The Fall of the Aftons

044: William Afton

William bopped the car horn to get Michael's attention. He watched as his son flinched and put the little boy on the ground, then grabbed his backpack and slipped it over his shoulder. He ran as fast as he could to William's car, glimpsing back at Felicity as he waved goodbye. He opened the car door and climbed into the back seat as he tossed his backpack onto the seat next to him.

"Who was that little boy you were holding?" William asked as he turned around in his seat to look at Michael.

"That's Evan. He just arrived at the Center a few weeks ago," Michael explained quietly as he took his book out of his backpack. He opened it and started to read, sending a clear message that he didn't want to talk right now.

William chuckled and turned back around. He took the car out of park and drove off. He had to get to the library to pick up Terrance and Apollo. Apollo had something to do that night, so he had asked if Will could take the boys to the library for tutoring.

Once they arrived at the library, William left the car and told Michael to stay put. He walked inside, where Apollo stood nervously near the front desk as he scanned over the room for William. As soon as Apollo spotted him, he waved for him to come. Confused, William walked as fast as he could to his nephew's friend.

"Is something wrong, Lo?" William whispered. He followed after Apollo when he briskly walked away.

"The kids in our class were making fun of him in English class," Apollo explained, his voice mad. "We had a sub in class today because our teacher called in sick. But she must not have read the notes in the plans because she asked him to read from the textbook. He couldn't read it. The words were too long." He sighs, annoyed. "The stupid fucking substitute called him a retard in front of the whole class! The kids in our class--especially the boys on Terry's friends on his soccer team--wouldn't stop mocking him all day. One jackass even wrote horrible things on his locker!" He grabbed one of the adjuster strings on his sweatshirt's hood and started to fidget with it. "Terry's been acting weird ever since. He's, like, overly sensitive, but greatly determined to learn to read faster."

"Poor Terrance," William mumbled sadly. "Substitute teachers can be so dumb sometimes."

"No kidding."

The two of them entered an area with seats and desks. Terrance was at a desk in the furthest corner. He sat with his legs crossed on his chair as he often did. A book was opened atop the desk, and he was squinting at it with a frown digging into his cheeks.

"Terrance," William whispered once he and Apollo neared him. "It's time to go, kiddo. I have to drop Apollo off at his house, then we have to go to the new place."

Terrance looked up at William with surprise. "You found a place already?"

William smiled and nodded his head. "Yep. It's a little larger than we need, but that's okay Plenty of extra rooms for birthday parties. Henry's already there, getting started on one the new characters."

Terrance smiled as he silently slammed his book shut.