Craig walked through the front door, full of energy. There was a bound in his step, and a grin on his face. He didn't even notice that his dad was already home and sitting at the dining room table.

"Craig, could you please come here, we need to talk."

The joyful aura surrounding the teen quickly hid, his eyes losing their sparks, and his lips forming a small grimace. He catiously entered the dining room, looking anywhere but his father's eyes. He must have done something wrong again.

"Sit down." Fingers steepled together and pressing against his forehead, Craig's dad kept his eyes closed. Craig placed his bags on the floor and pulled the opposite chair from his dad out to sit down.

"Uh...d-did I do something wrong Dad?" His stutter became more pronounced. Inside the boy beat himself up every time a word refused to pass his lips. He hadn't had the speech impediment until he had started to become a 'trouble'.

With a sigh of pent up breath, his dad lifted his eyes to stare at his teenager.

"Craig, you didn't do anything wrong. It really annoys me that you think I'm mad at you every time we need to talk."

Craig's pale eyes drifted to the tabletop, and his hands writhed against each other on his lap.

"Anyway, let me get to the point. I have to go out of town, this afternoon. Your grandmother has fallen ill, and I need to be there with her" Craig tried to say something, but his father glared at him, and the boy's mouth snapped shut again. "As I was saying, she's sick, and I would like to be with her for her last few days. Now, I don't want you missing school. My son won't be a very good doctor one day if he never gets his education."

Craig chewed on his cheek, trying to keep any emotion from showing. He hated it when his dad mentioned anything about his future. He wanted to be an artist, whether a photographer, or musician, that's what Craig wanted. But his father had it set in his mind that Craig was going to become a doctor like him.

"So, I'm leaving you here. In charge of the house. This is a big responsibility. But I know you can handle it. And if you can't, well...we'll deal with that when I get back. Right?" His father patted him roughly on the shoulder, all Craig could do was nod in agreement.

His father stood up "Well, I have to go pack, my flight leaves in two hours. So get your homework done, and I'll give you some money for food and to rent some movies."

Craig took this as his cue to talk "T-thanks Dad, I-I really appreciate the trust your putting in m-me." His eyes shone with a dampened fear. He knew his dad was focused on his dying mother, and so wouldn't waste any time calling up the neighbors to keep an eye on Craig for him.

His dad smiled and walked out of the room. Craig watched him tread up the stairs, a grin growing on his young face. His party was going to be awesome.

He slid his tight, worn leather jacket on over his red muscle shirt. After a quick glance in the mirror to make sure all the curls were in the right places, he was ready to go.

Craig decided that no matter if his dad had talked to the neighbors or not, someone would still be curious if he decided to walk out the front door at 10 at night. So he made his way to back sliding glass door. It glided across it's frame and opened up the night sky to him. He smiled and took a deep lingering breath. The stars shone brightly and seemed to dance for him. His good mood was contagious, even the sky was celebrating.

He went through the side door to the garage and quietly rolled his bike out. After a glance in each direction, he rode out into the darkness, thoughts of a slender, pale girl invading his mind.