Kisses of Fire (boyxboy)

Chapter 30 - I'm Sorry

I'm sorry
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That night, he ate a whole meal for the first time in a week, it was small and light, but he did it nonetheless. His dad explained the situation to his mom, and they both made sure Cooper ate by giving him snacks here and there and letting him eat whatever he wanted. He didn't take them up on their offer, but he appreciated it.

The next morning his mom made him eat a slice of toast and told him he couldn't leave until he finished it. "Cooper, it's one slice just the way you like it. Do you want something else?" Normally they wouldn't care if he ate breakfast, they skipped it themselves, but they couldn't guarantee he would eat lunch, so this was their last resort.

Pushing the plate away, he made a disgusted face. "No."

"Then eat; I'm working from home, so you'll be stuck with me since you wanted to skip school today." She sat the island counter and started her work, but Cooper knew she was just there waiting for him to eat something, anything.

Annoyed with it already, he finally grabbed the toast and ate it. His mom got up, grabbing her stuff, and went over to him, rustling his hair and kissing him on the temple. "We're leaving in 5 minutes."

He should've known something would stop him from skipping school; his ideal day off did not have his mom hovering over him, making sure he ate.

When they got into the car, his mom cleared her voice just like his dad did when they had something serious to say. "So, your dad and I were talking last night, and I don't want you to get upset, but we were thinking of not going to New York this weekend."

"What? Why?" It was the only thing he was looking forward to. His week had been terrible, and he was happy he was getting far away from everyone.

"Well, for one, we didn't want you to get sick. After yesterday's accident, we're worried you'll get burned out easily. Also, we were going to stay with your grandmother, but you know how she can be when it comes to making unnecessary comments, and we didn't want it to affect you."

His grandmother tended to make snide remarks about almost everyone if they didn't look or dress right.

"But, as you know, we were supposed to spend Thanksgiving with your grandpa over here, but he and your dad got into an argument a couple of weeks back and aren't talking."

"What happened?" His grandfather and dad had a somewhat close relationship with each other. They used to be closer back when his dad was growing up, but Cooper doesn't know what caused them to drift.

"It's nothing, just both of them being stubborn. Anyway, we were thinking instead of going to New York for your birthday; we go for thanksgiving. We'll have so much more time to do everything, and we can celebrate even more up there. How does that sound?"

He was sort of bummed, but he understood. "Yeah, that's okay, but what are we going to do on my birthday?"

"Whatever you want, you can invite everyone over, and your dad can barbecue, or you can go hang out with friends; it's your day."

Dropping him off, she let him know she'd be home if he needed her and that she hid a snack in his backpack. All he did was roll his eyes and leave, walking inside.

It was lunchtime by the time he finally arrived at school, and the first thing he noticed was his table empty.

So they all skipped.

Not Jason, though; he spotted him getting his food and walked up to him. "Hey, man."

"Hey, Coop. I thought you were skipping."