Disclaimer: I own nothing but the actions to the characters.
Note: Caleb is dead in this story and there's no drama with Trey being shot, M/R, S/S…Kirsten is not an alcoholic, etc.
"Where are we? What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just began to fall
Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling
Spin me around again and rub my eyes
This can't be happening…"
- Imogen Heap
"Okay, Ryan, what do you want to eat for supper?" Seth scattered the take out menus on the coffee table in front of Ryan/
Ryan paused the playstation game and picked up a Joe's pizza menu. "How about we have just your basic pizza tonight, Seth. I'm really not all that hungry."
"Meat lovers it is." Seth picked up the phone and called Joe's pizzeria.
"So, when do your parents get home?" Ryan asked, his eyes glued to the TV set in front of him. He was playing Tony Hawk underground.
"Beats me. You know how those charity events go. Hell, I'm just glad we talked our way out of it tonight. By the way, good call on the major homework excuse." Seth pointed out.
"I thought you did have homework?" He questioned.
"Dude, it's not due till Friday and it's only Wednesday."
"Well, I've got a huge English paper, which I plan on finishing tonight. So, don't bug me." Ryan replied, even though he knew that Seth would bug him anyway, one way or another, Seth would find a way.
"Fine then." Seth huffed.
Within the hour, the pizza had been delivered and both Ryan and Seth had stuffed their faces full of it.
"God, I'm full. What do you say we call Marissa and Summer over tonight and watch a movie?"
"Seth." Ryan warned with a glare. "I've got homework." He stood up and took his plate to the sink. "I'm going to the poolhouse now, and I hope to not see you until the morning." He warned.
"Well, you're no fun. Captain Oats and I have way more fun that you and I do these days." Seth declared. "And that's saying a lot."
Ryan frowned. "'Night." He said and left to the poolhouse.
"Well, this sucks." Seth said to himself, as he climbed the stairs in two to his room. He picked up Captain Oats and sat down on his bed with him. "It's only eight o'clock, Captain Oats. Yeah, I know I should really work on my homework, but it's boring. I hate Calculus anyway." Seth responded to his plastic horse. "What's that? You're very smart, no wonder why I always ask you for advice."
Seth picked up his Calculus homework and raced downstairs and out to the poolhouse. He knocked on the door once and walked in. Ryan was sprawled out on his bed with a book open.
"Seth, leave." Ryan kept his eye on the book in front of him.
"Ry, hear me out a minute." He put his homework down on Ryan's bed and sat down.
Ryan sighed and sat up. "This better not take long, 'cause I have a lot of reading to do, like ten more chapters." He told him, matter-of-factly.
"You're in luck, Ryan. I see that you're are reading 'The Stone Angel' by Margaret Laurence, which I also happened to have read last semester."
"You're point, Seth?" Ryan was growing impatient.
"You're way, and I mean way, better at calculus than I am and if Mr. Bond sees that I've done poorly on the homework he assigned, that means that mom and dad will find out. And not only will they find out about my doing poorly, they will also find out how poorly you are doing in English." Seth explained.
"Who says I'm doing poorly in English?"
"I couldn't help but notice your tardiness with your English paper." Seth pointed out.
"I was busy…With other things."
"Other things, being Marissa maybe?"
"Point?"
"If mom and dad were to find out that Marissa was causing you to slip in your studies…Well, who knows what they will do."
"You just want me to do your Calculus homework, Seth." Ryan said, bluntly.
Seth shrugged. "So, what do you say, brotha?"
Ryan groaned. "Fine, I'll do your homework for you, just this once. But if you fail because you didn't do this assignment, don't blame me. Blame yourself."
"Great. You're the best, Ryan. So, what exactly do I have to write for you English paper."
"You read the book, right?"
"Well," Seth laughed. "I bought the audio tape on it."
"Okay…" Ryan handed Seth a sheet. "Just pick a topic and write about it."
Seth looked at the paper. "This is easy, bro. I'll just write the character study on Hagar Shipley. Piece of cake." Seth handed Ryan his calculus book and question sheet. He then walked over behind Ryan's bed and opened Ryan's laptop.
Ryan opened Seth's textbook and started working Seth's homework.
Seth finished typing the conclusion to Ryan's English paper and sat back and read the whole thing over again, correcting all errors. "Man, I'm good." He patted himself on the back and then looked at his watch. "Holy cow, its midnight. Ryan, you done yet?" He looked over at Ryan, "Dude, you fell asleep!"
He walked over to Ryan's bed and sat down next to him. The calculus textbook was open next to him and he had a pencil stuck in his mouth. Seth took the pencil out of Ryan's mouth and started to pretend to draw on his face.
Ryan jolted up from his sleep and shoved Seth off the bed.
"Ow." Seth groaned.
"What time is it?" Ryan rubbed his eye.
"Midnight. Are you done with the calculus homework?" He asked, standing up.
"Yeah, it's done. I finished it a long time ago and I just fell asleep."
"Great, 'cause I just finished you're essay and if you don't get an A on it, I give you permission to kick my ass." Seth announced.
Ryan glared at him.
"Fine then, if you don't get an A then I will let you win at playstation now and again." He replied to Ryan's glare.
Ryan threw a pillow at him.
"You're no use." Seth groaned. "I'm going to bed now. I'm beat."
"'K, goodnight."
Seth picked up his homework and walked into the kitchen as he looked over the answers that Ryan did. As he started walking out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, Seth smelt smoke in the air. He looked up from his homework and froze. Smoke was filling up the staircase. Seth dropped his homework and ran to the poolhouse.
"RYAN!" He barged into the poolhouse and turned on the lights. "FIRE!"
Ryan jumped out of bed. "What? Fire?"
Seth ran back into the house and Ryan followed him.
"Where are your parents? Are they home?" Ryan quickly asked.
Seth shook his head. "I – I don't know!" Seth picked up the cordless phone in the kitchen and dialed 911.
Ryan noticed Sandy's keys on the kitchen counter and swore. "I've got to go see if your parents are home." Ryan ran off upstairs.
"There's a fire! My house is on fire!" Seth yelled into the phone. He gave the operator his address.
"Is everyone safely out of the house?" The operator asked him.
"I don't know. My brother went upstairs to see if my parents were sleeping. I don't know!" He frantically replied. "Oh God…"
"Son, I need you to get safely out of the house. The fire department is on its way." The operator said.
"Okay." Seth hung up the phone and went to the staircase. "Ryan?"
Ryan appeared with Kirsten in his hands. He quickly took her outside, with Seth following behind him, and laid her down on the grass. "She's not breathing, help her Seth. I couldn't find your dad. I'll be right back!" He said and ran off.
"Oh god." Seth knelt down beside his mother. She was covered in burns all over her body. He propped up her neck and performed CPR to his best acknowledgment. It had been years since he took the course in his freshmen year.
Seth wrapped his mouth around his mother and blew in. Within seconds the fire department, ambulances and cops were at the house, along with neighbors.
Seth stepped aside and watched in horror as one of the paramedics tried to revive his mother.
Please tell me if you enjoyed this and tell me if I should continue. I've had this idea in my head for a long time and I just wrote this up quick.
Next chapter...Will Kirsten be okay? Will Ryan get Sandy out of the house? Read/Review, thanks!