Tempest (Royce/Winston)

044

Jacob's P.O.V.

"Can we talk about it now?" My mom spoke quietly, glancing at me with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Please?"

I cleared my throat and tapped my fork against my plate, listening to the tink tink tink fill the otherwise quiet room. My mom, dad, and I were sitting at the kitchen table because we were eating dinner. It'd been a really long day for me and honestly, I just wanted to sleep. I tried to just go upstairs, take a shower, and lay down, but my mom insisted that I eat. The only reason why I actually agreed was so she could stop pestering me about dinner. She'd also been asking what really happened at school today, she knew I fought because obviously the school had called her and told her that she needed to come immediately. She doesn't know who I fought though, the principal just explained that I had fought with another student.

"What do you want to know, mom?" I asked, using my free hand to massage my temple.

"What happened today?"

"I fought".

"Well I know that, Jacob, who did you fight and why? It's not like you to fight anymore".

I shrugged my shoulders, "um... I fought because I was angry, and the person who I fought was... Uh... Chresanto..."

"What?" My dad suddenly spoke, looking up from his plate.

"You fought with Chresanto? Why would you do that? I don't understand" my mom rambled, "you just told me a few days ago that everything was okay, nothing was wrong. Why would you guys fight each other if everything is apparently okay?"

"Well we're not dating anymore, so I guess everything isn't okay" I shrugged my shoulders, pretending like it wasn't that big of a deal. "Chresanto and I have been avoiding one another for a week or so now. Today I talked a lot of shit" I paused when my mom frowned, "sorry, today I talked a lot of crap, and he didn't like that. I hit him, he hit me back, we fought".

"Why did you guys break up?"

"Things just didn't work out, mom" I muttered, "can we please leave it at that?"

"I'm sorry if I'm pestering you, but I'm just trying to understand. I liked the relationship a whole lot because you looked happy. You know I just want the best for you, Jacob" my mom explained, "I just thought Chresanto was what was best for you".

She obviously didn't witness all of the arguments we would have, so of course she would have this wonderful image of Chresanto.

I carefully prodded my split lip with my tongue, wincing at the slight pain.

"Can I be finished with dinner?" I asked, "I really just want to lay down".

"If that's what you want" my mom nodded her head, glancing at my dad who just shrugged his shoulders. He rarely spoke anymore and it was honestly borderline concerning. My dad wasn't very quiet when he wasn't depressed, but now things were different. I stood up and threw away the extra bits of food on my plate before placing both the plate and silverware in the dishwasher.

When I got up to my room, I immediately grabbed a pair of boxers, basketball shorts, and an old T-shirt before booking it to the bathroom. I stayed in the shower for a lot longer than I usually would because I stood underneath the spray of the water and just thought for a while. My body felt really tense and I wasn't too fond of the feeling. When I did get out of the shower and dried myself off, and put on the clothes I'd brought in with me, I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror.