Greg

A Story by Stac

A story about a confused teenager who feels like his life is falling apart around him

Greg was the most popular kid in his year and he always got what he wanted. That was until his mum and dad decided that they were going to get a divorce and Greg would be in the middle of a messy custody battle. The custody battle was taking its toll on Greg and his schoolwork was failing because of it. The teachers tried talking to Greg but he always got mad and stormed off, even if he was in the middle of a lesson.

‘Greg, you ok?’ Mr Hummel asked in the middle of a science lesson.

‘Not really.’ Greg replied as he looked at the chemicals on the table.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I just want everything to be normal.’ Greg said with tears in his eyes.

Across the room two girls were having a conversation about Greg.

‘Hey Greg. Is it true that your mum and dad are getting divorced?’ the whole room went silent as they waited for Greg to reply. Instead Greg grabbed his stuff and ran out of the science lab in tears. He hated his mum and dad for putting him through this even though he had his GCSE’s coming up. Greg ran as fast as he could because he wanted to get away from school and forget about his life. He ran towards the forest, the one place he and his older brother, Leo, had always felt safe.

‘Greg!’ Leo shouted.

‘Get back to class Leo.’ Greg said. Greg and Leo had always looked out for each other even though Leo was 17 and was studying his A-levels.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Everyone knows about mum and dad and I just want to forget about everything.’

‘Just go home and calm down.’ Leo said as he threw the house keys at Greg.

‘Why?’ Greg replied.

‘I’ll talk to the teachers and try and get them to understand what you are going through.’ Leo said as he turned around and went back to lesson. Greg thought about what Leo had just said before running home.

As Greg arrived home he walked straight into a massive argument between his mum and his dad. He knew that the argument was about who was going to get custody of him. He ran into his room and slammed his door before curling up in his bed and crying. He knew that no one had noticed that he had run away from school and he knew that his parents didn’t care about him.

‘Greg, can I come in?’ a voice said outside his room.

‘Whatever.’ Greg said as he tried to hide his tears.

His mum opened the door and came and sat down on the edge of his bed.

‘How come you’re not at school?’ Claire said as she looked at the clock.

‘Some kids found out about you and dad and started to wind me up about it. I ran out of lesson and Leo told me to go home and calm down.’ Greg muttered as he looked into his mums eyes.

‘I didn’t know that everything was getting so hard for us. Just go to sleep and I’ll talk to Leo and your dad ok?’

‘Ok. Thanks mum.’ Greg said as his mum walked out of his room. Two hours later Leo arrived home from school and was confronted by his mum and dad.

‘What’s going on with Greg?’ his dad, Mike, asked.

‘Like you care, you have never been there when me or Greg have needed you.’ Leo shouted at his dad.

‘Calm down Leo, we’re worried about your brother.’ Claire said.

‘He’s upset about the custody battle and his exams that are coming up.’ Leo sighed and waited for someone to talk.

‘Why wouldn’t he tell us?’ Mike said as he put an arm around Claire.

‘He’s scared. He wants us to be a proper family again.’

‘NO ONE KNOWS WHAT I WANT!’ Greg shouted from the doorway. The door slammed and Leo stared around the room.

‘I’ll go find out if he’s ok.’ Leo said as he walked out the living room. Leo ran out of the house and tried to catch up with Greg but he was long gone. Leo knew that Greg had different ways of calming down when he was upset and running off was one of them. Leo went to the woods to see if Greg was there and sure enough, Greg was sat on a boulder listening to his Ipod.

‘Hey. You ok?’ Leo asked as he sat next to him.

‘Yeah.’ Greg said as he smiled at Leo.

‘Come on. Mums’ worried about you.’

‘Everyone thinks that they know what’s best for me but they don’t.’

‘I know. Let’s go home.’

When Leo and Greg got in Claire started shouting at Greg for running off.

‘Mum, listen to Greg.’ Leo said as Mike walked in.

‘I don’t like the fact that you two are fighting over who’s going to look after me. I hate it but you don’t care.’ Greg said as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

‘Then what do you want Greg?’ Mike asked him.

‘I want us to be a proper family again, without anybody fighting.’ Greg told Mike as he looked back and forth between his parents. Both his parents looked at each other before talking.

‘Maybe, we can try again. For Greg and Leo’s sake.’ Claire said as she looked at Mike.

‘I agree.’ Mike said.

‘You do?’ Greg and Leo said at the same time.

‘Yeah. Greg has been really upset about it and now I see that Greg needs both his parents more than ever.’ Mike said with a smile. After talking for hours, everyone went to bed tired after the eventful day they had all had. Greg knew that his mum and dad wouldn’t keep their promise so he decided that the best option was to run away. That way they would both know just how much he needed them. As the clock struck 11, Greg picked up his bag and crept downstairs. He slowly opened the door, making sure he made no noise, before running up the road towards the woods. Suddenly he realised that he had nowhere to go. He pulled out his phone and called Leo.

‘Leo… I’ve done something stupid.’

‘What have you done?’ Leo said trying not to wake his parents.

‘Meet me at the boulder.’

‘It’s 11… You’ve ran away haven’t you?’ Leo started to raise his voice.

‘Yeah and I'm scared.’ Greg cried.

‘Stay there. I'm coming.’ Leo sighed. Leo got up and decided not to tell his parents about Greg. He got out of the house and ran towards the boulders. Eventually Leo found Greg asleep behind the boulder.

‘Hey.’ Leo mumbled.

‘Do you think I’m being selfish?’

‘Kind of.’ Leo said. They heard police sirens getting closer and they knew that their parents had called the cops.

They both knew that they would be in trouble if they went home but Greg knew that the only safe way was for him to run away. He looked at Leo who nodded his head before letting go of Greg and letting him run off.