Trey hates Harbour. He loves the Cohens, really he does, and he appreciates that they have done more for him than anyone in the whole world but he wishes that Sandy and Kirsten would get off this education kick they're currently on and let him head to Union or one of the other public schools. He's not smart like Seth and Ryan who both get As with minimal effort. He skipped half his classes in Chino and no one had even bothered to look at report cards most of which are dotted with Ds and Cs. It is no secret Harbour accepted him just because of some stupid test scores and Kirsten's name. The worst part is that Ryan and Seth are a year behind him so he's all alone in this stupid school.
The bell rings ending Trey's torture for the day and Trey quickly grabs his books to head out to the school bus.
"Mr. Atwood, a word please." Trey cringes and turns back to the overweight English teacher sitting at the front of the class. Reluctantly Trey walks up, his arms crossed defensively.
"Can you explain this to me?" Trey looks uncomfortably down to his school newspaper application. He didn't particularly want to run for newspaper but Sandy was adamant about finding a 'niche', some kind of activity, to make him hate school a little less. Trey had chosen newspaper because it seemed easy enough and the there were some cute girls in it.
"It's a newspaper application." Trey says dryly. Mr Collis snorts and looks at it again. Trey can feel his cheeks reddening as the teacher continues to flip through his application.
"Look Trey you seem like a nice kid but this newspaper is for kids who excel in English and who have the drive to put in the effort to create what is one of the best middle school papers." Mr. Collis says his voice patronizing but kind. Trey nods with a careless smile.
"I get it." Trey forces another smile then walks out of the classroom. It's not like he wants to join the stupid paper anyways.
Trey lets his head bounce on the window the whole way home watching the McMansions fly-by. Even the standard issue school bus is nicer in Newport.
"Senor Trey! You have a good day yes?" Rosa asks from the kitchen placing a batch of fresh baked cookies on the counter.
"Sí señora" Trey answers softly bypassing the cookies and usual post-school chat with Rosa. Rosa watches him leave with surprise. Ryan had soccer practise after school on Mondays and Seth usually stays to draw or just hang out until Sandy comes and picks them up. Trey usually took advantage of being one-on-one with Rosa to milk her for extra cookies and tell her about his day. He felt more comfortable with her than with Mr. and Mrs – Sandy and Kirsten. They already had done so much for him not to mention they have their two real kids. He didn't want to waste their time telling them about his day so he told Rosa and gave the Cohen's a condensed version which, since Seth was at the table, they probably appreciated.
Trey closes his bedroom door and flops back on to his soft bed. Out of all the things the Cohen's bought him the plush queen sized bed was an easy favourite. Kirsten had insisted on the expensive kind that is good for backs and Trey spent as much time as he could lounging underneath the fresh cotton sheets.
It's not usual he gets homesick here. There isn't much to miss really. Sometimes, when his mother was sober and functioning there were some decent times. One time she decided she wanted to be an amazing cook and blew the month's rent on expensive groceries and attempted to make some grand duck dish. She had failed miserably and the two had spent the night laughing over delivery pizza, another rare treat.
Trey feels his eyes prickle at the memory. Sometimes life was easier there. He knew what was expected, what he was worth. Here everyone expects him to be so much better than he is. Feeling sulky and miserable all of the sudden Trey lies on the bed clutching a pillow to his chest and letting out a few bitter tears that arose for no reason in particular. Just from the sensation of being a fish out of water, grappling and trying to survive in a place he was never supposed to be in the first place.
XOXO
A gentle knock on the door causes Trey's eyes to ease open. Surprised that he drifted off, Trey looks at the clock, 6 PM...he was asleep for two hours. Wow he really is being melodramatic.
"Come in." Trey grunts out. Sandy enters looking all paternal and concerned and making Trey more than a little uncomfortable.
"Hey kiddo." Sandy says sitting on the bed and looking a half-asleep Trey over. "You feeling ok? You bypassed Rosa's famous cookies." Trey smiles as Sandy gently cups a cool cheek and moves up to his forehead.
"I'm ok."
"Yeah?" There is still a heavy layer of concern in Sandy's voice. To convince Sandy Trey throws his legs over the bed and stretches out.
"Yeah I'm good. Ryan and Seth home yet?" Sandy nods in response listening to the sound of Trey's feet thumping away. Poor kid is probably just exhausted. It's exhausting having three kids, a wife and a law practise but all Sandy can feel most days is joy, relief that he has one of those lives that people wants. Sure they have their share of drama but he can't imagine it any other way.
Kirsten and Seth hold up most of the dinner conversation while Sandy and Ryan shoot concerned looks at Trey who is quietly picking at his Thai food.
"You sure you're feeling ok Trey?" Sandy asks when the boy dumps a large clump of dinner back in to the container.
"Just tired." Kirsten fusses over him for a moment then sends him up to bed sending Sandy a confused look.
XOXO
"Mr. Attwood can I speak to you for a moment." Mr. Collis' voice makes Trey cringe but he walks to the front of the empty classroom immediately.
"My dad's outside." Trey says in a weak attempt to get away.
"Your foster father?" Trey's not sure why Mr. Collis feels the need to qualify the statement but Trey nods.
"Actually I'd like to speak to him." Trey feels a pit of dread in the pit of his stomach. Sandy is going to be so disappointed when he finds out about Trey not making the newspaper and the poor marks he got on his Shakespeare essay.
Trey reluctantly gets a concerned Sandy from the car and walks back to the classroom, his head bowed in shame.
"Mr. Cohen nice to meet you." There is that same patronizing, sickly sweet voice and Trey is pretty sure he isn't just imagining it when Sandy stiffens.
"Mr. Cohen I want to talk to you about concerns I have about Trey." Sandy nods and sits down and Trey sinks down beside him, butterflies roaming around his stomach as he tries to figure out what he did. The Cohen's might not want him when they find out how stupid he is.
"I think that Trey would benefit from an IEP." Trey feels his heart hammering firmly in his chest. An IEP, that's what they give the stupid kids. Sandy looks a little taken aback by this comment.
"Why do you think that?" He replies calmly.
"Well Trey seems to be unable to keep up with the rigours of normal schooling." Mr Collis continues not noticing Trey's burning ears. A stack of Trey's graded papers are passed to Sandy who looks them over critically.
"He's got 70's." Sandy says looking up in clear confusion. "I mean I know that's not honour roll, no offense kid." Sandy spares Trey an apologetic look. "But I hardly see the need for an IEP."
"Trey seems to be uninterested in the material, has some trouble focusing. Given Trey's past I think these could be signs of a bigger problem." Trey notices a tightening of Sandy's jaw at Mr. Collis' comments. Sandy's mad at him. They're going to be late picking up Seth and Ryan and it's all Trey's fault. Sandy and Kirsten are gonna want to kick him out now.
"Or he could be an 11 year old kid who is bored and pigeon-holed by your stereotyping." Sandy shoots back clearly angry. "I think you're the problem not my son. Come on Trey let's get out of here." Trey scurries to follow an irate Sandy out of the classroom, terrified at the anger he sees on his foster father's face. He doesn't dare say anything as Sandy slams the car door and speeds off the opposite direction of their house. The way to Chino. He's taking him back. Trey knew it was too good to last, the Brady-bunch like family he accidently stumbled into. He isn't a diamond in the rough like Ryan he's just a lost cause. Sandy turns off the highway, confusing Trey by pulling up at a secluded spot on the beach. This is where he's going to tell him.
"They'll find the body if you kill me here." Trey offers half-kidding, Sandy still has the wild, angry look on his face that scares Trey. A small, forced smile is Sandy's only response before leaving the car motioning for Trey to follow.
"Has Mr. Collis been like that since the beginning?" Sandy asks looking out over the sparkling ocean. Trey just shrugs despondently before looking down at his hands.
"Is this what the other day was about?" Sandy shakes his head with a sigh when Trey shrugs again. Sandy feels bad enough that they didn't think about Trey the moment they adopted Ryan. They just assumed the other kid had been fine. For years they lived in blissful ignorance as the Trey was degraded, beaten and humiliated. Sandy let it go on for that long and now it's his job to try and mend the wreckage.
"Trey that teacher is an asshole." Sandy says matter-of-factly. Trey can't help a snort that a healthy mix of surprise and agreement. His eyes hesitantly flit over to Sandy who is studying him closely, concern written on the older man's features.
"You are a smart kid. You have a right to be at that school." Sandy continues and Trey tries to quell the flush that is crawling up his cheeks. If there is one thing Trey is certain of it's the fact that he's not a smart kid.
"I know it must be frustrating being a bit behind and being unfamiliar with the material but Trey that isn't your fault, that's not you being stupid. It's California's public school system that's to blame for that. You tested in the 90th percentile on your entrance exam kid. You're more than smart. You're really smart." Trey looks kind of like a lobster now. He thought Sandy was going to yell at him, kick him out. He figured that physical violence wasn't Sandy's style but he knows there are many things that can hurt just as bad.
"If you need some tutoring to get caught up we can do that but Trey you do not need to be in a slow learners class." Sandy's voice offers no room for argument.
"I didn't do too well...you know back at my old school." Trey's voice is heavy with uncertainty as he meets Sandy's eyes. "I couldn't go a lot of the time so I just started cutting, not like there was much point in going anyways." Sandy easily sees through the feigned nonchalance and nods scooting closer on the hood of the car to drape an arm around Trey.
"Well you don't have to worry about that now." Sandy says gently squeezing the boy's shoulder slightly, pleasantly surprised when Trey leans against him instead of shrugging him off.
"You have the possibility for a great future Trey and you have people who want to help you get there. We will always be here for you ok and we will always believe in you but Trey you've got to believe in yourself too ok?" Sandy smiles as Trey turns and leans in to Sandy's neck, his cold nose pressing against Sandy's collar bone. Trey and Ryan were similar in a lot of areas, both were hesitant, uncertain, both were kind and generally good kids. At the same time both were so different. Trey was passionate, demonstrative, explosive. He wore his heart on his sleeve at the best of times and at the worst whereas Ryan carefully kept his emotions to himself. Sandy wraps another arm around Trey, settling his chin on the boy's head like he did when Seth and Ryan were young.
"Let's go home ok? Work on that newspaper application." Trey gives a timid smile and nods before pulling out of Sandy's embrace and following him back in to the car.
The next day Sandy has him switched into another English class and working with some fancy, and extremely over-qualified tutor. Trey had initially balked at the offer, it was expensive and it wasn't like the other expensive things that they had around the house for all three of them this was solely for Trey and he felt bad that they were spending even more money on him. The tutor is good though and his grades creep up as the weeks go on. Both Sandy and Kirsten notice. They don't think it's unimportant like his Mom did. They say that they want him to work hard so he can go to whatever college he wants. It's the first time in Trey's whole life that he started to think about college.
"Mr Atwood can I see you for a moment?" Trey feels his momentary rise in mood dip when he sees Mr. Collis leaning against the doorframe. He really isn't in the mood for any patronizing bullshit today. Sighing he turns and walks into the classroom.
"I see both your English marks and your Humanities marks have risen." Although Trey had been able to escape Mr. Collis as an English teacher he was still ever present as his homeroom teacher.
"I also see you resubmitted your newspaper application." Trey nods and Mr. Collis raises his eyebrows before giving a tight smile.
"The paper is student run I don't have any authority over the application only the student editor, Claire does and she likes your work so you have a spot on the crew." Trey feels an unfamiliar tinge of excitement that dies when Mr. Collis leans in, his eyes predatory.
"I know your kind Trey. I'll be watching you." Trey tries not to feel stung and looks back just as coolly.
"You don't know me at all." He forces himself to walk out of the classroom into the car where Sandy is waiting for him. Sandy doesn't think he's worthless. Sandy thinks he's smart and capable. He may not be but at least someone thinks he's capable of something.
"Hey kiddo. How was your day?" Trey smiles sinking in to the leather seats throwing a tired smile at his foster father.
"It wasn't too bad." Trey replies honestly as Sandy pulls out of the driveway. There is a comfortable silence as they head up the road to the middle school to pick up Seth and Ryan. Before the other boy's get in the car Trey risks a look at Sandy who is gestures in frustration to another car in the pick-up zone.
"Hey Sandy?"
"Mhmm" Is the distracted response as Sandy inches closer to the school.
"Thanks." Sandy looks from the road in confusion and Trey closes his eyes and drops his head back in the seat before he can ask for any clarification. He has so much to thank him for he wouldn't even know where to start.
PLEASE REVIEW............sorry this has been so long coming I just couldn't get it out. I'm still not happy with this chapter but I have some ideas for the next chapters so things should be moving. And yes a Young Ryan and Men and Boys updates are both in the works. Love you all