when you met me

dad

Dad

Melancholy, the pair walked back to their flats. Mara wondered what she was to do with herself. So uninterested in anything less than exactly what she wanted. No matter how much she knew, in the logical part of her mind, that it was ridiculous and would never happen. Dud, on the other hand, was thinking of what lay straight in front of him. Doom.

He had a bruised jaw that was going purple and another blue-ish bruise on the corner of his forehead. He couldn’t hide. He scratched his hair and thought about his crushed glasses. Mara had said earlier that his bruises looked like the pictures of the galaxy that they saw in Science class.

Class.

That was the only thing in the near future he had to look forward to. Police Academy. Away from home, and away from idiots. And his Dad. Hopefully. They continued to walk in silence, Dud preparing for a shout fest with his Dad, especially since he’d broken his stupid glasses.

They stopped dead in the middle of the road facing their flats, both with a sigh brewing deep in their stomachs. The summer sun peeked through the clouds, hitting Dud just long enough to warm his cheeks before disappearing again above the grey layer of cloud.

Dud had thought about it many times before. How that whole thing goes, as you can be friends with a girl forever but at one time or another… Blah blah blah. That didn’t apply to Dud, though. Because the thing was, as soon as he was old enough to realize Mara was a girl, he loved her.

That many years together made him an expert at hiding it. But, as he faced spitting, idiotic abuse from his Father, for the last time, as he came home from school for the last time, he looked at Mara with a sense of finality.

Everything was ending. Everything was beginning. But they remained in a straight line, continually the same, no matter what happened outside. So, Dud decided, in an act quite sudden and unexpected from him, to go ahead and kiss his best friend.

Mara waited patiently for Dud to say something before they parted ways. They seldom said goodbye, but usually a sentence, or an acknowledgment of one another was how they parted. But Mara could tell he was stalling before going inside. They’d stayed after school. They’d taken their time walking home, and even longer at the bridge.

Now Dud’s Dad was DEFINITELY home. Mara smiled at him, to let him know that they would both be better off on their own. No matter what they decided to do. Dud’s heart beat out of his chest until it was so rapid that he couldn’t think straight and yet he was thinking more clearly than ever before.

So, Dud kissed Mara.

And she didn’t mind one bit. Which was surprising to Dud, as he was scared she’d be horrified. But no, she went with it, and Dud was more ecstatic than he let on.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dud said afterwards, slightly breathless. And taking back his resolve not to act like he was ecstatic by having a large grin on his face. Mara returned the favour by smiling just as wide, not knowing that she could be so happy by something so unexpected. “Yes, see you tomorrow.” She said, high fiving him and walking back to her flat.

Dud turned once more before entering his flat. Mara had the same idea and smiled at him before swiveling around, into her flat.

Dudley sneaked into his house, closing the door softly. He walked through the hallway and almost got past the living room. “Hi Dud.” His Dad said in a cool, collected voice that made Dud freeze. He cleared his throat, and without turning. “Dad.” He acknowledged.

“Come here.” He said, with a knowing tone in his voice. Dud swallowed and turned to his Dad, reminding himself that yes, he had just kissed the girl he loved, and no, his Dad couldn’t ruin his day. “Oh, what the bloody hell happened to your face?” His Dad asked in his raspy tone. Dud slowly walked over slowly, long legs dragging his feet across the carpet.

“Your last day at school and you still couldn’t avoid a beating?” His Dad said in an almost mocking tone. But, Dad, I wasn’t beaten up technically. These are the bruises of a hero. Dud just shrugged, bored of the usual. “Pathetic.” His Dad spat, taking the TV off of mute.

Dud tapped on the straps of his rucksack, thinking about the right time to tell his Dad about his glasses. He decided that getting it all over in one go was the best way to do it. “Um, Dad?” He said, opening his bag. Mr. Dudley looked at his son. Dud pulled out the limp remains of his glasses and presented them to his Dad. “I broke my glasses.” He said simply.

His Dad started off his screams with, “That’s the fifth pair this year!”