1 Nightmare

The morning after Amy dumped him was the worst morning Nathan could remember. "Let's still be friends," she'd said, a cliche that even a fifteen year old high school sophomore who'd only had one girlfriend could see right through. How could they be friends after this?

He wasn't bitter, he told himself. He was right to be angry, after all. She had hooked up with her ex, Connor, the same day they broke up. Connor was a tall, lanky redhead with a shadow of a beard that made him look older than he was.

Nathan hated that beard. It wasn't even really a beard, just a little bit of faint facial hair pretending at being grown up.

Amy always said she liked older guys, so of course she'd go back to Connor. Connor was a year older than Nathan, and between his faux maturity and condescending attitude he was great at pretending to be an adult, just like his stupid facial hair.

He didn't want to think about it. He pulled his pillow over his face and shut out the light filtering in through his blinds.

"I don't want to go to school today," he muttered to himself. "I don't even want to wake up today."

He tried to go back to sleep, but his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. He tortured himself with their last conversation, thinking of all the thing he should have said, all the things he should have caught in the two weeks leading up to it, when Amy had started messaging Connor again.

His alarm sounded, an obnoxious beeping on his phone that he hated every time he heard it. He got up and swiped it off, then collapsed right back into bed, his depression weighing him down.

"I'll just tell mom I'm sick," he thought, even though he already knew she'd see right through it. He lay there, thinking of any possible way he could get out of going to school, but nothing came to him before his mom knocked and told him to get up before he was late for school.

He descended the stairs to the kitchen, despondently poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate standing up at the counter as his parents whirled around getting ready for work.

"Nathan!" his mom's voice cut through his thoughts, "What are you doing? Get dressed or you'll be late." She eyed him, judgmentally. She was always judging him lately, like it was her job to let him know any time he wasn't living up to her expectations. She seemed to think that adults were the only people with problems that mattered at all, never noticing what was going on with him or caring when he talked about it.

"Yeah," he said, and he turned around to his room, leaving the cereal sitting at the counter.

He didn't want to get dressed. He didn't want to do anything. Maybe just stay home and play some games online. Not like his parents would know, they left at the same time that be walked to the bus stop and they didn't get back until after he was already home.

He thought about it, weighing the trouble he'd get in if he skipped school and the hassle of going back and seeing Amy in every other class all day long. They'd picked their classes together back when they first started dating, trying to maximize the time they spent together. He continued weighing the consequences for just a moment, then made up his mind. No reason he couldn't come back after they left and play hooky, just this one time. He'd never skipped before, and this was a special circumstance.

He pulled off his pajamas, pulled on a shirt and pants, and grabbed his book bag, not even bothering to check it before walking out the door. Not like he'd need anything in it.

He marched through the kitchen out to the front door. "Bye," he called to his parents, and then, without waiting for an answer, walked out and closed the door behind him.

He turned through the yard, making his way behind the manicured bushes where he knew his parents couldn't see him, then circled back to the side of the house, just outside the kitchen window, where he could hear when his parents left. He heard his parents talking, which was odd, since they should already be leaving for work.

"...when are we going to tell Nate?" his mom was asking, her voice cold.

"I don't know," his dad responded, his voice apathetic.

"Well, figure it out," his mom snapped, "this is your problem."

"How is this my problem?"

"I wasn't the one who decided to go looking for greener pastures with the damn secretary, was I?"

His dad responded with a raised voice, his annoyance breaking through his mask of indifference.

"Maybe if you hadn't been so angry and controlling, it never would have happened. You've barely spoken to me in the last year, all you ever do is yell at Nathan and complain about your job."

"Oh, really? You're going to lecture me when you don't spend any time with him or me? You've been too busy spending your time with that little girl to care same us. This is exactly why we're breaking up!"

Nathan felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he continued to listen. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse