After Dark

Seventeen

Liam wakes up to Ian's alarm. He rolls his head over to stuff it in the pillow. He's too comfortable to move right now.

He can hear Ian shuffling around next to him but doesn't say anything. It's only when Ian speaks, whispers actually, that Liam finally opens his eyes and rolls over to look at Ian.

"You awake?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks again for letting me stay here last night." Ian looks slightly bashful about it but Liam just smiles back at him softly.

"Yeah, of course."

"I better be leaving now. Try to get some more sleep before your alarm goes off too, okay?" Ian's voice is incredibly soft and Liam doesn't need to be told twice. He nods and rolls over to stuff his head back in the pillow.

His window opens and he can hear Ian scrambling out. Liam tries to go back to sleep since he's got time. He does eventually, but it doesn't feel like long. Soon enough his own alarm is ringing.

With a groan Liam sits up in bed. He slides off bed and trudges over to his closet. The last thing he wants today is put that stupid uniform on and go back to school.

Today is the last day of the week. That thought gets him to not pull his hair out. He changes and slips his shoes on before going into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He walks down the stairs and about halfway down he hears it. His parents are in the living room having a conversation he probably isn't meant to hear. He looks over to see his mother waving her hands around and his father looks frustrated.

"He's your son too! I just don't understand why I'm the one that has to punish him all the time!"

"Im not concerned about all of it as much as you are." His father shook his head. "I wish his grades are better and I've talked to him about that."

"But what about the rest?!" His mother says loudly. "He's befriending people he shouldn't, he's going out all the time, he probably doesn't study anymore, he's not trying in his law classes, he won't go to any of the meetings with you. He's a failure and you're not trying to help him at all!"

"Now, Sara, that's enough." Liam's father shakes his head. "His grades are dropping yes, and he could show more effort when it comes to his future in the law firm. I am disappointed in him for how he's handling those things but a failure, really?"

She sighs. "Maybe that's a tad over dramatic."

Liam walks across the foyer and out the front door. He decides that listening to that conversation much longer won't help. He knows his father thinks he can do better in school and is disappointed in his grades. He knows his parents want him to show more interest in a career as a lawyer. He even knows his mother doesn't approve of his friends.

All that doesn't change the way he feels hearing his parents say it though. He's a failure. His mother said so herself.

Even if she took it back that doesn't mean she didn't mean it. In her eyes, he's failed. There's nothing he can do about it.

He parks in his parking spot and looks up at the school. There's nothing he can do to change the way his parents see him. There's nothing he can do about the way he isn't interested in taking over the law firm. There's nothing he wants to do about having friends his mother doesn't approve of.

However, there is something he can do about his grades.

It won't do much but easing the disappointment in both of his parent's eyes will help him feel a little bit better. Even if barely at all, it'll still help.