Accidentally on Purpose

Fear

                    The car ride to my house was just a half hour of awkward silence. I kept glancing over at Marco and noticed that he had a face of pure embarrassment and depression. "I'm sorry" I said, not knowing how to comfort him. "You didn't do anything wrong." "Yes I did" I muttered, "I didn't realize that word offended you personally when I said it the other night to you and Armin. I'm sorry." He look surprised. "It's okay. I know you didn't actually mean it. My dad on the other hand actually does though. He says it all the time." "My dad and I don't get along either" I said, "He left my mom when I was a kid and never looked back. He's tried talking to me a few times but I have no patience for him." "Im sorry to hear that" Marco said, "Oddly enough, I kinda relate. My dad is with my mom but he's hardly home. And when he is home, all he does it scream and throw things." I did not relate to that at all. I tried to come up with some kind of response to comfort him as we were stopped at a red light. I put my hand on his leg and said, "We may not be very close but you can always come to me when something is wrong." He smiled back at me and in a tone of reassurance he said, "Thank you." After a long twenty minute drive, we finally pulled up to my home. My house is nothing compared to his I thought. I live in a small brick home with a detached garage and a small pond. I stopped the car and said, "Let's go in." We got out of the car and headed up the driveway into the front door.

          As soon as we entered my house, all I could smell was my mom's famous lasagna. "Mom! I'm home" I yelled after kicking off my shoes and throwing my backpack onto the chair next to the door. "Hey Sweetie I just took the food out of the o- Well, who is this?" said my mom in her usual overly-cheerful voice. "Mom" I said, "This is Marco. He's one of my suitemates and my partner on the assignment I was telling you about. "Hi Ms. Kirschtein" Marco said with a smile "Nice to meet you." He extended his arm for a handshake but was stopped by my mother's hug. He looked astonished when he met the older brunette woman, but he politely embraced her. "Will you be joining us for dinner?" she said with a warm smile. "Sure, Mrs. Kirschtein! It smells lovely!" She grinned at him before turning him to face me " Great! Now, put your things away and get washed up. Dinner will be ready in just a few!" She ordered practically pushing the two of us towards the stairs. I rolled my eyes before pulling Marco up the staircase and towards my room. "I'm sorry about her, she gets a little over excited sometimes" I said, pushing my way into the room, immediately cringing at the unmade bed and the clothes scattering the floor; not at all like his pristine bedroom. I quickly turned and grabbed his bag before ushering him towards the bathroom down the hall,"Why don't you go ahead and wash up in the bathroom? I'm going to dig out the assignment for after dinner?" He smiled and nodded so I quickly walked down to my room to tidy up. I was just getting the assignments out of my bag when Marco stepped into my now cleaner room. After I washed up I lead him back down to the dinning room where my mom just finished setting the table. We sat down at my small round table with my mom. "So" she said, "Do you play football too, Marco?" "No ma'am" he responded, "I'm actually in the marching band." My moms mouth opened wide as she exclaimed, "Really?! What instrument do you play?" "The trumpet" he replied. My mom continued with her questions throughout the entire meal. After dinner was over I got up to help my mom clean when she quickly grabbed my arm and said, "No, you two go ahead and finish your homework. I've got this." We pulled out our paperwork and began asking my mother questions which actually turned into her telling us a barrage of stories about my embarrassing childhood experiences.

          "And don't get me started about the time we caught Jean in the kitchen trying to cook my famous lasagna" my mom said in a humorous tone. Once we were done with that part of the work, my mother excused herself to get ready for her night-shift at the hospital as we finished up our homework, I noticed it was only eight o' clock. "Do you need to be home soon?" I asked Marco. "No I don't have to be home until ten" he replied. I could not believe that we were actually getting along and having fun. "Do you want to stay and watch a movie?" I said with a smile "My mom isn't here to tell us we can't watch a scary one." "Sure but be warned, I'm terrified of them" he responded with a nervous laugh. I put in the movie Paranormal activity as we settled onto the couch. We were only about 20 minutes into the movie when I glanced over at Marco and noticed he was nervously sweating and uncomfortable. "Are you going to make it?" I asked jokingly. He responded with, "Yeah. I'm not even that scared" in an unconvincing, shaky tone. I tried to keep my eyes open but fell asleep halfway through the movie.

          I woke up to the sound of Marco's phone ringing and vibrating. I also felt warmth on my shoulder. I looked down to see Marco completely asleep on me. "Um. Marco" I said. He just moaned and rolled over to the other side of the couch. His phone was ringing repeatedly so I decided to go check it. As I was still half asleep, I moved off of the couch and grabbed his phone. He had over twenty missed calls and a few text messages from his dad.

I could not believe what I was reading. I could tell his dad was a little hateful but this was beyond what I imagined. "Ugh" Marco moaned "What time is it?" All I could do was hand him the phone. He read the texts and his eyes filled with worry. "Um" he said quickly, "Do you mind taking me home?" I simply nodded in agreement.  On the car ride back to Marco's house, the car was completely silent until I hear his phone ring once again. His hand was trembling as he pulled the phone up to his ear. All I could hear from the other end was incoherent yelling and the occasional curse. "Okay dad. I'm sorry. I'm on my way now" the scared boy said.  We pulled up to the fancy driveway and I stopped the car. Marco looked at me and said, "Thank you for dinner. Your mom's food was amazing. I'll see you at school on Monday." "You're welcome" I responded "I had fun." He gave me a forced smile before walking into the house and closing the door behind him. I hope he's okay I thought before pulling out of the driveway and returning to my house.