Oddity

4

Seventh grade managed to be equally better and worse than the years before.

Middle schoolers were more judgmental. More mean. More loud. More confident. And even worse, everyone was hitting puberty.

Everyone seemed to be prettier. Not just girls. I liked the way boys looked too.

It was harder not to stare at both pretty girls, and pretty boys. Schoolwork became even less important to me in seventh grade.

All I cared about was my family, Mitch, pretty girls, pretty boys, and pretty boys named Mitch.

Girls began to talk to Mitch more in seventh grade. They would say "I've always wanted a gay best friend." This would make Mitch angry, and he would not talk to these girls.

Michael Turner had boosted the rumor about Mitch liking boys, and everyone believed him, because everyone always believed Michael Turner.

As much as I did not like Michael Turner, after puberty, he was a pretty boy as well, and I liked to look at him.

I only looked at him in secret so he would not harass me, though.

"There's nothing wrong with liking boys," I informed Mitch as we lay in the grass in the park within the trailer park where Mitch lived.

We had our feet together, laying straight out. I could not see Mitch, but he was quiet for a moment.

"I know. But I don't like boys like that," he replied simply.

I nodded, staring at the slowly moving cloud. "I do," I said back.

And all Mitch said was, "Okay."

In seventh grade, my broken family broke even more. Lindsay and Mom were arguing about Mom's drinking, as they did quite often now.

Usually they did it in private, but this time they did it over the dinner table, because Mom wanted a drink with her meal.

Once Zack grabbed my arm, looking distraught, I rose from the table without excusing myself. I guided him around the table, before taking Lauren's hand as well.

I put them both to bed, trying to ignore the yelling from downstairs.

I had never been angry with Mom over her drinking. But seeing my siblings so scared sparked something in me.

Once they were in bed, I walked back downstairs.

Mom and Lindsay were standing now, still yelling.

I approached Mom, bringing the yelling to a quiet.

I blinked once, before speaking easily. "It is not healthy for Zack and Lauren to live here with you. I want Dad to be our initial guardian, he's better for us."

It hurt when Mom's hand collided with the side of my face. It hurt more that I wasn't expecting it.

"Mom!" Lindsay exclaimed with a mixture of anger and fear. She grabbed my arm before pulling me around so I was looking at her. She crouched down instantly. "Scott? Hey, are you alright?"

She became blurry through the tears, and became clear again when the tears fell.

Mom breathed heavily, looking scared, but still angry.

Lindsay lifted me up and carried me back upstairs. She told me to pack up a backpack with some clothes, and then woke Lauren and Zack to tell them to do the same.

Mom was sitting on the couch with a beer in hand when Lindsay ushered the three of us out the front door.

She didn't say another word to her before she drove us to Dad's.