Dreamer

Chapter 8: Planet Earth Called...

Things haven't improved in the slightest. In fact, things are somehow worse. Jamie's parents are arguing every day. When they aren't arguing, Jamie's mum is miserable and distant while his dad is more grumpy than normal. Jamie couldn't remember the last time he sat with his parents in the same room after dinner. The routine was get home from school, eat and go to his room

That's where Jamie was now. It was a bit after nine and he was under the covers. He had spent the last hour trying to fall asleep without much luck. Tom had been messaging him earlier but he had fallen asleep so Jamie was alone with his thoughts. He was now on his phone and started watching some YouTube. His eyes slowly blinked as he got closer to falling asleep entirely.

When Jamie opened his eyes for about the twentieth time, he recognized everything around him had changed. He perked up, realising he had finally fallen asleep. Jamie was standing on a path in the open park. Chris suddenly pulled up beside him on a bike. "Hey!" Chris smiled happily. "Hey, I'm finally here" Jamie replied, equally as happy. "Missed me?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow. "Of course" Jamie replied and laughed.

"Good, let's go!" Chris announced, motioning to the other bike on the other side of Jamie. He picked it up and he rode his bike beside Chris down the long path towards the park. When they reached the end, they dumped the bikes and sat down breathlessly. Jamie exhaled as he sat down with Chris sitting beside him.

"So what's new?" Chris asked Jamie. The question caught Jamie a bit off guard and he tensed up. Chris immediately saw the change in Jamie's body language and instantly knew it wasn't good. "Oh, I'm sorry" Chris apologised, nudging closer to Jamie. "It's fine... It's just... Really difficult at the moment, at home and stuff" Jamie replied sadly.

Chris tilted his head as he stared at Jamie. "Have you talked to Tom about it?" Chris asked. Jamie scoffed and shook his head a little. "He knows my dad is... Well, not nice at all. But apart from that he doesn't know it all. I find it a bit difficult to talk to him about this kind of stuff" Jamie answered.

"Why? He's your best friend" Chris replied. "I-I know but me and him are different in some ways and... Well I just don't find it easy to talk about personal stuff to him" Jamie explained as Chris nodded. "What about me? Do you think you could... Talk to me about stuff like that?" Chris shyly asked, eyeing Jamie.

Jamie looked at Chris and their eyes locked. "Yeah... I guess I can talk to you about it. I don't know why but... I feel comfortable talking to you about stuff" Jamie admitted. For the first time ever, Jamie opened up to someone about his personal problems with his parents. He didn't find it awkward or anything of the sort. Jamie just felt relaxed and happy to tell someone what things were really like at home.

"Planet Earth called, they want to know if Jamie the astronaut is coming back?" Tom stated with a sigh, waving his hand in front of Jamie's face. Jamie snapped back into reality and looked at Tom. "Sorry, what's up?" Jamie asked his friend. "I should be asking you that, you've barely said anything all day" Tom replied.

"My bad" Jamie half smiled as Tom sighed again. "Well once you've returned from the land ignore me all day, do you want to tell me what's up? It's not about Lucy again is it? That race has been dragging on for like two weeks now. You've got to catch up to her at some point" Tom stated and Jamie shook his head.

"No it's not about Lucy again" Jamie reassured him. "Okay so then what is it?" Tom pushed on. "Just... Family stuff, you know" Jamie shrugged. "Alright, if you want to talk about it you know where I am. I'm sure I can fit you in when you eventually decide to talk about it" Tom joked, making Jamie roll his eyes.

The pair said their goodbyes, Jamie walked to his class he saw Lucy by herself in the corridor. Jamie slowed down as he saw the opportunity to finally talk to her. His heart was racing and his legs were like jelly. But before he could approach her, a friend of hers ran over to Lucy and they began talking and laughing. Jamie sighed and carried on walking. I best not tell Tom, he'll go on about it until we're both old and wrinkly as hell. Jamie mumbled in his mind unhappily.

Jamie walked up his street, his hands deep in his pockets as he was lost in deep thought. He tried to be a bit more present around Tom but it wasn't easy. Luckily for him, Tom was understanding and patient. Jamie sighed as he look at his house in front of him. Oh I do wonder if we will need a referee for this argument. Jamie thought to himself as he pulled out his keys.

The door opened and instantly Jamie could hear it. But this time was different. His parents were just shouting at each other. They were yelling. This was a bad one, the worst one yet. Jamie sheepishly approached the living room where the huge argument was taking place.

"I'm sick of it! Every single day it's the same! I do everything in this house!" His mum shouted. "You're sick of it!? I'm the one who's sick of it! Every day you bend my ear, telling me do this, do that! I'm not a dog!" His dad yelled back. "No but you act like a child!" She yelled in response. "Oh whatever! I'm sick of this shit!" He angrily answered.

"Enough! Every single day it's the same! I thought things would get better but they haven't, it's just got worse! I hate it here! I hate it here because of you! You treat me like shit you treat mom like shit! I'm so unhappy and it's because of you!" Jamie screamed at his parents.

For the first time ever, his parents were stunned by Jamie. He had never snapped at them. Or snapped in front of them. But now Jamie's mum could see what Jamie is going through. Her face softened and she fought back the tears the best she could. "I... I'm so sorry Jamie, I never thought about how you're feeling seeing us argue like this" she said softly.

Jamie shrugged, wiping away his tears. Jamie's mum turned to his dad. "This can't go on anymore. I'm trying to hold onto hope that things will settle between us but they won't... Unless something changes then... Then you have to go. Leave for good" she told him. He looked at both Jamie and his mum. "You know what?" He began and paused. They both waited for an answer. In his mind, he made it.

"I'm done" was all Jamie's dad said. He walked past the pair and upstairs. They were both stunned. Jamie slowly looked at his mum and placed a hand on her arm to sooth her as she cried silently. Fifteen minutes later and his dad was out the door. He didn't say anything, not a 'see you later.' Not even a kiss goodbye. But truthfully, it wasn't a surprise. That was him all over...