Unbroken (#3 in the 'Outcast' series)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Vic's Point of View:

"Fucking parents," Mike said, slamming my room door shut.

He was clearly pissed off, and he sat down on my bed, crossing his arms in annoyance, a pissed off expression on his face.

"C'mon Mikey, calm down," I said, putting my music on, turning it to a low volume so we could still talk. "We'll talk to 'em later 'bout it, yeah?"

Mike just grunted in response. Charlie jumped up on my bed and laid down next to Mike. Ronnie was still in the hospital, so we were still looking after Charlie for at least another week. Charlie whined at Mike, putting his head down.

Mike looked at him and sighed, patting him to calm himself down a bit.

"I understand their concerns and whatever, but y'know," Mike said, looking at Charlie as he spoke to me. "Like, I know it's over the other side of the country and all, but we're only two weeks into break. Not like we're gonna be missing school or anything."

I looked at him and shrugged.

"Yeah, well," I said. "That's what happens. Unless we manage to think of a better reason to head over to California, we're clearly not going."

Realisation crossed Mike's face and I saw he'd thought of something.

"Victor Vincent Fuentes, you're a genius," he said, making me frown.

"What've I done?" I asked in confusion.

Mike smiled at me, clearly not as pissed off as he had been.

"It's been at least a year since we've been down there, right?' he said, making me nod. "And what's the reason we ever go down to California?"

Mike watched me as I thought.

"Oh my God Mike, you're a genius!" I exclaimed as I understood what he was saying. "That's brilliant."

Mike nodded and got off the bed, heading out of my room. Charlie looked over and jumped off my bed, running out after Mike as I followed. Mike was in the living room when I found him, Charlie sitting next to him patiently. I came to a halt just off to his left and listened as he spoke.

"Alright," Mike said, pitching the idea to our parents, who didn't seem like they were in the mood right now. "I know you guys said we can't go to California 'cause we have nowhere to stay and you don't trust us being by ourselves in a hotel or whatever, but Vic and I thought this through just before and we think we have a solution."

Mom and dad looked between us then back to Mike, clearly waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Can't we just stay with grandma like we usually do every break?" Mike asked. "It's somewhere to stay and we're under supervision and not by ourselves. Please?"

Mom and dad exchanged looks and Mike and I waited, not liking the outcome of this. Dad looked back to us and sighed.

"Ok, fine," he said, making Mike and I cheer and high-five in victory. "But don't you get into any trouble with those local boys like last time. We didn't really appreciate that phone call from your grandmother to tell us you'd gotten into trouble with the police."

Mike and I nodded, just glad that we'd won. Mom looked to me.

"But," she said, making us look at her. "What're you going to do with your friend's dog?"

Mike and I exchanged looks before looking back to our parents.

"We'll head over to see Ronnie in a few minutes once we're done talking to you," I said, Mike just nodding along. "We'll ask him what he wants us to do."