Back To Our Roots, Book One

XCI. There Are Some People You Can't Help But Hate... His Family Is One Of Them

Nick's family came on the first night, and to his surprise, Aaron was with them.

Their time to meet with a teacher came too soon in Nick's opinion. Of course, it was just his luck that they were meeting with the health teacher. It could have been anyone else, but no.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Duval for coming," she said, shaking their hands.

"Please, call me Claire," his mother said, smiling kindly.

"And you must be Nick's brother?" she asked, shaking Aaron's hand as well.

He smiled charmingly. "Aaron, nice to meet you."

They all took a seat, Nick trying to not to bounce his knee anxiously. He always did it, the amount of effort it took not to was alarming.

"Well, as you know, we're checking in with the family of every student. Nick in particular is a very bright boy, and a pleasure to have in class."

His mother blinked, surprised.

"Something wrong?" his teacher asked.

She smiled. "I'm sorry, this is just usually the part where I get the 'needs to apply himself' or 'another concern about his grades' speech. Is that not...?"

"Well, he's a straight-A student."

Nothing stunned his family more than that. Nick allowed himself a small smile at their reaction.

"Nick? We're talking about the same Nick, right? Because my Nick is..."

Nick could sense the ending of 'an idiot' on the tip of her tongue.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, he was recently diagnosed with visual motor deficit, so a few adjustments and there's nothing holding him back." She caught their expressions. "You didn't know?"

His mother forced a smile, making it look natural. "No, I'm afraid he didn't tell us."

"Nick, how did you know to go to check if you did, then?" she asked him.

Nick swallowed, trying to word it in a way that wouldn't offend his parents. "Well... Jeff was studying with me and when we compared our answers he noticed that I had copied down the problems wrong. All of them. It was his idea."

His mother kept from wrinkling her nose, but they could hear it in her voice. "That boy goes to Dalton?"

"He's my roommate," Nick confirmed.

Nick managed through the rest of the meeting, giving them a tour around Dalton it was clear they didn't want so the cameras wouldn't get suspicious.

When the finally left, Nick didn't think he'd been happier.

Aaron lagged behind as his parents walked down the hallway, turning to Nick. "Long time no see, little brother."

"It hasn't actually been that long," Nick pointed out.

Aaron took a step towards him, cracking his knuckles. "Are you back talking me? Thought they'd teach you better at a prep school."

Nick took an unconscious step back. "Aaron, you can't."

"Hm? Try me."

"You- you can't." His mind was racing.

"Give me one good reason why I don't give you what you deserve for being a fag."

"Cameras. There are cameras."

"Please, they never turn those on," he scoffed.

"No, Aaron, we turned them on. We found out in a survey in health that a lot of people in Dalton have abusive families, that's why we set this whole thing up. Please just do us both a favor and go home." Nick's voice was fast and panicked.

Aaron scowled, leaving. Nick let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.