The Loner's Journey

Chapter 6

Archer's POV
I got home and saw my dads car in the driveway. I shuddered but continued to the door. When I got there I opened it quietly and peeked in to see if I could spot my dad. I didn't see him so I moved further into the house. That's when I heard something and it startled me. I jumped, and spun around to the couch. It was my dad snoring on the couch. He had a bottle of liquor sitting on the table next to him and a few empty beer bottles in the floor. I sighed quietly with relief before scurrying to my room before he woke up and saw me. When I got to my room I went to my desk, sat my school bag down, and took out my homework to start on it. Once I had what I needed I sat in my desk chair and started working through my math homework. When I looked at my alarm clock after finishing everything it was almost 9:30 at night. I rushed to pack everything back up then headed to the kitchen to make dad and myself some dinner. I looked through the cabinets and fridge to see what we had. I noticed some pasta and sauce in the cabinet, as well as meatballs and garlic bread in the freezer. So, I decided to make spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. I started the pasta and meatballs quickly knowing they would take the longest. Once the meatballs were done I swapped them with the garlic bread then focused on the pasta. When I thought the pasta was ready, I took it off the burner and drained the water from it, before putting the pot of pasta back on the stove. Then, began adding the sauce and meatballs, letting it simmer to stay warm. Once the garlic bread was done I took it out, cut it, and turned off the pasta. I served everything onto two plates. I gave a bigger portion to father but I was used to not eating as much as I probably should. So I sat and quickly ate before walking into the living room to wake father. I tapped his shoulder and he groaned but didn't wake, so I shook him a little harder and called him. "Father. Father, wake up, foods ready." He grumbles a little and shoved me away so he could get up. He shoved me rather hard causing me to stumble and fall on my butt. He looked down at me before scoffing and turning away to go eat. I slowly, picked myself up off of the floor and walked to my room, thankful that all he did was scoff and not decide to pummel me to a pulp. Once I got there I fell on my bed, face down, and thought of what it would be like if Grayson really was gay and gave me a shot to be his boyfriend. My thoughts were interrupted by father pounding on my door. I walked over and opened the door only to be punched in the stomach and told to go clean the dishes or I'd get worse. I rushed to the kitchen and did the dishes as quickly as I could. When I was done I looked around to see if father was near and then bolted to my room and locked the door. I sighed and slid down the door before crawling over and into my bed. I continued my thoughts from earlier and stared out my window at the moon and stars. I also thought about Danny and how great of a friends he was. Just as I was drifting off a bit, my phone went off with a text. I looked at it to see Danny asking if I wanted to spend this weekend at his house, since his parents were gonna be gone. I thought about it, and told him I'd ask my dad but not to get his hopes up. He understood but was sad/angry at my dad and situation. We then talked about random things for a while before he decided to call me and play the guitar for me to make me feel better about the day I had. He asks what I want him to play and I told him I didn't really care as long as it was something we both liked. He played fight song, by Rachel Platten. I love this song. He does too, but I relate to it a bit more than he realizes. When he finishes I feel drowsy. His voice is so calming and relaxing. I complement him, telling him what I thought of his voice and how drowsy it made me. He disagreed with me but told me to sleep well. Before he could hang up I asked him to stay on until I fell asleep. He agreed and began humming another tune. My eyes were closing quickly but before I fell asleep I told him goodnight, before darkness consumed me.