Prologue 6

(2 Month's Later)

"Ten, twenty, thirty, here ya go kid."Ernie said while handing me the cash.

"Thanks again!"I said.

"I should be thanking you, these old bones aren't like they used to be, so you mowing the lawn for me was great help."Ernie said genuinely, and yeah for the past two month's I've been doing jobs around the neighborhood to get money, sure it isn't much but even if it helps my mom a little bit, I'll do it.

"Well I got to get going! See ya next time! And give my best to Mary!"I said before running off, all these jobs have also been also been a good way to train up my body, I'm definitely stronger than I was before, and going to boxing training with Justin since my Mom suggested it, it helped me get all the more stronger, and by now I have small amounts of visible muscle, it ain't that much since I'm still a kid, but they were still there.

Finally arriving home though, I open the door with the key my Mom gave me a while ago after noticing me doing these jobs, she also decided that I don't need a nanny anymore since I'ma be out half the time, and walking in I couldn't find her anywhere even though it's the weekend, but by now it's become a common occurrence.

'Can't believe she's still working.'I think to myself, and she's also been working overnight overtime recently too, I think it's her way of coping right now honestly, but she's eventually gonna run herself down if she keeps going like this. Another thing, after I vowed to myself to not let her cry like that again, she started drinking, but seeing her constantly drinking, I asked her to stop, to which she did, but as a result she started working more like I just mentioned.

'She needs to find something to do to cope that isn't self destructive, but what?'I questioned myself mentally, sighing I decided to take my mind off things, and then I remember a new COD game that came out this week, Black Ops 2, or BO2 for short, and deciding to splurge on the money I've made a bit, I decided to go and buy a copy. As I was I about to walk out the door though, I stop remembering I'm sweaty from mowing Ernie's lawn, it was 80 degrees out after all even though it's fall, god I hate New York weather sometimes, so bipolar...

Anyways, taking a shower before changing into different clothes from before, a simple white tee with black cargo pants and black and white Jordans, black being more prominent, I was ready... what? Simple is good sometimes.

On my way to the local gamestop though, I saw Alyssa talking to a guy from school, and I felt inexplicably jealous.

'I still like her, and I hate it, cause if I ever say anything it'll make things weird, but the guy she's with right now cannot be trusted.'I thought to myself seeing who it was, Stephen, he may seem cool and a good person, but in reality he was an asshole, the only reason why I know is that he bullied one of my friends I made at school for liking anime, and he did it so offhandedly even my friend barely noticed, I stopped him, but that's when I found out about his true colors, but he's a natural manipulator as well, and honestly he looked good so it helped him manipulate people all the more, but I looked good in my own right as well, so I didn't lose out to him.

arriving there and seeing they didn't notice me, seeming to be in their own world, which just made me more jealous, I deciding to make my presence known, and realizing what I did after the fact made me feel like an idiot.

"Hey Alyssa, Stephen, what are you guys talking about?"I said and wrapped my arm around Alyssa's shoulder pulling her to me, and after I did that did I realize what I did could be considered an invasion of privacy and I'm probably making her feel uncomfortable, but I already went this far, I can't back out now, especially in front of this asshat. Unknown to John though, Alyssa felt the exact opposite, in fact she felt extremely happy seeing John, and all the more of how intimately he was holding her.

"H-Hey John, I was just on walk and I met Stephen, but what are you doing here? You look good."'and not that I'm not happy to see you.'Alyssa added the last part by accident causing her to blush in embarrassment, but luckily the rest where kept in her thoughts.

"Yeah, what are you doing here John?"Stephen asked with a bit of hostility.

"You look good too Alyssa, and nothing Stephen, I was just going to buy a new game when I saw Alyssa so I decided to come over and see what's going on, it's not a problem, right Alyssa?"I finished asking the question to her.

"Yeah! Totally fine! Great in fact!"Alyssa said a bit too excitedly, the excitement she felt from John complimenting her leaking over as she started beating herself up inside as a result. Hearing her response though, her inner thoughts unknown to me, I looked at Stephen with a smile while I noticed him gritting his teeth a bit in response.

"So what were you guys talking about?"I questioned.

"Oh, just how we should go out sometime, I was actually planning to invite you and Justin to meet him!"She explained.

"Well Introductions wouldn't have been needed if you decided to invite us anyway, we know all about him."I said suggestively, showing how Justin also knew about Stephens nature, but ignoring my remark he spoke.

"You were planning to invite more people?"He questioned Alyssa.

"Well yeah, if it's an outing between friends the more the merrier, right?"Alyssa responded in an upbeat tone, but even if it wasn't directed to me, I still felt that, now I almost feel bad for him, almost.

"Well you never answered my question of who you like."Stephen said.

"Yes I did, I told you he's closer than you think, and he's a lot closer now."Alyssa added the last part subconsciously, but I didn't catch onto what she meant as I was too busy trying to figure out who she was talking about, me myself never crossing my mind.

"*sigh*You win this one John."Stephen said while sighing in defeat and walked away, but I didn't understand what he meant by that, but seeing him walk away I was happy I successfully protected Alyssa from that prick, and if his words meant anything, he wouldn't try hitting on Alyssa again.

"Well John, you said you were going to buy a new game, maybe I could come home with you and we can play together?"Alyssa asked me hopefully.

"Sure! I'll show you how to play and everything!"I said excitedly seeing as Alyssa may be interested in games so we could have something more we could do together.