Cassiopeia

Parents- Benji

I woke up to the sunlight streaming through my window. The empty coke bottle was on my bed stand. I got up and dragged myself downstairs, maybe I was expecting the sound of bacon sizzling on the stove. Or the smell of eggs wafting through the hallway, or at least the sound of cereal being poured into bowls.

Instead all I saw was my mom passed out on the couch and my dad eating old frozen pizza. Usually I would just sigh and leave but today I didn't feel like ignoring it.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I asked.

"Mhm, I got fired." He said and scrolled through his phone.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked.

"Don't say fuck." He responded.

"How'd you get fired?"

"I didn't show up too many times. Dumb policy if you ask me." He chuckled.

"How do you expect to get any money?" I asked. "We still have bills, and I have to go to college? What about my college fund?"

"Oh your mom and I used that money a long time ago for bills and stuff." He said.

"Does mom still have her job?" I asked.

"Nope, she quit! Good for her, finally pursuing her dreams!" He smiled.

"I- are you kidding me? Dreams of what? Being homeless? This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard! How do you expect to pay the bills?"

"We will figure something out son." He smiled.

"Oh sure! I trust you so much dad!" I spat. "I'm tired of the both of you."
"Hey! You don't realize how much we do for you! Have some respect!" He said, getting angrier.

"Oh respect? You don't do shit for me! If you haven't realized most of the groceries I bought, with my money! My school is free, you used my college money for bills, and most of my clothes are the same thing because it's the cheapest thing you could find." I screamed.

"Hey I'm tryna sleep!" My mom said annoyed.

"I'm leaving." I spat.

"No you're not!" My dad said, but he didn't try to stop. I ran upstairs and grabbed a few things, I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was that I didn't want to be here anymore.

I didn't even realize where I was going until I showed up at star boys house. I rang the doorbell, hoping he would answer. But luck was against me, as it always was.

"Uh hi?" Naiomi said, confused.

"Hey, is Aaron here?" I asked. Naiomi nodded and called for Aaron. Aaron came racing down the stairs a few minutes later, he looked like he had just woken up. He looked up and saw me, he looked confused.

"Oh, Benji, hi?"

"Hi, uhm I ran away from home." I said bluntly.

"Oh! Uh, come in!" He said quickly.

"I'll make some coffee." Naiomi said.

"Give Benji hot chocolate." Aaron told her, "he's weird." Naiomi smiled and nodded. We walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Sorry, I didn't know where else to go." I said quietly.

"It's cool." Aaron said. "You can crash here as long as you want, my dad won't care."

I called my parents, told them I'd be staying with a friend for a while. They didn't seem to care very much. I spent the day hanging out with Aaron, we played ping pong, I lost. We drank hot chocolate and coffee and chased his cat around the house.

It was after dinner, and was starting to get dark. My phone buzzed in my pocket, I looked at it, one text from Lillith.

Hey! Wanna go to the park tomorrow, for a quick walk? I considered it for a minute before responding.

ok

"Benji!" Star boy said excitedly.

"What?" I smiled.

"I think we should look at the stars together." He smiled, but he looked nervous. I wondered why but instead I just nodded and followed him out of the window.