I sat there, at the steps of the school, waiting for my parents to pick me up. It had already been 30 minutes - everyone else had already been picked up. Why wasn't I?
If you're thinking 'walk home,' well, I can't. I'm one of those kids who live too far from the school to walk, but I couldn't take the bus home because our school was cheap and had no activity buses. Maybe getting the lead role for Hansel and Gretel wan't such a good thing.
I just sat there waiting for someone. After another 30 minutes passed, I started to get a little angry. My family always forgot about me. It's either work, or my sister. And no, not the sister who I look up to, an attention stealing little sister. 'Sarah this,' or 'One second Ian, Sarah needs this.' I mean, there was even this time when I asked my dad if he could get me my backpack from downstairs and he said yes. But then I heard Sarah ask for help and suddenly I was forgotten. Whatever happened to equal attention?
Another hour passes, making it two hours that I had been sitting there. At that point, I was really considering trying to walk home. Times like that, I really wished that I was trusted with a phone. 'I bet mom and dad are both home, freaking out about Sarah coughing. Not like they's ever do anything like that for me. I still had to go to school sometimes when I was sick...' I thought. I started crying, realizing I've felt like that for a while. 'I wonder if they ever forget they forget they have a son. Probably not... but no matter what, Sarah always seems to be put first.' I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face into my arms.
Who knows how long later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I ignored it, only to get poked again. "Go away," I said, face still buried in my arms.
"Are you okay?" the poker asked.
"I'm fine. Now leave," I said.
"But you don't look okay," he said. I looked up to see what annoying jerk wouldn't listen and saw a cross between a human and a mudkip. "Yup, I was right. You're not okay - you're crying," he confirmed.
"Hmm, didn't notice," I responded sarcastically, glaring at him.
"Woah, don't get rude," he said.
"Sorry... wait. I remember you. You're in my homeroom. ...Quimby, was it? The fish?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't remember his name, but I knew that he hated being called fish.
"My name is Quentin, and I'M NOT A FISH! I'M AN AMPHIBIAN!" he angrily corrected. A smile spread onto my face.
"But you're a mudkip, aren't you? Mudkips are fish type pokemon," I said. He took a deep breath, his expression looking like he was trying not to murder me.
"But I'm also part human, so that makes my amphibian, got it?" he said.
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, enough about me. What about you? You were crying, like, 30 seconds ago," Quentin said.
"Erm... it's nothing," I lied. He raised his eyebrow. Well, I think he did anyway. It was hard to tell.
"Realy? Nothing? It didn't look like it," he said. Yeah, I wasn't a very good liar, but I somehow got lead in something that involes acting.
"..." I hesitated. I didn't know if I could trust this guy. I just mentally shrugged and started talking. "I-I'm in the musical and I was supposed to be picked up 2 hours ago," I said.
"But can't you just walk home?" "I was thinking about that, but I live a couple miles away from school. That and my parents don't want me to cross the busy streets and that's the only way to walk to where I live. At least, not alone I can't." I explained.
"But aren't it your parents the ones that are supposed to pick you up? At this point aren't you just like, 'Screw them, I'm just going to walk,'?" he asked.
I thought for a second. I didn't know how to phrase how I felt. Really, I just didn't know how I felt in general. "I mean... not really. Sure I'm mad at them for forgetting. All the time, really. But they're still my parents and I guess that sometimes I feel like they don't remember I'm there but that's just because... because I'm n-not their f-first priority."
At first, I didn't realize I felt that way until I said it. I wasn't actually that angry. But, not first priority? I started crying again. Quentin put his hand on my shoulder.
"Ian. That is your name, right?" I nodded. "That's not right. A parent's number one priority, or at least one of them, should be his children. Hey, how about my friends and I help walk you home?" he said, pointing to small group of people in the field.
"But I'm not allowed to walk home alone," I said through my uneven attempts at taking deep breaths.
"You won't be alone. We'll be there." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to his friends. "Meet Team Crafted." Quentin explained my situation after we all were introduced to each other. They agreed to walk me home and even offered meeting up after school the next day.
I walked onto the front steps of my house. I looked back and saw TC walking away. Slowly, I unlocked the door. "Uh... Anyone home?" I called out as I walked in. It wasn't usually as quiet as it was. I dropped my bookbag on the staircase and walked to the kitchen to check for any signs of life.
On the table I found a note.
Dear Ian, We don't know if you'll read this, but we wrote this just in case. We forgot to pick you up realized this during dinner. We were just about to pick you up, but Sarah had an allergic reaction to something in the food. She started vomiting and had trouble breathing, so we took her to the hospital. We hope you didn't cross Washinton Street alone. If you are reading this before we come back, we want you to know that we're sorry and hope that you'll be okay home alone.
P.S. There's food in the fridge.
-Mom & Dad
I smiled. They didn't forget about me. I looked around the kitchen and it their food was left on the table. I'm glad I decided to not go ape shit towards my parents. After all, you can never give up on family.