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Chapter 21

Time was flowing by quickly, and before I knew it, it was already April. Calum and I talked on and off, but there was never enough time for us to talk for hours like we used to. Midterm had passed and I was still failing calculus. We also finished taking our Smarter Balanced test—it was weird taking tests on iPads, but the district insisted that this would be our new test. I saw no point in it. This new test was such a hassle to even start taking.

I went home that Friday after taking the last part of the Smarter Balanced test. I was completely exhausted. Liz came home early from work, and she said we could go out to dinner.

"How was school today?" she asked.

"Unproductive," I answered.

"Today was your last day of testing, correct?"

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

"Boring."

"We should have a celebratory dinner, then."

"Okay."

I didn't really care otherwise. It's dinner nonetheless. Liz went to the living room and started to watch a TV show. I wasn't sure which one she was watching, but I knew that Liz liked dramas. I didn't take the time to remember the names of the shows she liked.

Andrew came home around seven. He looked weary. His forehead was glossy due to slight sweat, his irises were dull, and the area under his eyes were caved in and dark. I knew for a fact that Andrew wanted nothing more than to lie on his bed and sleep, but Liz insisted we go out and have dinner. Her excuse was that we hadn't gone out to dinner in a while, and so Andrew agreed.

About an hour later, Andrew, Liz, and I were sitting in a booth at a Chinese restaurant.

The placemats were made of paper. Andrew's placemat was wet at the corner due to the condensation of his glass of water. Liz kept her glass right in front of her, causing a ring of wet paper to be placed right in the middle of her placemat. I ordered green tea, and kept my mug off of my placemat so I could read it.

"Lucas, we wanted to talk to you about something," Liz said as our food came.

I looked up from the table and at Liz and Andrew. Andrew didn't hesitate to start serving himself whereas Liz waited. I waited, too, as I was being called for attention. I suddenly remembered to talk to them about the packet for Camp Whittle.

"Okay," I said.

"It's about you moving back to your room."

I would have been lying if I said I didn't smile. I missed my bedroom dearly. I liked the small room. I liked the fact that the majority of my room was taken by my massive bookshelf. It was stacked with every book I have ever come to own since I was a kid. The only other things in there were my desk to do homework, my bed, and a chest that was completely empty—I just kept it at the feet of my bed for decoration.

"You've been staying in our room for about five months now," Liz said, "and your father and I think that you're healthy enough to go back to your room and sleep on your own."

I refrained myself from rolling my eyes. I really disliked the fact that Liz makes the mistake of calling Andrew my father. She does it ever so often, and it really gets on my nerves. Liz also made the mistake of saying that I was now healthy. Back in December, I had managed to talk Liz out of sending me to therapy. She truly believed that there was something wrong with me. I, however, believed I had always been healthy. I'm perfectly okay. There's nothing wrong with me. I just got a little sad.

"Would you like to move back to your room, Lucas?"

Like it isn't fucking obvious. "Yeah, I would."