Dramatic Child Stars

Eleven.

Ryland,
July 22, 2021
5:27 pm.

Percy was using a very raised voice in the other room. I could hear it coming in through my bedroom door, which was open roughly four inches. His tone was harsh and frantic at the same time. There was a slight whine of desperation that he was obviously trying to hold back.

I was already standing, but it had taken me a while to get to that point. Currently, I was leaned over my bed with both hands fully planted to hold myself up. My head was pounding. I was having to take concentrated deep breaths to keep myself upright.

That hole in my chest had filled itself in sometime overnight. Unfortunately my heart was now working overtime to compensate for the time it was missing. It was beating aggressively so loud and fast that I could feel it rushing in my ears. It was heavy like concrete in my chest.

"This needs to end," I heard Percy snap in a very un-Percy-like way. He had been growing increasingly tense throughout the day. Technically it had been building almost silently in the background for several days, but this particular day had been especially rocky for him. It was hard for me to keep track of time due to the haze of physical hell in my body, but I'd gathered he was deeply unhappy with the situation infront of him.

At least that made two of us.

I did feel like I was dying, but I was still nosy enough to want to eavesdrop on whatever conversation was pushing Percy to snap like that. I steeled my nerves, sent up a prayer that I wouldn't vomit again, and then stood up fully. I was halfway to the door when I stumbled from the head rush, but I kept going out into the hall.

"No, Leah! I'm not going to accept that!" Percy's voice flew out into the hallway with the same level of intensity I'd been hearing. "If you want to be broken up, then fine. We can be done, but you're not keeping me away from my son anymore."

I was honestly proud of him for the way he was speaking to her. Percy had a tendency to be a door mat for literally everyone. For a moment, the giddiness that flowed in me at Percy's harsh and authoritative tone was enough to distract me from how badly my body craved a different kind of rush.

I used the wall to support myself with one arm while padding my way down to his bedroom. When I reached the doorway, I saw him standing at the foot of his bed dressed nicely in his work clothes with a very serious look on his face. His posture was haughty and tense, his shoulders high. One hand held his phone up to his ear while the other toyed with the loose fabric of his pant legs; the only sign of anxiety in his otherwise strong presentation.

"I'm trying to work with you on this," Percy pleaded a bit softer.

I don't know what Leah said, but something in his face twitched. He frowned deeply. I watched him take an inhale through his nose. I watched a slight tension run through his eyebrows.

"I didn't want to have to say this Leah, but I've already spoken to a lawyer," Percy stated without any tremble to his voice. When he spoke, I actually found it somewhat intimidating. "I'm not going to lie to you, so if this is the route that you really want to commit to, then you should know that I'm prepared to respond accordingly."

I felt an odd sense of weakness come over me in response to the statement. It settled somewhere in my knees. Percy could be impressively bold when he needed to be. I sometimes forgot how good of an actor he was. Percy could pull in whatever type of facade he needed to be persuasive. He could be whoever he needed to be to respond to the world around him without any sort of falter.

It was after delivering that fiery ultimatum that Percy seemed to notice me standing in his doorway for the first time. I saw his eyes land on me, and I responded by forcing myself to smile and offering him a crisp and encouraging thumbs up.