In Your Shadow

It was a Friday and school was letting out. Tom was off with smooching with some girl, obviously making his own plans for the weekend.

I caught up with Andreas, who was walking to his bus, his head held low. It made me sad that he didn't even try to have any self-confidence.

"Hey Andy, wanna hang out today?"

He looked up at me and gave me a week smile. First month into school and he was warming up to me. It really isn't easy for people to not like me, though.

"I dunno if I can.." he said weakly. It sounded like he was getting a cold.

"Well you can just come home on my bus and call your 'rents, okay?" I suggested.

"I don't think my dad would let me. I'm sure he wants me home."

"Oh c'mon. If he says no you can just take the bus home," I explained. I was pushy as a kid.

He gave me a forced smile and pushed the white blonde hair out of his face. "Alright, I guess so. I'll come with you."

Andreas never called his dad when he got to my house.

I introduced him to my mom and Gordon, who seemed to like him only after a few minutes. We played around on the computer and the Playstation for a good three hours and made stupid ten year old jokes. That was the first time I'd ever seen Andreas truly happy.

He was away from his family, he was doing things he actually liked to do for once.

Back then I couldn't understand the situation. Today, it seems so obvious to me and I wonder why I didn't get it right away. Andreas gave off so many weird vibes that only Tom ever seemed to see. I spent my time trying to break him out of his shell rather than facing the problem at hand.

The doorbell rang and Gordon came into the living room, saying it was Andreas's dad at the door.

The color drained from poor Andy's face. He shot up out of the chair and left without saying anything to me.

"Er.. um.. bye," I said quietly as he walked out the door.

I peeked out the blinds and watched Andreas and his dad walk to the car. His dad was yelling at him, holding him tightly by the arm..

"What was that all about?" Gordon asked.

"Oh.. he forgot to call his dad to ask if he could come over."

Gordon sighed. "Bill, you have to stop assuming that parents know everything. His dad was pretty ticked."

All I was thinking about was how his dad figured out he was at my house.

"Yeah, I forgot to remind him to call. We were having so much fun," I explained.

"He seems like a nice kid. Don't forget to have him call next time."

I nodded and went back to my video game.

-

"I still think there's something fishy about him," Tom said as he got ready for bed that night.

"Shut up," I threw a pillow at him.

"I'm completely serious. No kid acts that way for no reason," Tom jumped onto his bed and played with his dreads.

"Oh Tom, you and your conspiracy theories," I sighed.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember that one kid that was at school last year?"

"There were lots of kids at school last year," I said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up. His name was like David or something.."

"Was he in a grade above us?" I asked.

"Yeah. And he acted like Andreas, except he didn't have any friends like Andreas has us," Tom explained. "He was sick a lot and came in with bruises on my body and stuff. So the police investigated it and it turns out his step-dad was abusing him."

"I've heard the stories, Tom," I reminded and then rolled my eyes. "I doubt that's Andreas's problem. He's new, and he's got crazy old me for a best friend."

Tom chuckled. "Well, that explains everything."

I rolled my eyes again and turned over in my bed, my back to him. In a matter of minutes I could hear Tom snoring. I was tired too, but I just continued to lie in bed.

What if..? Oh no, that would never happen!

I shrugged off my thoughts and went to bed.