Changing Lives
By Mabel Marsters
Chapter TwoThe next morning William got up at his usual time but instead of having his breakfast and heading off to school, he sat in his room reading the latest Jim Butcher novel and waiting for his Mom to wake up. She hadn't drunk as much last night so he hoped she'd get up earlier than she usually did - he was looking forward to getting some new clothes. He'd hardly slept. He was so excited about the trip to England; he still couldn't believe it was going to happen. When he was eleven his Aunt Julia had sent money over for them to buy tickets to go visit them but his mom had used it to pay some bills and buy plenty of liquor.
His aunt had been furious, and he'd been devastated, especially since he'd told his classmates at school that he was going to England. That was back then when he still hoped to be accepted at school, still hoped to have some friends. It also marked the real start of his persecution by Angel. When the trip hadn't happened, Angel had made sure everyone knew what a liar William was.
At about ten thirty he heard his mother get up and an hour later the pair headed to the local mall.
"Well, what do you want to get, William? Some new jeans?"
"Yeah, that'd be great." he replied,
His mom looked different this morning. Her blue eyes were a little less bloodshot and she actually looked happy. He could hardly remember her looking happy. He grinned back at her. Perhaps this trip would help her get herself back together. He hoped so.
They spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of stores, buying t-shirts and jeans for William and a couple of nice dresses for his mom. She looked so pretty in them, twirling round for his approval before she bought them.
"You look great, Mom."
They'd even spent a little of the money on lunch out, a real treat for them. Their eating habits were erratic at best, depending on his mom's level of sobriety.
As they made their way home, his mom went into a liquor store and came out clutching two bottles of vodka. She didn't meet William's eye as she came out, not wanting to see her son's disapproval but needing the alcohol. Her good mood faded as they walked home. She was worried about seeing her twin sister again; it had been years since she had last seen her.
When they got home William walked silently into his bedroom and shut the door, not wanting to witness his mother once again rendering herself comatose with the drink. Their house was all on one level and she watched as he closed the door. It irritated her that he'd gone all silent on her since she'd bought the vodka. They'd been having such a good day and now he'd ruined it. Her hand shook as she opened the bottle and sloshed a generous amount into a glass. She downed it in one large gulp, holding the glass against her forehead as she felt the liquid sear its way down to her stomach. She poured another and then another…..
ooooooo
William jumped as his door was flung open. He'd been sitting on his bed reading. He leapt up, book falling to the floor.
"Mom?" his voice wavered.
She stood in the doorway, swaying slightly.
"Who are you to judge me?" she shouted.
William cringed - he knew this routine too well. She'd be aggressive, then collapse in tears until she'd drunk enough to pass out.
"I wasn't judging, Mom." he said quietly.
"Yes, you were! You don't know what it's like! How hard it is!" she yelled, "All you do is sit in here with your bloody books."
It was funny how she sounded even more English when she was angry. She started flinging his precious books off the shelves. He stood watching, rooted to the spot, unable to move, knowing it would make her worse if he did. She held one book in her hand and stared at her son.
"You love these bloody books more than you love me." she screamed.
At that point she wasn't wrong. He did hate her when she was like this. She tore the cover from the book and tore pages out of its middle, letting them float to the floor.
"No!" William cried, legs finally able to work, as he ran to her, "Please don't."
"Don't you dare tell your mother what to do!" her pretty features contorted with rage.
She lashed out, hitting her son hard in the face. He was unbalanced from the blow so he tripped on the books strewn across the floor and fell amongst them. He laid there, tears in his eyes, his hand clamped to his right eye which was already swelling.
His Mom looked down at him and her whole demeanour changed. She burst into tears and sat with him, flinging her arms around him. He tried not to flinch away from her touch as he knew that made her angry so he just sat there, body held rigid.
"Oh, baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry." she sobbed.
He'd heard it all before. He was suddenly a little afraid of what the summer might hold for them. Would Aunt Julia send them home if his mom behaved like this?
His mom eventually went out of his room and back into the kitchen where she'd left her bottle. He got up and shut the door. Surveying the scene in front of him, he sighed and started to pick the books up, not bothering about their order, and put them on the shelves. He picked up the book she'd ruined. Had she chosen it deliberately? It was his favourite book, the first his aunt had bought him when she'd learnt of his passion for books. It was "Pride and Prejudice". It transported him away from his less than happy life to another world each time he read it. It was irreparable. Anger flared in him briefly. He hated his life, every part of it. He flung himself down on his bed and let the tears fall, hating himself for crying but unable to hold them in any longer.
Ooooooo
Buffy had looked out for William at school but hadn't found him. She was surprised, as far as she knew he'd never missed a day that term. It was a shame he was ill and had lost his 100 record so near to the end of term.
"Hey Buffster." Xander called to her, "Heading to lunch?"
"Yeah." she replied, joining the tall brown haired boy and walking beside him, "Where's Willow?"
Xander grinned at her, "Oz's practicing with his band so she's gone with him to watch."
"They're getting pretty close." said Buffy, returning his smile.
"Yeah, Willow with the cool boyfriend, who'd have thought it?"
Buffy glanced at Xander. Was that a touch of jealousy she was hearing? Willow had wanted Xander to be more than a friend for a long time but had finally realised it wasn't going to happen. Then, at the career fair, she'd been in the same group as Oz and they'd immediately hit it off. A bit of an unlikely couple, Oz was no taller than Willow, with hair that varied from brown to orange depending on how he was feeling. He was self assured, quiet, monosyllabic most of the time, with a dry sense of humour. Willow was bubbly and chatty, with an air of vulnerability that made all her friends want to protect her.
After selecting their food the pair sat at one of the tables.
"Got any plans for the summer?" asked Xander, with a grin that right away told her that Willow had told him of her hopes of befriending William.
"No." she replied innocently.
"Yeah, right." said Xander, "So where's young William today?"
She sighed, "I dunno, it's the first day he's missed since I've been here, I think."
"First day he's missed at school since he was in hospital when he was eight." said Xander.
"Boy, that's some attendance record." said Buffy, in awe, "What happened when he was eight?"
"Well, the official story was that he and his mom had been in a car crash but it was all over the school, courtesy of Angel, that his dad had beaten them and then ended up in jail."
"Oh no! Poor William." said Buffy, her heart going out to him.
"Yeah, his dad died in jail few years later. Now William gets picked on by Angel everyday." said Xander grimly, realising that although he wasn't guilty of joining in with bullying William, he was guilty of not trying to stop it. It was too easy just to keep your head down and be glad it wasn't you when things like that happen.
"Do you know where he lives?" asked Buffy.
"No, no I don't." replied Xander.
"See you later, ok?" said Buffy getting up, "Just need to do something before class."
"Sure thing, Buff."
Ooooooo
Ten minutes later she marched out of the school office.
"Stupid rules." she snarled to herself.
She'd tried to get William's home address but no matter what she'd said, the secretary wouldn't budge. No details of students could be given out.
"Oh well, I suppose I'll see him tomorrow." she thought as she went to suffer the afternoon class of history. She hated history. She lived very much in the now and what happened a hundred years ago just couldn't hold her interest.
To be continued……