A Year to Live

Tic Tac Uh Oh

"No you can't put your 'x' there!" I shouted at Parker who just had a goofy grin on his face as we played tic tac toe. 

"Why not?" He pouted in my direction. He was so cute when he did that.

"Because my 'o' is there you big idiot!" I said, shoving him so he nearly fell of the bench. Parker had been sitting with me at lunch now, and I could sense tension. I don't exactly know why, but I could see that Landon didn't like him very much. Carmen was ok with the eye candy of course, but Landon seemed very resentful. 

Parker took the end of his pencil and erased my 'o'. "There, now just my 'x' is there." He smirked with a little wink.

I took the piece of paper and ripped it up, glaring at him the entire time. "You're no fun. All you do is cheat." I snickered, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Oh Isa, don't you know you could put your tongue to much better use?" He smiled, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I groaned but pulled his lips against mine anyways. Our kiss wasn't full of sparks and passion, but I assumed those things were just in movies. It was pleasant though, which is all I could ask for.

He smiled when we pulled away, and I threw a spoonful of peas in his direction. He swiftly caught them in his mouth but then spat them out the next second. He hated peas. I swear with the way he looked at me in horror, he thought I just threw a demon at him in the form of small green vegetables.

"You're such a shit." I laughed, allowing him to wrap his left arm around my waist and pull me against him.

"You love it." He smirked, placing gentle kisses down my neck. We were officially a couple, and practically the entire girl student body hated me for it. I hadn't talked to Gray since that day I saw him at the hospital a couple of weeks ago, and he's hardly been showing up to school. It's a hit or miss with him. Sometimes he's here, and sometimes he isn't. 

"Where has Graylan been?" I asked, immediately regretting it. Parker hated when I talked about Graylan, because he claimed I would go to him in a second if he asked me to. I kept telling him I wouldn't, becuase we hated each other, but he never seemed fully convinced.

"Dealing with his dad." He answered simply, getting curious looks from the entire table. 

"What's wrong with his dad?" Carmen asked, nudging Landon to look interested too for the sake of Mission Popular.

"Well ever since his mom died, his dad's had a serious drinking problem. Beats the poor kid whenever he's home." He shrugged like it was nothing. I could feel my spoon drop from my hand and my jaw widened as I turned to Carmen who had the same shocked expression on her face.

"How did you just say that like it was nothing?" Landon asked. I had a feeling he didn't ask it based on what Parker just said, but something else. Oh Isa, you're just hearing things. 

Parker coughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't mean it to come out like that. I've already tried calling authorities to deal with it, but Graylan stops me every time." He whispered sadly. I looked at my boyfriend and gave him a weak smile, kissing his cheek.

"Well if he stops you, you shouldn't feel guilty." I whispered into his ear, noticing him shiver slightly. 

"Yea I know, but I can't help it. He's my best friend and the fact his dad hurts him like that isn't alright." He said fumbling with his fork and playing with his food.

"What happened to his mom?" I shot out quickly, wishing already that I had taken it back.

"Um, I don't think I'm the one who should tell you." He stated nervously and I nodded.