The Pastor's Son

Ditching and Lying

The two boys walk into the homey building, it's not too crowded, which was good for Jayden. The less people seeing him with Isaiah, the better. Plus, most of the people in here were adults.

They went up to the cash register and they each order. Jayden noticed how this place seems so familiar to Isaiah. 'He must come here often. Now that I think of it, he knew the way here without using a map,' When they finish ordering, Isaiah pulls out his wallet and pays.

They walk over to the waiting area, and it was just them over there. So, Jayden took this as an opportunity to demand an answer. "Why did you pay for my drink?"

"It was the nice thing to do," Isaiah smiles.

Jayden felt a weird feeling when seeing Isaiah's smile. 'When was the last time I saw him smiling at school?' The question was stuck on Jayden's mind before he came up with an easy excuse.

'No one enjoys school, not even perfect Isaiah Harden,' He knew he gave Isaiah a dirty look, but he didn't care.

When they got their drinks, Isaiah led him over to a small table.

It was awkward. Neither of them knew how to have a conversation with one another. Well, Jayden just didn't want to. But, Isaiah was really trying.

Jayden's phone starts buzzing. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna take this," His voice was monotone. He walks away.

Isaiah sits there, feeling nervous. It's not his first time his dad has arranged a hang out with a boy he didn't really know. It's always a boy, because his dad didn't want him hanging out with anymore girls. Such as Leah, he's known her forever. However, his dad always says that boys who hang out with girls will end up gay, guess it happened in Isaiah's case, but he knew that it wasn't always true and he knows it's not the reason he's gay, anyway. He knew he should be used to hanging out with random guys. But, unlike most times he actually had a crush on this guy. This weird pain in his chest left Isaiah feeling awful.

Meanwhile, Jayden was talking on the phone with his friend, Sam. "You're telling me that you are hanging out with Isaiah Harden?" Sam was laughing. "Why?"

"I already told you, my parents forced me to," Jayden states, feeling even more annoyed. He tried to keep his voice down, because he was still in the coffee shop, not too far from Isaiah.

"So?" Jayden was about to ask her what she meant, but he was interrupted, "If you're so rebellious, leave him."

'She has a good point. I can just ditch him.'

"You're right. Where are you? Can you pick me up?"

"Obviously," He could practically here her smile from the other side of the phone, "I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Jayden grins, and he walks over to the table where Isaiah is. Isaiah continues to try to chat with Jayden for the next couple of minutes. But, Jayden keeps ignoring him. He gets a text.

Sam - Get your butt out here!

"I've gotta go," Jayden says and jogs out of the coffee shop.

Isaiah's feelings weren't hurt, at least, that's what he told himself. He was just disappointed that Jayden didn't want to stay. He sighs and leaves the coffee shop, as well. There wasn't much to stay there for. He climbs in his car and tries to ignore the sadness tugging at his heart.

................................................................................................................................................................

Isaiah gets home, it's about lunch time. He realizes that Jayden's parents were still here, what is he supposed to tell them? 'Hey, your son ditched me at the coffee shop? Oh, god. That sounds terrible. I'll just lie. I lie to my dad everyday about my sexuality. Why should I struggle with other people?' It was the best that he could do. And it's not like it's his fault.

Isaiah forces himself into the house. When he gets inside, his parents, his sister, and Jayden's parents are all waiting.

"Did you boys have fun?" Mark ask, with a big smile on his face. Isaiah could tell he was hoping for good news.

"Where's Jayden?" Carly spoke up, noticing her son wasn't present. It was pretty obvious. He was taller than Isaiah, it's not like he would be able to hide Jayden behind him.

"He wasn't feeling good, I dropped him off at your house," Isaiah lied through his teeth. He didn't like the feeling it left him.

"Oh! Well, we better get going, then," Carly smiles. Mark and her proceed to walk out the front door and wave.

"So, did you have fun?" Matthew questions.

"Yeah," Isaiah mumbles.

Matthew glares at his son, disapprovingly, "I don't care if you have fun. I want to know that productive things happened. Did he change his attitude?"

Isaiah shakes his head, not meeting his father's cold eyes. The same cold eyes that he always looked to for love, but never met his pleads.

"Are you kidding me? That was plenty of time for you to work with him on his attitude!"

Beatrice tries to step in, "Matthew, dear. Jayden is a difficult boy to help. He has a very uncaring attitude. I'm sure with time, his attitude will change, and they'll become great friends."

Isaiah absolutely adores his mom, but she didn't understand, either. Every boy that Isaiah's father forced him to help did change their attitudes, but they never became Isaiah's friends. He knew he was just trash that could be tossed out.

Matthew grumbles, and heads over to the kitchen. "Could you start working on lunch?" Beatrice nods and rushes over to the kitchen.

It was just Joanna and Isaiah at the door. "He wasn't sick, was he?" Joanna whispers.

Isaiah doesn't reply, it hurts too much.

"That jerk ditched you, right?" He knew he couldn't argue with her. She was right. She always knew when he was lying. He nods.

Joanna hugs her brother. "Let's go upstairs and talk about it," Her suggestion makes Isaiah feel a little better.