CHAPTER FOUR

XAVIER

The guys start leaving around 9 and that's when I go to the kitchen and our chef serves me dinner. My father comes in as I'm eating and he frowns when he sees my dinner.

"How do you expect to be in top shape for football when you eat like that?"

I roll my eyes before turning completely towards him. "Welcome home, father."

I'm not happy he's home but its manners that was knocked into me. He can't hit me any longer but he still finds ways to make me miserable.

"What sort of dinner are you having?" He says, ignoring my greeting. "I gave the chef acceptable food you should be eating. Why on earth did he serve this garbage? And why the fuck are you eating by this time?"

Here we go. "I told the chef he didn't have to follow the diet. Everybody knows I'm not going pro."

I don't add 'what's the use'. It's his trigger word. He might forget I'm bigger than him and try to hit me.

"I don't care if you're going pro. Every time you step on that field, you represent me. I'll be damned if I let you suck."

I hate my dad. I have equally disappointing parents but my dad is the one I live with so I hate him more. I don't even think about my mom so maybe that's worse.

"I'll get rid of the dinner." I say.

It's been a long day, I don't have the strength for this at all.

"Your mum said you weren't taking her calls." He says.

Nothing is going my way today.

"Yeah, I'm not. Why were you talking to her?"

My parents don't talk, at all. They hate each other almost as much as I hate them.

"It certainly wasn't by choice. She called everyone she could at the office. I had to take her calls, it was getting embarrassing."

Of course he took the calls to save face.

"How was your first day of school?"

I shrug. "It was normal."

"I spoke to your principal. What was the incident at the cafeteria about?"

"It has nothing to do with me. Derrick has it in for the girl."

He nods. I'm not telling him anything he doesn't know. Everybody in that school reports back to him about all my activities. It's why I mostly keep my hands clean. If anything happens at school, he'll hear about it and make my life hard.

"I don't have to tell you what will happen if you embarrass me do I? I would hate to disinherit and cut you off but I'll do it if you piss me off."

His threat to disinherit me doesn't faze me. He'll do it but I'm not scared of being poor. It would suck but I'll find my own way. I don't plan on being dependent on him long. As soon as my trust fund kicks in when I turn 18, I'm leaving. It's my grandpa I'm worried about. He's the only one that gives a shit about me and sadly my father hates him. It's the curse of the Bishops Family. One way or the other, we end up hating our sires. But I love grandpa and if I have to play by dads rules to make sure he gets the care he deserves then I'll do that. My father has the power of attorney over grandpa's estate and health. Dad can pull the plug on him whenever he wants.

I grab the food to throw in the trash. If I can't eat a decent meal in my house then I'll go out. After watching me dispose the food, he goes up to his room and I take my keys and leave. I drive to an in and out and order a huge burger, extra everything.

I sit in my car and eat to my heart’s content. I love food and I especially love food that's bad for my cholesterol. I work everything out in the gym but after all that hard work, I like to relax with something with lots cream and cheese in it.

My phone rings but I don't look at it. I'm not in the mood to talk to a bunch of people. It starts ringing again and I take it out of my pocket to turn it off. When I see that it's Lacey, I hit my head on the head rest and consider my next move.

Option one, I could answer the phone, drive to her house or let her meet me here and I get laid or option two, I switch my phone off, eat in my car then go back to an empty house and hope I fall asleep.

Neither option is enticing. Lacey has tentacles, she sucks up to you and she never wants to let go. Last year, she was the only girl I messed with so she went around telling people she was my girlfriend. I didn't ruin it for her. I figured it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. I made it clear that I didn't want her fucking anyone else so if she wanted to call herself my girlfriend then that was okay by me. I ended it when I found out she was trying to get with a basketball player and since then she's been blowing up my phone.

I got a little break when she went to Europe for the summer but now she's back and I'm on her radar again. She already broke our arrangement once, nothing will stop her from breaking it again. It's just how she is, she collects dicks like its baseball cards.

I let it ring then block her when it stops ringing. Instead of staying in my car or going home, I call Bill. Bill's mom works at my dad's company and we bump into each other sometimes when I go to my dad's office. He attends the public school in town but he is cool and from his I*******m stories, he's always at parties. I need something to distract me.

"Yo, Xavier!"

"Hey Bill, how's it going?"

"Man, I thought for sure you were butt dialing me." He says.

"Nah, I'm really calling. Is there any party tonight? I need to be around loud, drunk teenagers."

"Yeah, I got you. Come through! I'll send you the address."

"Great, thank you."

My phone beeps and it's a text from Bill with the address. Where I'm going, I don't know any other person but I don't need to know anyone. I just want to sit by the corner, sip beer and laugh at drunk antics. I just don't want to be alone at home and my friends have already visited me today. They don't know what's going on and I want to keep it that way. Being constantly watched at school and parties with my peers has made me into a quiet guy who just watches and observes. At first I hated it but now I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me anymore.

From the corner of my eyes, I see a familiar mane of red hair bouncing. I take a closer look and realize its Rain. I didn't peg her for a party girl. She's talking to some people I don't know and one of the Stoner kids, the one who defended her today. Hot jealousy washes over me at not being able to laugh with her like that.

The song changes and one of the kids pulls her to the center of the room to dance. Except it's not dance, it’s foreplay. Watching this random dude put the moves on Rain kills me. I down the beer I've been nursing and leave.

I should have stayed home.