Bright Lights

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Isn't it weird how almost everyone in FEU is super rich?" I asked Toby as I munched on a french fry.

Toby and I were sitting near the edge of the cliff, enjoying the view and eating the food he bought.

"I guess," Toby shrugged. "But you can't really expect any less considering the tuition fees are so goddamn expensive. Like if you're not rich, you're not welcome,"

"Fair point. I guess I don't really fit in then," I said, chuckling.

"Why?"

"The only reason Zach and I are in FEU is because our biological father is paying for it,"

"Care to explain more about that?" He shifted towards me.

I hesitated.

"I mean, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Toby added.

"No, it's okay. I just don't know where to start,"

Toby opened his mouth to answer but I cut him off, "And if you say 'from the beginning', I'm gonna punch you,"

He burst out laughing, "Sorry,"

"Wherever you wanna start then," he said sheepishly.

"Well," I started. "My mom got pregnant at the age of 20. It was summer that time, and my father who was the son of a business tycoon got sent to our small town to take care of some things. He met my mom and they immediately fell in love. You know, typical summer love story,"

Toby nodded, listening intently.

"Anyways," I continued. "My mom got pregnant with Zach, and my dad who originally planned to stay for two months only, decided to stay longer. My mom had to stop going to college. My dad stayed throughout my mom's whole pregnancy but two days after Zach was born, my dad left, claiming that there was an emergency and that he'd come back soon after, but it wasn't exactly 'soon'. When Zach turned three years old, that's when my dad came back. Mom had already forgotten about him then and tried to raise Zach on her own. Apparently, there was a huge problem with their business which is why it took a while for him to return and mom took him back just like that for Zach's sake, and I guess she thought he'd stay because she got pregnant again. Shortly after mom found out that she was pregnant with me, my dad left again. After I was born, mom went to look for him in the city but when she found him, dad was already married. Apparently, mom stayed strong and promised to leave them alone as long as he pays child support,"

I sighed deeply, thinking about what mom has been through and how hard it must have been for her.

"You can stop if you want," Toby said gently.

"It's okay," I reassured him. "I don't even miss him or anything. I mean, there will always be a part of me who wants to have a real father but I've accepted the fact long ago that I might never get that. I've never even seen him in person, only in photos. I talked to him on the phone frequently when I was younger though but he doesn't really call much now. I don't even remember what we used to talk about. I guess you could say we have an 'okay' relationship, but Zach's a different story. He hates the guy. He doesn't even call him 'dad', he just refers to our father by his name. I think it's because Zach actually got to be part of a complete family for a while and I guess it was hard for him to get robbed of that,"

"So that's why I've never heard Zach talk about your father," Toby nodded understandingly.

"So what's your story?" I asked Toby, trying to get my mind off the story of my sad life.

"Are you sure you want to know? My life story's not exactly happy," he frowned.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," I smiled at him, repeating what he had said a while ago.

He chuckled. "Eh, it's fine,"

"My dad died when I was three," Toby started grimly. "I vaguely recall having a normal, happy family before my dad died in a car accident. Then everything just went downhill from there. My mom got depressed and started turning to drugs and alcohol and used up all of my dad's money. Next thing I knew it, our Colonial house was seized and we were forced to move to a small, run-down house in a town not too far from here. Then my mom started beating me whenever she was mad, taking out all of her frustrations on me. She rarely came home and when she did, she was either drunk or high. Sometimes, her friends would come by the house and do drugs in the living room. My mom stopped paying any attention to me. All that mattered to her was getting drunk or getting high. At the age of ten, I started taking care of myself. But there was this old lady who lived next door who was alone most of the time because her husband was away often. I don't think I would have survived without her. When I was left home alone in the winter without a heater, she'd call me over and let me sleep near the fireplace in her living room. She would feed me when my mom wasn't home, take care of me when I was sick. She made me feel like I had a mother,"

Toby stopped and smiled a bit, probably thinking about the old woman who had saved his life. It made me sad thinking about how hard he had it at such a young age, but also in awe of how strong he was. It made me want to reach over and give him a hug but I stopped myself.

"When I turned fourteen," Toby continued. "I knew I couldn't depend on her anymore so I tried to find a job, and I did. I had ventured off to an unfriendly part of town one night and I found this underground street fighting ring. Somehow, I ended up collecting the money from the bets during fights. They didn't pay me much but it was enough for food. When I turned sixteen, the guys who managed the ring said that they saw potential in me. After that, I had gone from a bet collector to a street fighter. It was a dangerous job. There weren't exactly any rules. What mattered was knocking out your opponent, but I got a lot of money from that and I started loving what I was doing, not because of the money but because it was a way for me to forget about my miserable life. When I graduated from high school, I had planned to go to a state college and find a place of my own with the money I had saved from streetfighting. But somehow, my grandparents from my father's side found me and got me into FEU. There, I met Ki, Zach, Otto, Wiggy, and I had a family again,"

I couldn't imagine how Toby remained strong after all of that. It amazed me how he still had the courage to go on and smile like nothing's wrong.

"After fifteen years, I was finally free from my mother. I haven't seen her since," Toby finished.

I stared at Toby, observing the emotions flashing in his eyes - happiness, relief, sadness. Even though things are better for him, I knew that the pain from his past still lingered and at that moment, I didn't hold myself back. I reached over and hugged him.

He was taken aback at first, frozen in his spot. He clearly didn't expect that I'd hug him but after a few seconds, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around my torso.

"Thanks," he said. "I needed that,"

I pulled away and gave him a soft smile.

"It's almost 10pm," Toby announced, looking at his wristwatch. "We should go. Zach's probably looking for you,"

"Let's at least finish this," I said, pointing at the unopened bag of McDonald's.