"Is it safe to come downstairs?" April called out from the top end of the staircase, leaning against the railing as she bit on her lower lip.

Mark chuckled at her question, his attention ripped away from the copious amount of paperwork sitting on his kitchen counter. He nodded, raking a hand through his hair as he wrote down some extra notes.

"How come you're seeing Chad after such a long time?" April began, the mere taste of his name rolling off her tongue caused it to go dry, feeling the need to throw up every time she even thought about it.

"We were never really close, Lisa had a way of wrapping him around her finger." Mark spoke, his attention partially on his work and the girl who had walked up to the fridge, wanting something to eat. "But it was great seeing him." He added. "He's in college and plays quarterback for the Stanford Cardinals."

April held her breath in, composing herself from reacting dramatically. Mark couldn't know what happened, and right now surely wasn't the right time for an emotional outburst. She simply picked up the cake box, placing it on the kitchen counter as she went over to the cutlery drawer to retrieve a fork. The girl opened up the box, seeing the cake having been half eaten. She glanced up at the man, seeing a proud, fatherly grin appear on his face.

"Must be winning those grams by cheating, since that's clearly something he's good at." She bitterly replied to his compliments, picking up the piece of Black Forest Cake on her fork, taking a small bit of the edible to see whether it was spoiled or not.

Mark sighed, his gaze not lifting off of the paperwork in front of him. He gulped in guilt, knowing how both he and his son hurt the most important women in their life.

"He is really sorry about that, April." He said as he looked up at her, watching her with a furrowed brow at the fact that she was having leftover cake at four in the afternoon. "Of course, nobody really thinks about stuff like that." Mark flashed her an apologetic smile.

"Speaking from personal experience?" She retorted, jerking a brow as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Listen," April took the time to swallow her meal, rather than talking with her mouth full. "I'm not saying you're the devil for doing what you did, but maybe tell your significant other 'hey, I don't think this is working out – see ya.' Or something along those lines." The teen stated matter-of-factly.

Mark looked back at his paper, but not because he needed to get this done before six o'clock that night, but because he felt ashamed for being lectured by a nineteen year old. He nodded awkwardly at her words, not knowing what he could say in response to them.

"You know how many nights I stayed up crying my eyes out because your son decided to think with his dick, instead of his brain?" She added, although not aggressively as her last statement, April realized she was taking this matter further, and if she spoke one more word, she'd probably reveal something Mark didn't need to know.

Meanwhile, the man pursed his lips, feeling the heat of embarrassment spread throughout his face, vividly feeling his ears go warm with shame. Her words cut her sharply like a cleaver.

"I see where you're coming from, and I'm sorry for saying what I did." His tone was evidently half-hearted, but he hoped it would shut April up.

"It's whatever," She shrugged, finishing the leftover cake and growing sick of the sweetness. April began to pick the glazed cherries off of the whipped cream border on top of the cake. "People eventually learn from their mistakes."

***

Eric sat at his study desk, twirling the pen around in his hand whilst staring at his MacBook screen. Out of the thousand words he'd needed to write for this essay, the boy only managed to write four hundred and fifty, not being able to concentrate properly. He would write a sentence, and delete it immediately after, not thinking it was up to his standards, let alone his professors.

His mind was preoccupied with the conversation he'd have with Chad a few days ago, regarding what happened in Eric's room at the night of the party. Although he wanted to believe his friend, the man in his head refused to blindly accept the quarterback's excuse, wanting to probe him for the rest of the story. He turned around in his chair, eyeing the spots of blood which were still soaked into his carpet.

Eric leaned back in his chair, sighing at the idea of his friend doing something so violent, but he wasn't sure whether April was also okay with whatever went down. 'Sure, they hate each other, but would they really pass up the opportunity if given?' Eric thought to himself, remembering very well how the two of them would be flat out making out in public restaurants.

In order to clear his mind and focus on the essay that was due in tomorrow, Eric grabbed his phone, dialing Chad's number. He anticipated his answer, nervously shaking his leg as he held the phone close to his ear.

"Hey, what's up?" Chad answered nonchalantly, leaning back in the cobalt blue deck chairs that were recently arranged around the pool of the house.

Eric sighed, before beginning.

"Look, I'm not accusing you of anything, but these blood stains couldn't have been from some kink brought to life – so Chad, this is the last time I'm asking, you need to tell me the truth."

Chad clenched his jaw, his nostrils flaring in anger.

"Actually, it does sound like you're accusing me of something, Jarder." He felt hurt by the indirect accusation, starting to become defensive. "And why do you care so much all of the sudden? You never talked about April after me and her broke up – so what's with this sudden obsession? Huh?"

Eric felt his heart race, just the slight bit of confrontation from anyone could make him nervous, especially someone with Chad Santino's caliber. He swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking.

"The blood stains are on my carpet, Chad!" He exclaimed. "I can't keep lying about it to whoever comes into my room. Either you tell me what happened or-"

"Or what?" Chad responded, despite being calm, he was fuming on the inside. "What exactly are you going to do, Jarder?" He waited for the response, before giving out an airy chuckle. "Exactly." Chad taunted his friend's silence, shaking his head.

Eric was shaking in fear on the other end, his eye beginning to twitch. The blood in his ears began thudding like drums, his head pounding harshly against his chest.

"I told you what happened that night. There's nothing more, nothing less to it." He simply stated before hanging up.

After the closure, you'd expect someone to be relieved, but Eric was still in his state of panic. Despite hanging up, Eric's clammy hand began shaking as his phone was still against his ear. His chest became tight, the bile beginning to rise to the surface. He licked his now dried lips, tears beginning to trickle down his sweaty face. It felt like he was being held in a choke-hold by his mind, having no other way to escape the situation he'd practically created from himself. The boy attempted to stand up, only to fall down the floor, shivering.

***

The doorbell rang, causing April to wake up from her many naps she'd been taking whilst Mark would be away from work. It was her way of feeling less bored, since she practically had no friends in Brighton, nor was she going to risk attending another party. It was another way to escape Mark's weird gaze when she'd be doing her chores, especially in her casual clothing that Mark bought for her, although she didn't mind the attention.

The bell rang again, causing her to groan as she got up from the couch, rubbing her eyes to make sure she'd be able to see whoever it was. Her withdrawals from marijuana had most definitely taken a toll on her. Every time she'd be craving, either she would eat or take another nap – causing her body to become weaker by day.

She finally made it to the front door, swinging it open and rubbing her eyes harshly, hoping to get a better look at the person who decided to mess with her sleep.

"Who are you?" April knitted her brows, examining the man from his messy, dirty blonde hair, to his stained white Converse.

He only chuckled at her inquiry, walking past her and bumping shoulders with the dumbfounded girl.