“Ugh, I am so proud of you, it's disgusting!”
I laughed as Sophie hung onto me, her arms circling around my neck. “Seriously, you're too smart! Keep it up and you'll be valedictorian next year!”
“Wouldn't that be awesome?” I asked. “Then ten years from now, you would get to tell your children you were best friends with the smartest kid in your class.”
Sophie had heard of yet another one-hundred I'd received recently, which only added to the pile. It was only the beginning of the year, but I had the highest GPA of the Junior class so far. Sophie was literally right behind me, but she didn't take second place too bad. Her excuse was that there was no way she was doing a speech in front of the entire school.
Her blonde curls bounced as she finally stepped away from me, a wide smile on her face. “Seriously, Vic. Good work.”
“Thanks, Soph.”
We smiled at each other for a second before an arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I turned to see Alex; my amazing boyfriend. Alex had been my best friend since middle school, and my boyfriend since Freshman year. He'd helped me come out to my parents, and was even on the lacrosse team.
“Heard you got another perfect grade,” he said, smiling down at me. “Good job, Victor.”
“Yeah, in history. Thank God, because it's my worst subject,” I laughed. He hummed, frowning slightly.
“I don't think you have a 'worst subject', Vic. Just a subject that you don't ridiculously excel at.”
“Same thing.”
Alex chuckled, shaking his head a little and squeezing my shoulder before dropping his arm, standing between me and Sophie.
All our group was missing was Jake. Jake was a year younger than we were, being in the same art class as Sophie. She was the one who introduced us to him, and he'd been with us since his Freshman year.
Now, it wasn't that I didn't like Jake. He was nice enough. It was just that, whenever he was with us...
“Hey, Alex! And Sophie. And Victor.”
Alex was all he saw. Half the time it was like Sophie and I were invisible. I tried not to mind so much, because I knew Alex was an attractive guy, and as sweet as anything on top of it. I knew he'd never cheat or anything like that. But still, there was the fact that he was my boyfriend, not Jake's.
“Hey, Jake. What've you been up to?” Sophie asked. “It's ten minutes past three.”
Jake shrugged a little, brushing some of his sandy hair back from his face. “Couldn't get my locker open.”
We all nodded in understanding, because for all the great things Lakeview High had, the lockers were awful and sticky. Luckily they were getting new ones next year.
“Can't help that I suppose.” Sophie continued. “Come on, let's go. I'm starving.”
Sophie linked her arm with mine as we all headed down the hall, the two of us behind Alex, and Jake in the back. The halls were mostly deserted, only a few stragglers behind, or those on sports teams. The sun was shining brightly on the concrete outside, and I was only slightly blinded. Thank God for the tinted windows of my car.
“So Alex, are you going home with Victor? It is his birthday, after all.” Sophie said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. I felt myself flush as I glared at her, but Alex only laughed and patted my head affectionately.
“Ah, no. Practice today. We're still on for tomorrow night though, right?” he asked, looking down at me. I smiled back and nodded, making him smile as well. “Good. Alright, I'll catch you guys later.”
He squeezed my shoulder briefly before he left, and I noticed Jake's eyes trailing after him. I was pretty sure Jake would end up staying to watch practice, but I didn't mind. Alex wouldn't do anything, after all.
“Alright then, let's go guys.”
“Actually.” Jake began, making Sophie frown. “I think I'll hang out here for a little while. You guys go on ahead.”
Sophie shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she mumbled, tugging me into the parking lot with her. Once we were far enough away for her to talk without being heard, she spoke again. “I don't know why you don't just sucker-punch him, he's totally trying to get with Alex.”
“I know,” I told her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at me, but I just smiled. “I know Alex, he's a sweetheart. He won't do anything with him. Plus he's oblivious, so he probably doesn't even notice. He just figures Jake's being nice. If Jake ever tries anything, Alex'll let him down easy.”
“You put a lot of faith in him.” Sophie sighed. “But okay. If you trust him, I trust him.”
“Thanks Sophie.” I said again. We smiled for a minute until we reached our cars, and Sophie looked at me over the roofs.
“See you tomorrow, birthday boy,” she said. I smiled widely as she ducked down and got into her car, starting it up and pulling out of the parking lot. I got into my own car as well, taking a minute to situate myself before I pulled out and headed home.
The house was dark when I got there, and when I walked into the kitchen, I saw a note on the fridge.
Went to get cake :)
Good job on history!
Happy birthday, be back soon! Love you!
I couldn't help a smile as I put the note on the counter, reaching into the fridge for a bottle of water before heading into the living room. I figured my parents would be back soon, so I set myself up on the couch to do homework.
When you have nothing but AP classes, you get swamped with homework and essays. But, I'd been taking AP classes since ninth grade, and by then, you get used to them.
Taking a drink of water, I settled into the couch and opened up my history binder, getting to work on our most recent essay.
I didn't mean to fall asleep.
When I woke up, the house was darker than before, and I heard a loud knock against the front door. Were mom and dad just now getting back? Why didn't they just unlock the door? That seemed a lot easier than constant, loud knocking.
I stumbled up from the couch, rubbing my eyes as I flicked on the light in the living room and went to the door, unlocking it before pulling it open.
“Victor Halcomb?”
I paused, glancing at the doorway. Instead of my parents, like I expected, were two police officers.
Why were there police officers at my house?
“Yes?” I said cautiously. One of them sighed heavily, a sigh that sounded like he was carrying the weight of the world on him.
“Son...your parents, Richard and Carrie Halcomb...there's been an accident.”
My grip on the door tightened, and I stared at the officers, not knowing what to say. An accident? What kind of accident?
“On the highway, a tractor-trailer lost control and caused a bit of a pile-up. There were three other cars involved, your parent's being one of them,” the officer explained, folding his hands in front of himself. “There was nothing we could do. They died on impact.”
...No. No way. They were joking. This isn't real. It's just some really sick joke. I bet they aren't even real cops.
“We...we managed to get a hold of your uncle, Charles Halcomb?”
Charlie. They contacted Charlie.
“He said he'd be able to come and pick you up, since you're a minor. But we've got to take you down to the station, and you'll be in our custody until he gets you. Okay?”
A sick joke. A really, really sick joke. Charlie must be in on it.
“Yeah, okay. Come on Jones, let's get him in the car,” the officer said, nodding toward the other one. The second nodded, and the two of them approached me, each putting a hand on my shoulder and steering me out of the house.
I didn't even have any shoes on.
I wasn't sure when it happened, but suddenly I was sitting in the station, in a chair beside the desk. The same officer who'd spoken to me sat there, and kept glancing at me, watching me. Why was he watching me? And when could I go home?
There was the sound of a door opening, and both the officer and I looked to see Charlie coming in, looking distressed and nervous. Usually Charlie was so calm and laid-back, what'd made him act so weird?
Finally he caught sight of us, and came forward. The officer stood to greet him. “Charles Halcomb?”
“Charlie, yeah.” Charlie nodded. “Officer Green?”
“Yeah,” the officer nodded as well, then gestured to me. “You're free to take him. He's officially in your custody.”
Charlie seemed to sigh in relief for a second before he moved over to me, bending down to give me an awkward hug and pat on the back.
Charlie wasn't really a touchy guy. And because he lived in the next town over, a couple hours away, we didn't see him often. But, here he was.
Because...because...oh.
It...it wasn't a joke...
A broken sob escaped me before I could stop it, and the next thing I knew, tears were blurring my vision and streaming down my face. I could feel Charlie still patting my back, but I ignored it as I cried, maybe even screamed. Everything got a little fuzzy.
I wasn't entirely coherent again until I realized Charlie was leading me into a motel room, the occasional hiccup still leaving my mouth.
“We'll uh, we'll hang around here for a couple days,” he said, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “let you pack up your stuff, and take what—what we can, for now.”
The next day was spent in my room, packing what I could. The day after that, Charlie took me to school, but only to sign me out of the system. We were in the main office when the bell sounded for the classes to switch, and I glanced over at Charlie. He was busy filling out a form, so I took the opportunity to slip out of the office and head down the hall, where I knew Sophie, Alex, and Jake usually were.
“Oh my God, Victor! Where were you, we've all been texting you!” Sophie said as soon as she noticed me, coming forward to hug me tightly. I let her go for a second before stepping back.
“Sorry, Soph,” I said sincerely. Alex and Jake both looked at me, all three of them waiting for an explanation. I sighed, fiddling with the hem of my sweater for a minute before explaining. “I'm sorry, guys. I can't...I'm not staying here. I have to move in with my uncle, Charlie.”
“What? Why?” Sophie asked, frowning.
“...There was a car accident, on my birthday. Mom and Dad, while they were out, they got...they got hit. And they um...they...” I found I couldn't continue, and instead gestured vaguely, but it seemed to work as Sophie gasped.
“Oh, Vic I'm so sorry,” she said quietly, moving forward to hug me again. I found myself returning it that time, pushing back the tears that I could feel stinging behind my eyes.
“It's okay. The uh, the funeral's tomorrow, if you guys wanna...”
“Of course we'll be there. Wouldn't miss it.”
“Thank you,” I murmured. Sophie gave me a watery smile before she pulled back, and Alex stepped forward in her place. I knew he wasn't big on PDA, and I appreciated that he set his own comfort aside as he hugged me just as tightly as Sophie had, kissing the top of my head.
Jake also hugged me, but his contact seemed more forced, and I barely returned it.
“Victor.”
We all turned, seeing Charlie standing in the hall just as the bell rang. “Come on, we gotta go.”
I nodded, looking at my three friends one more time before following Charlie out of the school.