Weak Hero Short Stories

Parents

Everyone in the gang had met nearly everyone else's parents, or parent.

Ben's mom was divorced, and he still visited his dad. His mom was very nice and didn't mind all of the boys being over.

Gerard just had a dad, he hadn't exactly shared why, but the boys wouldn't pressure him to. When they met he was only there for a few minutes before rushing off.

Rowan and Alex's parents were still married. Rowan's people didn't speak much Korean, so the boys didn't get to talk to them. Alex's parents were always working, so their conversation was cut short.

Eugene lived with his Aunt, she was very nice and showed them around the animal clinic she worked at, letting them pet the animals and help with their treatments.

Teddy just lived with his mom, who they'd met once. She didn't like them, obviously by the way she looked at them, but she didn't voice anything and simply left. He seemed embarrassed and profusely apologized.

The only person who's parent's they hadn't met was Gray. They could never ask, maybe it was a personal thing or perhaps they were on bad terms.

Though one day, it seemed that an opportunity had presented itself.

"We can come to your mother's house with you?" Ben asked Gray with a sort of confused grin on his face.

Gray nodded.

"And this is fine?" Gerard added.

"Yea, its not a big deal, I just have to grab my computer."

Gray lived away from home, with a handful of other high-school students, most of which were at least 1 year his seniors. So they'd all assumed he didn't like his mom.

"Sounds like fun?"

...

As the bus got closer and closer to the neighborhood where Gray had told them his mother lived, he began adding a lot of small scattered statements:

"She's very childish please ignore that." 

"We're not planning to have a conversation with her."

"Please do excuse her behavior."

Ben touched his shoulder softly, "Are you sure you're okay with this? Cause we don't have to come."

"Its okay... it's just-just," he paused, "You'll understand when you meet her."

The other guys smiled at him warmly, as a form of support.

The cityish scenery faded away, revealing a higher-class residential neighborhood. Tall houses with singular squares of fake grass in front of them, to make up a sort of fake plastic yard.

The bus stopped, and the boys were dropped off at a bus stop that Gray said wasn't very far at all from his mother's house. He never referred to the house as his own, always his mother's. He drove a wedge through the differences in them, he wanted to be different than her.

They eventually arrived at a house that looked just like all the others, tall, two story, white, with fake grass, square trimmed bushes in pots, and a sleek, black, Mustang out front.

He didn't knock, he opened the unlocked door. For a women who lived alone, she didn't keep her house very secure.

"Mother." He said as he went in.

As they turned the corner there she was. She was sitting on a black barstool, at a tall white island in the kitchen which had a semi-wall connecting it to the living room and entrance.

She had long blonde hair that almost reached her waist, and bright green eyes. She looked young, too young, far too young. Maybe it wasn't his mom. She held a black phone in her hand, up to her ear. She was on the phone and looked rather cross, though her voice continued to sound cheerful.