Touch: a Survival Story.

Mistakes: 1.2

Mistakes: 1.2

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sarah asked quietly, gazing back at her son in the rear view mirror. "We can always wait a few more days, you know."

Before she'd even finished talking, the boy was shaking his head, arms folding defensively.

"Yeah, I know, mom," James replied. "But I really wanna get back there. I'm sick and tired of just staying at home all day. I wanna see my friends. Please? You said I could."

From his spot in the side seat, Peter raised a placating hand.

"No one's stopping you, James," he murmured. "We just want to be sure you're ready."

"Well I am, ok?" The boy replied with a hint of impatience. "Can I go now? I wanna say hi to Charlie before class starts."

Sarah sighed, glad at least to see her son acting a little more energetic today.

"Do you have your phone?" She asked, turning in her seat to face him. James nodded.

"Yup. And it's fully charged."

"Lunchbox?"

Another nod.

"Schoolbooks?"

"Mom," James grumbled, shooting an impatient glance out of the window. "I have everything, I promise."

Sarah chuckled.

"Alright, sweetie," she murmured, reaching out to pull the boy into a hug. "Have a nice day."

"I will," James replied, grinning. He pulled back from the hug after a few moments to open the car door, hopping down onto the pavement with a light thud. "See ya later!"

The door slammed closed behind the boy and the two parents watched, smiling out of the window at their son as he made his way up the steps to the school building.

"Well done," Peter said gently, still holding the smile fixed in place as James ascended the last of the steps. "Now just hold the smile till he moves out of sight, okay?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied, her voice tense. "I know. Can't let him know how hard this is."

As James reached the top of the steps, he turned, glancing back at his parents and giving them a wave. Peter and Sarah waved back, smiling as best they could. The deception seemed to work, and James turned back away from them, stepping in through the wide double door.

The moment James was out of sight, Sarah lifted her hands to her face, covering her mouth before letting out a muffled noise somewhere between a scream and a primal groan.

Peter placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, attempting to reassure her as best he could.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "He'll be fine. There'll be teachers around him the whole day and we'll be here to pick him and Bex up the moment classes finish. It's going to be fine."

Even as he spoke the words, Peter was trying desperately to believe them himself. Even knowing them to be true, it was not easy.

Sarah, head still buried in her hands, nodded slowly.

"I hate this," she whispered, her voice coming out slightly muffled. "Watching him cry in his sleep. Having to pretend I'm totally fine when it feels like I'm breaking inside. I hate it."

"I know," Peter replied, reaching out to wrap an arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Me too."

"You know what the worst part is, though?" She continued, leaning in against her husband's chest. "The worst part is having to apply that fucking makeup every morning. Having to look at those damn markings for ten minutes and pretend that it isn't bothering me at all."