"What happened to your face?" Carter's mother's soft hands were suddenly on his chin, turning his face at different angles trying to get the best position to view the dark blue and purple bruise which had formed on his face throughout the school day.
He knew that this would happen, he knew that the second he came through the front door his mother would be asking questions that he seriously didn't want to give answers to. That's why he had gone to Roxy's house after school, hoping that maybe it might magically fade in those extra hours, but unfortunately that hadn't been the case.
"Mom, it's nothing."
His mother wasn't having any of that, she looked him in the eye with an expression that told him that she was calling BS on that.
"This," she pointed to the bruise, 'is something. Who did this to you?' she asked the question fiercely.
Carter loved his mother, but he was not about to spill all of his problems onto her. She was a single parent looking after two kids. She didn't need more stress. "It was an accident, please don't worry about it."
"You are my son, of course I am going to worry. Did...was it.." she paused for a moment, as if saying Alex's name was enough to break her son to pieces, and maybe it was.
"No mom, it wasn't Alex. I am fine, I promise," he tried to put as much confidence into his voice as he could, but his mother still didn't seem like she was buying it.
"Are you sure? Do I need to call the school?"
"No, there's no problem, ok? It was all a big accident. I'm going upstairs."
Carter saw that his mother still wasn't convinced, but he was thankful that she didn't push it. He walked up the stairs of their small home, stopping by his room to put his bag down before knocking on the door to his sister's room.
"Mom, I'm doing homework, I'll do my chores later ok!?" His sister's irritated voice floated through the closed door.
"Lucky for you it's not Mom." Carter laughed, knowing that his sister was probably doing anything but her homework.
"Oh, come in!"
Carter opened the wooden door to reveal his sisters room. The twelve year old had an obsession with the colour pink, the all too bright colour staining every wall, piece of furniture and article of clothing the young girl wore. Her light brown hair, a similar colour to her brothers, was in a messy bun on the top of her head. She was sitting on her bed, a small bottle of pink nail polish balanced on the duvet as she blew on her fingernails.
"You are such a liar." He laughed as he sat on the end of her bed, tucking his legs under himself.
She looked up at her brother for the first time since he entered the room and gasped at the sight, suddenly forgetting about her wet nails. "Woah, I thought it was a lie," she exclaimed, leaning forward to get a better look at her brothers messed up face.
"You thought what was a lie?" he asked, tilting his head slightly in concern.
"That looks horrible, it's purple." she commented, still fixated on the bruise.
"Lara!" Carter cried out exasperatedly, trying to get his sisters attention.
"Huh?" she met her brother's gaze.
"You thought what was a lie?" he asked again.
"Well," she sat back, her wet nails remembered, and blew on them periodically as she spoke, "Jessica, who is William's sister, well, she told me that Jake told William that Alex was making out with some girl and you saw and got super jealous and tried to punch the girl, or maybe tried to punch Alex, but Jake stepped in and punched you, or you punched him, I forget what she said."
"Woah, what?!" Carter asked with wide eyes.
"Please tell me that you punched her or at least punched Alex. Did you? I can just imagine you beating the shit out of Alex. You never did get your break-up revenge on him. That would have felt so good to punch him right in the jaw!" she made a move with her arm as if she was punching an imaginary person.
Not for the first time, Carter wondered how a girl so obsessed with pink and pretty dresses could have such a violent mind. "No, no," he had to stop his sisters train of thought before it derailed even further, "None of that happened."
"Oh," Lara sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true, you would never hit someone. Even though Alex has totally had it coming for three months now."
She wasn't wrong. "Jake and his group were being dicks, and one of them pushed Roxy and in the process of trying to help her, this happened," he pointed to his face.
"Oh. So you didn't punch Alex?" she asked, disappointed.
"No."
"Can you? Please?"
"Lara!" Carter chastised his sister for her sinister mind.
"He really hurt you Carter, and you are just letting him and his friends walk all over you." She shook her head sadly. "I remember how much he meant to you and after what he did, leading you on and breaking it off like that."
Carter played with the simple silver ring that sat on his right hand, running his fingers over the small engraved pattern. Alex and him had matching promise rings, but he hadn't seen Alex's since before they broke up. His, however, had never left his hand. He decided that one day soon he should take his own off too. "I don't like how things have ended either, but I am trying to move on, and from the sounds of it, so should you."
Lara nodded. She then bit at her lip nervously, "Well to change the subject, I have something to tell you.."
"What?" Carter asked, slight concern dripping into his voice.
Lara opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by her mother's voice. "Dinner guys!"
"I'll tell you later," Lara muttered quietly as she got off the bed.
Carter followed his little sister down stairs, sitting at the head of the table, his mother on one side and his sister on the other. They ate in mainly silence, the occasional words were shared, but Lara was on her phone under the table and Carter was too preoccupied trying to make sense of the events of the day. Alex had been completely emotionless toward him but then that look. Carter saw past the mask for just a second and what he saw made him question everything. What happened to Alex? Why did he break up with him? Why was Alex, his best friend for years, his boyfriend for over a year, suddenly turning into a 'drug dealing goth' as Roxy would call him?
"Carter, did you hear me?"
Carter realised that his mother was speaking to him. "Oh, sorry, what?"
"Can you please take your sister to her date next week? I have to work."
"Yeah sure." He suddenly realised what he just agreed to. "Wait! A date?" He turned his gaze to Lara who was blushing and avoiding her brother's eye line.
"Yeah. Please Carter! It's my first date!" She sent him her best puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, Fine. I'll do it, but I'm chaperoning." There was no way that Carter was going to allow his baby sister to be alone with a boy without someone watching out for her.
"Mom!" Lara got her mother's attention. "He can't do that!"
Their mother stifled a laugh before backing up Carter, "I think that a chaperone is probably a good idea." She turned to her son. "Thank-you Carter for that idea."
Lara rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat abruptly and stomping up the stairs.
Carter's mother stood. "Thank-you for chaperoning your sisters date, it means a lot to me that you would do that." His mother pressed a kiss to his head before gathering the plates and walking to the kitchen.
Carter made his way to his room, almost stopping by his sisters on the way, but he didn't, knowing that she would probably just kick him out.
He flopped onto his bed, staring at the celling for a few moments before a bing came from his bag in the corner. He reluctantly got off his bed, collected his phone and flopped back onto his bed.
----- > 6.05pm -- Roxy: How did your Mom react to your face?
He sent her a quick message
----- > 8.10pm – Carter: Pretty well actually. Only a minor freak out.
There was another message on his phone, and Carter wondered for a second who would be texting him.
----- > 3.10pm – Alex: I'm sorry about today. I will make sure that Jake leaves you alone from now on.
He must have sent this just after school had ended. Three months of no communication, three months of nothing and suddenly a text? Carter was filled with confusion, what did all of this mean?
He closed his eyes, letting his head rest against his pillow. He was thrown head first into a memory.