Chapter 10

"Wake me up when September ends"

Lucas lay in darkness on his bed. He wasn't dreaming of anything; everything was black, but it felt good. He felt himself being pulled from the darkness as someone called his name. It was Nathan. Lucas opened his eyes to see Nathan sitting on the edge of his bed with concern written all over his face.

"Are you alright, man?" he asked.

Lucas sat up and his head was pounding, while the room was spinning. "I have a massive headache," he said as he held onto his head.

Nathan got up from the bed and went into the bathroom. He returned a few moments later carrying two aspirin and a glass of water. "These should help," he said as he handed them to Lucas.

Lucas popped the two aspirin in his mouth and took a long sip of the water. "Thanks, Nate."

"Are you sure you're okay…you don't look so good."

"Yeah, just give the aspirin some time to kick in. So…what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, but it can wait. Right now you should rest. I'll see you at dinner."

Lucas smiled. "Thanks, again, Nathan." Lucas lay back down hoping to catch a quick nap before dinner.

Lucas was feeling much better when he woke up from his nap. The dizziness had passed, and his headache was gone. Nathan and Deb were sitting at the table when Lucas entered the dining room. "Are you feeling better?" Nathan asked when he took his seat across from him.

"Yeah," Lucas replied.

"What happened?" Deb asked with concern in her voice.

"Nothing big…I just had a headache."

Lucas stopped talking when Dan entered the room. "You weren't going to start dinner without me now, were you?" he asked. When no one responded he turned to Deb. "The food looks great."

Deb simply smiled as she began to serve everyone. It was a pretty quiet dinner; Dan and Lucas did a pretty good job of ignoring each other. When they were done with dinner Lucas and Nathan excused themselves to go outside and play basketball.

"So what did you have to talk to me about?" Lucas asked as he sank a shot.

"I got into high flyers," Nathan blurted out.

"That's great, man…I'm happy for you."

"There are two open spots…I bet Whitey gives you the other spot."

Lucas shook his head. "That's not going to happen."

"Oh come on, you know Whitey's not going to pick anyone else…"

"I didn't apply for it," Lucas interrupted.

Nathan was shocked by his brother's admission. "Why not?" he asked.

"Because of my mother; I couldn't leave her," Lucas whispered as he sat down on the bench across from the hoop.

Nathan sat down next him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Lucas. I can't imagine how hard it's been for you." There was a brief silence. "I'm going to turn it down. I can't leave you here to deal with Dan."

"You have to go, Nathan…this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Besides, I'm not a little kid; I can handle Dan."

"Are you sure?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah…somebody has to take care of Haley and who better than her best friend."

Nathan nodded his head. "That's true."

"When do you leave?"

"In a week."

There was another brief silence before Lucas rose to his feet. "So are we going to play or what?"

Nathan also rose to his feet. "I thought you'd never ask."

Lucas felt like someone punched him in the stomach as he lay on his bed. He was happy for Nathan, but he didn't want him to go. His life had gotten a little easier now that Nathan was on his side. Dan was beginning to lay off, but with Nathan gone Dan was sure to get on him again. He would still have Haley around for support, but she couldn't be there every time he had to face Dan, and she didn't know how to stand up to him the way Nathan did. It was going to be a long summer, but at least he still had his pills to help him through it.

"Wake me up When September Ends" is a song by Greenday.