Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Chapter 5 - Football Practice

"Mum! My lift is here!" I slide on my socks along the tiled floor of the kitchen, downing a glass of water as I go. Mum hurries into the room smiling,
"Do I at least get to meet this mysterious lift who is driving you to school instead of moi?" She asks, giving me a hug and kissing my cheek. I can't prevent the smile that appears on my face as my cheeks redden. "I think you should let me meet them Michael. You never leave for school this early, are you getting breakfast with your lift? Is it a date?" She raises an eyebrow as I blush furiously. "Let me meet your lift," She demands as she passes me my school bag.  I shake my head quickly and head towards the door. Mum follows. I glance back at her.

    "Nope. My lift is staying in the car so there'll be no reason for you to-"
The doorbell rings and mum's face lights up with glee. She sticks her tongue out at me before hurrying to answer the door. I curse under my breath and follow her. She opens the door to reveal Alec standing there, a nervous smile on his face. His eyes immediately find me and I grin. He's wearing a denim jacket with fur lining that reminds me of Love, Simon. His thumbs are in the pockets of his jeans and he's wearing a t-shirt with what looks like two dinosaurs. His hair is messy, it looks like he hasn't bothered to brush it. I walk closer. I ignore my mum as she stares between us, a smirk on her face.

"Hi," I breathe, smiling at him. He's staring at me, a soft smile on his face.
"Hi," He grins. Then he looks over my shoulder at my mum and coughs lightly. He holds out his hand towards her, "Hello ma'am, I'm Alec Sinclair," Mum shakes his hand, looking highly amused.
    "Please, call me Jessie. It's lovely to meet you Alec. I assume you're my son's boyfriend?" She looks between us. Alec and I both turn red.
    "I- um- well I don't know if I'd say that- I mean- we haven't gone on a date yet," Alec stutters, clearly a little bit lost. I smile softly, at least he's trying. My mum bursts out laughing and places a hand on Alec's shoulder in a comforting, motherly way,
    "I'm just messing with you. And I know Michael will hate this but I just have to say, you make a cute couple,"
    "Mum," I hiss, glaring at her.

Before anyone can say anything else, Dae-Seong strides past us, his phone held up to his ear as he talks rapidly in Korean. I can pick apart pieces of it, he's been teaching Alby and whenever I'm at Mum's house I sit and listen to their lesson. From what I gather, he's talking to his sister, Hyun-Joo. It sounds like they're having an argument. Dae-Seong pauses to kiss mum on the cheek and give me a quick hug before walking past Alec, out of the door. Mum rolls her eyes.
"He's stressing because we're visiting his family in Seoul in a few weeks," She informs us. My eyes widen.
    "How long are you staying?" I ask, feeling a little bit panicky, if mum was leaving then I'd have to stay with dad for longer than usual and that never ends well. Alec shoots me quizzical look as mum sighs.

"Mikey, honey, I'm sorry," She reaches out and squeezes my hand, "We'll be gone for two weeks, you'll have to stay with your dad for a bit longer," She gives me a sympathetic look. I take a sharp breath and tug my hand away from her.
"Fine. Okay. Great. I'll see you on the weekend," I say, turning to leave. Mum calls out but I ignore her, leading Alec out of the house. Alec's car, a white jeep, sits at the bottom of my driveway. My jaw drops when I see it and I momentarily forget about spending a few weekends with dad. Alec grins at my expression.
"Holy shit, are you rich or something?" I ask, turning to him with wide eyes. Then I realise how rude that sounded, "Sorry, I- er, you don't have to answer that," Alec turns a little red and gives me a sheepish smile.
"Not really. I've been working my ass off since I was fourteen to pay for it, my Mum chipped in the rest for my birthday last year," He gazes fondly at the car and I smile.
"Awesome," I say as we head towards it.

Once we're inside, Alec starts the jeep. He doesn't move though, he keeps the car firmly in park. I glance at him,
"What?" I ask, feeling a little self conscious. Alec's eyes search mine.
"I- er- Are you okay?" His voice is gentle, "I don't really know what that was about and I'm not going to pressure you to tell me, I just want to know if you're okay," He tentatively reaches out and takes my hand, his eyes on me for any sign of uncomfortableness. My heart flutters lightly and I squeeze his hand.
    "I just don't really like my dad, thats all. He's really homophobic," I shrug nonchalantly. Alec frowns but doesn't push it.
"Sorry you have to deal with that," He murmurs. I nod.