What We've Become

Morning

Terrence woke up to the loud, tinny sound of his weird, pop song ringtone squealing throughout his small room. With a low groan, his hand slapped around on his dresser, looking for the source of the terrible sound. When his hand finally made contact with it, he picked it up and answered it with a tired "Hello?"

"Hey T..." The familiar, scratchy voice of his friend's voice answered.

It took a moment for Terrence to process who it was. "Oh! Hey Arrow! What do you need?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Well, I'm gonna get together with Kase later today... And I was wondering if you wanted to come..."

Terrence lept from bed with excitement. "Yes! It'll be like old times!" He shouted.

Arrow sighed. "Yeah... Hopefully..."

"I'll ask my mom in the morning, but I think it'll be alright!" Terrence babbled.

"Okay... well_" Arrow fell silent at the sound of a door slamming in his side of the line echoed through Terrence's ear, followed by the sound of a woman shouting. "Well... I gotta go... Maybe she'll think I'm out..." He whispered.

"Okay bud... Be careful..." Terrence whispered to him.

Arrow's line clicked off, and Terrence gave a soft sigh, shaking his head. Before he put his phone up, he looked at the time. It read only 4:32. With a groan, he set his phone back on the nightstand, shifted in bed, and dosed back off to sleep.

He had only just seemed to have fallen into a good sleep when loud thuds of footsteps running up and down the hallway by his room jolted him out of it. Groaning, he grabbed his phone and checked the time; this time, it was 9:32. The infuriating footsteps continued, now accompanied by a high-pitched giggle. Annoyed, he rolled out of the comfort of his bed and trudged to the closet, where he pried open the doors and looked inside. The closet itself was on the untidy side. Nice clothes hung up on the rusted pole that connected the sides of the space together, whereas the normal, everyday clothes were folded or thrown on the floor with his three pairs of shoes. At random, he grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants from the floor and quickly threw them on.

Once he was dressed, he closed his closet and left his room, stepping into the chaos of the hallway. His three younger siblings hollering and banging on the walls. His two younger brothers, Sean and Patrick, were the main cause of the noise, pounding their toy cars on the wooden floor. His only sister, Eliza, was humming to herself, dancing away.

Terrence rolled his eyes and headed to the bathroom. He made sure to lock himself inside, as Sean liked to barge in, and sometimes squirt him with a water gun while he was trying to do his business. He walked to the mirror and looked at himself, shaking his head. He was a tad bit chubby_ not to the point he was overweight, rather than just enough to plump out his face and make it round. His fiery ginger curls he had on his head stuck out in every direction, and his cheeks were the perfect color of blush for his pale, freckled, Irish face. He grabbed his brush and wrestled with the knotted curls until he stood victorious before he washed his face and headed back out to the hallway.

Ellie squealed out as she darted past him, almost knocking him over as Patrick chased her. "Dang it you three! Cut it out! Be careful!" He snapped.

His three siblings blew him off, running down the hallway for the living room. Terrence followed them, though, instead of stopping in the kitchen like his siblings did, he trudged to the kitchen where his mom was slaving over the stove to make breakfast.

"Morning Ma," He said, stopping beside her, watching her cook.

"Morning sleepy head," She mumbled, not looking at him. Her voice was thick with an Irish accent. "It's about time you woke up. I need help with the little ones."

Terrence sighed. He was always forced to watch his siblings, which wouldn't be that big of a deal if his brothers would listen to him like his sister. But, that was the trouble of being the oldest, and even though he was only twelve, he had a load of responsibility on his shoulders, and he had ever since his dad had died thanks to cancer.

"Hey Ma..." He started hesitantly. "Is it alright if I have the day off after lunch... I really want to go hang out with Arrow... And I haven't been able to in almost three months..."

His mom didn't respond for a moment, more focused on the pancakes she was making, and Terrence was almost certain that she hadn't even heard him. Finally, she looked at him. Her pale face was beginning to show its age, and her blue eyes were filled with exhaustion. Her blond hair was a total mess too, and she looked rough. "I guess... I know that it's not fair that you don't get to be a kid, and I'm sorry for that..."

"I know Ma, but there isn't much either of us can do about it... You have to work, and someone has to keep them in line." He pointed at the living room where his siblings were shouting.

She nodded, placing a loving kiss on his forehead. "You can go play with your friends, just be home before dark. I love you, my little man."

He smiled a little bit before he hurried into the living room with his siblings. "Alright. Last one to the bathroom does the dishes!" He shouted at his siblings, and instantly all three of their heads shot up. He went to the bathroom, awaiting the three squalling kids, debating who was last. "Looks like you do the dishes today, Ellie."

His sister sighed as she shoved her soaped up hands into the sink with her brothers'. When their hands were washed, he herded them to the table where their mom had distributed food to five plates. Everyone sat down and enjoyed their food.

When breakfast was done, Ellie rounded up the dishes while Sean and Patrick rushed back to the living room to play more. Terrence settled down on the couch and flipped through the channels until he found something he was interested in: a movie about a serial killer who was finally caught.

The morning continued as usual, that is, until noon when Terrence threw on his dirty sneakers and headed out the door for Kings Park, the usual meeting place for him and Arrow.