Hopelessly Broken

2. Son

3.18.20

Jamie grabbed my arm enthusiastically before pulling me out of the room. Strong woman, I must say. I just barely remembered to duck a little under the door frame that was only 6 feet before I could make a fool out of myself again. I noticed that Jamie was pretty average sized for a woman, and if I had to guess, I would say that she came in at about 5'8'' tall. I was also taller than Lincoln, though, who was only a few inches bigger than his wife at 5'11''. What can I say? I'm good at guessing heights by looking at people.

I thought about the cigarettes up in my room before quickly shoving the thought out of my mind. What if they ended up hating me for my stupid addiction? I know that I can't just quit cold turkey, but I certainly can't do it in front of them!

"Devon?" A voice asked, and I realized that we had reached the car while I was autopiloting.

"Sorry," I muttered before opening the door to the worn SUV. I sat on the leather seat while trying to figure out how to make the seatbelt work. As I mentioned before, this usually wasn't the first step in the program, but Megan is crazy. Usually, I don't even make it to the phase where I would end up in their car before I messed something up badly enough for them to decide they didn't want me. Therefore, I have legitimately never been in a car before. The only vehicle I've ever ridden in was the school bus, and it didn't have any seatbelts so that didn't count at this particular moment.

I pulled at the leather strap, but this really was just a hilarious production of orphan stupidity. First I couldn't find the place to plug it in, then I couldn't find the thing that would go into the hole. Jamie and Lincoln were casually talking in the front seat completely oblivious to my struggles, and I was glad that they weren't seeing this so they couldn't realize how much I was struggling with this damn seatbelt!

"Devon, sweetie, are you okay?" Jamie asked, and I looked up into her icy blue eyes. She had a smile on her face, but I knew that she was judging me. That's all people ever do to me on these trips.

"I just... Uh..." I trailed off.

"It's okay. It can be hard if you've never done it before," she consoled gently before undoing her own belt. She leaned back far enough in her seat that she could clutch the leather strap before expertly untwisting it and plugging it into the hole on my other side.

I blushed in embarrassment that it was that easy for her while I struggled for so long with a simple task. However, Jamie just smiled and sat back up into her area as if she just didn't care, and I wasn't used to that. This was supposed to be where people realized how poorly I function in society and send me back where I came from.

"So, Devon, what do you like to do with your free time?" Lincoln suddenly asked. This was where everyone else appealed; they actually had a personality. The others had been outside before, so they actually knew what the world had to offer. I, however, was kept on a strangely specific regiment, so I hadn't even been able to sample the school clubs.

"I usually don't have free time," I admitted while playing with my hands. "I play an instrument in the school band?" I suggested, but it came out as a sort of question.

"Well that's something. What do you play?"

"Sax."

"I used to play trumpet a long time ago." I know he's just trying to make conversation, but just the instrument has me set to know his personality. Strange how people in band can figure out everything about you just by hearing what instrument you play.

"That's nice," I responded. We pulled up at a relatively nice house, and I managed to get the seatbelt undone on my own. It's the small successes, am I right?

"Devon, I should warn you that our son can be a little bit rude to newcomers. He's just a little bit sour, so don't be put off by his moods," Jamie soothed before leading me into the house. "Jack!" she shouted up the stairs.

"What!?" the harsh voice barked back from the top of the stairs.

"Come downstairs!"

"Mom, I'm busy!"

"I don't care, come down right this instant!"

There was a loud slam, and I began to feel slightly fearful. What if this was where I got rejected? What if, after I came so far, their son hated my guts. A boy my age, one that I recognized too well, stomped down the stairs.

"The fuck is the weirdo doin' in our house?" That's right, folks. I'm so terribly unlucky that I ended up being considered for adoption by my school jock's parents. Of course, I'm also heavily disliked in that stupid school for absolutely no reason, so said jock literally hates my guts. How cliché has my life become.

"Jack do not speak that way!"

"I'll speak however I want to, you brought a weirdo into my house!"

"This isn't your house, you don't pay the rent! This is mine and your father's home, and you will respect Devon or so help me!"

"Fine!" Jack shouted.

"It'll be alright, sweetie. Just socialize until dinner, he isn't as bad as he seems. His room is the second one on the right at the top of the stairs."

I reluctantly climbed the stairs while quietly grumbling, "Suicide mission." However, I have to make myself seem like the better person. I knocked on the white door before bringing my hands below my waist to play with my fingers. What can I say, it's a habit that I've formed when I'm nervous.

The door opened slightly, and I saw a tiny clip of Jack's face before it was slammed shut in my face. I sighed while suddenly realizing that this would be easy by no means. Maybe I just need to force my presence.

I pushed the wood with a lot of strength, and I was in. Honestly, he had quite the nice room. The walls were painted a dark blue, and he had a double bed pressed against the far wall. There were some bookshelves with no books– typical– and a lot of sporty stuff laying around. Just your average jock room to be honest.

"Get out," Jack commanded, but I was having none o' dat.

"What're you gonna do if I don't," I retorted. Just keep digging the grave, Devon!

Jack stood up from the desk chair and walked up to me so that we were face to face. Well, chest to face because he's shorter than me. "I know my mom wants us to get along, but that totally isn't happening. You're just so irritating!"

"Why do you hate me so much anyways?" I wondered aloud.

His mouth opened and closed once or twice, and I suddenly knew that he didn't have a real reason. He's just a dick. "You stole my girl!"

"Like any female wants to even see me!"

"You're just plain irritating!"

"I don't deny that."

"Boys! Dinner!" Jamie shouted from downstairs.

"I won't hesitate to make your life a nightmare."

"I enjoy challenges, pretty boy."