Things Only Go Downhill

Chapter 19

_________________________________________

"And of course, something must end for something to begin"
_________________________________________

The air was heavy and the Arizona heat weighed down Silas's shoulders yet he was still chipper. Still excited to show Gage and his moms the new plant he had bought. It seemed the only time they believed Silas was okay or normal was when he was taking care of plants or talking about them... He wasn't sure how he had picked up the hobby, but he loved it.

He glanced down at the sharp needles on the cactus and stupidly felt his finger be drawn toward it. The moment his finger made contact there was a sharp prick followed by a single drop of blood beginning to roll down his finger. He brought it to his lips, the metallic taste filling his mouth instantly.

The public bus came to a quick stop and Silas practically jumped off and headed to the private gate that kept most people from entering his neighborhood. He pressed the familiar few digits into the lock before the gate opened and he headed down the long, perfectly paved road.

Children were playing on some of the lawns after school. Some of the younger few running through sprinklers, others shooting nerf guns at one another, or even trying on their new lacrosse gear for the season. Silas painfully remembered when his mothers had insisted on Gage and Silas playing for a year or two as kids. Needless to say, Silas had been terrible at it and Gage had done fantastically despite not even caring for the sport.

Silas finally reached the familiar white house and was about to head up the steps when he noticed the gate to the backyard was open. He quickly concluded his family was in the pool out back and headed over to meet them. It had been a good week. A really good week. He had caught up with all of his classes, begun expanding his garden, made a few new friends, hooked up with and worked things out with an ex-boyfriend who could possibly be the love of his life, and even started volunteering again. He had been up all night last night working on a new layout for the garden to surprise his moms and was excited to get to work on it too. It was a good week.

"Mom, do you know if Silas has been taking his meds?" Gage asked. Silas froze at the gate the moment he heard his name. Of course. Of course. Of course.

Why couldn't he have one good day without his family freaking out over it? Of course, he hadn't taken his fucking meds. They hated him when he took them, they hated him when he didn't. At least when he didn't he was his authentic self. At least when he didn't people seemed to have more fun around him and he enjoyed his life a lot more.

"Is he okay?" Lucinda instantly asked.

"I think so. He's just been a lot recently... The other night he woke me up at three just to ask for one of my t-shirts" Gage admitted, hesitance slowly becoming more prominent in his voice with every word. "And I don't think I'm supposed to tell you this, but he's been seeing Eric again-"

"He what?" Iris suddenly cut in.

That fucking snitch. Silas had told Gage not to say anything. Eric wasn't even a bad guy, he was fun. He was the only person in Silas's life that could really understand how he felt. Like Silas, he was an unmedicated bipolar teenager. He loved Silas for Silas rather than loving the medicated and unrealistic version of Silas his family insisted on having. Silas had been banned from seeing him after the two had tried to flee the country together during a really bad manic episode.