My Beautiful Boy ✔️

18

Me and Alayna sit in the principal's office, staring at the desk in front of us. Our hair was soaked with water and our clothes were damp, as well. We dare not make eye contact in case we burst out into laughter, which won't help our case.

"Answer me this," The principal, Joel Crane, says, interlocking his fingers and placing them on his desk. "Why were you in the pool after hours?" He asked, and I cleared my throat, glancing at Alayna. She has done nothing wrong in this situation. She followed me into the natatorium, and it's not her fault that we're sitting here.

"Erm... we're sorry." I say. "We thought anyone was allowed in." I add, nodding my head. Joel sighs, dropping his head and shaking it.

"We're... we're really sorry, Mr. Crane. I promise it won't happen again." Alayna says, and Joel stares at her. He sighs, gesturing for us to leave his office.

"Go get dried up and leave. I don't want to see you in the indoor pool after hours, again." Joel sighs, and me and Alayna get to our feet, hurrying to get out of the office. My hand is on her back as I close the door behind me.

She lets out a sigh of relief as soon as there's distance between us and the principal. "Oh, gosh." She whispers, grabbing all of her hair into one hand and squeezing out the excess water. I watch as the water drips onto the clean floor.

"Shall we get home?" I asked her, grinning. "Your parents are probably wondering where you are." I state, and she nods her head before we begin to walk down the hallway.

"You know, that was fun." She smiles, turning to look at me. "A lot more fun than I've had in a while. I kinda like the thrill of running through college without any consequences." She explains, and an idea pops into my head. An idea that may be stupid, considering we were just in trouble, but if it makes Alayna happy and thrilled, I might just risk it.

"Yeah?" I grin, before taking her head and I'm pulling her towards me as I run down the corridor. Alayna squeals, squeezing my hand as she trails behind me. We turn corners and she's giggling and laughing as I drag her behind me.

Eventually, we end up at one of the exits leading to the student car park. Me and Alayna are pushing against the door, in a heap of laughter as we keel over, our hands on our knees. We're breathing heavily, trying to catch our breath and Alayna is staring at me, a massive grin on her face.

"Now, that was fun." She laughs, and my hands are on my hips, my face tilted to the sky and my eyes closed as I take in huge breaths.

***

I leave my house in shorts, a hoodie, and a gym back swung over my shoulder. I decided a few nights ago that it's time I get back into shape and start exercising once again. It's been about half a year since I last stood on a treadmill, and I think it's important for my mental health for me to get back into that routine.

There's a gym that is a twenty minute walk from my house, and I start the trek to it, my earphones in. My go-to playlist consists of The Weeknd and Lana Del Ray mixed with a little bit of Chase Atlantic. My eyes catch a glimpse of familiar blonde hair and Gracie turns around to face me just as I notice her. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Dawson? What are you doing here?" Gracie asked as we stood near the entrance of the gym, facing each other. "I haven't seen you here before."

"Yeah, I haven't been in a few months." I tell her, dragging my eyes down her body. She's wearing leggings that make her ass look a lot bigger than it actually is and she's wearing a pink crop top with a fleece on top of it.

"Oh. Well, do you wanna do your set with me?" She asked, but I was very reluctant to workout with other people, mostly because of insecurities. I'd rather Gracie didn't work with me. "I'm gonna start on the leg machine." She says, her gaze dropping to my bare calves.

"Actually, I usually do half an hour on the treadmill." I say, pressing my lips together. "Sorry, maybe another time." I say, and she nods her head before saying goodbye to me and walking into the gym. I sign in and make my way to the treadmill, ready to shatter my legs and my body in a tiring gym workout.

***

It's almost midnight when I get home. The house is suspiciously silent, and I turn on the hallway light as I walk through. I hear a crash in the distance, and my bag is thrown on the floor as I run into the kitchen.

Mum is crouching on the floor, picking up the pieces of a broken glass jar. "Shit," She sniffles, and I clear my throat, getting her attention. Her head snaps up, and her bloodshot eyes are blazing into mine. Her mouth is wide and her skin is pale. "Oh, hi, Dawson." She mumbles.

"What are you doing?" I asked, kneeling next to her and helping her carefully pick up the broken glass. "Are you drunk?"

"...No." She sniffles once more, and I sigh, shaking my head. "I'm sorry." She cries, collapsing onto the floor, leaning on the cupboard behind her. Mum drops her head into her hands, her body shaking. "Your dad and I got into a fight and he stormed out."

Hesitantly, I reach out and rest my hand on her shoulder, slowly caressing her with my thumb. "Erm... What did you and dad fight about?" I asked, silently hoping that he stormed out forever. I hope he's out of our lives permanently.

"It was about-" Her words are cut off by the sound of the front door opening. I close my eyes, my head dropping to the ground. So much for staying out of our lives permanently. Mum sighs, her lip quivering as I hear footsteps condescending towards us. Then, he's behind us. I hold my breath.

"What's going on?" I hear his rough voice, and I'm turning my head to look at him. His eyebrows are furrowed in confusion and his eyes are flickering from me to mum. I slowly rise to my feet, placing my hands on my hips. My legs ache from working out for two hours, so I winced as I stood.

"Where'd you go, dad?" I mumble, running a hand through my hair. Mum holds out her arm and I take a hold of her wrist, pulling her to her feet. She clings on to me, one of her hands around my shoulder.

"I was working." He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's wrong with you?" He asked mum, turning his attention towards her. She doesn't reply. I sigh, closing my eyes before facing back to my dad just as he raises his eyebrow.

"She's drunk." I huff, glancing from my mum to my dad. She has a small frown on her face and he is glaring at the both of us like we just committed a crime. "Clearly, you're both incapable of living without the other, so I'm gonna leave you to it." I mumble, letting go of mum.

"Dawson, wait-" Mum tries to hold on to me, but I pull away from her grip and walk out of the kitchen. Mum has never been there for me. She thinks that the empty threats she receives from Stawarski are miles more dangerous than the physical pain I have been through. She doesn't understand that I need help and neither she nor my father are offering it to me. She doesn't understand that she can't just get drunk whenever there's a minor inconvenience.