A Hero I Look Up To

Plan B

Tobio arrived at home after the sudden appearance of his parents. He was lying on his bed facing up at the ceiling. There were a few things that were stuck inside of his mind. He didn't think about finding a lawyer to help him accuse his parents of child abuse since he was more focused on winning the option to stay with Chris, which would be impossible for him to handle. Alana's mistake caused a sudden change in plans. In Tobio's mind, the group moved on to plan B. Blan B was to find some ideas on the internet—specifically for Tobio and how he would have to escape.

Tobio knew his parents wouldn't make him anything for dinner once he came home, so he sat up from his bed and walked straight towards the door. He opened the door, then rushed downstairs, trying to not make any noise. The moment he made it downstairs, he went straight to the kitchen to get what he needed to make a ham and cheese sandwich. As he opened the fridge, he saw some moldy food lying there. When he glanced at his mother, she cocked her head to one side.

"What are you doing?" His mother questioned. "Take out any moldy food lying in the fridge for us while you get your meak."

The mother smiled with only her lips, but despite that, Tobio accepted without hesitation. He searched for some food that were moldy, but glanced at the moldy blue cheese on the right left side of the fridge. Tobio remembered the pungent smell of moldy cheese since he had dealt with it before. He held his nose and silently made his way to the trash can, stepped on the pedal so the cover shot wide open, and dumped the cheese into the trash can. He returned to the fridge and took the nearest things for his ham and cheese sandwich—white bread, a used package of cheddar cheese, and a used package of ham. Then he made his way to the counter and placed the items on the counter.

Tobio took a paper plate out of the nearest drawer and placed it on the table. He remembered the directions on how to make a sandwich, starting with the bread, then the toppings. Considering that it's Tobio, he'd place the bread first, then put the ham, then cheese after that, topping it off with the second slice of bread. After he finished, he tied up the bread bag, zipped the ham and cheese packages closed, and made his way to the fridge. He opened the fridge, gently putting it back to where all the items belonged and closed the fridge shut.

***

Tobio arrived back upstairs to munch on his ham and cheese sandwich and suddenly saw his phone then on. As he saw his phone, Loid sent a link to a website. As Tobio picked up his phone, the phone started to vibrate again, showing another text message.

I thought this would be good for planning.

Tobio was surprised that he'd sent a website. He also saw that he was added into a group chat, which surprised him. Before he was able to put his right thumb onto the link, Alana sent something.

Woah, this website is super duper useful!

That's when Tobio decided to type, let me check it out!

Tobio clicked the link using his right thumb. The link led him to a website about the best ten ways to defy a parent's demands, written by someone who had experience with it. He scrolled through the article to find number ten to be, "Tell your parents how you really feel!"

Suddenly, a text came from Loid in a private chat.

Tobio, I'd like to ask about plan B. You know how I suggested that three months ago... and now you bring it up? Did you remember that from the top of your head? Loid questioned. And did you read the article I sent in the chat?

Tobio took a quick read on that notification and went back to reading the article, with notifications from Loid and Alana still running. Tobio suddenly jolted, remembering that Loid planned that idea before. Plan B had those same details that Tobio mentioned after school, but he completely forgot about it until now.