The Only Exception [BoyxBoy]

19 | тαкє α вσω

And the award for the best liar goes to you
How about a round of applause?
A standing ovation?

Chapter 19 ~ Take a Bow

Bobby Cooper

When I finally came to, I was still in the same position I had been when I had fell asleep, only this time someone had taken the liberty of tearing my sheets off me and throwing them to the floor. The blinds were open and the curtains were pulled back, even though I distinctly remember shutting out any semblance of light entering the room. The noise that had woken me was placed on the nightstand in the form of a tiny alarm clock, and just the sudden sight of it alone made me scream.

Mere seconds later, my mother came bursting into the room, unannounced, with a huge grin on her face. "Good, you're up!" She pointed to the far left corner of my room, allowing my gaze to follow her indication only to find an opened suitcase with a pile of clothes sitting in the midst of it. "Pack."

I brought my attention back to her and stared at her for what must've been minutes, silently hoping she'd hear all the swear words I was sending her way. I couldn't stay committed to the cause for long because my body ached with the absence of energy, so I used what little I had left to roll my eyes and bury my head in my pillow. "I already told you I'm not going."

"Robert Dane Cooper," she said, using her 'stern' motherly voice, but it failed because I didn't think she ever realized she was never good at being the strict mom that she thought she was. "You've been in this room for a whole week!" She had stepped further into the room based on how close her voice was getting.

"Leave me alone," I muttered into the pillow.

It wasn't long before she lowered herself onto the edge of the bed and tried to touch the top of my head. "Sweetie, I know how you feel. It's your first ever heartbreak. Of course you're gonna feel like the world's over, but there's more to life than the boy you fell in love with in high school. There's probably going to be a nice pretty blonde with an Engineering major waiting for you at Stanford."

I wanted to punch her and I was sure if she kept talking, I probably would.

I couldn't exactly retract the statement I had made about being Ryan's boyfriend, so when my mom came home from her book tour last weekend and asked why I was in such a slum, I lied and said that we had broken up ... which wasn't too far from the truth.

"I'm sad," I said, "why are you forcing me to go somewhere that'll make me sadder?"

"It builds character," she said softly and for some reason, I knew she was smiling. "Besides, you're the one who got us into this mess in the first place. You know that we don't like the Pattersons—the only reason we proposed the idea of going on a trip was because of you and Ryan. We were trying to be supportive of your decision ... to be gay ... and now that we have, you're screwing me and your father over."