Elemental Academy

Chapter 27 - Different

Slayzes got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Cathy walked into the house silently and Skylah stood in front of Slayzes.

"Slayzes, do you want something?" Skylah asked after about a total minute's worth of silence. "Maybe we could go for a walk?"

"I'll see you later, Skylah," was all Slayzes said before he gave her a hug and walked inside. He closed the door behind him and quickly ran up to his room. He quietly closed his bedroom door and slid down to the floor, crying, and his hands covering his face.

It shouldn't have been like this. Tim should be here. But now his ashes were going to be in a stupid gold jar in a few weeks. This wasn't fair.

***

A few days later Slayzes was home alone. He took the opportunity to go through his father's things before Cathy came back from work and caught him snooping. But before Slayzes could set foot into his father's old bedroom, there was a ring from the doorbell.

As Slayzes walked down the stairs, he thought about how surreal everything felt at the moment. He was wishing that everything was a dream when he got home, but then Slayzes woke up the next morning and realised it wasn't a dream. Slayzes arrived downstairs and opened the door. He was surprised to see that standing in front of him was Riley. But he was filled with joy too.

"Riley!" Slayzes exclaimed quickly. He hugged her and realised that Riley's baby bump was much more realisable than before. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Skylah told me what happened." Slayzes stopped hugging Riley and his emotion changed as well. "I'm really sorry. So I decided that I'd come and visit. Dad and Mum are at the motel with Noah. I wanted to attend the funeral, if that's OK with Cathy?"

"It doesn't matter," Slayzes muttered. "Cathy can't stop you from attending. I hate her so much. She hates you and she won't stop giving me a hard time for what happened."

"Yeah. Mum is doing the same thing. A lot. But she still likes you. And Dad is just going silent when the subject is brought up. He still likes you too."

"Right." Slayzes was so happy to see Riley, but Riley soon had to leave when Cathy returned from work. Slayzes noticed the glare Cathy gave Riley when was just walking outside of the house.

"Bye Riley. Thanks for coming," Slayzes said before the door was closed by Cathy. There was a slight pause for a second and then Slayzes felt like it was right to speak his mind. "Can you stop being mean to her?" Slayzes asked as Cathy began to go upstairs.

"I didn't say anything." Cathy said in a denying voice.

"You glared at her!" Slayzes began to follow Cathy into the kitchen. "I get that you're not happy with what I did, but suck it up, Cathy!" Slayzes growled, forgetting that he was beginning to call Cathy by her name and not mum anymore.

"Cathy?"

"You aren't my mother!" Slayzes said quickly.

"I've known you for years, Slayzes. Even when your mother was still alive. I thought -"

"You thought wrong! Riley is pregnant! So what? Get the hell over it, because you can't do anything and it's my child." Slayzes stormed into his bedroom and slammed the door closed. He kicked his bed and remembered that the funeral was in two days. He didn't want any of this happening.