Teen Romance Fantasy

Act 32 (Ty)

"That's an A+ for your homework mister Wood. Well done! Where did you learn about those formulas?" Honestly, I was too stunned to speak. The homework was perfect. The freak solved every question perfectly. The longer I stared at my paper, the worse it got. It took me a minute to realise what my teacher had just said and even then I could not answer him.

It was not just me, who was confused. Louis, who was sitting right next to me, could not help but compare his homework to mine. We were not really close but it was not much of a secret that the grade valedictorian, in other words me, absolutely sucked at math. All I ever needed was a D but this time I got an A. What am I talking about? I did not just get an A. I got an A+.

How? How?! I thought the most surprising thing about the freak was that she was Siren but now I did not know anymore. Why did she purposefully want to pass every math exam with a D?

"An A+ ?! That's insane! Did you look up the answers?" Alexy just could not help but be shocked, when I showed her my homework in the break. She gasped, when she saw that I really made no mistake at all. Of course she did not know that I copied all of it from the freak.

"I don't know."

"You don't know if you looked up the answers?"

"I don't know what happened. How can it be so...perfect?"

"Babe, you're insane."

She laid her longs arms around me as loving as she was. I instantly felt the warmth rush through my entire body. My hands were trembling but my heart was calm. This familiar feeling of her being by my side, made me forget about my worries. I held her hand tightly, as though she could disappear the moment I would let go. I was scared.

We did not say anything for the rest of the break. Instead we remained in that position, knowing that we only had each other now. Neither Anthony nor anyone else looked at us anymore. We were invisible to everyone around us. 

The break ended far too soon. I hated that I had to let go of her. I hated to know that I would not be able to feel her touch until the next morning. Because of everything that had been going on, we barely got to spend time together anymore. I missed her more than anything else in the world. Perhaps I was exaggerating a little. There was someone I missed more but for that moment all that mattered was Alexy.

"Do you want to go to the spring fair with me this weekend? I'm free in the afternoon." I shouted just before she left. Alexy smiled in such a pleasant way. I loved the dimples in the corners of that smile that she wore. They made her look even more gorgeous than she had already been. If only that moment could have lasted forever.

I could not think of anything else anymore. I was going to the spring fair with Alexy. I was going with Alexy. Usually I went there with Anthony and the others but this year I was going with my girlfriend. It would be just the two of us for the entire night. I was so damn happy that I did not even notice the extra pair of shoes in our hallway. Only then, when I stepped into the kitchen, I saw him. At first he did not realise that I was standing there but eventually he turned around.

The tired brown eyes, the wrinkled tanned skin, the messy 3-day stubble beard that had clearly been growing for more than three days. As always, he looked pathetic.

"Why are you here old man?" I asked more confused than delighted.

"Oh Tyson, I didn't expect you to come home this early. I haven't finished dinner yet. Give me another ten minutes. Why don't you set the table already?"

Silently I did what he asked of me. It felt unusual to place three plates, three glasses, three forks and three knifes on the table. Usually it had only been one or two. For once the number rose to three.

"How long are you going to stay?" I asked curiously, as my heart could not stop itself from pounding loudly.

"Until the end of the week. A colleague told me about the spring fair this weekend. I know how much you like the fireworks, so I thought we could watch them together as a family. Of course I haven't asked David yet. Where is he by the way? Didn't you two come home together?"

The moment he stopped speaking, a weird flush of emotions overwhelmed me. I placed the last glass and stared at my father in disbelief. Suddenly it felt as though I was betrayed by my own flash and blood.

"David is probably staying over at a friend's place."

"In the middle of the week? That's rather careless of him to disregard his studies like this. High school is the most important time of his life."

"Are you serious right now? David is in his last year of middle school."

"Really? Isn't he going to turn sixteen next week?"

"David's birthday was two weeks ago. He turned fifteen!"

"I see... Well, why don't you study together with David? There must be a few classes you struggle with yourself. It might help to repeat a few topics from before."

Why? Why was he smiling like this? Why would he act like this? Betrayal. It was the only word I could think of. Cold and bitter betrayal. My hands would not stop shaking. My heart would not stop rushing. Anger fulfilled my deepest desires. Like a worm in the sun, I felt helpless.

"Get out..." I mumbled underneath my breath, while staring at my own two feet.

"Tyson, what's wrong?"

That was it. Something inside of me exploded. I could not control my emotions anymore. Darkness had taken over my heart, as the glass in my hand fell down on the floor and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. 

"What's wrong?! It's you! Why did you even come back?! I was doing just fine without you! I was the one that went to the doctor with David, when he had a fever! I was the one that made him breakfast every morning before school! I was the one that did his dirty laundry after his basketball games! I did all this because she isn't here anymore! She's gone! Mom is dead!"

Believe me, I did not mean to shout at him like this. I did not mean to say all those nasty things. I did not mean to mention mom. I just wanted him to look at me. Instead, he did the very opposite. He stared at the food that had slowly been burning. Not even in that moment he felt the need to face me.

"I can't take this anymore." I shut the door closed behind me and ran outside. I did not care where I was running as long as I was away from him. The wind blew through my brown hair and usually I would have enjoyed it but now I was too devastated to care.