The Mark

7

Josh's POV:

As much as I hate to admit it, I hated seeing my friends hurting that fag. I don't like him but I wasn't going to let them kill him. Besides I have to keep him around. He's fun to mess with. I did the right thing right?

"You okay there Joshy?" My little sister Abigail breaks me from my thoughts. Her question causes the rest of my family to cast their gaze at me. We're sitting at the table together eating a dinner my mom prepared. Tonight's meal was chicken casserole. It was actually one of my favorite meals that my mom would make. I could feel their eyes on me as I push around some of the food on my plate, looking up to meet the eyes of my mother. We've always had a close connection.

"Josh you've barely eaten. I know you love this meal. Is something wrong?" Here she goes. Her eyes feel with worry.

"Yeah I'm okay mom. I just saw something at school today that made me a bit sick to my stomach, ruining my appetite. Thank you for asking though." I give her a soft smile.

"Oh siccckkkk was it like a dead frog being dissected or something?!" Jordan intervened in an excited tone. He was my little brother and was in that gross preteen phase. Everyone averts their eyes to him and let out a disgusted groan.

"Jordan," My father shook his head with a stern look. "Not at the dinner table." Jordan smirked and went back to his plate.

I let out a chuckle and pick up my fork and place the food into my mouth. Even though I don't really want to eat I would rather not worry my mother. Dinner continues as normal with light conversation here and there. After everyone has finished their meals I take the dishes and help my mother clean them while everyone else went to their respective places.

"You know you can tell me anything honey." Mom says as she hands me a sudsy glass.

"I know mom."

"I can tell something is upsetting you. A mother always knows." She gives me a wink.

"Moooommmm you don't have to worry."

"It's my job. Now what is making my baby boy feel this way hmm?"

I roll my eyes at her nickname as I continue to rinse whatever she hands me. I let out a chuckle to keep the room light.

"It's really nothing mama. My friends are just a bit dumb." Not a full lie but not a full truth. She's never met my friends so she doesn't know the type of people they are.

"Well honey if you don't like something they did or said then maybe they aren't right for you." She sighs. "I know you're a good boy Josh. Be better than the rest."

"I'll try mama. For you."

"Try for yourself baby. If you do that then I'll always be proud of you." She turns to face me as the water drain out of the sink. I finish rinsing the last dish. I look and give her a soft smile. She'd be so upset with me if she knew how I treated some people at school. All she knows is that I'm her straight A student with pretty decent attendance.

"I love you my baby boy." She cuts the silence. "Thank you for helping me."

"You're welcome mama. I'm gonna head down and finish on some homework. I love you" I give her a kiss on the cheek while I wipe my hands off on a hand towel and make my way downstairs to my room in the basement. Luckily with me being the oldest I got first pick of rooms so that meant I got the entire finished basement all to myself.

I let out a loud frustrated sigh and crash backwards onto my bed. I run my hands onto my face and through my hair tugging it slightly. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" I whisper to myself. I squeeze my eyes shut hoping it would ease my thoughts. I open them and stare blankly at the ceiling continuing to be frustrated with myself. I'm glad I helped Tyler but I hate to know what my friends are going to think. What do I tell them? If they ask what happened what do I say? 'I just left him there after making sure he wasn't dead.' I mean that is quite believable. Whatever. I'll just deal with them in a couple days. Thankfully today was Friday meaning the weekend was starting. Luckily weekends mean I get to stay in my room not worrying about the jackasses that follow me around like lost puppies at school. I do like them and they're fun to be around but sometimes I need a break. A break. Sounds really nice right now. Maybe a shower will help.

I lift myself off from the bed and make my way over to my bathroom and start the water. While waiting for it to warm up I start to undress myself. After pulling off my long sleeve shirt I examine my body in the mirror. I've been working out during school. My third block was weight class and I've been working on my arms the most. It was almost like a way to take my anger out. It was nice. Relaxing. I know another way to take my anger out... Tyler. I don't know why I specifically target him. Maybe it's because he challenges me back, keeping me on my toes. Thinking about him and what happened today really pisses me off. I don't know if I'm more upset with the fact that I helped him or that they hurt him without me knowing. I don't know.

I continue to look at my arms and look at a hand shaped mark that appeared on my right forearm last June on my birthday. I run my other hand over the mark and trace it delicately with my fingers and admire it for a moment. God I hope my soulmate is nice. Ironic. I"m not nice to others really.

I shake my head to rid the thoughts. Taking a deep breath I step into the shower and let the warm water run over me for awhile. Relaxing as the water kisses my skin.