“Wow, it’s been snowing so hard all day” James exclaimed to himself as he looked up from his Japanese textbook. Over the past few months with Scott, James had come to really love Japanese – so much so that he wanted to visit Japan now, something he thought he’d never want when he was failing the class. ‘I can still hardly believe that Scott controls the rain. I wonder if Yukito controls anything… yuki means snow so maybe he controls the snow’ James thought to himself as he watched the flakes fall in front of him. ‘Either way, it’d better stop or else there’s no school tomorrow…wait, no school would be awesome! Why am I complaining?’ “Oh well, time for a short break!” he exclaimed. Placing his passport – a rather handy bookmark and his reminder to try harder – in his textbook, he jumped out of his seat and headed towards the door.
He went downstairs trying not to make any noise. He’d been in his room for at least 3 hours studying but he hadn’t heard his parents get up. Since it was the weekend, they probably were still sleeping. It seemed to James that all they ever did was work and sleep – he seldom saw them doing anything else. Not that he really minded; James had always been a loner. Up until he met Scott, he never really socialized and definitely never went out. ‘Scott really has changed me. I mean, I love Japanese now…and I’m more social too’ James thought as he walked into the kitchen, a smile pulling at his lips “Where we you last night?” James’ step dad asked, almost combatively. James had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed the stern man sitting at the kitchen table.
“Ah…I didn’t notice you sitting there. I…I was at Scott, my tutors’, house…’cause of the rain,” James managed to stutter out after recovering a little from the shock his step dad made.
“Uh-ha. So you spent the night at his house and returned this morning because it was raining?” he asked with a disapproving face. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”
“But…but…I…I-”
“Shut up, boy!” James’ step dad practically yelled as he rose from the chair suddenly. “What the hell is wrong with you?? It’s rain, not acid!” he spit out as if his words were acid.
“But, m-my dad…”
“Was a worthless man who died a worthless death!”
“N-no, he was a good man…” James almost whispered, his eyes tearing up.
“You know, James,” his step dad started to say as he gently grabbed the nape of James’ neck, bringing James closer to him. Leaning down, James’ step dad started to whisper, “your mom and I were going out before he even died. We just didn’t want to move in together until enough time had passed for mourning and what not.”
James was shocked. He couldn’t even fathom this. Was his mom really that type of person? Did his father know about the affair? Would it have hurt him? James’ tried to pull away only to have his step dad tighten his grip on his neck, tears now falling freely from his eyes.
“It was a good cover, really. There’s only one way it would have been better,” his step dad stated in an emotionless voice as he raised his hand up to James’ face, seeming to wipe a tear away. “If you would have died, it would have been perfect!” He slapped James across the face, still holding him by the nape.
“Honey? What are you doing?” a voice asked from behind James. It took him a minute to realize who it was speaking – his mom. The woman who cheated on his father? Did she really…or is his step dad just messing with him?
“DO you know where your son was last night? At his ‘tutors’ house,” James’ step dad scoffed as he pushed James to the floor. “I bet the boy w****d himself out. Huh, it’s the only way to explain how a dumb-a*s like him can go from a 1.3 to 2.5 GPA.”
“WHAT!? I did no such thing! I actually studied and worked for those grades,” James yelled through his tears. Picking himself up off the floor, he looked at his step dad as if for the first time. His step dad, the man who his mom supposedly had an affair with was an old man trying to seem important, the way old men do when they realize they no longer have any looks, or future. He’d never seemed this old in all the time James’ knew him. Somehow he seemed deflated. James wondered if he ever was handsome. Certainly not when compared with his father. “I’d never do something so…underhanded.”
Turning to face the way he’d just come from not more than 2 minutes ago, James saw his mother. She too seemed older somehow…and smaller.
“You will not talk to your step father like that! Say you’re sorry!” she yelled at James.
“Sorry,” James said in a flat tone as he started toward the stairs. When he mounted the first step, he turned around and stared at his stepfather. “Sorry that I didn’t die with my father.” He climbed up the stairs and closed his door, not responding or even acknowledging the screams of ‘ungrateful brat,’ and ‘don’t come out until you are ready to apologize for real’ coming from the kitchen.
James took a step into the room, then a step back, leaning against the door. He looked out the window transfixed. The snowflakes were playfully dancing in the breeze. Then and there, he made up his mind to leave. He knew he wouldn’t be able to run away, but he needed to get out of the house until he calmed down. He wanted to talk to Scott. Scott would know what to do. He couldn’t answer the one thing he wanted to know, but he’d at least know what to do next. James grabbed his winter jacket and put his snow boots on. Taking his bus pass and his book bag – Scott would still want him to do his homework probably – he silently exited his room. As he descended the stairs, he heard his ‘parents’ talking in the kitchen. Something about no school tomorrow because of the snow, with an occasional ‘stupid brat’ thrown in. James really didn’t care; he was concentrating on not making any noise.
He made it to the last step without a problem, but getting to the door would be the hard part. Carefully, James peeked around the wall. He had a chance! Both of them were over by the oven, concealed by the wall. If he were silent, they wouldn’t notice! Silently, James tiptoed towards the front door. He was about a third the way there when he heard the kettle screaming. ‘Shoot!’ he thought to himself, ‘I’d better hurry or else I’ll be dead!’ Picking up his pace to almost a dash, he made is way to the door; unfortunately, the dash wasn’t as silent as he’d prayed.
“Is the brat ready to apologize?” his stepfather said loudly.
James’ hand was on the doorknob. Almost there!
“Oh, the brat is here!” his stepfather said from the kitchen entrance.
James turned the knob. He could almost feel the snow on his face!
“And it looks like he’s trying to escape,” his stepfather said.
James pulled the door open. Freedom!
“Get back here brat!” his stepfather yelled as his started to charge towards the door.
James made a break for it. Running through the snow was hard, but he could feel his stepfather behind charging like an angry rhinoceros. He ran as fast as he could.
“Brat!” his stepfather yelled from the doorframe. He had no shoes on.
‘HA!’ James thought as he run out of the gate leading to the house. ‘Something is going my way today!’ Smiling, he ran to the nearest bus stop.
----
20 minutes later the bus still hadn’t come. ‘It could be late, but not this late,’ James thought as he took out his phone to check the time. ‘That would be the sixth time I’ve done that in…ha! 2 minutes. The bus isn’t coming…is it?’ he thought to himself. Putting his phone back into his book bag, he decided to walk to Scott’s. It wasn’t too terribly far, and the snow’s not as cold as it could be. He sighed, and started off.
---
1 hour later James was standing, shivering, in front of Scott’s door. ‘If I live to ever feel my toes again, I’m NEVER doing that again!’ James thought. After staring at the door for a minute, he knocked on the door. There was no reply.
‘What if he’s busy? I should have called!’ James fretted as his eyes pleaded with the door.
Suddenly, the door opened widely. Yukito was standing in the door with a gentle smile on his face and a stuffed bunny in his left arm.
“Oh, it’s James! Sorry, you knocked so softly I wasn’t sure if someone knocked or if it was just my imagination. I’m glad it wasn’t though. Please, come in.” Stepping aside, Yukito let James enter and locked the door behind them.
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