Everything Sucks! • Toliver

Three

   Something woke me up, but I couldn't find out exactly what. The alarm clock next to my bed read 5 AM, way earlier than I was supposed to wake up. My phone was always on silent during the night, and my parents were nowhere to be found.

   Nevermind.

   My mother rushed into my room, still in her pajamas. "Tyler, honey. Come in our room please..."

   I furrowed my eyebrows, starting to get up. Something was wrong, I could almost feel it.

   On my way to my parents' room, I heard my dad talking. Not necessarily to anyone, just... talking.

   "-and thank you for offeri- Tyler! Come here!"

   He hd a cardboard box laying next to him on the bed, with something in it. I sat next to him on the bed, confused. "Tyler, do you know a kid named..." he said, squinting at the bottom of the paper. "Oliver?"

   I swallowed my spit. "Yes? Why-"

   "How old is Oliver? Fourteen, fifteen..."

   "No, he's um, seventeen. Why?"

   My dad glaced at my mom, giving her an odd gesture. She only nodded, staying where she was next to the door, chewing her fingernails. "Tyler... I was leaving for work, and I saw a little box with a note saying your friend, Oliver, was running away to New York... he... also gave you something. Look in the box."

   My mouth dropped as I stood, leaning over the box. It was the trenchcoat he wore to school every single day. "Why did he run a-way?" I squeaked.

   "...It's in the letter. But um, do you have a way to talk to Oliver? Like a... number or something?"

   "...Oh! Yeah!" I said, darting to my room. How had I forgotten? We messaged each other on Facebook... duh.

   After getting the phone, I ran back to my dad's room, unlocking my phone and handing it to him. While my dad texted him, I pulled the jacket from it's box, smelling it- cologne. His, at least.

   I felt something in one of the pockets, so I stuck my hand in it, pulling it out. A pocket knife with a slip of paper around it that read "You might need this. Have a fun high school, little dude." It made me smile, but I put it away because I didn't want my parents knowing I had one now.

   "Tyler, go get dressed. You're not going to school today."

   I was confused still, but I just went with it, putting Oliver's jacket on over my clothes.

   The jacket was too big, but that was okay.