Chad Danforth sighed as he entered his large home. Throwing his duffle bag full of basketball equipment on the floor beside a table, he walked tiredly into the bright yellow kitchen to look for a drink. "It's Friday, finally," he mumbled to himself, relieved, as he looked through the fridge and pulled out a Vault energy drink. Chad walked to his room and set the bottle on his bedside table before flopping backwards onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes before falling into a nap.

Chad awoke later that evening and looked at his clock which was placed on his bedside table, beside the still sealed bottle of Vault. It read 7:45 in glowing red numbers. He'll be home late again, Chad thought to himself as he stretched his arms above his head after climbing out of his bed. Just then, his dad entered the room, stepping through a small walkway Chad had cleared earlier that week, and looked at Chad with a grim expression.

"You need to clean your room," was the greeting Chad received from Mr. Danforth.

"Hi." Chad muttered while turning sideways to get past his father, out of the doorway, and back into the foyer where his duffle was.

"And your problem is?" Mr. Danforth asked, looking at Chad expectantly with his arms crossed.

"Don't worry, I don't know anything at all." Chad said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he shot his dad a glare that could be read easily.

"Not anything you'd want to bother your mother about, that is," and with that, he left the foyer and disappeared back out the door, knowing that Chad was well aware of where he was going.

Chad rolled his eyes and let out a deep breath as he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked back down the hall to his room, hitting a nearby wall with his fist on the way. He would have never expected that his relationship with his dad would turn so cold in a matter of days. It's not my fault, Chad told himself. He was the one that had an affair behind mom's back. I'll just pretend that he's actually working late when he says he is. He continued, telling himself that he could hold off and keep everything secret. Someone's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Chad?" His mom asked, knocking lightly on the door and walking into his room. She looked around with a look of slight disgust as she saw the cyclone of clothes, bags, basketballs, and crumpled up sheets of paper lying around the room.

"Yeah, Mom?" Chad said, noticing the look as he hopped up quickly to begin throwing clothes into his mesh hamper and putting trash into the trash bin hastily.

"How was practice today?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips and continuing her look of disgust and disapproval as she looked around the room more closely. "This room looks like a shipwreck." She muttered under her breath, still waiting for Chad's response to her first question.

"Uh," He paused, thinking of all the sprints the team had to run earlier that day. His legs still felt as if they'd collapse beneath him at anytime. "It was the usual."

"Oh. I see." She said, realizing that his answer meant the subject was better left alone. "Where's your dad?" Mrs. Danforth asked politely, picking up some clothes and putting them on their hangers that were strewn across the hardwood floor.

Chad replied quickly as he made a face at a empty pudding cup lying under a sweatshirt, both of which were Troy's from nearly a month ago. "Oh, he's at Vivica's." His eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped, realizing what he had just said.

"So then you go out behind my back with some leggy tramp?!" Chad could hear his mom shouting all the way from his room. Had the situation not been completely serious, he would have cracked a few laughs at his mother. "What were you thinking? And Chad knew? How did he know?" She yelled even louder. Chad rolled his eyes and looked around at his room, covered in white and red Wildcats memorabilia. "Of course I knew," he murmered quietly.

"Chad only knew because he went snooping!" Mr. Danforth answered, his voice rising, as Chad could imagine the look Mr. Danforth was giving his mother: a look of apology, one that had been used many times before. It was one Chad had learned to notice well, and he could pinpoint it just with the tone of voice his father was using. "I'm sorry, Susan!" Mr. Danforth added with an exasperated sigh as Chad shook his head in disbelief.

"Leave." Mrs. Danforth sputtered coldly.

"Sus--" Mr. Danforth began, but was cut off by Mrs. Danforth.

"Get your things and leave." She said coldly. Chad could hear his mother's chunky-heeled shoes trekking down the hall and into the study followed by a slam of the door.

He burried his head deeper and deeper under the cold pillow. "Great, just great." He said, muffling his voice against the pillow. When did things get so screwed up? Oh, that's when. He answered himself, remembering the day when he had went into his father's home office after much speculation, looking for clues as to where his father had been all those nights he was "working late." I knew he didn't have that many patients at the hospital, he told himself as he switched positions uncomfortably. Chad had looked through his father's agenda, seeing Vivica's name under numerous dates set for dinner and meetings. Of course, he'd heard a few phone calls between the two, figuring that this Vivica was just a friend from college. Chad interrupted his own thoughts once more, tossing and turning again. He had finally asked his father about it one night after he'd returned home late from where Chad could only assume was his girlfriend's house. No one has found out yet, and they can't start finding out now. Not Troy, not anyone, Chad told himself before finally clearing his mind enough to fall asleep.