Gas station (Scomiche)

29

Travis put his forearm on Mitch neck to pin him to the wall, "Worthless!"

Mitch flinched at his words and shrunk in fear, "Scott doesn't think so."

Travis pushed down harder on Mitch's neck, "What? Did you not break up with him?"

Mitch widened his eyes as what he said and was about to say something when Travis slapped Mitch across the face.

"I fucking told you one thing and you didn't do it! The only reason he's still dating you anyway is because he's sorry that you're such a mistake!" Travis yelled.

Mitch wiped his eyes and felt the sting on his cheek where Travis hit him, "T-that's not t-true."

Travis chuckled, "Think about everything that's wrong with you. Your dad rapes and beats you, you're getting fat, you're broke and rely on everyone else to do shit for you, why would he want to date you anyway?"

Travis slammed the door to go take customers orders.

Mitch just sat on the ground and stared at the floor. He felt as if he wanted to throw up for what Travis said and thought about it.

Mitch got up after a couple minutes and looked at his reflection in the small mirror they had.

Mitch closed his eyes and let out a sigh before going out to finish up his shift.

~

"How was work?" Scott asked while stopping at a stop light.

Mitch cleared his throat, "Fine."

Mitch was feeling uneasy around Scott because of what Travis said. Mitch was feeling that maybe what he said about Scott not liking him was true.

"You seem off, did Travis do anything?" Scott asked.

Mitch shook his head weakly, "No he didn't do anything."

Scott sighed and pulled into his driveway, "Are you staying here or going home?"

"Home." Mitch said before getting out of the car.

Scott walked next to him and held Mitch's book bag, "I'll walk you home."

"No, I don't wanna cause you trouble, I'll be fine." Mitch assured him.

Scott looked at him and back at his house, "Okay, I'll see you at school on Monday, okay?"

Mitch nodded and turned to walk home but Scott stopped him again. Scott set Mitch's book bag down and pressed his lips against Mitch's.

Mitch immediately felt uncomfortable and pulled back, "I'm sorry."

Mitch picked up his bag and started to run to his house.

Scott watched Mitch run home and slowly walked back to his house.

"Hey honey! How was work?" Connie asked as she set down her dishrag.

Scott smiled at her, "Work was fine, but Mitch is acting weird."

Connie tilted her head and looked at the staircase where Lindsay was coming down, "Oh no, girlfriend troubles?"

Scott rolled his eyes, "Mitch is a guy, and you know that."

"He's basically a girl, he has a high voice, wears feminine clothing, wears dresses and heals." Lindsay said.

"He likes to express himself, and why does it bother you so much?" Scott challenged Lindsay.

Lindsay grabbed a water bottle and jogged upstairs without another word.

Connie sighed and looked back at Scott "What's Mitch doing?"

Scott sat down on the couch and made room for his mom, "I gave him a ride back from work and I asked him how work was and if Travis did anything-"

"Travis works when Mitch works?" Connie asked Scott frantically.

Scott slowly nodded, "Yeah, but he doesn't want me to do anything because he really wants to keep this job. He said he earned this job and nothing will stand in his way."

Connie rolled her eyes, "That doesn't matter, if his abusive ex boyfriend if around him it's not healthy for Mitch."

"He would tell me if it gets to be too much for him, but anyway I dropped Mitch off at our house and he denied me to stay here. Then I wanted to walk him home and he didn't want me to, then I tried to kiss him goodbye but he pulled away and said sorry before running home." Scott explained.

Connie bit the inside of her cheek, "I couldn't tell you what is going through his head. But my guess would be something with Travis because he was abusive to Mitch."

Scott nodded, "Travis did tell Mitch to break up with me."

Connie widened her eyes, "Why would he do that?"

Scott shrugged and stood up, "I dunno but I will talk to the manager of his work place tomorrow, I have an idea."

Connie nodded, "Please stay safe and be careful with Mitch, okay?"

"Okay, goodnight." Scott said before going up the stairs to get ready for bed.

~

Scott was driving to Mitch's job to talk to the manager.

Scott entered the store and searched around for Esther. Once he found her, he approached her, "Hey Esther."

Esther smiled at him, "What could I get you?"

Scott cleared his throat, "I was actually just coming here to talk to you about something, is that okay?"

Esther nodded and sat down at a table. Scott sat across from her and looked at the time to make sure he wasn't going to be late to school, "I was just wondering if you could maybe check the security cameras for any suspicious behavior about one of your workers."

Scott didn't want to tell Esther about how Travis may or may not be physically abusing Mitch again, so he didn't.

"We actually don't have cameras, I took them out a while ago. And who do you think is suspicious?" She asked.

Scott shrugged, "I'm pretty close with Mitch and I just want to know that he is being... Well treated here."

Esther smirked slightly and looked at the table, "So you don't trust Travis?"

Scott swallowed dryly, "I just am looking out for Mitch, and making sure of things."

Esther nodded her head, "Okay, well we don't have cameras because of expenses and I trust all of my workers, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. But may I ask why you want to know this?"

Scott bit his lip, "It's not really important but I'm just worried about Mitch."

Esther cocked her head curiously, wanting Scott to continue.

Scott sighed, "Mitch has been bullied badly before and I really don't want anything else to happen to him, he really doesn't deserve it."

"Was Travis the bully that Mitch had?" Esther asked.

Scott didn't respond to Esther, not knowing if it was okay to tell her.

Esther got the message and shifted in her seat, "Thank you for telling me, but don't you think that Mitch would quit, or tell someone if he was being bullied by Travis?"

Scott shook his head after a couple seconds, "You don't know how much this job actually means to him. He will do anything to keep this job and he said he doesn't want anything to get in the way of this opportunity."

Esther smiled a little, "He is very dedicated, but I don't know what to tell you. We don't have the money for cameras, so even if he did do anything to Mitch we wouldn't have any proof."

Scott sighed and looked at his watch, "Thank you, and I understand. I just worry about Mitch a lot. But I need to get to class now, it was nice talking to you."

Esther stood up to hug Scott bye and went back to work.

Scott turned around and exited the doors to go to class.