4 years later.
Tobias was kneeling on the rug by the coffee table in the living room, bent over his sketchpad with a look of deep concentration as he ran his drew. He was drawing a centaur. It was coming out pretty good too, he thought. Aunt Jessica was on the phone, chatting away. He should be doing his homework, but he just didn't want to. It was math and he couldn't understand it, and his aunt certainly wouldn't be interested in helping him. So instead, he was drawing. He really enjoyed drawing. He liked to draw things he read about in books. Drawing and reading - those were the two things he spent most of his time doing. There wasn't much else to do, besides watch TV. And sometimes he would just sit and think. He stopped for just a moment to brush his dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes, then continued.
"Tobias," said his aunt. He looked up at her. "I'm going out. I won't be back till late. Why don't you get some cereal or make yourself a peanut- butter and jelly? Ok?" She grabbed her jacket and purse and walked out the door without waiting for his response. He often got the feeling that she just didn't want to deal with him. She never told him to do anything; she never got mad at him for anything. When he got his report cards she would always just glance at them and throw them away, even when he got awful grades. She hated teacher conferences because she honestly just didn't care how Tobias was doing. She never paid attention to him, but that was ok because Tobias spent most of his time in his own world anyway. And he preferred her extremely lenient, careless, and lazy way of parenting to his last home at any rate. They took him and Aunt Anna away from there.
He'd spend a year or so here in New England with Aunt Jessica, and then she'd send him on an airplane to go live with his uncle Richard in Washington. He liked it better here. Here it was as if he didn't exist, and he liked it that way. But his uncle, though nothing like Uncle Kevin, always took out his anger on him. He wouldn't just ignore Tobias, he would complain endlessly about him and what a bother he was. He never once smiled at him, or got him anything. Tobias felt like his existence was just a burden for everyone when he was there. His uncle always made him feel like there was something fundamentally wrong with him, and that he simply wasn't good enough, and that he had no purpose at all and no one in the world who loved him. He wouldn't even let him just sit peacefully out of the way sometimes either. He'd come over and watch Tobias as he drew, then make fun of his drawings. And when Tobias brought home report cards, he wouldn't mindlessly shift through them and then threw them away; he'd yell at Tobias for being such a stupid kid and doing so poorly. He was actually a very smart boy, but sometimes just didn't do the work because he didn't feel motivated to, or else because he was confused but didn't want to ask anybody for help. His uncle would tell him he'd better shape up and then he'd ground him. Not that it mattered; he never went out anyway. He didn't have any friends.
Tobias was the grubby, dorky, quiet kid in class. He didn't have any of the cool brands, most of his clothes were too small, his dirty-blonde hair was always messy; and he was much too shy to ever try talking to the other kids. He was a dreamer really, always off in his own world, always reading or thinking about things bigger than himself. Always looking at the sky and wondering if he belonged somewhere else. He never told anyone this though; he knew they'd just think he was weirder than they already did. His aunt would probably just look at him funny, then go back to whatever she was doing. His uncle would probably tell him what a stupid idiot he was for saying something dumb like that and that he should keep his mouth shut and think about more productive things. But all the same. He still thought about it.
Tobias was kneeling on the rug by the coffee table in the living room, bent over his sketchpad with a look of deep concentration as he ran his drew. He was drawing a centaur. It was coming out pretty good too, he thought. Aunt Jessica was on the phone, chatting away. He should be doing his homework, but he just didn't want to. It was math and he couldn't understand it, and his aunt certainly wouldn't be interested in helping him. So instead, he was drawing. He really enjoyed drawing. He liked to draw things he read about in books. Drawing and reading - those were the two things he spent most of his time doing. There wasn't much else to do, besides watch TV. And sometimes he would just sit and think. He stopped for just a moment to brush his dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes, then continued.
"Tobias," said his aunt. He looked up at her. "I'm going out. I won't be back till late. Why don't you get some cereal or make yourself a peanut- butter and jelly? Ok?" She grabbed her jacket and purse and walked out the door without waiting for his response. He often got the feeling that she just didn't want to deal with him. She never told him to do anything; she never got mad at him for anything. When he got his report cards she would always just glance at them and throw them away, even when he got awful grades. She hated teacher conferences because she honestly just didn't care how Tobias was doing. She never paid attention to him, but that was ok because Tobias spent most of his time in his own world anyway. And he preferred her extremely lenient, careless, and lazy way of parenting to his last home at any rate. They took him and Aunt Anna away from there.
He'd spend a year or so here in New England with Aunt Jessica, and then she'd send him on an airplane to go live with his uncle Richard in Washington. He liked it better here. Here it was as if he didn't exist, and he liked it that way. But his uncle, though nothing like Uncle Kevin, always took out his anger on him. He wouldn't just ignore Tobias, he would complain endlessly about him and what a bother he was. He never once smiled at him, or got him anything. Tobias felt like his existence was just a burden for everyone when he was there. His uncle always made him feel like there was something fundamentally wrong with him, and that he simply wasn't good enough, and that he had no purpose at all and no one in the world who loved him. He wouldn't even let him just sit peacefully out of the way sometimes either. He'd come over and watch Tobias as he drew, then make fun of his drawings. And when Tobias brought home report cards, he wouldn't mindlessly shift through them and then threw them away; he'd yell at Tobias for being such a stupid kid and doing so poorly. He was actually a very smart boy, but sometimes just didn't do the work because he didn't feel motivated to, or else because he was confused but didn't want to ask anybody for help. His uncle would tell him he'd better shape up and then he'd ground him. Not that it mattered; he never went out anyway. He didn't have any friends.
Tobias was the grubby, dorky, quiet kid in class. He didn't have any of the cool brands, most of his clothes were too small, his dirty-blonde hair was always messy; and he was much too shy to ever try talking to the other kids. He was a dreamer really, always off in his own world, always reading or thinking about things bigger than himself. Always looking at the sky and wondering if he belonged somewhere else. He never told anyone this though; he knew they'd just think he was weirder than they already did. His aunt would probably just look at him funny, then go back to whatever she was doing. His uncle would probably tell him what a stupid idiot he was for saying something dumb like that and that he should keep his mouth shut and think about more productive things. But all the same. He still thought about it.