Butterfly Boy

Chapter 35

The alarm went off once and was immediately crushed by the fist that had previously been hanging off the bed.

The owner of the hand was laying in bed on his back, blanquets kicked off, staring at the ceiling with blank eyes and furrowed eyebrows. He groaned. He did not want to stand up today.

But he had to. For one, there was school.

But he didn't want to.

Couldn't school just cancel for one day? Just let him sleep.

No, it's your own fault- no, it isn't- now you gotta live with it. Just get through the day. Maybe get some sleep during lunch-ah...no...he had that thing he had to do today.

Shit.

Don't tell me you forgot, he berated himself as he rolled out of bed with a dramatic groan and dressed. It's the whole reason you're feeling shitty today.

Mmmh shitty.

He paused and looked outside, as if waiting for something.

Nah. Not yet.

Of course not yet, he grumbled. How much is it going to take.

He swung his backpack over his shoulder, not even bothering to put in his homework or checking if he had all the books for the day.

His papis, who he was sure had some kind of empathy link with him, were perched all over him. They placed their little feet on his skin, trying to tickle him. But he was too tired to laugh.

He hadn't slept this bad since he'd left Amity park and boy was he not used to it anymore.

Danny trudged down the hallway as he mourned his ruined sleep schedule.

His dad was there when he sat down at breakfast. Always the early bird. He was munching happily on his toast.

Danny ignored the greeting that was sent to him and got himself some breakfast. Jack put his toast down and furrowed his eyebrows at the boy.

"What's up, Danny? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

The teen didn't even hold back as he rolled his eyes. "Yes." His parents had been acting kinda weird lately. Like they were in on a secret. As if preparing for some surprise party and being very bad at hiding their enthusiasm. Dancing around him like he was simultaneously made of glass or like they were excited teenagers and he was some amazing fireworks that would set off at any moment.

The last week or so they had thankfully kind of went back to normal. Though they would still randomly ask him if he wanted to tell them something. Danny wondered if they knew about the stash of candy he had hidden under his bed for some nice sugar. Speaking of...

His mom frowned when she entered the kitchen. For a moment, Danny assumed it was her morning expression, which she usually had along with some rumpled clothes and messed up hair. However, she was frowning at the can of coke in his hand.

"Danny," she warned.

"What," he challenged her.

"What did we say about surcose in the morning."

"That the perfect time to drink it is always."

She narrowed her eyes and he knew he was testing his limits here. But he forced himself not to care. He was so going to regret this tomorrow, though.

"Throw that away, Danny."

The boy didn't dare look at her. "Why?" He whined. "I'm not gonna throw away some perfectly good coke."