Chapter Text
Tyler, a 14 year old teenager walked through the door to his home.
“Hi, Tyler,” he heard from down the long hallway.
“Hi mom,” he replied.
Then, his sister, Madison walked down the stairs. She had came home from school earlier. She came up to Tyler, and gave him a hug.
“Hey, Maddie,” he softly said.
“Hi brother dearest,” she joked.
“Tyler, you should get started. It is gonna rain tonight,” his mom said, peering over her shoulder.
“Can’t he skip his 500 shots just once? I want to have dinner with him one time this year,” Maddie sincerely asked. Their mother looked disgusted.
“Maddie, if he wants a scholarship, he’s gonna need to be good. Now come on, be mature,” their mother scolded.
Maddie looked at Tyler. She knew he was skinny because of being starved. This should be a form of child abuse, but it wasn’t. The said thing is, their father worked every night until 9:00. He didn’t know about his wife starving his son.
“Mom, he’s gonna develop anorexia if he doesn’t eat. That’s gonna be on you,” she said. Tyler had a guilty look on his face.
“Maddie, it’s okay. I’ll go now, mom,” he softly said, setting his backpack on the floor. He went outside, and grabbed a basketball. Miss. Score. Score. Miss. Miss. Miss. Score.
It was at least an hour later, and Maddie came out. The sky was letting a dampening mist down, and she felt bad.
“You didn’t do it, did you?” She asked.
“I can’t stop missing today…do you think there’s something wrong with me?” He asked in response, starting to tear up.
“No. I could never. Now, Jay and Zack might say otherwise but I think you’re perfect,” she said.
“Maddie, I wish I could just die. There’s no point to live,” he said, just above his breath.
At that, Maddie muttered something about staying alive and walked off, leaving Tyler alone in the what is now pouring down rain.
He heard a car pull up to their driveway. His dad was home. ‘No no no. He’s gonna see me out here and wonder why I’m practicing. He’s gonna question why there are only four plates in the dishwasher.’
“TYLER YOUR DADS’ HOME!” He heard his mom call.
He walked into the house, and saw his dad sitting at the table, eating a bowl of soup.
“And why were you out there in the pouring down rain,” His dad asked.
“I was, uh, practicing,” Tyler said.
“In the pouring down rain?”
“Yeah…I…I don’t know.”
Tyler’s dad waved him off as Tyler went to his room. His mother followed him.
“Yes or no?”
“No…I’m sorry! I just couldn’t do anything today!” He pleaded.
“Tyler. You know better. The five hundred shots or no dinner. Do you even want this scholarship?” his mom crowed.
“Yes, mom. I’m sorry. I promise,” he said, in tears. This wasn’t fair.
“Okay, well I’m sorry but since our deal was not finished, you may not have anything to eat until you finish your shots. How many were you at?”
“Uh…237 I think…” he replied, wiping his damp face.
“Quit crying, crying’s for girls,” she said upon leaving.
He sat on his bed, fumbling with the rubber band on his wrist. As he was spaced out, his brother walked in.
“Dad wants to know if you’re okay,” Zack said. He had on a shirt with an animated lime green car. Tyler liked the way it looked, and Zack wore it nearly every other week, kind of as if it was one of his favorites.
“Oh…yeah I’ll be fine, tell him I’m fine,” Tyler replied.
“Ty, you know you can tell me anything…are you truly fine?” Zack questioned.
“Yeah, I already told you I’m okay,” Tyler said, a little aggression inside his voice.
“Jeez, sorry. Calm down. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Zack sarcastically said.
At that, Zack walked away. Tyler knew he offended him, but he had no one to trust. No one. He couldn’t trust Zack, Zack would tell someone. He couldn’t trust Maddie because she was going to say something. He had two friends, but they were closer to each other than to Tyler. Nick Thomas and Chris Salih.