"Why does math have to be so difficult?" Jason said to himself as he looked down at the sheet of questions Miss Young had given out for homework.

He'd already finished his chemistry homework and was now left with the scramble of letters and numbers sitting on his desk.

He let out a sigh of frustration. 'Well, I guess I don't have another option.' Jason picked up his phone from his desk and sent a quick message.

Jason: 'Hey could you send me the answers to the math homework?'

Roman: 'Seriously dude? It's the first homework of the year.'

Jason: 'I know that and I don't want to hand in a blank sheet of paper.'

Roman: 'Alright fine. But don't expect me to do this all the time.'

Jason: 'Thanks. Appreciate it.'

A few seconds later and Roman had sent the answers which Jason quickly copied down. 'I should get some of them wrong. Just incase. Domt want Miss Young to expect too much.' He thought not wanting to risk getting caught.

As he copied down the answers, he heard the front door open and close indicating his mum was home. He finished off the homework and headed downstairs to greet her.

Jason walked into the living where his mum had turned on the TV and was laying across the couch trying to relax after an 8 hour shift at the salon.

The brunette woman turned her head to the door and smiled. "Jason. Come sit down." She said adjusting her position on the couch.

Elise Fitzpatrick was a phenomenon in the eyes of her only son. A single mum at 16 had somehow over time managed to make enough money to open her own salon back home (with a little help from her parents). The salon had been very successful, so successful that she sold it on for a profit and made enough money to move both herself and Jason out to Boston and open a new one. Jason had no idea how she did it but she did, after everything that had happened in the past with Jason's dad she had persevered and made a life for herself and her son.

Jason's dad on the other hand was a totally different story. Elise met David MacKenzie aged 12 in her first year of secondary school and they quickly became close friends, so close that they started dating a year later. For 3 years they were happy and spent a lot of their time together, maybe a little too much time as they grew older if you know what I mean because shortly after her 16th birthday the unthinkable happened as Elise found out she was pregnant.

She was absolutely terrified but happy at the same time. Yes she was becoming a mother at such a young age but at the same time she was bringing new life into the world and she had someone by her side to go through it with her, at least she thought she did anyway.

When she told David the news he did not take it well at all, he demanded Elise get an abortion and when she told him no he lost it.

"It's all your fault this happened. You begged me for it. You're a fucking slut. I want nothing to do with that thing." Those were just some of the things he said. Elise was heartbroken and she broke up with him on the spot before she cried herself to sleep that night.

In school, David started spreading rumours that she had cheated on him and that it wasn't even his baby but thankfully most people were smart enough to see through his lies though there were a few idiots who didn't as you'd expect. Defeated and disliked by nearly everyone almost to the point of hatred, he left school at the end of that year and Elise thought that she had seen the last of him.

With the help of her family Elise raised Jason as best she could and as I said saved up enough money to open up her own salon. Things were going well, Jason turned out great and was a naturally gifted sportsman, excelling mainly at football, so gifted that at the age of 11 he was signed to a youth contract at Motherwell FC.

Jason shone at every age level and was on course for a bright future in the game. School was also going really well and his home life was great. Everything was pretty good for young Jason Fitzpatrick until...

16th November 2017

Jason walked out the school building with his girlfriend Toni Storm.

"So are you coming over to my house tonight?" She asked.

"Can't tonight. I've got to study for this maths test tomorrow or else I'm definitely going to fail."

"Come on, please. I can help you study."

"Is that really a good idea? The last time you 'helped me study' we ended up binge watching Brooklyn Nine Nine all night."

She chuckled. "Alright. But tomorrow night you better come over and keep me company. My parents are going away for the weekend, remember?"

"Yes I remember. I promise I will be there. Now I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you." She said walking off in the other direction. "Miss you already." She called causing Jason to laugh.

As he walked down the street, a man stopped him. "Excuse me."

Jason stopped. "Yes?"

"Is your name Jason Fitzpatrick?"

"Uh-huh." He replied now a little freaked out. "How do you know my name?"

"David MacKenzie." He said holding out his hand.

Jason looked down at his hand, deciding not to accept it until he figured out who this guy was. The name was familiar though. David MacKenzie? Where had he heard that name before?

"I take it you don't recognise me then." He pulled his hand back.

"Honestly, I don't have a clue who you are."

"So your mum doesn't talk about me?"

"My mum? How do you know mum?"

"Elise and I go way back. Since before you were born actually."

"Is that right? Alright. If you and my mum know each other so well then how come I've never seen you before?"

"We sort of drifted apart when she became pregnant with you. Tell me, how much do you know about your dad?"

"Not much. Listen, you're starting to creep me out a little so I'm gonna go."

"Wait. Just one more question."

Jason sighed loudly becoming annoyed. "What is it?"

"Do you know anything about your father? Anything at all?"

"Just that his name his name was David MacKe..." Jason stopped in his tracks. That's where he'd heard the name before, David MacKenzie was his dad's name.

"That's right. Son." He said with a smile.

"No. No, no, no. I'm not your son."

"But you are."

"No. No I'm not." He said as he turned to walk away.

"Jason." He put his hand on Jason's shoulder. "I promise you I am your dad."

Jason shrugged him off. "No. Stay the fuck away from me."

As Jason stormed towards his house, he found himself constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure this guy wasn't following him. As soon as he got home, he locked the door and immediately called his mum.

After a few rings, she picked up. "Hello."

"Mum, you need to come home right now."

"Why? What happened?"

"This is too important to talk about on the phone."

"Honey, I can't I've got clients waiting."

"Get someone else to help them this is way more important."

"More important than money to feed us?"

"At this moment, yes."

"Jason, I can't."

"Mum. Family. Emergency. Please. Come. Home."

She sighed. "Alright, I'll get Mary to take over for the rest of the day but this better be really important. I'll be home in 10."

"Thank you. Please hurry."

For the next 10 minutes Jason paced back and forth nervously as he waited for his mum to come home. Surely what this guy had told him wasn't true. After 16 years of not giving a shit, he finally shows up out of the blue? Why? What did he want?

After what felt like an eternity, he heard the front door unlock and open. His mum opened the living room door to see her son looking pale and extremely nervous.

"Honey what's wrong?" She asked concerned. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I have."

"What do you mean?"

"Just sit down and I'll explain."

He explained what had happened outside of school, how a random guy had started talking to him, his questions and of course his mad claim. Elise silently listened to every word her son spoke, her face growing more with worry as he continued on.

"But it can't be true, right?" Jason asked, desperate for some reassurance. But none came, his mum sat in silence entirely unsure of how to respond.

"He's lying, right? Mum?" He asked with his breathing growing heavy.

"I. What did this man look like?"

"Black hair, glasses, he was quite tall."

"Did he have a cut or a scar on his neck?"

"I don't know. I was too busy trying to get away from him to pay attention to his neck."

She paused to take a breath. "Listen. Don't you concern yourself with this. I'll deal with it."

"Are you sure you want to deal with this on your own?"

"Yes. I don't want you involved with him. Now go and do your homework or study or whatever."

"Mum I-"

"Now!" She snapped.

Back to the present

Jason took a seat on the couch where his mum immediately pulled him into a massive hug.

"So tell me. How's school." She asked intrigued to find out how her son was settling in to his new surroundings.

"It's actually better than I expected it would be. The teachers are all pretty good. So far anyway."

"Good. And who's this friend you were with yesterday after school."

"Seth. He's a nice guy. His dad actually gave me a lift home too. There were a few others there as well. Roman, he's pretty cool and he offered to tutor me at maths if I need it. There's Dean who's kind of... Odd, but apparently he's fine when you get to know him. There were a few others as well but I don't know too much about them yet."

"That's good to hear. I'm glad you're making friends so quickly. Is there anybody causing you any trouble though?"

"Well, there is one." He admitted. "This guy Baron keeps accusing me of flirting with his girlfriend."

"And are you?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Good. Because I didn't raise you like that."

"Anyway, it's actually the other way around but I get accused of it because he refuses to believe she would do that to him. Even though I've been told that she does it all the time."

"This Baron doesn't sound very bright."

"He does not."

"And this other girl seems like bad news. I'd stay away from her."

"I try to but she won't leave me alone. She keeps saying she's going to dump him but I have a feeling that she's definitely lying about that. I don't know what to do."

"Well, I assume you've told her that you're not interested."

"Of course I ha..." He stopped when he realised he actually hadn't told her that. "Actually no. No I've not."

"Well there's your problem. Tell her you're not interested and she'll stop."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"If that doesn't work then maybe try explaining to Baron what's going on and see how that goes."

"Hmm. It's actually pretty obvious now that you say it."

"Uh huh. You're a smart kid but you have no common sense."

"That's. That's fair to say I guess. Thanks mum."

"No problem."

"Anyway, what about you? Why were you at the salon so late yesterday?"

"I had to interview a few people for jobs."

"Job interviews at 10 at night?"

"No but I still had to clean and close up after they were finished which took a while. At least they're done though and I have a pretty good idea of who I'm going to hire and who I'm not."

"Well that's good to hear. Now you'll have more than one employee to help you."

"Which means we can bring in more clients which means more money. Anyway, I am very tired so I'm going to go lie down for a bit before I make dinner."

"Alright mum. Have a good nap."

"You don't have to tell me twice." She said as she walked away, leaving Jason alone.