chatting about what kind of chocolate he wants, and I'm just kind of staring at him. Scanning his face. I don't see him upset very often. He was upset one time, when his phone fell in the toilet, but that was his own fault. This time, however, it's weird. He's pretending to be fine, but over the last few things I've noticed things. Little things like the constant fiddling with his shirt, and forgetting more and more things lately. And, of course, the constant eating at my house.

"Lucas?"
He looks up.
"What?" he asks.
"You're still eating at home tonight" I say. "Your own home".
He takes a deep breath.
"Okay" he says. "I just hope they don't eat something like..."
"Vegetables?"
"Yeah" he says. "They're gross".

We buy our chocolate, a Milka oreo bar. There's not a lot of them being sold in the US, but our store is one of the few in our area that imports them. It's Lucas's favorite. After that, we go to my house. On the road there, Lucas eats all of his chocolate. He doesn't even offer me one piece. And I paid.

When we arrive at my house, he throws the wrapper in the trash can. We go inside.
"Hey mom, I'm home!" I yell.
"Hey sweetie!" I hear from the living room. "And hi Lucas!"
"Hi" Lucas says, smiling brightly.
We get a drink, and then go upstairs. In my room, Lucas flops down onto my bed, his head on my pillow. I sit down next to him, pushing him a bit more towards my wall so I can sit comfortably.
"So, what's up?" I ask, looking down at him.
"Not much" he says.
"Lucas".
I sigh.
"You promised".

He bites his bottom lip, and fiddles with the neckline of his sweater.
"Okay, it's just..."
He sits up a little, leaning on his elbows.
"I know it's stupid, but I feel a little... Embarrassed. Besides, it's not even official yet..."
"Just say it".
"My dad lost his job" he says, and he takes a deep breath. Then he's silent for a while.
"That's it?" I ask. He shakes his head, and drops down on his back again.
"That's not all" he says. "It's just been very tense lately, with my dad being home all the time. My parents have been talking about stuff like moving..."

"Wait" I interrupt. "Moving? Where?"
He stares at me for a second.
"Just... A smaller house, I think" he then says. "Not very far away".
"Okay..."
I stare at the ceiling for a second, before crossing my arms.
"So that's why you've been avoiding going home?" I ask.
"Yes" he says, quietly. "It's stupid that I'm like... Scared to go home. Not really scared, but just tense".
"Oh" I say, not really sure what to do now.
"Besides, because we lost money, my parents have been eating more cheap food, but they're awful at preparing it" he adds. I laugh, and then smile at him, a little awkwardly.

"I can help them cook if you want" I offer. He smiles too, and shakes his head.
"Maybe it would help if you came over for dinner at my place. To diffuse the tension a little bit. My parents like you".
"They do?" I ask. "It doesn't really seem..."
"They don't like showing emotions. But they really do, they're really grateful that you've been raising me so well".
He smiles a bit brighter than before, though I can clearly tell he doesn't feel entirely comfortable yet.

"Do you want to play Mario kart?" I ask. His smile instantly grows to the normal brightness, and he nods excitedly. My mom got me a Nintendo wii when it just came out as a birthday present. Me and Lucas used to play on it every day for hours, but we lost interest. Sometimes, we play a game, and Lucas always loves it. And hey, anything to keep him happy.

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