I went into Spanish class and sat next to Molly. I hadn’t really told her much about yesterday. It wasn’t my business to tell about Phil’s mom.

                I looked over as Angel entered the room and got up. He was Phil’s best friend. Surely he had to know about Phil’s mom.

                “Angel,” I said, stepping over to him.

                “Nick,” he said with a nod, sitting down.

                I sat next to him and nervously ran a hand through my hair. “I went to Phil’s yesterday. He thought his mom had work, but she didn’t.”

                His eyes widened a little and he sighed. “She got mad at him, didn’t she?” he asked sadly. I nodded.

                “He’s abused. You know he is. Why doesn’t anyone tell the cops on his mom?” I asked, frowning deeply. “She really hurts him, Angel.”

                “Telling the cops wouldn’t solve anything, Nick. It would just make everything ten times worse. Trust me. Phil’s mom has always treated him like that. He thinks it’s normal. He doesn’t understand that he’s a victim of child abuse. If she hurts him without a reason, he convinces himself that it was an accident. I’ve tried to tell him, but he just gets mad,” he said quietly.

                “Is she the reason he has all his mood swings?” I asked, even though it was kind of an obvious answer.

                Angel shrugged and nodded. “Pretty much. It’s also why he likes tough people. It’s familiar to him. Nice guys, like you, just make him suspicious and uncomfortable.”

                “She’s broken his arm before, hasn’t she?” I asked, remembering her threat to Phil yesterday.

                Angel bit his lip nervously and nodded. “Yea. When he was 11 years old, he accidentally knocked over a bottle of her vodka. It broke on the floor and she got really mad at him. She broke his arm and left him at the house alone. He called me and my dad took him to the hospital. We said he fell out of a tree.”

                “Your parents know and don’t say anything?” I asked in shock.

                Angel nodded. “Like I told you, it wouldn’t help anything. They know that,” he said defensively. “If it would help Phil, we’d tell. But it would just make his situation even worse. Let it drop Nick. Please.”

                I nodded slowly and went back to my seat. Phil hadn’t been in school today, and that worried me. I had forgotten to ask Angel if he knew where Phil was.

                I threw open my front door and went to my bedroom. I sat down and rubbed my eyes, feeling exhausted. I had stayed up most of last night, torturing myself with thoughts of Phil and Kenneth. Why did I get all the crazy people?

                My phone buzzed and I flipped it open, scanning the text. I sighed and jumped up. My friend wanted me to meet him at the park. Maybe I could go and get my mind off of things for a little.

                “Mom, I’m going to the park!” I called.

                “What do I do if that crazy boy comes back?” she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen curiously.

                “Tell him I’m not home. But don’t tell him where I am, and don’t let him wait for me,” I said sternly.

                “Oh Nicky,” she giggled. “You and your crazy boyfriends. It’s a good thing me and your daddy are normal! Goodness, you couldn’t handle more crazy people after that Kenneth boy.”

                Oh my lanta.

                I forced a smile. “Yep mom. I sure am lucky I have a normal mom and dad!” I said brightly before hurrying out of the house.

                I made my way to the park and smiled in relief as I saw my friend sitting on one of the swings. Finally, a freaking normal person!

                “Shaw,” I said happily, sitting on the swing next to him. “Thank god!”

                He gave me a curious look. “Uh…Hey Nick. Why are you thanking god?” he asked curiously.

                “Crazy people, crazy things,” I said, shaking my head. I quickly briefed him on the Phil-Kenneth situation.

                He made a face. “Ew. That’s a sucky situation.” I nodded in miserably agreement.

                “I don’t know what to do about it,” I said, shrugging helplessly.

                “Well, I would pretend to date you to get Kenneth off your back, but, you know, jealous boyfriend and everything,” he said with a sigh.

                I laughed and shook my head. “No Shaw. It’s okay. You don’t have to do that.” I sighed. “I just wish I could stand up to Kenneth. But I can’t do it. I feel terrible being mean to him. Hell, I feel terrible being mean to anyone, even Phil.”

                Shaw rolled his eyes and pat me on the back. “You’re too nice. Kenneth deserves it,” he said with a nod.

                “Maybe,” I mumbled, shrugging.

                “Come on. We need to get you an energy drink to make you feel better,” Shaw said, jumping up and dragging me with him. We began to walk towards the gas station and I raised an eyebrow at him.

                “Shaw, you’re not supposed to have energy drinks,” I pointed out. Energy drinks made him frighteningly hyper.

                “That’s okay! I can make an exception for you,” he said, waving his hand dismissively.

                We went into the gas station and over to the energy drinks. We each grabbed a Monster and paid for them before sitting down together at one of the tables.

                I began to sip on my Monster. I looked over and nearly choked on my drink as I saw Phil and Angel enter the gas station together.

                “That’s Phil,” I hissed, nudging Shaw and nodding.

                He looked over and took in Phil’s appearance. “Well damn,” he said, impressed. He winked at me. “If I wasn’t taken, you might have some competition,” he said playfully.

                I rolled my eyes. “Trust me Shaw; you wouldn’t be able to handle Phil’s personality. I can’t handle it. I don’t know how his best friend handles it,” I said, shaking my head. Oh my lanta. That boy and his mood swings.

                I shrank down in my seat as Angel and Phil made their way over towards us. They sat at the table diagonal from ours and began to eat and talk, not noticing us.

                “Maybe we can sneak out before he notices us,” I whispered, trying to use Shaw to shield me from their eyesight. I was slightly relieved that Phil was okay, but more panicked about the fact that he was sitting a few feet away from me.

                Angel said something and Phil laughed and nodded. He took a sip of soda and bit into a chip, replying to whatever Angel had said. Damn him and his sexy fac-

                “Ah!” I cried as I slipped a little on my chair. Shaw grabbed my arm to hold me up and tried not to laugh at me. I pouted at him.

                “Nick?”

                I jumped and gulped as I faced Phil. He was staring at me curiously from his seat. Angel raised an eyebrow at me. “I tried to distract him,” he mouthed to me with a shrug.

                “Uh…Hi Phil,” I said nervously, righting myself in my chair and taking a sip of Monster.

                “What are you doing here?” he asked.

                “It’s a gas station. Anyone can be here,” I said impatiently, trying to put my tough act on. Shaw coughed in his arm to disguise a laugh.

                “Who’s he?” Phil demanded, nodding at Shaw.

                “This is Shaw,” I said.

                “Is he your boyfriend?” Phil asked, slightly suspicious.

                Shaw burst into laughter and shook his head wildly. “Me? Date Nick? Dude, he’s hot, but I have a boyfriend, and Nick’s not my type,” he said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes and pouted again.

                Phil seemed to relax a little. “This weekend Nick. Don’t forget,” he snapped.

                “I didn’t! Jeez, why does everyone think I’m stupid?” I asked, pouting deeper.

                Phil snickered. “You’re cute when you pout.”

                Oh my lanta. Bring on the Phil-induced ojida.

                “Thank you Phillip,” I grumbled sarcastically.

                Phil smirked and took a sip of his soda. He watched me carefully, eye fucking me. I forced myself not to shift uncomfortably. Just keep looking uninterested, Nicky. Yep. Nothing interesting about that sexy pierce of boy eye raping you. Nope, just another casual day in the life of Nick Bradley.

                “Ow!” I whined as Shaw’s foot connected with my shin. “What?” I hissed at him, rubbing my shin and resisting the urge to kick him back.

                Shaw glanced at Phil, who was still eye raping me, nervously. “Uh…there might be a little problem Nick,” he said, barely audible.

                “What?” I asked curiously. What could be the problem? Was my fly down? Was I not wearing pants?!

                I looked down at myself and relaxed. Nope, I was wearing zipped up pants. So…what was the “little problem”?

                “Door,” Shaw mumbled, dropping his eyes to the table. I stared at him in confusion before bringing my eyes up.

                I scanned the gas station but didn’t see anything weird or problematic. My eyes shifted over to the door that led in to the gas station and my eyes widened a little.

                “Oh my lanta,” I groaned miserably as Kenneth Domizio walked in. My eyes shot from Shaw, to Angle, to Phil, to Kenneth.

                Well. This should be interesting.