Those Worse Off Than You

"No- I need- bathroom," he said, grabbing his stomach and rushing to the bathroom, not bothering to shut the door this time. I stood in the doorway, watching his lean over the toilet for almost ten minutes, when he stood in front of the mirror, sweeping his hair in his face once more.

"No," I instructed, walking up to him. "you need to keep your hair out of your face, or your cut will get infected." I pulled his hair to the side of his face and pulled a cloth out of the cupboard and running it under the tap before lightly dabbing it on his forehead lightly.

Does that feel okay?"

He nodded, as if he were a mime, trying to smile a bit.

"Is your head feeling a bit better?"

He shook his head, and his emotions returned to their miserable old selves.

"Don't worry; you're going to be okay. Do you have somewhere to go tonight?"

"No- nobody likes me. I'm all alone," he cried, as his eyes filled up with tears that started strolling down his dirty smeared cheeks.

"You aren't all alone, I'm right here. You need to settle down, come sit down," I said, taking his hand and leading him over to the bed filled with childish stuffed animals, pushing some of them aside and sitting him down.

"You're nice," he stated, looking up at me. "I like you."

"I like you too, Ace. You can trust me."

He leaned against me, and his arms wrapped around my waist. "You're my best friend."

***

I woke up, hearing something stir in the room, disturbing the peace. There was a knock at the door.

"Jayde, can I come in?" My dad asked.

"No, I'm changing," I said, making up a quick excuse.

"Oh- well, your mother and I were talking. We decided we just need to... adjust to this boy thing. But you're still grounded."

"Okay dad," I said, not caring what he had to say, it didn't matter- I didn't feel like arguing.

"Goodnight Jayde."

"Goodnight."