Chapter 10: This isn’t a game!?

I slowly open my eyes and see that Claire is awake.

“Good morning Logan. How do you feel?”

“To be honest, I still feel pretty horrible.”

Claire’s head drops down…

“You know Logan… you were talking in your sleep, and… umm... I’m sorry.”

I smile the best I can while laying down.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been told I talk during my sleep all the time. It probably seemed like a very one sided conversation. Ah, what time is it?”

“1 am.” Claire immediately responds.

“Oh. Should we go back to our room? I wouldn’t want to bother the nurse.”

“She said it’s been a really long time since her last all-nighter, she said it makes her feel young again.”

What a weird nurse…

“Speaking of which, where is she right now?”

“She is out getting something for her and myself to eat. She heard you sleep talking too and probably decided to leave to avoid hearing anything you didn’t want anyone to hear.”

“Was it really that bad?”

“6 out of the 7 days of the week you sat alone in a house without anyone to talk to.”

“Oh… So what else did I talk about?”

Claire shyly moves away from me.

“How you’ve longed for someone to love…”

I cover my head with the bed’s blanket.

“I said something so embarrassing in my sleep!”

Claire pats my head gently with her small hands.

“It’s okay… I… I want to know more about you… We have time…”

I take a deep breath and calm myself.

“Yeah, I guess we do have the time.” I slowly sit up in the bed. “I will answer any and all questions since the cat is already out of the bag.”

Claire sits beside me and rests her head on my shoulder.

“Then, what was the choice you made that made you so unpopular for so long?”

I make a sad expression.

“It’s quite the story you know. Are you ready for it?”

“Yes!” Claire nods quickly in response.

“Well then, here goes nothing.” I take a deep breath and start to explain the incident to Claire.

*Past Logan POV*

What interesting weather.

The sky is clear, but it is snowing. I wonder how that even works.

The snow was only staying on the ground for moments before melting. It was making a slippery mess that made driving impossible.

I was out for a walk with my parents today.

“Mary, may I ask why you came with me today?”

“David, it was to make sure that you didn’t mistreat Logan… again.”

“It wasn’t my fault! You were there!”

“You definitely hurt Logan.

“All I did was tell him the truth you know!”

“I’m fine mom. Dad only had the best intentions in mind. Please stop fighting.” I try and stop my parents from fighting.

“Logan, honey, you need to stop pretending. As your mother I can tell you are sad.”

“I’m really not. I know that I was stupid.”

My mother sighs.

“Fine then, if that’s how it is. I’ll be going home without you two. Have fun outside tonight.”

“Dad, are we going camping again?”

My dad pats my head with his large hands.

“Don’t worry about it Logan. You and I will go adventure!”

“I want to sleep in my bed tonight. I have school tomorrow.”

“Stop worrying so much little guy. Your father will take good care of you, you don’t have to worry about anything as long as I am around.”

My stomach growls.

“I’m hungry dad. What are we going to eat?”

“Oh… I don’t have my wallet… I let your mother have it. Hey Logan. Wanna go play a fun game?”

“Game?” I tilt my head as I ask.

“Yes, it’s a fun game, I call it, ‘How much can you eat before running?’”

“That’s a long title for a game. Where are we eating dad?”

My father picks me up.

“No worries little guy. Your father will take care of you. Let’s go to your favourite tonight. Make sure to eat lots, ‘kay?”

“Yeah!”

…

“Little guy, I’m going to sneak to the washroom, I’ll be right back. Don’t leave here okay?”

“Okay Dad! Hurry back so we can go home!”

“I’ll be right back, just sit there and wait.”

My father runs to the bathroom. I look back at my food and continue eating.

…

The waiter comes by after a while.

“Hey little guy, I noticed you’ve been here alone for quite some time. Are your parents here to pay the bill?”

“No problem, dad said he was just going to the washroom. I watched him walk in!”

The waiter calls someone else over, “Hey, go check the bathroom and see if anyone is in there.”

“What’s your name little guy?”

“Logan Redwood!”

“Redwood? Are you sure that’s your name? Who is your father?”

“Dad? … Am I allowed to say his real name? I’m scared I’ll get in trouble again.”

The waiter suddenly makes a weird face.

“Again you say… umm… yeah, it’s fine. I promise that you won’t get in trouble.”

“Pinky swear?”

“Of course,” The waiter bends down and holds out his pinky finger, “I promise.”

“David Redwood.”

The waiter lowers his head as the other man comes running back.

“There was no one in the restroom. It was empty, I checked every stall, and even the window was still locked.”

“Oh… I see. Please bring the manager.” The waiter looks back to me and sits in the spot opposite mine, “So little guy, did your dad say anything strange before coming here?”

“Umm…” I tilt my head. “He said we would play a game, he didn’t explain the game to me, so I don’t really know how to play. Where’s my dad if he isn’t in the bathroom?”

“What kind of game was it… the one your father mentioned?”

“It was… umm… ‘How much can you eat before running?’… I think that is what he said.”

“You asked for me?” A man wearing a grey suit walks over and sits down.

“Yes, this child is Logan, son of Mr. David Redwood.”

The man wearing the grey suit stares at me with a weird gaze.

“Okay, sonny, you have two options. Tell us where your deadbeat of a father went, or we call the cops.”

“My dad is a good man! He would never leave me here alone. He took me out for dinner and he said that we would be camping again tonight!”

“Ugh, the worst has a son. You know what Logan!? Your father is a horrible man! He goes from restaurant to restaurant eating and then running away before paying! Quite frankly, as businesses, we all have connections to other restaurants despite rivalries, so we know what restaurants your father has gone to! Your father has a nickname in the businesses around here! The worst! Do you want to know what you are!? As his son! As his son, you will be no better than him! The worst of the worst is what you are!”

“Sir! Calm down, he is only a child!”

“Who gives a fuck if it’s a child!? Bring him to the back, since he isn’t tall enough to do any real work we will get him to crunch numbers until he has worked off his debt!”

“Sir! Thi-“

“I don’t care! Do it!”

*Present Logan POV*

“And that’s how it went down. This school isn’t the only place I had the nickname, ‘The worst of the worst’. People called me that for so long it almost feels like a second name. Someone at the restaurant just happened to be a reporter, so the story was published in a local newspaper. It happened in ever town, every city. No matter what town we moved to, my father and mother fought, then they quit their jobs and we’d move to the next town. Rinse, repeat.”

Claire’s eyes are tearing up.

“L-Logan…”

I wave my hand weakly.

“Don’t worry about the past. It doesn’t affect me now.”

“Bu-!”

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

*Click*

The door to the sick room opens.

“Was it a good time to enter? I brought you some food Claire. It’s a sub sandwich. I didn’t know what you liked, so I played it safe and just got an Italian sub with lettuce and onions.”

Claire rubs her eyes.

“Thanks, sorry for asking you to do that for me.”

“No, no. I should thank you for giving me a chance to relive my childhood. Going out past midnight to get food at stores that are open 24 hours. Ah, the good old days.” She starts to unwrap her sub, “So Logan. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I am available all the time, well, except when people are sick, but they normally go home quite quickly as most assigned staff have vehicles at the ready. We don’t have counsellors here. Mainly because it is rich families, so a personal counsellor would be better for them, but I guess I’d be the next best thing.”

I tilt my head, and she just smiles. What a troublesome person, she should know it’s rude to eavesdrop on other’s conversations.

…

The nurse has fallen asleep at her desk. She is drooling, but neither Claire nor I have the heart to wake her up.

I gently rub Claire’s head.

“I want to know more about you Claire.”

She puts her head onto my chest.

“My story isn’t as grand as yours… but if it’s you asking I don’t mind.”

“I’m glad it isn’t like mine.”

“You see.” Claire takes a deep breath, “I was always popular because of father. People have been trying to get close to me since I started going to school. Groups of people would flock to me any time I went outside. None of them ever actually wanted to talk to me. Some were pressured by their parents, and some had evil intentions.”

“I see…” I continue to pet her head.

“I developed this sheltered attitude after a while. I learned that no one really liked me for who I was, or even liked me in the first place, they were all after power. I thought I once knew someone that understood me, but they betrayed me at the last second in a race for power.”

“That sounds rough.” I gently run my fingers through her hair. It is quite soft.

Her height is roughly the same as mine, but she is so skinny. Her eyes shine so brightly almost all the time because of their light blue colour.

It makes me feel dazed sometimes at how stunning she is, but right now I should be listening to her, not staring at her.

“After trying to trust so many people I was constantly betrayed by, I stopped caring about what was going on around me and acted without caring about others. My father tried to stop me at first, but he agreed to it after a while, and he came up with an idea I thought I could abuse. That was what I planned on doing to you… but… I am glad he approved of you.”

“I am glad too.”

“I fell in love with you so quickly because the wall was damaged by the sudden shock of my father’s response to you, then the way you treated me during the wedding prep and during the wedding was just like a princess… It made me fall in love with you… Is that weird?”

“No… Well, I don’t think so anyways. If you are going to be a princess, then I’ll just have to become a prince befitting of your needs.”

“People may call you ‘The worst of the worst’, but I think you are the best of the best for me.”

“I love you Claire.”

“I love you too Logan.”

Claire kisses me. She smiles slightly and kisses me stronger. She starts using her tongue, so I also retaliate.

After who knows how long, we separate.

“Hey Claire…”

“Y-Yes Logan?”

“I’m sorry, but, would it be okay if I slept some more. I’m really tired.”

“No problem Logan. Let me help you lay down again.”

Claire helps me lay back down in the bed from seated position. She pulls the covers over me and kisses me one more time on the lips.

“Goodnight Logan. I hope you feel better when you wake up.”

“Goodnight Claire. I hope so too. I bet that kiss was horrible for you.”

“It was one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted. Have a good sleep.”

“Yeah.”

I close my eyes and start to drift off to sleep, I bet those sleeping pills are still affecting me a bit.

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Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

It was slightly more depressing than what was originally planned, but it works. If you are upset at Claire's lackluster backstory when compared to Logan's, do not worry, it will be explained in more detail at a later time.

Now, for a message from my proofreader. This is a copy, paste from our discord chat, so... grammar?

Hellooooo!! Proofreader-Kun here! Or at least half of him is… …

Anyways! Wisdom teeth removal sucks. Especially if you’re not knocked out for it. Instead, I got a numbing and pain meds… Woo… Hoo…

Apparently the combination of my normal meds, the Anti-Biotics, and the pain meds are doing weird things to my brain.

No concentration… An uneducated squirrel is too good of a metaphor for me. :( Hopefully I’ll be back to doing my mediocre proof reading before the end of the week. Now back to Author-sama (please don’t replace me)

And that is all he said.

Now for an interesting topic. As you may have realized, I have some issues when writing anything other than my main character.

For this, I have an interesting solution. I just need to talk to more people. I can't say that I've talked to too many people in my entire life... however, I can name all my friends I've ever had (in real life) on two hands.

So, if any of you are willing to become a tribute to help me learn about different characters send me a message or comment... I don't know, try waving large flags, it might get my attention.

My proofreader said this might work, so I'm going for it. If you want to help me learn i would appreciate fluent english speakers, but it is not mandatory. (I mean that all you have to do is be able to speak the language as english is the only language I can speak.)

As a bonus, if you do join up and talk to me, I might be answering some questions that are asked.

Ans as always, have a great day/night!