Running from You

3

"I hate this".
Lucas is sitting on my bed, with his chemistry book in his lap.
"I shouldn't have to learn this. When will I ever use this?" he says, and he rubs his eyes.
"I thought you wanted to become a scientist?" I ask.
"No, I changed my mind. I'm going to be a pilot" he says, and he looks up with a smile.
"You're going to fly a plane?" I ask, and I scoff. "Remind me to never go on a plane when you're flying it".
"I would never let my plane crash if you were on it" he says, and he pats my shoulder. "But I can't become a pilot if I don't get good grades".

He sighs, and drops his head down on his book. I'm sitting on the floor, against the edge of my bed, and I roll my eyes.
"Ah yes, that will help" I say. I stand up, grab his shoulders, and force him back up right.
"Study" I say. "I'm going to get us some drinks".
"Oh, I want..."
"You're getting water".
"But I want..."
"Ice tea, I know. But sugar makes you hyper and you need to focus".

I shoot him a quick smile, and walk out of my room. As I walk down the stairs, I realize Lucas has probably stopped studying already. That's okay, I'll pressure him into continuing when I get back, but he deserves a break. He's been reading that book for two hours straight now.

I walk into the living room.
"Hey mom" I say, as I go to the kitchen.
"Hello sweetie" she says, flicking through a magazine on painting. "How's it going up there?"
"As good as Lucas and studying goes" I say. "Just getting some drinks".
"That's great honey. Listen, I don't feel like making any food tonight..."
"I'll do it" I offer.
"Oh, I thought we'd just get some pizza" she says. With a tired smile, she looks up at me. I shrug, and smile back at her.
"It's fine, I'll just make us some noodles".
She gets up from the couch, walks over to me, and hugs me.
"Thanks Dean, you're the best".

I don't mind cooking once in a while. My mom's very busy with work and all, but she always makes it a point that she's home in time for us to eat together. She doesn't have a lot of time to herself, so I try to help out as much as I can around the house. She's chill. That's the reason Lucas is always here, and I barely go over to his house. It's not like I dislike his parents, it's just that they don't really seem to like it when I come over to their house.

"I'm going to go back up. Lucas has had enough break time".
"Good luck" my mom says, and she ruffles my hair. I smile, grab the two glasses, and go back upstairs.
"Lucas?" I ask, and I walk into my room. Lucas almost throws his phone away in shock.
"I was studying!" he says, and he grabs the chemistry book again.
"Of course you were" I say. "Here you go".
I hand him his glass of water.
"Thanks" he says, and he takes a sip. I look at his phone on the bed, with the screen up. He gets a message from his mom.

Mom:
We start looking this afternoon. Love, mom.

Lucas notices too, and he quickly flips his phone upside down, shutting it off in the process.
"Looking for what?" I ask.
"Don't look at my messages" he says. "It's none of your business".
"It is, I'm your best friend. And basically your mom too".
He rolls his eyes.
"It's nothing".
"You know that excuse doesn't..."
"Okay, it's private and I'm not ready to tell you" he says, and he breathes in. He looks at me for a second.
"Okay, fine".
He lets out his breath, and smiles again.
"I know the complete list of elements now, by the way".
"That was the first lesson we had, Lucas".
"Well... I also learned this entire page and I know everything from chapter five" he adds, his smile growing.
"The test is about chapter seven".

His eyes widen, and he freezes for a moment. I stare at him, straight-faced, before I grin and shake my head.
"You always fall for that" I say, and he rolls his eyes and lays down onto the bed.
"I hate you" he whines. I sit down next to his head, and gently pet his hair.
"Rightfully so" I say. "Now tell me everything you know".
He leans on his elbows, and grabs his book. I push it away.
"Without reading it. Apparently you already know everything in chapter five".
He takes a deep breath, and starts rambling about chemistry. I really don't care about anything he's saying, but I try to listen as good as I can. I don't want him to fail this year, I don't want to do my last year of school without him.
"Very well" I say, when he's done. "Now just chapter six and you're good".

That entire afternoon consists of more studying, until Lucas gets too bored and starts being annoying. Or it's just his ADHD medicine wearing out.
"Okay, you only know half of what we needed to know, Lucas" I say.
"That's okay, I'll be fine".
He stretches his legs, and smiles.
"Thanks for helping me Dean" he says, tired. "You're a great friend".
"Yeah, no problem" I say. "I have to get me and my mom some dinner, you should probably go home now".
"I don't want to" he says, he looks at me for a second. "I really don't want to go home".

I shift my position a little.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"What?" Lucas asks.
I frown. He always gets a little woozy when his medicine just works off. Not permanently, just the first ten minutes. I usually take advantage of it to make him say dumb stuff, but today I feel like I might need to use it for something more important. Is that manipulation? Technically, it's not like drugging him to get the answer. It's the opposite, actually.

"Why don't you want to go home?" I ask. He frowns, and sighs.
"Just... Stuff. You know my parents" he says. Dangit, it's not working. And I know that means that if even he is able to keep his mouth shut, it's got to be really bad. I decide to let it rest for now though, he's stressed out enough for the test already.
"Yeah, I know your parents" I say. "They seem very tense lately".
He nods, and sighs, as he rests his head against my shoulder.
"Can I eat here? I'll help you cook" he says. I look at him for a second, and put an arm around his shoulders, patting his arm.
"You can eat here" I say. He smiles, and grabs his phone so he can text his parents.
"You really shouldn't try to cook food though" I say.
"Yeah, good call" he says. "I'd burn it".

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