"I'm home!" I yell as I open the door to my house. Of course it's not my house, it's me and my dad's. I lock the door and walk to the kitchen.
My dad's light, easy tone says, "Hey Noah, so how was school?" and it's really the first time I've heard him say that in years. Something's either really wrong or really broken.
"Since when do you ask that question?" I say carefully. Since when did he wear an apron and cook me stuff? "What are you making? And what are you wearing?" I ask jokingly.
"Oh, this old thing?" My dad says as he tugs the apron. "I've had it for years! Your, uh, mother, gave it to me." My dad's voice quiets. "When you were a baby."
My mom left when I was less than a month old. She said she had business to take care of, and she'd be back soon. Liar. But my dad and I make it. We're alone, but we've got each other.
"I'm making dinner, and it'll probably take awhile, so you can go and do something else now, if you like." He said quickly. I knew this look, when his eyes dart back and forth, and his wrinkles get scrunched up.
"You messed up on the food! Dude!" I accuse. "Looks like we're ordering pizza again." I said. I can't cook, and neither can my dad, so we always ordered out.
"Just give me an hour to save it! I know it will fine once I take it out of the oven." He pleads.
"What are you even making?" I asked sarcastically. I had my money on pizza.
"Spaghetti," He mutters. I burst out laughing and he looks at me with puzzled eyes. "What?" He said innocently.
"You don't cook spaghetti in the oven! You cook it on a stove!" I say between laughs. Yeah, my life is this sad. I laugh at my dad baking spaghetti.
"Yeah sure! And you cook the sauce separate from the noodles!" He sarcastically says.
I stopped laughing. "Dad, you do cook the noodles separate from the sauce." I inform him.
"Okay then, do you want pepperoni or sausage?" He surrenders. We are such a healthy family, aren't we?
LINE BREAK
"Dude! Pass me the ball!" The most obnoxious voice on the planet shouts at me. "Didn't you hear me, Jones?" Aaron Green shouted again. Aaron was my school bully, and lucky for me, he was on my basketball team that day.
I throw the ball in his general direction and run to the hoop. I run into Sarah Bennett on the way, and I knock her down. Oh no, not again.
"Watch where you're going, jerk! I think you, like, totally broke my leg!" Sarah said as she got up. "If I wasn't on your team, I would totally crush you." She said, though she probably didn't know how to dribble.
"Sorry," I mutter as I run towards the net.
LINEBREAK
"Dude, what's going on?" I asked Zack as we got on the bus. "You look liked I just grew wings or something." I say to him as we sat down.
"Nothing, I just realized something and it's gonna take awhile to get used to." He answered reassuringly. Total lies. He saw the look on my face and repeated, "Nothing,"
"Okay, just don't try anything stupid." I ordered him, but knowing Zack, that's like telling gravity to knock it off.
"Why would you be expecting me to do something stupid?" He asked as if I hurt him.
"Because that's all you do." A familiar voice says as Alexis sat down next to us. "I doubt you could control your stupidity for a lifetime, let alone an hour." Alexis always has to say smart-sounding things, even if they are about stupidity.
"Wannna bet?" Zack asked her as he reached his hand over the seat. Not again. Alexis always won bets. And Zack never learned
"Ten bucks says you can't do anything stupid for the next hour." Alexis said, shaking his hand.
"Stupid as in what?" I asked, dying to give Zack a chance of winning. After all, he was my best friend.
"Hitting anything, especially inanimate objects, pushing, knocking something down, burning something, even yourself, stubbing your toe or fingers, yelling at inanimate objects including the TV, swearing, hurting yourself in any way, and breaking something." Alexis finished.
"That's quite a list." I said, trying to sound smart in front of her. Alexis was a genius, most of the time an evil one.
"Well, I'll inform you if I do any one of those things while you're not here." Zack said as I got off the bus. Alexis is going to win, but I never get the chance to find out.