Decisions and Mayhem | ✓

Chapter 3

The ride home was silent. My mother didn't say anything, but a deep frown was engraved on her face, and it was obvious that she wasn't happy. As she drove I fumbled with the seatbelt I had on as I tried to come up with ways that I could explain what happened without getting her angrier. I look out the window of the Ford car at the sound of the traffic light. It had changed to red, making my mum stop.

"Antonio, I thought I told you to stay out of trouble?" she said, making me turn to her. She was still frowning, her eyes still focused up ahead as she waited for the traffic light to change color. "I told you to blend in, work through your last year in peace at least," she said as she pulled on the gear to continue moving when the light turned green.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I decided against it, not wanting her anger to pile up. "I'm sorry ma," I said instead, biting my bottom lip as I watched the passing scenery through the window.

I heard her sigh, and I rested my arms on the window sill as we approached our house. I was going to be the only one at home since the school day wasn't even over for the middle schoolers. When she parked the car in the parking lot, I got down and headed for the front door. I waited for her to get to it, and watched her open it before she walked in and I followed behind her.

"Ah, what happened? Did they send you back? I heard you were in a fight," Wyatt's father said, sitting up on the green living room sofa. I let my gaze turn to him, watching as the blue-grey eyes so similar to Wyatt's looked on at me with a grin.

"It's not something you should smile at him for Steve," my mother said as she headed to take a seat at the dining table.

"Come on."

I wandered away when they started exchanging words, not wanting to be on the receiving end of any 'discussion'. I got upstairs to my room, dropping my bag by my study table before heading to lay down on my bed.

I got up after a few minutes to change out of my school uniform. I got into more comfortable clothing before crawling back under the blue duvet with my laptop. I let my eyes wander about the room for a bit, still not believing it was mine. How large it was made me feel a bit off. I still wasn't used to it even after almost half a year. I still stayed at one corner of my bed, even though it was a queen-sized bed and not the small mattress I used to share with my younger brother. I shook my head, not wanting to think about it. Mum said it'd be like this for a while — that it would take time to adjust to the good things.

My attention was soon stolen by the ringtone of my phone. I had to get down from my bed, before heading over to the foot of my study table where my bag was to fish out my phone from the side pouch of the bag. I swiped up to answer the call when I saw that it was from David.

"David?" I said into the receiver, walking over to the open window in my room. I rested my elbows on the sill, looking out into the neighborhood as the afternoon breeze put on a show by swaying the leaves of the thin trees back and forth.

"Hey, Antonio, how did your mother take it?" David asked from the other end, his voice worried and small like he was hiding somewhere. I frowned a bit before my features relaxed when I realized he was still in school and probably making the call in secret. I smiled a bit, running a hand through my hair as I made to answer him.

"She was mad, but she hasn't really addressed it per se. She's talking to her boyfriend now. She's upset now, but I know she'll understand when I explain things to her," I said, biting the inside of my cheek as my mind wandered back to school. "School should be over in an hour and a half, right? Have you seen Tim?"

"Yeah, and he said thanks," David said, making me nod. "Just to make you laugh, Wesley and Stephan looked a bit displaced today without Jay."

I laughed like David said I would, trying to imagine the two goons without their leader. I was sad, really -- hopeless that two human beings were so dependent on an idiot. The blind leading the blind, that's what it's called. "Damn it, I wish I was there," I said with a grin as I heard David laugh from the other end.

"Oh, I gave Tim your number. I hope that's okay with you."

"Why?" I asked, wondering what Tim would be doing with my number.

"I don't know. He asked for it, and I gave it to him. I'm just letting you know," David said as a sigh left his lips. "I'm in the bathroom now, and I have class -- I just sneaked out to talk to you so I'll have to hang up soon," he said, making me hum in understanding.

We talked for a bit more until he eventually hung up. I let out a sigh when he did, leaving my position at the window to head back to my bed. I dozed off for a while but woke up to the sound of knocking on my bedroom door. I got out of bed, heading to open it, and when I did I found my twin Juana staring straight at me.

"What happened in school?" she asked, slipping into my room without another word. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she knew what happened and she just wanted details.

"I had a fight with Jay."

"I know, I know. I'm asking for details," she said, waving my comment off. I laughed, heading to sit with her at the edge of my bed. She was still in the blue pleated skirt, and white shirt of our school uniform, telling me that she'd just got back from school and had headed straight to my room.

I told her everything, and I laughed as I watched her try to imitate the moves I described. "Finally, someone put him in his place." I'll never know the full story of why she hated Jay, but the way she hated him was hilarious.

"Yeah, I'm just worried that he'll be targeting me from now on," I said, running a hand through my hair as I sighed. I don't think I have the energy to deal with Jay and all the trouble that came with him for the rest of the year. I also have a feeling people will be looking at me differently when I head back to school tomorrow.

"Where's mum, is she still angry?" I asked, watching Juana as she bit her bottom lip with a frown.

"Define angry—"

"Juana."

"I honestly don't know. She's talking to Wyatt and his dad though, but she's frowning so I can't really tell if she's angry at them or you," she said with a shrug, making me sigh as I made to rest my back on the bed.

Why do I have a feeling that they're discussing me?