Chicago High

The Halstead's

Jay sat down on the edge of his bed mindlessly tossing a football at his wall. His eyes scanned his bedroom, wondering what his parents would do with all of his things once he made it into the army. All he's ever wanted was to do something important, be somebody, a hero. He paused, letting the ball bounce past him and fall onto the floor bouncing out until it lay flat against the carpet.

A mountain of homework sat atop of his desk, textbooks bookmarked to pages he was dreading having to read through. He wasn't naturally studious but he needed the grades to leave this place, to have some kind of future.

He could hear voices from downstairs, his father yelling at Will over something he did or didn't do, it never really mattered, they were always yelling. Jay was the quiet one who usually stayed out of trouble, but his brother wasn't like that. Will was always partying or getting into shit he shouldn't be doing, bunking off school, smoking pot out his window, staying out late with girls, the list was endless.

After the sound of Will's bedroom door being slammed started to echo through the house, Jay fed his arms through his jacket sleeves and slipped his feet back into his boots. He needed to get out of this house, needed fresh air to clear his mind, get him away from this shit he was trying so hard not to deal with.

Halfway down the stairs, he could already see his father sitting down on the couch, face in hands as if he was struggling to deal with what was going on, he did that a lot and Jay felt bad for it. He knew he wasn't adding stress to his father's life, not right now anyway. He already knew that his father would have many opinions about him joining the army after high school; none of them would be good.

He made it to the final step before the staircase creaked and his father looked behind himself to see who was there. Jay sheepishly stepped forward. "I was just going to the gas station, get air in my bike tires." He lied, hoping that was enough of an excuse for the man. His father nodded his head, face softening at the one good son, the son who gave him no trouble at all. "Your mom keeps asking about you." He said softly, flashing his teen in an awkward smile. Jay nodded his head but his eyes darted from side to side, avoiding meeting the older man's gaze.

It was hard to face the truth at times, hard for Jay to really focus on what was happening in his life. His mother no longer lived at home, no longer greeted him at the front door after school, or sat across from him at the dinner table. Things were different and he didn't want to deal with that now.

Jay turned towards the front door, bike helmet in his hand. "I should head out before it gets too dark." He told the older man, stepping away from his view finally. He walked out the front door and didn't pause to hear the lock hit the latch. He buckled himself into his bike helmet and pushed his bicycle out of their front gate and straight onto the sidewalk out front. He didn't enjoy having to ride everywhere but it beat waiting around for a bus every time he wanted to go anywhere. He didn't turn back; if he had he would have seen his brother watching him from his bedroom window.

This neighbourhood wasn't Jay's favourite. They used to live somewhere nicer; somewhere that Jay was proud to call his home. Their health insurance was barely covering his mother's medical bills, and since she wasn't working they didn't have a lot of spare money lying around. Downsizing was their only option, so was changing to a public school. It wasn't like he was a snob but he missed his old life, missed his friends, his teachers, people who gave a shit about him.

The afternoon breeze was cold and soon his face was a bright pink colour, he tucked his head down to try and avoid some of the wind but it didn't help him much. The corner store he was after was a few blocks away, but he liked the larger candy selection there. He wasn't really a sweet tooth but lately, he'd needed an excuse to get out of the house, get away from his mess of a family. His father was depressed, his brother was a menace and Jay felt like he was drowning in all of their problems, so much so that they'd forgotten that he had his own, that he even existed. He left his bike in the bike racks out front, not having anything to tie it up with he trusted that it was too cheap looking that nobody would bother stealing it. He left his helmet sitting on the handlebars and walked into the small store.

The warmth hit him straight away, as did the old radio playing through the speakers in the back corner. He wandered down the aisles aimlessly staring at anything and everything. He was stalling time so he didn't have to go straight home. His finger trailed across one of the shelves, he wiped the dust on the back of his trousers before walking down the candy aisle, his intended destination. He let out a soft sigh and crouched down to the bottom shelf to pick up a packet of M&M's.

"I didn't think you were an M&M kind of guy." A voice interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He looked up and nearly lost his balance.
She placed her hand on his arm to steady him and Jay offered her a brief smile. "Um yeah, I'm in the mood for some of the peanut ones, but I guess they're all out." He answered, eyes scanning the shelves again as he rose to his feet.

She nodded her head and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Oh wait, here you go." She said once she had spotted a packet on the other side of the shelf, right next to the peanut butter cups. She picked one up and handed them over to Jay who was still stunned to even be seeing someone he knew outside of the school gates. "Yeah, thanks." He said with a nod, looking down at the small packet in his hands.

"That's okay; I mean who doesn't put all the M&M's together?" She asked with a voice filled with laughter.

"Hey, they have their own system, I respect that." He joked, leaning across her to grab another packet. "I'm stocking up, saves me coming back tomorrow." He told her with a genuine grin on his face this time.

She chuckled at that and kneeled down to pick a few packets of the candy she had been looking for.

As it turned out they were both only there to buy their candy, Jay walked over towards the counter and offered to pay for hers, but she shook her head and held up the box of tampons she'd grabbed on the way past. He scrunched up his nose, but they shared a laugh until Jay had to turn around and pay for his food.

He held open the door for Gabby who rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the store. "Is that your bike?" She asked when Jay started heading in the direction of the bike rack. "Ah. Yeah, that would be mine." He was slightly embarrassed by his mode of transportation despite knowing he didn't have to be ashamed at all.

"Do you have someplace to be?" She asked him, not ready to say goodbye just yet.

Jay shook his head. "What did you have in mind?"