Wishes on Birthday Cake Candles

As soon as we arrived home, I darted upstairs and into my room. I carefully shut my door and flailed onto my bed. With that attempt, I landed on one of my pencils.

"Ow!" I yelled, throwing my pencil at my closet.

As I rubbed my sore arm, footsteps approached my door. I should have expected that Dad would probably come in. He lightly opened my door and looked at me with concerned eyes. Bob's lips frowned as he sat next to me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, my pencil just took revenge on me," I mumbled, showing him my arm.

Bob nodded and got up. He walked out of my room, leaving me a bit confused. If he was concerned, why did he leave like that? But, a few seconds later, Dad walked back into my room with a Spiderman band aid. I tore off the white paper and stuck it over the small cut, smiling.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," Bob said.

Dad began to walk out of my room, when he stopped at my door. He turned around, his mouth open just the slightest bit. I stared at him expectantly.

"Is everything okay with your friends back home?" Bob asked carefully.

"Umm, with one of them." I answered. "My friend Lacy is kinda having a tantrum because I left."

Bob nodded. "Well, if you ever miss them too much, I can take you back."

As my Dad said that, I noticed the usual glimmer in his eyes fade. He didn't look very happy at all when he told me that. I shook my head.

"Nah, I don't wanna go back," I said, smiling.

Bob's lips broke out into a grin. He nodded and left my room, shutting my door gingerly. I smiled to myself before laying back on my bed and pulling out my cell phone. I had decided it was time to try and call Lacy back; surely she would be home by now.

It wasn't until the third ring that I heard her unusually bitter voice.

"Having fun living the life?" Lacy asked harshly.

My mouth opened up into a little surprised 'O' shape along with my eyes. I leaned up against my wall and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"What's up?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Just trying to think of ways to get out of those horrible place," she replied.

"Why are you so negative?" I asked, staring to get mad.

"Well, ever since you left with your new family, my life has taken a nasty turn!" Lacy hissed at me.

"Just because you don't have a place to hang out after school? Go to Nate's! If you haven't noticed, he's your best friend, too!" I yelled.

"No, not because of that!" Lacy retorted. "My grades are dropping, my parents are mad at me, people are jerks to me now at school, and you're gone!"

"Well, I'm sorry," I answered. "But you're just going to have to get over the fact that I'm gone and tough it out until I come home."

"You're coming home?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know! I don't want to come home, but you're making it hard for me, Lacy!" I groaned.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"I gotta go," I sighed.

With a little snap, I shut my phone and set it down on my nightstand. With another sigh, I got up and walked over to my closet, pulling out a pair of black skinny jeans, a Green Day shirt, and my black socks. It was only the second day, and I was already tired of wearing the stupid uniform for school.

Dad was downstairs with Ray when I got home. The two were playing Halo in the living room. Ray waved at me before getting back into the game. I slid into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was looking a bit scarce.

"Dad?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he answered, his blue eyes fixed upon the TV.

"How far away is a fast food place?" I asked.

"Like, five minutes." he replied. "How come?"

"I was gonna get us some food. We're running low," I said.

"Oh, well I'll give you a ride down there if you want," he said.

"No, you keep playing," I suggested.

Dad bit his lip, but allowed me to go. I got both of their orders and slipped on my green Vans. As I began to leave, I quickly darted up the stairs and grabbed my lucky Linkin Park hat that Nate had gotten me last summer.

With a wave, I departed the house and stepped out of the house. Venom meowed at me, so I opened the door once more to let him in. Finally, I jogged away from the house and out onto the first major street.

The McDonalds sign was clearly visible from the street I was on. I headed off in that direction, pushing the ear buds to my iPod into my pierced ears. I was in complete heaven once I had Hawthorne Heights playing for me as I walked. The air was chilly, but not too cold. I was enjoying that deeply.

McDonalds was freakishly warm, so I took off my hat in an attempt to stay cool. Too bad it blew my cover, though. A few tables away, a familiar boy with dark hair waved at me and gt up: Ian.

"Hey!" Ian greeted.

"Hi," I answered half-heartedly.

"What's up?" he asked.

I pointed at the register. Ian nodded, his cheeks blushing crimson.

"Duh," he chuckled.

The woman in front of me moved, allowing me to be next. I quickly ordered my food, desperate to get away from someone from school and be home with my family. When the food came, I waved goodbye to Ian. He wasn't going to let me go, though. He knew something I wanted to know.

"Wait!" he said.

"Yes?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at him.

"Stay for a minute," he said.

"Why?"

Ian bit his lip. "I can tell you things you want to know about Brendon."