Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC, Disney, or anything else copyrighted.
Chad couldn't ignore phone calls from his parents.
Well, he could, but he didn't like to, unless he absolutely had to. When he was with the guys, he wouldn't pick up the phone. He did not want his parents knowing about anything he did with these guys. He wasn't ashamed of them. Oh, no. They were his best friends. They knew him better than anyone else. But, he mostly did not want his parents finding out about the things they did together.
He wasn't surprised when his parents called him in the early evening. He had been preparing himself for the call ever since he read the article in Tween Weekly. E! had also touched on the subject, but admitted they have yet to speak to either him or his agent. He was surprised his agent hadn't called him, but then again, usually he called his agent about this stuff.
"Hello?" he asked, sounding as casual as possible. Truth be told, he was slightly nervous about this phone call... he didn't know quite why he was so nervous, though. He wasn't a drug addict. He wasn't an alcoholic. He just had a bit of each every now and then. There was nothing to be worried about.
"Chad Dylan Cooper, what is that that I am hearing?" his Mom immediately asked. "You are doing DRUGS?!"
"Mom..." Chad started.
"No, son, we want the truth."
Chad paused for a moment. "Okay, Mom... I had a couple of drinks last night, but other than that, I was just hanging with a friends. We were just telling each other jokes and goofing around. We weren't doing anything else."
He could tell his Mom was thinking by the silence that was heard for the next few moments. Finally, she sighed and said, "Okay. I'm disappointed you even had anything to drink, but at lesat it was only a few, and I didn't see you driving."
Chad internally sighed. Yet again, he fooled his Mom into thinking the complete opposite of the truth. He felt bad for lying to her, but he knew it was for the better. "Sorry, Mom. I'll try my best not to do that again until I'm the proper age."
He could hear his Mom smiling as she said, "Teenagers will be teenagers. Well, honey, I have to go, but I love you and I'll talk to you later."
Chad smiled softly and said, "Love you, too. Bye, Mom."
---
When Chad was little, he witnessed his Dad go through a couple of relapses.
He didn't know much about his Dad's problems when he was little. They all happened before he was 10 years old, before he went to Hollywood. His Dad is a construction worker, and has been for over 20 years. He was often out at the construction site, and would work for many hours each day, so he hardly saw his Dad. Usually he saw him early in the morning or late at night, it just depended on his Dad's schedule.
The first sign of any problems with his Dad happened when he was four years old. He didn't have pre-school that day, so he was at home with his Mom. He was in the living room watching TV when she got a call. She sounded worried and upset. She left him with her sister, his Aunt Carrie, and was gone for about two days before returning.
"Daddy's at a hospital" was her excuse for his two-month absense. "He's really sick, and they're going to make him better."
He didn't learn until he was 13 or so that his Dad was at a rehabilitation center for abusing over-the-counter drugs.
Of course Chad missed his Dad dearly, and was ecstatic upon hearing the news of his arrival. His Dad seemed like a happier person. There was definitely something different about him. Things seemed to get better for the Cooper family.
The second time this happened was when Chad was eight.
His Dad seemed fine for a few years. They were back to being a normal, happy family. Things slowly started to change, though. His Dad became more angrier, more violent. His Dad never hit him or his Mom, but he would often yell at her, and sometimes his Dad would yell at him. His Dad would always apologize, though, and he always believed his Dad's apologies.
One day, on a Saturday, they were all supposed to be going to the beach. Chad was excited to go to the beach; he loved the beach, and to this day, he still does. But, his Dad never came home the night before, and his Mom was doing her best to cover her worry in front of her son. Around noon, she received a phone call, which caused her to almost breakdown right there.
They didn't go to the beach that day.
Chad ended up going to the hospital with his Mom that time. He remained in the hallway while his Mom, his Dad, and a few doctors talked in the room. It seemed like forever before his Mom came back out. She bent down in front of Chad and told him, "Chaddy... Remember that hospital your Daddy went to a few years ago? Well, he has to go back. He's sick again, and he has to get better again."
His Dad was gone for three months.
He had abused over-the-counter drugs again, and this time, he added alcohol into the mix.
Chad forgot about these instances until more rumors started to appear. More of his wild nights started to appear in the papers, more of his conversations were recorded and printed onto the press, and more pictures started to appear. The worst were the videos - he didn't know what to think about those. He kept asking himself the same question, over and over again:
What happened?
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