Wednesday.

Once more it was four in the morning and I was just waking up. Mom hadn't made it home the previous night, telling me she was probably with one of her co-workers from her second job again. A knock at the door quickly drew my attention. I already knew who it was. I couldn't care any less. That bastard could stay out there all morning. I wanted nothing to do with him today. 

I prepped myself for school. Glancing at the clock I saw I still had two hours before I had to leave, plenty of time for me to start straightening up a bit. At least when mom came home, it would be to a clean apartment. 
When I finally finished, I had twenty minutes left to get to class. Plenty of time.

♤~~~~~♡~~~~~♤~~~~~♡~~~~~♤

"You're late, Mr. Satin," my fifth period teacher, Mr. Myers, said.

"And you're just as handsome as ever, Sir" I said with a half-assed salute.

"Trying to be the funny man, are we, Mr. Satin?" Mr. Myers questioned. "Let me remind you whose class you are in, Mr. Satin. My class, my rules. Now I would like to know why you were late."

"Got held up in traffic, sir, " I replied sarcastically, dropping my salute.

"Traffic, hmm?" Mr. Myers inquired. "I was under the impression that you walked to school, Mr. Satin."

"Even sidewalks get busy, Mr. Myers," I responded.

"I'm sure you can explain that down at security, Mr. Satin," Mr. Myers sneered. "And I'm sure you can weave some great story all about how you saved someone along the way from certain doom."

"Security?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yes, Mr. Satin. Security," Mr. Myers replied. "As it seems you have some chronic disease that prevents you from being on time or, god forbid, early, the fine staff down at security have decided to take matters into their own hands. Of course the announcement came to me yesterday but sadly you weren't here to receive it."

"Come on, don't screw with me," I said. "Security has never bothered me about that before."

"Well it appears they are today," Mr. Myers replied. "And one more thing, Mr. Satin. I don't screw with anyone. Now please. Stop disrupting my class and get out."

Still as confused as before, I left the classroom and made my way down the two halls, three flights of stairs, and through a rotunda and down the last few halls to security. As soon as I rounded the corner, I came face to face with the last person I wanted to see.

"Wha'? Why the hell are you here?" I spat.

"I believe the proper greeting should be good morning," Taylor responded as calm and cool as ever.

"I don't care for proper. Now answer my question."

"I decline to answer your inquiry," he replied.

"Still trying to act all high and mighty?" I shot. No reply. "Whatever," I grumbled. I sat down as far away from Taylor as possible. Since he was here, it could only mean one thing. And we didn't need things to be any worse.

Time passed slowly. The silence was deafening except for the occasional phone call or printer noise from the main office. If we were supposed to come here, shouldn't security have already been here?

"Damn it! Where the hell is that guy!?" I cried out in frustration.

"Sorry I could be here sooner," a man said, rounding the corner. "I was held up in a little bit of traffic from an accident last night." The man walked over to the office door, unlocked it, and motioned for us to enter.

Taylor was the first one inside. He chose the seat directly in front of the desk and sat down, forcing me to take the one behind the massive desktop on the left.

"All right, now that everyone's comfortable, how about we start with how you acquired that bruise, Mr. Ethers," the man said. I looked over at Taylor's face. Sure enough there was a large bruise right where my fist made contact.

"The injury to which you are referring was acquired through my poor choice of words while conversing with my peer beside me. As such, it is my opinion that Evan Satin have his punishment reduced or even dismissed. I am the one at fault for this bruise." I stared at Taylor in disbelief. Why fight for the guy who knocked him to the ground?

"That's very noble of you, Mr. Ethers," the man said. "However, that is not the only thing Mr. Satin is here for, nor does it matter what you said. All I asked was how you came to have that bruise. Mr. Satin, why don't you enlighten me?"

"Huh?" I said, caught off guard. "Oh, uh, I just punched him for passing me off." Damn, I thought, that sounded even dumber than I thought it would.

"I see," the man said. "Thank you Mr. Satin. Now for the punishment. A month for both of you in suspension. It starts tomorrow at seven thirty. Be there early."

"A month?" I echoed, a little shocked.

"One month," he replied. "Unless of course you think a month will not suffice. I can always make it two months."

"One month will be fine," Taylor responded.

"Good then. Mr. Ethers, you're free to go. Return to class immediately. Although I'm sure you won't be caught wandering the halls anytime soon." Taylor stood up and left, closing the door behind him ever so gently. Now it was only me and the guy behind the desk. Not the most hopeful situation considering his last job.

"So, Evan," he started, "how's your mother? Is she still working both jobs?"

"Yes sir," I replied. "Though she has been trying to get into the company my dad works at."

"And are you comfortable with that?" He pressed.

"Well, to be honest, I'd rather her stay away from there. All she would have would be bad memories of that bastard every time they cross paths."

"Harsh language from a high school student, much less about their parent."

"He doesn't deserve any kindness for what he did. All the years of pain he put her through. Would you call him a bastard?"

"Oh, I have a thing or two to say about your father, but I won't say them here. After all, you're still his son and he's still my nephew, even if we hate him. I hear you left school during the lunch period yesterday and never came back. I'm guessing he showed up early and then the incident with Taylor just got to you, huh?"

"You could say that," I said, averting my gaze downward.

"And you know you will still have to face a consequence for that action, right?" he continued.

"Hey, don't take too long. I might just fall asleep."

"Now don't do that, or we might have to tack on two weeks instead of the one I'm adding," he joked. "Evan, you know you get away with quite a bit, but if you keep pushing I will be forced to take action. I know you're situation isn't the best, but it's not right for me to let you run around as you please, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," I mumbled.

"Alright. Tomorrow, Evan. Be here before seven thirty," he said.

"Seven thirty, got it," I repeated as I walked out the office. There may be perks to having your great uncle as head of security, but I could find none. Guess that's what happens when their last job was head of prison security.

"Excuse me," the office secretary called out as I rounded the corner, "are you by chance Evan Satin?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked as I walked over to the desk.

"There's a man on the phone by the name Bill Lomer. He says he's your father and he needs to speak with you immediately. "

Why the hell would he call, I though as I took the phone from the woman's hand. 

"Oh, and it's Bill Loser, not Lomer."

"I heard that," a familiar voice said as I put the phone to my ear.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"I was just wondering when your mom gets off from her second job," Bill answered.

"Why the hell do you care?" I spat. "It's not like she matters to you. After all you have that slut with you now."

"I'm serious Evan," he said.

"Fine, she gets off about midnight unless she's working overtime," I answered.

"And does she get a ride from anyone?" he asked. Now I was really confused.

"Yeah," I said. "A co-worker picks her up and gives her a ride home."

"And do you know what kind of car it is?" he pressed.

"What the hell is this, twenty questions? How the hell am I supposed to know?" I spat.

"Then what about the color?" Bill asked.

"I think it's blue," I answered. "Why the hell do you want to know? Not planning anything, are you?"

"No, it's nothing," he said. "Alright have a good day."

"Right," I said, still suspicious. "You too." I gave the phone back to the secretary and walked out. Yeah right. Nothing.