Short Stories

Always with you

His body was burning. He was sweating. His heart was beating fast. He was tired. His muscles ached, but he couldn't stop.

Paul, a seventeen year old guy with fluffy black hair and dark green eyes was playing basketball. It was 9 pm, the sun had just started to set. It was the middle of summer and he was at an outdoor basketball court to release all his emotions. Sports were his therapy.

He was practicing his throws. He didn't want to become a professional basketball player. He didn't know what he wanted to be. All he wanted in that moment was love.

He had been in a few relationships in his many years of living, but they were all short term and he couldn't commit to them. He always had a certain brown haired friend on his mind. Cute guy he must say.

He did his last shot before deciding that it was time to get going. It was rather annoying, he didn't want to leave, but his mom would have scolded him if he came home past curfew, if she wasn't busy fighting with his father.

The teenager sighed and picked up the ball. He placed it in his black duffle bag and started to make his way back home.

He lived close to the basketball court, so it didn't take that long. The sun was starting to set. It was the perfect golden hour. Rather comforting.

He sighed as he turned the keys to open the front door. He could hear screaming from the inside. He regretted his decision of coming home. What an imbecile.

The door opened and he took off his shoes. He closed the door behind him and entered the home.

He turned his regard towards the kitchen. His stomach turning.

"You never take time for us! Is work your only home?!" The black haired woman screamed. That was his mother. She was a few months pregnant and she was yelling at his father who was starting to turn red. "You're probably cheating on me! Who is your mistress! Is it Savannah? Just tell me the truth!" She yelled as she slapped the older man who had black hair with some gray strands. His mother had tears in her eyes.

Paul winced as he felt his heart ache. It looks like that was the straw that broke the camels back.

He saw his father grab a plate.

"You piece of shit! All you do is scream and yell all day!" He yelled as he threw that plate on the ground. That was his mom's favorite one.

She shrieked as she went onto her knees.

"That was my mothers!" She cried as she picked up the pieces.

"You have never been a mother to our son! Why are you so worried about a damn plate?! You should be worried about him!" His father screamed.

"I'm pregnant with another child! It doesn't matter what happens to the other one now! He was useless anyways!" She screamed.

Paul felt his heart break into a million little pieces. His mother always yelled at him and called him useless, always called him stupid, there was always something wrong with him. It wasn't anything new. But it hurt. It hurt to the point Paul wanted to disappear and be forgotten. Why did it hurt so much? It had been like that for the last 10 years. Why hadn't he gotten used to it?

He saw his father raise his hand. He was stuck. One part of him didn't want to see his mother get hit, but the other wanted her to get her karma.

Instead of staying and listening to the fight, he just ran up the stairs and then into his room. Once he had entered his room he fell to his knees. Tears started streaming down his cheeks. His heart was pounding and his ears were ringing. The air felt hot. His hands started to pull the locks of his hair in anger and helplessness.