Take My Hand

5 Every Single Day

It was strange to say I was looking forward to my day. I got up earlier than I think I ever have before in my life. Probably because I had gone to bed early. Whatever the case, by the time Sasha was coming in my door I was already showered.

I grinned when he raised a brow at my state of undress. I had just walked in from the bathroom in my towel. He headed for my closet and I pressed my luck. I dropped the fluffy fabric from my hips and swung it up to dry my hair.

I didn’t hear a peep from the other side of the towel. I heard the rustle of my clothes being dropped on the bed, but not a word from him. When I lowered the towel from my face, his back was turned. I shuffled into my uniform without a word. When I was done we both headed for the door.

The kitchen was busy as we sat for our morning meal. My plate had no grapes on it today and I tucked into it. There wasn’t a smidge of food left on it when I was done. One of the maids held her hand out to us when we got up and I passed our plates to her with a smile.

“Shall we go, Sir?” I turned to Sasha. He nodded and led me out to the car. The ride to school was the same, boring. I watched out the window with a sense of detachment. It was raining. The world looked gray in the dim light of a cloudy day.

We pulled up to the front of the school and part of me didn’t want to leave the car. Sasha wouldn’t give me a choice though, I knew that. He got out first this time and opened a large umbrella. When the door opened, I grabbed my backpack and followed him up to the front door.

“Remember the rules, Lukas.” He said gently. I nodded and went through the door. I got a few looks for being early again. Two days in a row was definitely unusual. Amy grinned when she saw me again. Just shook her head and followed me to my locker.

“Are you making this a habit?” She asked cheekily. I rolled my eyes.

“Maybe I am. What’s it to you?” I replied back. She smacked my arm and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders before dragging her off to first class. The girls were messing around at the front of the class and the one I tossed on their arse the other day flipped me off as I sat in my seat.

I sat backwards so I could chat with Ames for a bit before the teacher came in. She told me about the movie she watched last night and I told her about clearing the stage on my video game. She was suitably impressed of course. I thought the movie sounded pretty good too, and saved the name in my phone for later.

Class was boring. We had a pop quiz in math lesson and I aced it. I don’t think, I know I did. Between my tutor and Sasha actually making me finish all my homework, I knew all the questions that were on there. I could tell Ames skipped her homework because she was whining all through lunch about it.

It was tough being good. Part of me wanted to fall back into my old habits. They were comfortable and safe in a way. I didn’t have to pretend to be happy. I didn’t have to pay attention to things I neither cared about nor wanted to remember. The thought of that disappointed look on Sasha’s face is about all that stalled me.

I finally had someone who cared. A person who actually wanted me to be better for someone other than themselves. What did he have to gain from me being good? Nothing. Maybe an easier job. Even then, if I behaved well enough then he could be out of a job. What if my parents decided I didn’t need him anymore?

In a terrible instant I realised it. I did need him. I needed him more than I thought possible. I was a drowning man and he had thrown me a life preserver. Now I felt like I had a chance. A chance for what… well, I was still trying to figure that out. One day at a time. That was what it took though.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang at the end of the day without incident. I could go out and tell him I did well today. I couldn’t wait to see that quirk of smile on his face when I got in the car. I had a bounce in my step when I left the school. I scanned the pickup lane in an effort to spot the car.

It wasn’t there. There was a stretch limousine with my parents’ driver Jorge standing outside and waving me down. I frowned and walked over to him. He opened the door and ushered me inside. My father barely looked up from his tablet and my mother was, surprise surprise, on her phone.

I sat in silence as we drove to wherever the fuck we were going. My mother didn’t shut up the whole time we were on the road. When we arrived, she shut the damn thing off and retouched her lipstick. It looked the same. My father got out first and the driver helped my mother out. I was left to scramble out after them.

We were at someone’s house. I kept on my toes, paying attention to the introductions and nodding politely to the people we were visiting. I was shooed off to follow a maid to another part of the house while the ‘adults’ talked. It was huge and pretentious looking. You could tell it was decorated by a professional.

“This way sir.” The middle aged maid showed me through a set of double doors into the personal cinema. A Marvel movie was playing on the screen and the boy watching sighed heavily when the maid tried to introduce me.

“Go away Jenna. I know him. You are interrupting the movie.” He threw popcorn at her and she rolled her eyes at my apologetic look.

“You don’t need to be rude to her. Remember she brings your food.” I warned him as I sat down in the seat next to him. He shushed me and mouthed the words to the next scene before cackling like a moron.

“Whatever. She knows who pays her bills. How have you been Luke? I heard you got saddled with a bodyguard after you ran away.” He had popcorn stuck in his teeth and I grimaced while I tried not to look. What an arse.

“Why does everyone think I tried to run away? I have been great by the way. The guy hasn’t been so bad. Decent at video games at least. He actually managed to sneak me a piece of pie.” I rambled on, bored and wishing I could go home and play said video games.

“Whoo, got that by your mum? I like him.” He grinned at me. Gross. That was just gross. Ah fuck it, if you can’t beat them… I grabbed a handful of popcorn and popped a few in my mouth.

“Yeah, at least he warns me about schedule changes.” I had a text from him waiting on the phone I wasn’t allowed to look at in class. I was staring at it now like a life line. I texted him back so he would know I was with them, then put away my phone. “What about you Chris? How you been?”

“Oh you know. Trying not to die of boredom before I get summer vacation. We are going to Key West this year. Mum wanted me to get at least two Bs or I wasn’t going, the bitch.” He made a face at the tv. Christopher was a bit of an idiot, unbeknownst to his folks.

“How did you manage? Last I thought you had Cs.” I murmured.

“I just paid the tutor to write a few sheets for me. Just got under the wire. B minus in maths and history. Thank god it’s a lot of hand ins this year or I’d have been screwed.” He chortled and I leaned back. See? You wonder why I was such a fuck up? I mean, look at the examples my parents had provided for me.

Amy was actually normal compared to most of the yahoos that my parents had me hang with in my spare time, for appearances. I didn’t like most of them but I’d hear about it if I didn’t ‘play nice’ with them anyways. Christopher may have been an arsehole, but he was a filthy rich arsehole whose parents worked closely with mine.

So Chris was my ‘friend’ anytime dear old mum and dad wanted to visit his folks. Fortunately, that wasn’t too often, for my sake. There was only so much of Chris I could take at a time. Looking over at him now I had to hold back from gagging. The good news was that I am now pretty sure I’m not gay for just anybody.

I have good taste at least.

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