The last bell of the day finally went off, as Adam hurriedly grabbed his stuff. He quickly shoved his supplies into his bag, waiting for his friend to do the same. Jonah put his stuff into his bag as well, albeit not nearly as fast. They left their maths classroom and walked down the crowded hallway towards the student parking lot. Jonah was the only one with a car at the moment, though Adam was saving up. He felt bad that Jonah always drove him home, but Jonah knew how much he hated riding the bus due to how slow it was, and how far away his house was. Plus, he got to spend time with his closest friend, so he didn't mind too much. Jonah twirled his keys around his finger, which he tends to do whenever he's lost in thought. Adam picked up on this, but waited to say anything about until they reached the car. They made it to the student parking lot, and headed towards Jonah's car. It wasn't anything special, neither of them knew the model of car either. Jonah unlocked the car doors and opened Adam's for him, something he did quite often. Adam slid into the passenger seat as Jonah went over to his side and sat in the driver seat. He put the keys in the ignition and started it, but before he left Adam had turned around to him. "Hey, you seem like you've had a lot on your mind today. You okay, dude?" Chills went down Jonah's back as he gulped and looked over at the concerned blonde. "Uhm...yeah, yeah I think so. I fell asleep in History and got told off, haha. That's all." Adam wasn't satisfied with that answer, but he didn't press further. Jonah was stubborn. If he didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't. So he left it alone, and Jonah began driving.

Jonah looked over at Adam, about 5 minutes into the drive. "Hey...sorry if this sounds weird, but do you maybe wanna...just hang out a bit before we go home, or just want me to drop you straight off at your house?" Adam looked over, a bit confused. Jonah has been asking more and more these days to hang out. Adam almost never says no, since he doesn't HAVE anything else to do. It made him worry, though. Was Jonah alright? "Yeah, sure. Whaddya have in mind?" Jonah hadn't thought that far ahead, honestly. "Well, maybe we can just go get food real quick? I'll pay." Adam smiled at this. Of course he didn't want to make Jonah pay, he always offered to pay half or pay him back, but again; Jonah is Jonah. "Sure, sounds good to me." Jonah began driving to the nearest fast food place. When Jonah wasn't looking, however, Adam took his wallet and slipped some money in there, as a way to pay him back WITHOUT him refusing to take it. Jonah drove into the drive thru and placed their orders as Adam stared out of the window. When he got their food, he drove around until he found an empty parking lot to sit and eat in. He turned off the car before he and Adam both grabbed their food. They ate in silence, besides Jonah's occasional jokes. Adam didn't like how off Jonah's been acting the past few weeks. He's not the Jonah he always knew. He was now just more and more concerned. Jonah has been acting so differently and he's terrified that something is going on, but he just won't tell him. When they were both finished eating, Jonah looked over at Adam, a slightly saddening look in his eyes. "Adam, thank you for hanging out with me. Seriously." Adam looked back, unsure of what to say. "You're...you're welcome, Jonah." Jonah suddenly reached over and hugged Adam. This caught him off guard at first, but he hugged Jonah back, running his fingers through his hair. This made Jonah's heart race, but it meant a lot to him. He felt so comforted, he even forgot for a minute what he'd have to endure at home. They both pulled away, and Jonah wasn't sure what to say. He started the car back up and they began their drive back home. The car was silent for the most awkward 13 minutes of their lives. Jonah pulled up to Adam's house and Adam grabbed his stuff. "Thanks for the ride, Jo." Adam quickly got out of the car as Jonah's heart pounded once more, the nickname 'Jo' always caught him off guard. He didn't have much more time to think though, it was time for him to get home. He knew he'd have to eventually.

Jonah pulled into the driveway to his house, noticing the other car in the driveway. Just great; his dad was home. He turned the car off and sat there in the driver's seat, contemplating if it was even worth it to go inside or to just sleep in the car. He had his weed, and he could wait until tomorrow to eat again. Still, he'd just delay the inevitable, and probably make his dad more pissed by not going inside. He slowly grabbed his bag before exiting the car, closing the door behind him and heading towards the house door. God, he wished he could tell his mom about everything going on. She had no idea. He didn't want to ruin their marriage, though. The guilt would be unbearable, it is just THINKING about it. He fumbled in his pockets for the house keys, finally finding them and inserting them into the lock. Jonah took a deep breath before unlocking the door slowly and opening it. He walked inside, closing it behind him quietly. His dad was nowhere in sight, probably meaning he was in the basement or his parents room. Jonah took this opportunity to hurry to his room and set his stuff down. He closed his door behind him, though he wished he could lock it. He had a lock, sure, but he tried locking it once or twice. It didn't end well for him, he didn't want to deal with that again. He pulled his flip-phone out of his jacket, and noticed a text from Adam.

"Hey, text me when you're home safe."

If only he could be both of those things at once; safe and at home. That'd be a miracle. Sometimes he has those days, but only when his mother is home. Otherwise, it's silly to think he would ever experience that. He replied something to Adam quickly before laying down on his bed on his stomach, grabbing his notebook from underneath his bed. His poetry notebook. Hah, that would probably sound hilariously pathetic to anyone he told. Which is why he didn't tell anyone. Not even his best friend, Adam. Especially not him. Not because he'd judge, no. Maybe he would, but that wasn't what deterred him. It was more so what he wrote about. Stuff he'd never tell him. How much he missed his mother, how his father treated him, how confused he was about himself...and his crush. He'd never tell Adam that last part, not on his life. Not unless his crush liked him back...But he knew that would never happen. So he didn't bother. He'd rather not risk asking, anyway. He grabbed his trusty pen from his bag; one of the few things he was careful with. It was a red and gold fountain pen, shiny and in the same condition as it was when he first bought it. It was one of the few days his mom was home, and they had gone out shopping as a celebration. He didn't get much since he didn't know what to get, but that pen caught his eye in its display. He'd been writing since before then, but he always used cheap pens. But this? This wasn't some cheap, crappy pen. $8 for a pen was a lot, at least to him. He decided to use some of his own money to buy it, since he felt it would make it feel a lot more special. And it did, as ridiculous as it may sound. It was his best pen, he didn't use it for anything else. He flipped to his closest empty page, wondering what he was gonna write. Honestly, he was drained of ideas. Nothing creative in his mind. All of his recent poems have been about his worsening home situation. The past few weeks have been absolute hell, and this weekend wouldn't be much better, he knew that much. He looked back over at his phone and saw another text from Adam.

"I saw this cat outside of my window earlier, it looks like you, don't you think?" Followed by a photo of a grey and brown striped cat.

That made Jonah's heart skip a beat, it was so fucking cute. He'd never received a text like that before, especially not one from Adam. This gave Jonah inspiration for his poem, and he began writing. He considered it a talent to be able to write a poem so quickly. It was one of his few talents, besides his blunt rolling. His two best qualities for sure. About halfway through his writing, he heard a knock on his door. He rushed to put away his pen and notebook, walking carefully over to the door. His heart was racing as he opened it, and there his dad stood. "Jonah, did you forget you had to take out the trash?! I told you a million fucking times, I'm getting real tired of your lazy ass ignoring what I have to say. I didn't raise a weed-smoking lazy ass fa-"

"Dad, I'm sorry. It was an honest mistake, you know I don't have a good memory."

"BULLSHIT! And don't fucking interrupt me when I'm speaking, you hear me? Your mother may coddle you, but I won't."

Before he could even react, he felt a palm swiftly across his left cheek, so powerful it almost completely knocked him down. Tears blurred his vision, as he looked at his dad. His jaw was slightly agape, his hand holding the spot he had hit him. "You don't even have anything to say, do you?! I knew it, you're just like your mother. Too cowardly."

"What the fuck did you just say about my mom?!"

Jonah raised his voice slightly, which Mervin, his dad, didn't like at all. He grabbed the young boy by his collar and punched him in the face. He dropped a now bloody-nosed Jonah to the floor, and stared down at him.

"Tch, just what I expected. I expect that trash out."

With that, he walked away, leaving Jonah on the floor. Jonah slowly propped himself up with his arms, blood dripping from his nose onto the floor. He sat up to free his arm, covering his nose. Holy shit, he hits hard. He slowly got up, heading to the bathroom. He was sure not to drip any blood on the hallway floor, in case he got hit for that too. He took a cloth nearby the sink and wet it, holding it to his face gently. He dabbed away the blood, since it hurt like hell. After about 7 minutes, the bleeding finally stopped and he had gotten it cleaned up. Hurriedly, Jonah rushed down the stairs to take out the trash quickly. He threw it out of the back door towards the bin, then rushed back to his room. He closed the door, and grabbed his water bottle from his bag. He put it over his nose to try and calm down the pain from the punch. Mom, please hurry. Even just one day. Tears finally rolled down his face, which humiliated him. He hated crying, he felt so stupid for it. Plus, he'd never hear the end of it if his dad saw him cry. Jonah glanced over at his digital clock, the time reading 8:57 P.M. Jonah never usually slept early, but he was exhausted. Plus, he always got scolded by both his parents and Adam for how late he stayed up and how little he slept. Jonah turned off his lights, including his lamp, and flopped back down on his bed. He rolled over onto his stomach and squeezed his pillow. He'd forgotten to change out of his school clothes, but he didn't care. That was the least uncomfortable thing going on, anyway. He closed his eyes, with tears still stinging his sore face. God only knows what awaited him tomorrow.

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