SPOV

We'd been sitting on the swings for about a good hour now. The sun was down, and surprisingly, no one had bothered to come and see where we were. Every once in a while, we'd hear a burst of laughter coming from where the others were, but that was it. No one else cared enough to make sure we're okay.

During that time, I learned a lot about Chad. He had two sisters; one a few years younger one a few years older, and a four year old brother. He actually loves puppies, and his dad died when he was younger. He jokingly said that the government had something to do with it. To which I laughed at, and gazed at the clouds, reminiscing.

"What are you thinking about?"

"When I was little, I would always ask my dad why he spent so much time at work and not enough with me. He always said it was because 'the man' kept him from playing with me and was trying to 'keep him down'. So up until I was about eight, I always imagined that there was some scary looking dude in a tux keeping my dad locked in a big room with a bunch of other workers. Every time he'd come home from work, I'd run up to him and ask him if 'the man' was mean to him that day." I laughed at the memory. He smiled and said, "That's cute." I couldn't help but blush. I mean I know he was talking about little kid me. And everything little kids do is cute, but still.

"Hey, why don't I ever hear about your dad now?" he asked. I debated whether to trust him or not with this, but I had gotten to know him a lot better now. I can do this.

"He died a year ago." I whispered.

"Sonny, I'm so sorry. Sucks that you had to go through that too."

I smiled at him and turned to look him straight in the eye. "That's the thing though," I started. "I didn't go through anything." his blonde brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

I huffed. "What I mean is, other than when I was little, we weren't very close. My older brother and sister hated him, and so did my mom after a while. Wanna know why he was always at 'work'? It wasn't 'the man'. It was more like, 'the lady'. He was cheating on my mom. She found out, and they always fought. It was so annoying. There was always tension in my house; always. Then they got separated for a year, and it was so peaceful.

"After that year, she took him back, unfortunately. Even though they were together, something just wasn't right. I couldn't put my finger on it though. But I just felt so…alone, you know? I was eleven then. After about two years, the fights started again. The tension was worst than ever. And my dad was really annoying me. It wasn't that he was doing anything to me. Although sometimes I honestly wish he did. At least then I'd know why I couldn't stand him.

"I tried to spend as much time in my room as I could; away from my dad. But he'd always come knocking on my door. One day when he came up, he asked me if I wanted him to leave. Of course I did, but I was in total shock that he'd ask me that. If I told him yes, he'd leave, but he'd think I hate him or something. And him leaving would be all on me. He talked about my brother and sister too and how he wanted them to leave.

I said I'd think about it and told my mom. She got mad that he pressured me into answering that, and told my brother and sister. Then this huge fight emerged, and my mom got a restraining order against my dad. It was great not having him around again, and then two years later…he died. I wasn't that close to him, so I didn't. feel. Anything. And I hate myself a lot for that. I still don't feel anything. When I find out he died, I was like, 'Oh.' and that's it."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, and neither did I. I had never told anyone all of that before. I never felt like I trusted anyone enough. I've tried telling people about it in the past, but they're always all, "You're lucky you had a dad that cares about you." but he never felt like my dad. And he didn't care about me. It was just too...forced. He was just the loud guy in my house who always watched TV and smacked his teeth and who my family despised. We never had any emotional connection whatsoever.

The silence was starting to kill me, so I started pumping on the swing. Chad smiled at me and followed. "I bet I can go higher than you."

"Can not."

After we were swinging for a while, and he was obviously not winning, I decided to bring up a new challenge. "How about we see who can jump the farthest?"

He fake-gasped as he was swinging. "I never knew Sonny Monroe was so…daring!"

"Just jump you idiot."

So we did. Somehow I ended up practically on him, which sent fireworks through my skin. "13 Going On 30?" I managed to get out. We both shared a laugh. Unlike the movie, however, we didn't kiss. "Guys it's time to go!" Tawni shouted out right when I thought our lips were about to touch. "Thanks, Tawni." I yelled sarcastically as I reluctantly rolled myself off of Chad.

On the way home, Chad went back to his regular, jerk-ish, annoying self. It was like those cute moments never happened. Like we never opened up to each other. Like he wasn't incredibly nice. Like we didn't almost kinda share a kiss. Like I just dreamt the whole thing.

"I'm hungry!" Grady whined.

"You're always hungry." Chad muttered. I ignored his comment.

"Well, you guys finished off the food last night."

"How about you make me another sammich?" Chad arrogantly suggested.

"How about I not and let you live?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good!"

"Good!!"

"...How about we order Chinese?" Nico offered awkwardly.

"Chinese it is."