Without Flaws | Fyodor Academy 1

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

       I was awake way too early during the camping trip and since I didn't have my phone here, or anything else to entertain me, I took my notebook and a pencil out of my bag before carefully getting out of the tent without waking up Jules.

       Nobody else was awake, except for the two teachers who were on watch duty. One of them was Mr. McCabe and the first thing he said when he saw me was, "Just a reminder that you're not allowed to go for a walk on your own."

       "Oh, darn it," I said, sitting at one of the picnic tables in the eating area. "And here I was thinking I would get lost from the campsite all over again. What a shame."

       Mr. McCabe only glared at me in reply. I loved sassing him. I loved sassing everyone, really. 

       It wasn't long before Jules was the next person to wake up, getting out of our tent tiredly before walking over to where I was. He stood behind me, leaning down slightly and draping his arm over my shoulder. "Why are you up so early?" he asked.

       "I can ask you the same thing," I said.

       "Okay, but you were up before me so..." Jules pointed out.

       "I just ended up waking up and I was bored so I came out here," I said. "I've always wanted to tell my parents how they made me feel neglecting me all the time, but I don't think I can do it over the phone or through a text so I am writing a letter to my dad. How does this sound?"

       Jules picked up the notebook so he could read it better. "'Dear Dad, you suck lol. Love Parry'. And then in brackets it says 'just in case you forgot, this is your son'." Jules sighed and put the notebook back on the table. "Parry, you can't just say something like this to your dad."

       "Why not?" I asked. "The last time I talked to him, he completely forgot that I'm bisexual and I have a boyfriend. So he does suck."

       "Alright, you and I are going to go for a walk," Jules said. "Before you decide to write a message to your mom saying something like 'I am doing fairly well at Fyodor, not that you would care'."

       "Ooh, that's a good idea," I said, about to write it down but Jules took both the pencil and notebook away from me.

       "No, you're not doing that, Parry," Jules said. "If you ever want to tell them how you feel, you should do it properly and not in a negative way."

       I took the pencil and notebook back before standing up from the picnic table and heading to the tent. "Why not? You have no idea how it feels to be neglected by your parents, do you? Yours love you so much and mine... Mine barely make the time to see me. Or call me. Or text. Or anything really. Sometime I think it would have been way better for the both of them if they just never gave birth to me."

       "Parry, don't say that," Jules said. "You are an amazing person and you've changed a lot of our lives for the better. You made me feel brave to come out. Same with my sister. You help Mack a lot with his confidence. You're someone a lot of people look up to. You know, apart from your knack for trouble."

       "Oh, come on, my knack for trouble is a good thing," I said, opening the tent to put my pencil and notebook in there before zipping the tent door closed.

       "Yeah, I wouldn't say that," Jules said. "Like at all. Do you not remember how many people you put in danger with the army of ducks?"

       "How can an army of ducks be a dangerous thing?" I asked. "They're so cute."

       "Paz, you know how dangerous a lot of them can be," Jules said. "You saw what they did to our English teacher. And seriously, where do you get all these animals from?"

       "I know people," I said. "So about that walk you promised?"

       Jules only smiled slightly as he intertwined our hands together then told Mr. McCabe we were just heading to the washroom.

       "Alright, but if you're not back in fifteen minutes, I'm sending out a search party," Mr. McCabe said.

       "Awe, come on, I doubt we're going to get lost just by going to the washroom," I said.

       "That's what you said last time and you ended up spending the night in a cave," Mr. McCabe pointed out.

       I was going to object, but he did make a fair point. In my defense though, Jules and I really didn't go to the washroom the last time.

       Wait... We weren't going this time.

       Oh well. If we got lost, I would just blame Malcolm.

       Once Jules and I were a bit further away from our campsite, I said, "You know what's really funny about my parents? They don't even have the same job. They work two completely separate jobs, both of which require them to travel. Yet they are, somehow, able to stay in touch and maintain their marriage of twenty years. And they've barely tried to stay in touch with me."

       "I'm really sorry, Parry," Jules said. "I had no idea you were going through this."

       "How would you?" I asked. "I don't talk to anyone about it. I'd rather not think about the sad parts of my life."

       "You can talk to me about anything," Jules said.

       "I know," I said even though I didn't think I would tell Jules the full story about my parents. I really didn't want anyone finding out who they really were.

       My and Jules' walk couldn't last for too long otherwise Mr. McCabe was going to send a search party after us. I knew part of him was joking but an even bigger part wasn't. 

      By the time we got back to the campsite, a lot more people were awake and for some reason, they were all gathering around our tent. Jules and I looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows before making our way to the tent.

       Mr. McCabe was heading there too, telling everyone to back away and mind their own business. Once I got there, I saw exactly what they were looking at. 

       A note was hanging on our tent so I picked it up to read it.

       Maybe your parents really shouldn't have given birth to you. The world would be a much better place.

       Note to self: Be more careful talking to Jules about my parents. Apparently, anyone could be listening.

       "What does the note say?" Mr. McCabe asked.

       "Nothing serious," I lied. "Just someone thinking they're a comedian but you know me. Nothing shakes me so easily."

       "Are you sure?" Mr. McCabe asked.

       "Positive," I said. "And if you're worrying about me getting revenge, don't. I still have a few more days to not get in trouble to win the bet."

       "Alright, but if you get anymore notes, you tell me and I'll deal with them," Mr. McCabe said before walking away.

       "Yeah, we're ending the bet early," Jules said. "You win."

       "What?" I asked. 

       "You're getting revenge," Jules said. "And you're doing it your way, not the safe way."

       I couldn't help but smile. "That is the best thing I've ever heard from you."

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yes jules you let parry go get some revenge.

idk what else to say in the author's note so hi, i'm hungry but i'm waiting for dinner but it's almost 7:30 pm so i'm sad :(