Professor Layton | Lies They Told Me
May. 18th, 2019 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fairyficRating: G
Fandom: Professor Layton
Characters: Crow, Luke Triton
Relationships: Crow & Luke Triton
Words: 3,035
Content Warnings: N/A
Tropes: First Meetings, Divorced Parents, Angst
Summary: Everybody seems to think that Crow can't handle the truth about what's happening to his family. But just because Crow is a child doesn't mean he can't tell when someone is lying to him. He finds himself harboring bitterness to everyone who lies, who tries to treat him like he can't handle the truth.
But now, there's a kid right in front of him, going through the same thing he did, with a teary and hopeful expression, waiting for an answer that would tear him apart.
This can be read as genfic or pre-relationship, depending on how you read it. I wrote it in the context of, 'This is their first meeting, and they start dating later along the line,' but you can read into it however you wish!
Also: this contains a lot of headcanons, particularly involving Crow's family and homelife, so, if you don't like that kind of fanfic, you don't have to read this!
The school’s cafeteria, considering that the school was generally pretty small, was generally pretty loud on average. Maybe that was because it was full of young children who didn’t quite know how to control their volume yet, or maybe it was because the room was small and voices echoed off of walls. Maybe it was just a law of nature that anywhere a multitude of children gathered, it had to be loud. Either way, it was loud, and it was loud enough that Crow couldn’t hear whatever Wren was talking about. She happened to be a notoriously quiet speaker, and, even though she was quite literally only a few seats away from him (the Black Ravens always sat together, and the lot of them took up nearly the entire table), he could only catch the occasional word, and even that was mostly from lip reading. So, instead of trying to understand her, Crow let his eyes look around the lunchroom in between bites of his sandwich, instead of trying to respond to her.
Everyone knew the unspoken rule; whatever seat you claimed on your first day of school was the one you sat in for the rest of the year, so long as there were no assigned seats. It’s how friend groups always managed to sit together, and anybody who sat in anybody else’s seat was frowned upon, and often bullied out of the spot. Luckily, that meant Crow at least had something to do; seeing who was absent. He barely had to look at Tony’s spot to know he was absent. He was notorious for having a weak immune system. However, he noticed that everyone else seemed to be present; until his eyes landed on that rich boy’s seat.
The rich kid with the blue hat typically sat next to Finch, at the end of the table, but he wasn’t there. But Crow knew he wasn’t absent; he had seen him in the halls just a few hours ago. And he wasn’t the type to skip classes or go to other places during lunch, either. And one of the only things Crow knew about him was that he wasn’t the type to miss a meal.
By that point, Wren was done talking, so he looked over the Black Ravens, setting his sandwich down. “Hey, where’s that rich kid?”
Everyone’s faces were blank; compared to them, everyone was rich.
Crow made a motion to his head. “Blue hat? Eats a lot?” He paused, before adding, “Sits by himself at recess and talks to animals?”
That seemed to jog everyone’s memory, several of them exclaiming, “Oh, him,” or, “Yeah.” However, none of them seemed to have an answer, looking at where the rich kid typically sat, and then looking around to see if they could find him.
It was Socket who found the boy, pointing. “Oh, there he is.”
Crow followed Socket’s gaze, and, lo and behold, the kid with the blue hat was there. Not sitting at a table, though; his back was to a wall, and his knees to his chest. His hat covered his eyes, but his head was tilted towards the ground, so one could assume he was staring at the floor. He was in a corner of the cafeteria, with nobody to talk to, and no food to eat; not even a wrapper indicative of him eating anything beforehand.
“What’s up with him?” Tweeds asked, voicing what Crow was about to ask. “He looks like a goth who just found out My Chemical Romance broke up.”
Crow blinked, his attention shifting almost immediately. “My Chemical Romance broke up?”
Before anybody could answer, Badger hushed them all with a small wave of his hand. “Hey, all, don’t be mean to him. He’s got enough goin’ on, from what I know.” He was immediately met with the curious gaze of all of his friends, obviously expecting him to elaborate. He sighed. “Look, I dunno much, but his mom has been, uh, ‘out of town’-” He made air quotes with his hands. “For a long time now. I’m not sure if this is true, but word on the street is that his parents got divorced or somethin’.”
Crow’s expression changed, just slightly. Nobody seemed to notice.
-
A young boy stands in front of his father, who stands in the doorway with a rolling suitcase. The father has his hand on his son’s shoulder, and smiles bittersweetly. “You’re still my son. You know that, don’t you?”
The little boy’s expression doesn’t change. It’s blank, and he moves his scarf up to cover his mouth, as if to hide himself.
The father sees this, and shifts so he’s on one knee, and he can see eye-to-eye with the smaller boy. “Hey, I mean that. I’m going to be here for you, still. Every last party and milestone, I’ll still be here.”
Again, he gets no response.
He sighs sadly, tilting his head. “Come on now, Crow… Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
The little boy bites his lip under his scarf, and looks pointedly away. He’s blinking rapidly, like he’s trying to blink away the tears, but is struggling.
The father pulls him into a gentle hug. His son stiffens considerably, his arms still at his sides.
“I need you to know I still care for you. What’s happening isn’t your fault.”
The boy doesn’t seem to believe that, and clenches his fists. His shoulders are shaking.
The father pulls away from the hug, and puts his hands on his son’s shoulders again. “Hey. I’m going to call you every week. I promise. So chin up, alright?”
The child struggles to look somewhere else, before finally, finally, his eyes settle on his father. “Alright,” he responds, and his voice is shaking. “I love you.”
The following week, the young boy lives next to the phone. Every time it rings, he rushes to answer it, his greeting coming out as more so of a garble of sounds than an actual greeting. But his shoulders always sank, and his eyes lost their excitement, as soon as the person on the other line responded. It wasn’t who he had hoped.
That week passes, then another. One month passes. Then two. The young boy stops answering the phone at all anymore. After five months, there is not even the slightest spark of hope when he hears the telephone ringing.
His next birthday, the spot next to his mother is empty. He glares at it, remembering all the things his father had promised.
-
Forcing his expression back to neutrality, Crow tries to make his voice sound bored and uninterested as he asks, “So, he just… Didn’t eat today?”
Everyone else made various ‘I don’t know’ hums or motions. Badger was the only one who replied with words, saying, “Maybe he’s lost his appetite.”
Crow looked down at his sandwich, and at the crackers he had, as well. It was a small pack of four. He took it into his hand, and pushed his chair back, standing up. “I’m gonna talk to him.”
“What? Why?” Marilyn questioned.
Crow shrugged, and he pretended to be indifferent. “Dunno. Just curious, s’all. That a crime?”
Marilyn tilted her head. “That’s fair. Just don’t catch his rich people disease. If you come back here talkin’ about how the minimum wage is too high, Imma have to punch you.”
“Fair,” Crow replied, before turning to leave the table.
A few seconds before he got to the boy, he stuffed the crackers into his pocket. He didn’t know why. Coming up to the rich kid with food in his hands… It would be like… Like saying, “I can’t afford that,” to one of the middle or upper-class kids. It would be like admitting something.
When he finally stopped in front of the rich kid, he didn’t say anything. He waited for the other boy to greet him, but that never came. Either he was avoiding saying the first thing, as well, or he genuinely didn’t see Crow approach. (He was looking at the floor, after all.) After a long moment, Crow finally blurted out, “Hey.”
The other boy finally looked up, and his hat wasn’t covering his face anymore. Crow almost flinched. Whenever he saw this kid in the hall, he was always smiling, and his eyes were always impossibly bright. Now, he almost looked like someone different. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was frowning at Crow before he had even looked at him long enough to register him. His eyes were, logically, the same color… But they looked duller. Darker.
He hadn’t responded, so Crow spoke again. “So, uh…” He motioned to the other boy, that being his cue to say his name.
“Luke,” the boy with the blue hat replied, after a moment.
“Luke,” Crow echoed, trying to get himself to remember (he was bad with names, but saying it out loud helped). “I was just wonderin’ where your lunch is?”
Luke let his knees down from his chest, crossing his legs instead. “I… Well, my father has been rather busy lately…” For the first time, he tried to smile, though it seemed painful. “So, he couldn’t pack my lunch today. But, I had a big breakfast, so it’s okay!”
Crow looked away, going silent for half a beat.
-
The little boy is a bit older now, and he peers into his mother’s room. “Ma, it’s time for dinner.”
His mother has her head in her hands, looking over a piece of paper, but she perks up upon hearing her son’s voice. “Oh…” She looks at her wristwatch, and sighs. “Well, it sure is, isn’t it?” She lets her hand drop into her lap, and smiles at her son. “Well, how about you make yourself something?”
The little boy shakes his head, and crosses his arms. “I looked and I can’t. There’s nothing.”
“Really? How about a microwavable meal?”
“We’re out.”
“A sandwich?”
“No bread, or anything to put in the bread.”
“Uhm…” The mother seemed to struggle for a moment, before suggesting, “Any fruits? Veggies?”
“Ma, the only thing in the pantry or fridge is empty wrappers and some milk. And I’m pretty sure the milk is expired.”
“Oh, goodness,” the mother mutters, bringing a hand to her cheek. “I can’t afford to go to the grocery store now…”
“Okay, but get some food.”
“Sweetheart, no grocery store means no food.”
Her son’s eyes widens, and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. He doesn’t say anything, but he wants to.
“I’m so, so sorry… But your Papa hasn’t sent any of his child support money, and… Well…” She looks away, and goes silent. Shame paints her face, and her hands clench into shaking fists.
The boy seems to notice her distress, and jumps to make her feel better, exclaiming, “That’s okay, Ma! It’s okay! I’m not that hungry, anyway!” He grins.
The mother sighs with relief, and, once again, can meet her son’s eyes. “Thank you, Crow. You really are the sweetest little thing.”
Pursing his lips, the child seems to have a hard time not denying that, but he doesn’t argue, and turns to leave. He hadn’t even taken a step yet before he pauses, and turns his head back to look at his mother. “This… This is the first time Pa has forgotten to send money. Yeah?”
His mother seems to be surprised by the question, and her eyes shift away as she nods. “Yes. That’s right.”
The boy slowly nods, and then turns to leave. He presses a hand to his belly, as if that would silence the rumbling.
-
Crow tilts his head a bit, regarding the boy sitting in front of him. “So… You’re not hungry, then?”
Shaking his head, Luke tried to keep smiling. “Nope, not hungry at all.”
He dug into his pocket, and pulled out his packet of crackers. It had broken up a bit in his pocket, but it was still mostly together. “Well, uh, I have some crackers I could share.” He quickly added, “I’m already full, and I hate crackers, so don’t think you’re special,” sticking his nose in the air. Saving face.
Luke didn’t seem even slightly bothered by Crow’s standoffish nature, his eyes widening slightly. “Really? That’d be nice.”
Crow shrugged, and plopped next to Luke, his back against the wall, as well. He opened the cheap plastic, and gave Luke a cracker, which he gratefully accepted and immediately took a bite of. He was smiling, and, for some reason, it made Crow want to smile, too. Instead, he looked away.
“So,” he began, as Luke chewed his food. “… Your… Mom. She’s on a trip, huh?”
Just like that, when Crow looked back, Luke’s smile was gone. “Yeah,” he muttered.
There was a moment of silence between the two. It felt deafening, even if the rest of the cafeteria was bustling with noise.
“Do you really believe that?” Crow eventually asked him, and his face went soft. He could feel it go soft, but he didn’t try to stop it. “That she’s on a trip, I mean.”
Luke stared at the rest of the cracker in his hand, and then sadly shook his head. “No.” He then ate the last bite, not with the same excitement as before.
“Mm,” Crow hummed, because he didn’t know what else to say. He looked at Luke, and he could see that he was trying his best not to burst into tears, his face a bright red.
-
A school counselor sits across a desk from the same boy. His arms are crossed, and he’s glaring at the wall.
The woman sighs, before trying again to make him talk. “I’m just concerned about you, is all. Your grades have been slipping, and I suspect it’s because of your parents splitting up. I’d just like to know if that’s true.”
The boy barks at her, “What do you think, huh? Aren’t you supposed to know this stuff? Or is that fancy paper on the wall just for show?”
She flinches. Okay, definite aggression issues. Though she doesn’t recall him acting this way with his mother, or that group of friends he has… Aggression towards adults he didn’t know, perhaps? She places her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers together. "Well, I don’t know anything if you don’t tell me. It’s not a degree in mind-reading, after all.” The counselor smiles, trying to seem less intimidating.
“Obviously, they’re connected,” the boy grumbles, and he rolls his eyes. “I mean, my whole life is just suddenly changed, and I’m s’pposed to care about the different types of clouds?”
Finally, she felt like she was getting somewhere. She reached to touch his shoulder. “Hey, now, everything is okay-”
“BUT IT’S NOT OKAY!” he snapped, and he slapped her hand away, then immediately puts his hands stiffly at his sides, digging his nails into his palms. His face was suddenly red, and he bunched his shoulders up, his eyes narrowing. “Everyone in my life keeps saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ but they’re LYING! I’m a kid, but I’m not STUPID! My Pa left to God knows where, he hasn’t called, he isn’t paying his child support, my Ma is left to pay for the divorce, plus our living! Now the rest of our family acts awkward around us, and avoids talking to us, and NOBODY is acknowledging that he left RIGHT after I started talking and walking and goin’ to school! It doesn’t take a genius to know he left ‘cause he didn’t want a kid! Everyone is lying to me, and it’s NOT OKAY! NONE OF THIS IS OKAY! I’M NOT OKAY!”
Just like that, like there was a switch in his mind, the boy goes from red-faced and furious to covering his face and sobbing. He curls up with his knees to his chest, hiding his face from this woman he hardly knew, but he was now crying in front of. His face was no longer red from fury, but from embarrassment.
Once he’s able to breathe and talk again, the school counselor gave him a list of nearby therapists to look into. On the way out of the office, he tosses it into the trash. He knows his mother isn’t going to be able to afford it.
-
Seeing how this chat was doing nothing more than upset Luke further, Crow held the package of crackers out for him to take. Luke seemed surprised at first, but hesitantly took it.
Crow stood up with a small grunt. “Well. That’s that, then.” He took a few steps away from Luke when he heard him say, “Hey-…” He turns around, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “What?”
Luke held the crackers at his chest, like it was a barrier between the two of them. “I just… I just wanted to thank you. Everybody has been acting weirdly around me lately…” He paused, before adding something. His voice went more vulnerable, more honest, and his eyes suddenly seemed less dull.
“Do you think my mom is coming back?”
Crow knew his real answer. He could feel it sitting on the back of his tongue, and he opened his mouth to reply.
But, somehow… He hardly knew Luke, but the way he was looking at Crow right then, so earnestly and hopefully… It made his gut twist. He knew, in that moment, he couldn’t tell Luke his mother was never going to come back. He couldn’t bear to watch the kind boy’s face fall into a helpless acceptance, and the thought of seeing tears in his eyes again made him feel sick.
So, instead, Crow forced the words, “Yeah. She’s coming back, for sure.”
Luke’s face lit up, and a genuine smile found a way onto his lips. Crow could see the stars in his eyes, the probably-false hope he had given him. But Luke’s smile made him want to smile. This time, he returned it, giving into the temptation.
Fandom: Professor Layton
Characters: Crow, Luke Triton
Relationships: Crow & Luke Triton
Words: 3,035
Content Warnings: N/A
Tropes: First Meetings, Divorced Parents, Angst
Summary: Everybody seems to think that Crow can't handle the truth about what's happening to his family. But just because Crow is a child doesn't mean he can't tell when someone is lying to him. He finds himself harboring bitterness to everyone who lies, who tries to treat him like he can't handle the truth.
But now, there's a kid right in front of him, going through the same thing he did, with a teary and hopeful expression, waiting for an answer that would tear him apart.
This can be read as genfic or pre-relationship, depending on how you read it. I wrote it in the context of, 'This is their first meeting, and they start dating later along the line,' but you can read into it however you wish!
Also: this contains a lot of headcanons, particularly involving Crow's family and homelife, so, if you don't like that kind of fanfic, you don't have to read this!
The school’s cafeteria, considering that the school was generally pretty small, was generally pretty loud on average. Maybe that was because it was full of young children who didn’t quite know how to control their volume yet, or maybe it was because the room was small and voices echoed off of walls. Maybe it was just a law of nature that anywhere a multitude of children gathered, it had to be loud. Either way, it was loud, and it was loud enough that Crow couldn’t hear whatever Wren was talking about. She happened to be a notoriously quiet speaker, and, even though she was quite literally only a few seats away from him (the Black Ravens always sat together, and the lot of them took up nearly the entire table), he could only catch the occasional word, and even that was mostly from lip reading. So, instead of trying to understand her, Crow let his eyes look around the lunchroom in between bites of his sandwich, instead of trying to respond to her.
Everyone knew the unspoken rule; whatever seat you claimed on your first day of school was the one you sat in for the rest of the year, so long as there were no assigned seats. It’s how friend groups always managed to sit together, and anybody who sat in anybody else’s seat was frowned upon, and often bullied out of the spot. Luckily, that meant Crow at least had something to do; seeing who was absent. He barely had to look at Tony’s spot to know he was absent. He was notorious for having a weak immune system. However, he noticed that everyone else seemed to be present; until his eyes landed on that rich boy’s seat.
The rich kid with the blue hat typically sat next to Finch, at the end of the table, but he wasn’t there. But Crow knew he wasn’t absent; he had seen him in the halls just a few hours ago. And he wasn’t the type to skip classes or go to other places during lunch, either. And one of the only things Crow knew about him was that he wasn’t the type to miss a meal.
By that point, Wren was done talking, so he looked over the Black Ravens, setting his sandwich down. “Hey, where’s that rich kid?”
Everyone’s faces were blank; compared to them, everyone was rich.
Crow made a motion to his head. “Blue hat? Eats a lot?” He paused, before adding, “Sits by himself at recess and talks to animals?”
That seemed to jog everyone’s memory, several of them exclaiming, “Oh, him,” or, “Yeah.” However, none of them seemed to have an answer, looking at where the rich kid typically sat, and then looking around to see if they could find him.
It was Socket who found the boy, pointing. “Oh, there he is.”
Crow followed Socket’s gaze, and, lo and behold, the kid with the blue hat was there. Not sitting at a table, though; his back was to a wall, and his knees to his chest. His hat covered his eyes, but his head was tilted towards the ground, so one could assume he was staring at the floor. He was in a corner of the cafeteria, with nobody to talk to, and no food to eat; not even a wrapper indicative of him eating anything beforehand.
“What’s up with him?” Tweeds asked, voicing what Crow was about to ask. “He looks like a goth who just found out My Chemical Romance broke up.”
Crow blinked, his attention shifting almost immediately. “My Chemical Romance broke up?”
Before anybody could answer, Badger hushed them all with a small wave of his hand. “Hey, all, don’t be mean to him. He’s got enough goin’ on, from what I know.” He was immediately met with the curious gaze of all of his friends, obviously expecting him to elaborate. He sighed. “Look, I dunno much, but his mom has been, uh, ‘out of town’-” He made air quotes with his hands. “For a long time now. I’m not sure if this is true, but word on the street is that his parents got divorced or somethin’.”
Crow’s expression changed, just slightly. Nobody seemed to notice.
-
A young boy stands in front of his father, who stands in the doorway with a rolling suitcase. The father has his hand on his son’s shoulder, and smiles bittersweetly. “You’re still my son. You know that, don’t you?”
The little boy’s expression doesn’t change. It’s blank, and he moves his scarf up to cover his mouth, as if to hide himself.
The father sees this, and shifts so he’s on one knee, and he can see eye-to-eye with the smaller boy. “Hey, I mean that. I’m going to be here for you, still. Every last party and milestone, I’ll still be here.”
Again, he gets no response.
He sighs sadly, tilting his head. “Come on now, Crow… Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
The little boy bites his lip under his scarf, and looks pointedly away. He’s blinking rapidly, like he’s trying to blink away the tears, but is struggling.
The father pulls him into a gentle hug. His son stiffens considerably, his arms still at his sides.
“I need you to know I still care for you. What’s happening isn’t your fault.”
The boy doesn’t seem to believe that, and clenches his fists. His shoulders are shaking.
The father pulls away from the hug, and puts his hands on his son’s shoulders again. “Hey. I’m going to call you every week. I promise. So chin up, alright?”
The child struggles to look somewhere else, before finally, finally, his eyes settle on his father. “Alright,” he responds, and his voice is shaking. “I love you.”
The following week, the young boy lives next to the phone. Every time it rings, he rushes to answer it, his greeting coming out as more so of a garble of sounds than an actual greeting. But his shoulders always sank, and his eyes lost their excitement, as soon as the person on the other line responded. It wasn’t who he had hoped.
That week passes, then another. One month passes. Then two. The young boy stops answering the phone at all anymore. After five months, there is not even the slightest spark of hope when he hears the telephone ringing.
His next birthday, the spot next to his mother is empty. He glares at it, remembering all the things his father had promised.
Liar.
-
Forcing his expression back to neutrality, Crow tries to make his voice sound bored and uninterested as he asks, “So, he just… Didn’t eat today?”
Everyone else made various ‘I don’t know’ hums or motions. Badger was the only one who replied with words, saying, “Maybe he’s lost his appetite.”
Crow looked down at his sandwich, and at the crackers he had, as well. It was a small pack of four. He took it into his hand, and pushed his chair back, standing up. “I’m gonna talk to him.”
“What? Why?” Marilyn questioned.
Crow shrugged, and he pretended to be indifferent. “Dunno. Just curious, s’all. That a crime?”
Marilyn tilted her head. “That’s fair. Just don’t catch his rich people disease. If you come back here talkin’ about how the minimum wage is too high, Imma have to punch you.”
“Fair,” Crow replied, before turning to leave the table.
A few seconds before he got to the boy, he stuffed the crackers into his pocket. He didn’t know why. Coming up to the rich kid with food in his hands… It would be like… Like saying, “I can’t afford that,” to one of the middle or upper-class kids. It would be like admitting something.
When he finally stopped in front of the rich kid, he didn’t say anything. He waited for the other boy to greet him, but that never came. Either he was avoiding saying the first thing, as well, or he genuinely didn’t see Crow approach. (He was looking at the floor, after all.) After a long moment, Crow finally blurted out, “Hey.”
The other boy finally looked up, and his hat wasn’t covering his face anymore. Crow almost flinched. Whenever he saw this kid in the hall, he was always smiling, and his eyes were always impossibly bright. Now, he almost looked like someone different. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was frowning at Crow before he had even looked at him long enough to register him. His eyes were, logically, the same color… But they looked duller. Darker.
He hadn’t responded, so Crow spoke again. “So, uh…” He motioned to the other boy, that being his cue to say his name.
“Luke,” the boy with the blue hat replied, after a moment.
“Luke,” Crow echoed, trying to get himself to remember (he was bad with names, but saying it out loud helped). “I was just wonderin’ where your lunch is?”
Luke let his knees down from his chest, crossing his legs instead. “I… Well, my father has been rather busy lately…” For the first time, he tried to smile, though it seemed painful. “So, he couldn’t pack my lunch today. But, I had a big breakfast, so it’s okay!”
Crow looked away, going silent for half a beat.
-
The little boy is a bit older now, and he peers into his mother’s room. “Ma, it’s time for dinner.”
His mother has her head in her hands, looking over a piece of paper, but she perks up upon hearing her son’s voice. “Oh…” She looks at her wristwatch, and sighs. “Well, it sure is, isn’t it?” She lets her hand drop into her lap, and smiles at her son. “Well, how about you make yourself something?”
The little boy shakes his head, and crosses his arms. “I looked and I can’t. There’s nothing.”
“Really? How about a microwavable meal?”
“We’re out.”
“A sandwich?”
“No bread, or anything to put in the bread.”
“Uhm…” The mother seemed to struggle for a moment, before suggesting, “Any fruits? Veggies?”
“Ma, the only thing in the pantry or fridge is empty wrappers and some milk. And I’m pretty sure the milk is expired.”
“Oh, goodness,” the mother mutters, bringing a hand to her cheek. “I can’t afford to go to the grocery store now…”
“Okay, but get some food.”
“Sweetheart, no grocery store means no food.”
Her son’s eyes widens, and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. He doesn’t say anything, but he wants to.
“I’m so, so sorry… But your Papa hasn’t sent any of his child support money, and… Well…” She looks away, and goes silent. Shame paints her face, and her hands clench into shaking fists.
The boy seems to notice her distress, and jumps to make her feel better, exclaiming, “That’s okay, Ma! It’s okay! I’m not that hungry, anyway!” He grins.
The mother sighs with relief, and, once again, can meet her son’s eyes. “Thank you, Crow. You really are the sweetest little thing.”
Pursing his lips, the child seems to have a hard time not denying that, but he doesn’t argue, and turns to leave. He hadn’t even taken a step yet before he pauses, and turns his head back to look at his mother. “This… This is the first time Pa has forgotten to send money. Yeah?”
His mother seems to be surprised by the question, and her eyes shift away as she nods. “Yes. That’s right.”
The boy slowly nods, and then turns to leave. He presses a hand to his belly, as if that would silence the rumbling.
It’s not just him. She’s a liar, too.
-
Crow tilts his head a bit, regarding the boy sitting in front of him. “So… You’re not hungry, then?”
Shaking his head, Luke tried to keep smiling. “Nope, not hungry at all.”
Why is it, when it comes to this, everyone is a liar?
He dug into his pocket, and pulled out his packet of crackers. It had broken up a bit in his pocket, but it was still mostly together. “Well, uh, I have some crackers I could share.” He quickly added, “I’m already full, and I hate crackers, so don’t think you’re special,” sticking his nose in the air. Saving face.
Luke didn’t seem even slightly bothered by Crow’s standoffish nature, his eyes widening slightly. “Really? That’d be nice.”
Crow shrugged, and plopped next to Luke, his back against the wall, as well. He opened the cheap plastic, and gave Luke a cracker, which he gratefully accepted and immediately took a bite of. He was smiling, and, for some reason, it made Crow want to smile, too. Instead, he looked away.
“So,” he began, as Luke chewed his food. “… Your… Mom. She’s on a trip, huh?”
Just like that, when Crow looked back, Luke’s smile was gone. “Yeah,” he muttered.
There was a moment of silence between the two. It felt deafening, even if the rest of the cafeteria was bustling with noise.
“Do you really believe that?” Crow eventually asked him, and his face went soft. He could feel it go soft, but he didn’t try to stop it. “That she’s on a trip, I mean.”
Luke stared at the rest of the cracker in his hand, and then sadly shook his head. “No.” He then ate the last bite, not with the same excitement as before.
“Mm,” Crow hummed, because he didn’t know what else to say. He looked at Luke, and he could see that he was trying his best not to burst into tears, his face a bright red.
-
A school counselor sits across a desk from the same boy. His arms are crossed, and he’s glaring at the wall.
The woman sighs, before trying again to make him talk. “I’m just concerned about you, is all. Your grades have been slipping, and I suspect it’s because of your parents splitting up. I’d just like to know if that’s true.”
The boy barks at her, “What do you think, huh? Aren’t you supposed to know this stuff? Or is that fancy paper on the wall just for show?”
She flinches. Okay, definite aggression issues. Though she doesn’t recall him acting this way with his mother, or that group of friends he has… Aggression towards adults he didn’t know, perhaps? She places her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers together. "Well, I don’t know anything if you don’t tell me. It’s not a degree in mind-reading, after all.” The counselor smiles, trying to seem less intimidating.
“Obviously, they’re connected,” the boy grumbles, and he rolls his eyes. “I mean, my whole life is just suddenly changed, and I’m s’pposed to care about the different types of clouds?”
Finally, she felt like she was getting somewhere. She reached to touch his shoulder. “Hey, now, everything is okay-”
“BUT IT’S NOT OKAY!” he snapped, and he slapped her hand away, then immediately puts his hands stiffly at his sides, digging his nails into his palms. His face was suddenly red, and he bunched his shoulders up, his eyes narrowing. “Everyone in my life keeps saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ but they’re LYING! I’m a kid, but I’m not STUPID! My Pa left to God knows where, he hasn’t called, he isn’t paying his child support, my Ma is left to pay for the divorce, plus our living! Now the rest of our family acts awkward around us, and avoids talking to us, and NOBODY is acknowledging that he left RIGHT after I started talking and walking and goin’ to school! It doesn’t take a genius to know he left ‘cause he didn’t want a kid! Everyone is lying to me, and it’s NOT OKAY! NONE OF THIS IS OKAY! I’M NOT OKAY!”
Just like that, like there was a switch in his mind, the boy goes from red-faced and furious to covering his face and sobbing. He curls up with his knees to his chest, hiding his face from this woman he hardly knew, but he was now crying in front of. His face was no longer red from fury, but from embarrassment.
Once he’s able to breathe and talk again, the school counselor gave him a list of nearby therapists to look into. On the way out of the office, he tosses it into the trash. He knows his mother isn’t going to be able to afford it.
Why is everyone lying to me?
-
Seeing how this chat was doing nothing more than upset Luke further, Crow held the package of crackers out for him to take. Luke seemed surprised at first, but hesitantly took it.
Crow stood up with a small grunt. “Well. That’s that, then.” He took a few steps away from Luke when he heard him say, “Hey-…” He turns around, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “What?”
Luke held the crackers at his chest, like it was a barrier between the two of them. “I just… I just wanted to thank you. Everybody has been acting weirdly around me lately…” He paused, before adding something. His voice went more vulnerable, more honest, and his eyes suddenly seemed less dull.
“Do you think my mom is coming back?”
Crow knew his real answer. He could feel it sitting on the back of his tongue, and he opened his mouth to reply.
But, somehow… He hardly knew Luke, but the way he was looking at Crow right then, so earnestly and hopefully… It made his gut twist. He knew, in that moment, he couldn’t tell Luke his mother was never going to come back. He couldn’t bear to watch the kind boy’s face fall into a helpless acceptance, and the thought of seeing tears in his eyes again made him feel sick.
Everyone’s a filthy, dirty liar.
So, instead, Crow forced the words, “Yeah. She’s coming back, for sure.”
But that’s okay.
Luke’s face lit up, and a genuine smile found a way onto his lips. Crow could see the stars in his eyes, the probably-false hope he had given him. But Luke’s smile made him want to smile. This time, he returned it, giving into the temptation.
Because I’m a liar, too.
