~Jack

       Mark fell asleep with his head against the window almost as soon as we sat down, meaning that I couldn't talk to him. I suddenly felt something prod me in the ribs, startling me. I looked over at Mark, but he was still sound asleep. It was the guy sitting behind us. He was leaning over in the aisle, grinning mischievously. "Top o' the morning to ye Jack." He greeted me. His accent was Irish, almost exactly like mine. "Hey." I waved back, slightly confused. "Would ye happen to know any guys with bright red hair, wears all black, and has dark eyes?" I added, reminded of him. "Ah, yeah that's Dark. He's a...close friend of mine." He considered his words carefully. "And you are?" I prompted. "You can call me Anti." He winked, ducking his head back behind my seat. "Weird names." I mused as the bus slowed to a stop at Mark's house. I nudged his shoulder to wake him up, grabbing his backpack for him and carrying it off of the bus. He stumbled after me, still a bit tired. I was about to open the door for him when he held up a hand, motioning for me to stop. "You're not allergic to dogs, are you?" He asked. I felt a pang of guilt for my old dog Gizmo that I had to put up for adoption before we moved. I shook my head no. Mark then opened the door, nearly knocked over by a giant fluffy blond fur that looked almost white, it's tongue lolling out with drool dripping from it as it pressed it's front paws against Mark's chest. "Hey Lucy." Mark grunted, patting her head and gently pushing her off of him. She then went over and inspected me, sniffing my hand before rubbing her soft head against it. "She's adorable!" I gushed, kneeling down to pet her. "Oh yeah, there's also Charlie. C'mere Charlie!" Mark beckoned. A short dark brown daschund waddled up to Mark with it's short legs, butting up against me. I petted both of them, giggling as they licked my hands. "Mark, we need to go get you a cast for your arm!" Mark's mom reminded him as she hurriedly entered the room, grabbing the keys to her car. "See ye later!" I waved, leaving his house and going back to mine. When I walked inside, I was thankfully left alone temporarily. My other siblings were probably hanging out with friends and both mom and dad were out job hunting. I knew it wouldn't last long, so I decided to play the drums a bit while I had the house to myself. I twirled my drumsticks in my hands, spotting a flash of black on the ends. Curious, I inspected it and found Conan's signature scrawled in Sharpie, along with Padraig's and Eanna's. I took a deep breath before starting an easy rhythm to get me familiar with how hard I should hit the drums, or how soft so I didn't break them. They held up really well as I pounded on them, imagining the drumsticks as part of my hands. "Sean-" "Ah!" I yelled in surprise, nearly falling off of my seat. It was dad, and he did not look happy. "Where did ye get that drum set?" He demanded. "M-ma got it for me." I stuttered, surprised by how angry he was. He muttered curses under his breath as he paced around in deep thought. "When did ye get here?" I tried to change the subject. I heard the door open upstairs, then footsteps race down the stairs. "So Sean-" Ma frowned when she saw dad with his arms crossed. My dad exploded with rage, angering ma so they both started screaming at each other. I had never seen my parents fight like this before. I cautiously crept up the stairs and bolted out of the house, going straight to Mark's place. Thankfully I saw his car in the driveway, meaning that he should be home. I knocked on the door, waiting for a response. "Come in!" I heard Mark shout from inside. Immediately I let myself in, closing the door behind me. Mark was lying on the couch, a bright neon green cast wrapped around his arm. He sat up when he saw that it was me, expression serious. "What's wrong?" He patted the spot on the couch beside him, motioning for me to sit. "My parents are fighting." I sat down by him, curling my knees into my chest. "First time?" Mark asked. "Yeah." I nodded. "Well I have the perfect solution!" Mark went into the kitchen, returning a couple minutes later with two bottles of Mountain Dew and a bowl of popcorn. He flopped back onto the couch, turning in the TV and handing me the controller. "Is there a game you wanna play?" He asked, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "I'm fine with whatever ye wanna play." I shrugged, taking a sip of my soda. He set up a new game I hadn't seen before called Ultimate Chicken, which was a multiplayer game. "Give me a sec." He grabbed two pairs of headphones with a mics attached to them from his room, plugging them into the gaming system and pressing the local multiplayer option. Two names popped up, one being Lordminion777 and the other Muyskerm. He allowed them to join and handed me a pair of headphones. "Hello?" I heard Wade's voice in the headphones. "Hey Mark!" I heard Bob's voice next. "You guys remember Jack, right?" I heard Mark's voice both next to me and in my headphones. "Hi." I said. "Sup." Bob replied, along with Wade. "Lets go!" Mark pressed play, starting the game. We ended up playing until Ken called, letting us know that the party was starting soon. "See ye guys then!" I said to Bob and Wade before Mark shut down the game, walking with me to his car. I couldn't help but feel nervous as we pulled up to their apartment. "You're gonna love it!" Mark promised me as we entered.

Not my best chapter I know, kinda have been distracted with school since it's near the end of the semester, meaning like a billion tests all at once. I'll try to update again tomorrow some time, but I can't promise anything