Poison- H.S

three

The porch lights at my house are on and dad's car is parked at the top of the driveway. I pull up next to his car and turn mine off, getting out and locking it behind me. I don't waste time walking from my truck to the safety and security that is my home.

When I walk inside the house, dad is sitting on the couch watching a football game. He turns and when his eyes meet mine, his face brightens up a little bit. ""Hunter!" He says as I close the door and take my jacket off. He's wearing an Oregon Ducks team jersey and is holding a coke in one of his hands.

"Hi dad," I smile, walking over to him and sitting next to him on the couch.

"You just missed it, we had the best touchdown right before you walked in," he says happily, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Sweet," I say, laughing at his excitement. My mood is immediately lifted. He seems to always distract me from dark lurking thoughts and put me in a good mood.

"Matt should be here—" he starts to say before he's cut off by a knock at the door. "Now I guess."

He hops up from the couch and strolls towards the front door like a young teenage boy would when his best friend comes over. When he opens it, Matt walks inside, wearing jeans and a blue hoodie.

"Hey Matt," he greets him with a hand shake, "It's been awhile since we've all watched a game together."

"Yeah, I can barely remember the last time," Matt laughs, slipping his shoes off.

Matt used to come over all the time to watch football games with my dad and me. It'd be a usual hobby, just relaxing and watching the game with two out of three of my favorite people.

"Well come on," dad says to Matt and they both walk over to where I'm sitting on the couch and each sit down on a side of me, dad to my right and Matt to my left.

"Hey," Matt greets me while getting comfortable.

"Hey Matt," I smile at him, and then turn my head back towards the T.V. It's kind of awkward, being around him. I don't know why though, it shouldn't be awkward. We've been best friends for years now.

"So," my dad says, cutting through the silence. "How was school today?"

"Good," Matt and I both say in unison.

"Good," he says, getting up from the couch. "I'm going to get another coke, you two want anything?" He asks.

"I'm good," I say. "You?" I turn to Matt.

"I'll take a coke," he says, raising his index finger in the air.

It's silent for a few moments after my dad leaves the living room to retrieve a couple of cokes. Then, out of nowhere, Matt turns towards me with a big smile on his face.

"Remember that one time a few years ago when you, me, and Regina snuck into the school after dark? When we were stranded and were waiting for your dad to come pick us up?" He asks.

"When we found Ms. Hanson's box of condoms hidden in her desk?" I ask, laughing as I speak. "Regina took a couple of them and set them on her desk, she was so mad the next day and tried to blame it on naughty students."

We both laugh. "I always knew her and Mr. Braxton shared a creepy interest in each other," Matt says.

"Yeah, I always noticed some mutual tension between them. But that class wouldn't have been as fun if Ms. Hanson wasn't there, we got nothing done but didn't get in trouble for it," I say, reminiscing about all the good times we had in that class.