Social Pariah

SMILE

Lucas followed the path towards his home in a state of confusion. He felt slightly light-headed after suddenly remembering the memories in his head. Still, he tried to calm himself down and walked slowly until he reached his house.

"Oh, Lucas, you're here. Just change first your clothes and we're going to eat dinner. Don't you dare tell me you're busy again," warned her Mom.

Lucas nodded. "I won't Mom. I'll just go upstairs and change."

Taken aback by the sudden change in Lucas's way of answering, her mother gaped. "Very well. Just be sure to be quick. We can't keep the food waiting."

"Of course, Mom," replied Lucas nonchalantly as he went upstairs. He felt a little bit relieved that he didn't answer back again. These past few days had made it harder for him to talk with his Mom. He felt guilty for blowing off on her and he didn't know what to say during their dinner later. Still, he cannot afford to skip dinner again or his Mom would really be angry at him.

Lucas got out some clothes from his wardrobe and put it on before going outside of his room. He slowly walked downstairs, pausing ever five seconds to contemplate on how he should control himself while they would eat. Finally, he arrived at the dining room and he sat down in the chair farthest to her Mom's.

"This is the first time you haven't answered back for ages, Lucas. You always find a way to disobey me." His Mom shook his head in disappointment. "I don't even know why you're acting this way. Can't you enlighten me at all?"

Lucas bit his lip before saying, "Mom, I'm really sorry if I'm an asshole – "Language, Lucas!" exclaimed his Mom – in this household. I'm so sorry for being so sarcastic and angry all the time. It's just, I'm really stressed with everything and I need some rest."

"You mean, you need rest from all your studies?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lucas shook his head and sighed. "I've done some bad things to my friends and I hadn't even realized it. I didn't know how hard I hurt them and I didn't even know that I'm – "

A choked sob escaped Lucas's mouth but he put a hand to his mouth to prevent himself from crying.

His Mom frowned at Lucas. "Son, don't stress yourself too much. We're all humans and we make mistakes. The most important thing is we accept that we did that mistake and learn from it instead of wallowing in our own self-pity and being very selfish to other people. Sure, you did something bad but that doesn't mean you can't change. You, and only you Lucas, can truly change yourself."

"You sound like Dad," pointed out Lucas. "Maybe that's why he married you."

His Mom laughed. "Believe me, he's smarter and much more knowledgeable than me. I think you sound more like him. You know the saying 'like father, like son'? That applies to you." She winked.

In that moment, Lucas sent his Mom a smile...and this time, he knew it was real.