Chapter 3

Once Austin calmed down, I got him a drink of water and some tissues. He cleaned himself up and went to grab his backpack.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Going to school." I forgot about that. He grabbed his shoes and shoved his schoolwork back into his bag. "Can you distract mom and dad, please? I just wanna sneak out without having to talk to them."

I nodded but still felt worried about him. I headed downstairs and gave him a thumbs up when I saw our parents were still in the kitchen. They'd stopped shouting and arguing but I knew neither of them had properly calmed down yet.

"Hey," I said nervously as I walked into the kitchen. My mom looked tired and had red eyes but my dad looked like he could go on for hours.

"What do you want?" Mom asked, sounding exhausted.

"Um, I need to... er-" I had to come up with an excuse quickly before she got suspicious. "Food. Sorry, I mean I need food. Lunch. For later, I mean."

She narrowed her eyes slightly but still moved out of my way so I could grab some food to take to school with me. I didn't want to make the others wait again so I'd decided to pack my own lunch today instead.

I panicked slightly and grabbed an apple and a packet of microwave rice then headed back out of the kitchen.

"Ondreaz." Mom said.

I froze. "Uh, yeah?" I said, turning around to face her.

"Aren't you gonna make that? I don't think you can do it at school."

"What?"

"The rice. You have to put it in the microwave first. Here," She went into the cupboard and pulled out a small tub. She took the rice off me, poured it into the tub and put it in the microwave.

"Oh, thanks." I stood awkwardly in the doorway until the microwave started beeping.

Mom grabbed the rice, put a lid on the tub and handed it to me. I turned to leave for the second time before she stopped me again.

"You'll need a fork," She handed me one from the pot on the side and I went back up to my room. Austin had left and I realised I was going to be late for school if I didn't leave soon.

When I got to school, I spotted Dylan and Cheanne waiting next to the steps into the school so I went and joined them.

"Hey!" Cheanne called to me as soon as she saw me walking over. She had a wide smile and looked way too happy considering we were at school.

"Hi," I said, trying to smile, even though that was the last thing I felt like doing.

"Are you okay?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, why?" I quickly readjusted my face to try and make myself look less tired.

"You look awful. No offence," He added quickly.

"Oh, I er, didn't get much sleep last night. I'm fine."

We went inside and joined Ashton at his locker. They started talking about someone who'd gone to this school last year, so I just kind of stood there and waited for first period. After what felt like forever, the bell finally rang and we went to first period which happened to be maths again, so we were all in the same class.

"Seriously, though, are you okay?" Dylan muttered to me as everyone was getting their books out and sitting down.

I nodded, hoping he wouldn't bring it up again. I just wanted a distraction right now. There was nothing I could do about what my dad thought so I figured it was best if I didn't worry about it too much. That was easier said than done, though. The whole day, I was distracted in all my classes, and Dylan must've noticed because he kept glancing at me and giving me concerned looks. Whenever he did, I quickly glanced away and pretended not to notice. It was a lot easier if I didn't have to explain anything to anyone.

At lunch, Dylan had to go and see one of his teachers so I didn't have to worry about trying to look happy. Everyone else started eating but I wasn't very hungry so I left the rice in my bag, untouched.

"Are you not having anything?" Cheanne asked, noticing I wasn't eating.

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

"Are you okay? You've seemed off all day." She frowned.

"I'm fine," I nodded.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked, walking over to our table.

"Hayden isn't telling us something," Cheanne said, raising her eyebrows at me.

I hesitated for a second, it would feel good to tell someone but I couldn't out Austin like that. Then again, I knew they would support him and no-one else would find out.

"Hayden?"

"What? Oh." Everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to say something. In the end, I told them most of what happened, leaving out some parts they didn't need to know. They were really supportive and it made me feel so much better.

"Hold on, what's your surname?" Dylan asked.

What does that have to do with anything? Everyone turned to him, looking really confused.

"Er, Brooks, why?"

"Oh, nothing," He said quickly, blushing slightly.

Right as I was about to say something, the bell rang for fifth period and everyone started getting up and leaving. I guess it didn't really matter. I got up and headed to Chemistry, which I had with Ashton.

After school, Ashton asked if we wanted to hang out again. Charlie and Leo said they had to go to a family thing and Cheanne already had plans with Jack, her boyfriend, so it was just me, Dylan, Ashton and Harry. We said goodbye to the others and all got in Dylan's car, except Harry who took his own.

We were on our way to Pizza Hut when Austin texted me, asking if he could hang out with me and my friends so he didn't have to go home straight away.

"Hey, do you mind if Austin hangs out with us?"

"Sure," Dylan said, a little too quickly.

I texted Austin back and he said he'd meet us there.

A couple of hours later, Dylan drove us home and I started to get nervous again. I got out, thanked Dylan and was waiting for Austin when he told me he'd be a minute. I was kind of confused. They'd only met a couple hours ago and now Austin's acting like he's known Dylan forever.

I opened the door to see mom and dad standing in the living room.

"Where's Austin?" Mom asked.

"He's talking to Dylan outside."

Just then, he walked in and froze in the doorway.

"You might want to take a seat," Mom said to me and Austin. I hesitated before looking over at Austin. The color had drained from his face and his eyes widened slightly.