I sighed and ran my hand through the front cover.

It felt old.

Why should I be happy that Dad sent me a book?

He knows I'm a nerd, but a book titled "The Devil's Order" was creepy, to say the least.

I opened the book and stared at the first page, in between the pages was a small yellow card.

"Wha--?" I picked it up and read what was written on it.

Do you wish to join the Devil's Order?

I rolled my eyes. This was probably some kind of sick joke, Dad was playing a prank on me.

The Devil's Order? The name sounded corny to me.

I already had a rough day, I didn't want some stupid book to give me hope and shit.

"Fuck it," I say. I close the book and put it inside my drawer where I'll probably forget it until I'm married.

I flopped myself on my bed, my body still hurts.

My room was pretty small. My bed took up approximately 60 percent of my room.

Yes, I calculated it once.

The rest were my drawers, closet and my desk with my laptop.

There were also movie posters such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Back to the Future hanging on my wall.

I know they're old movies, but I'm fond of them.

I ran my hand through my face, how will I explain this to mom?

She knew that I had bullying issues and once reported to the principal.

Which of course increased the bullying.

My phone shrilled for attention from my bag.

I reached for it while coughing and stared at the caller.

It was Jason and he wanted to have a WhatsApp video chat.

I sighed and threw my phone aside.

I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

I just wanted to be alone.

Jason called three more times and I didn't pick, however on the fourth call I realized that he wasn't going to stop.

Knowing Jason, I knew the guy could continue to call me if I didn't pick up till it was Christmas.

I picked his call and his face came into view.

"Hey man!" He cried while grinning. "Why didn't you pick my calls?"

I was about to answer but he threw another question at my face.

"And where were you all day? I thought you'd come to my place today"

Through the phone, I could see that he looked disappointed, like a kid who couldn't go out during Christmas.

"It's a very long story," I say.

"Well," says Jason. "Write in down and post it on Wattpad...I'm sure you'll get a million reads,"

I sighed and slapped my face, I howled in pain.

Jason only laughed.

"Dude, what happened to you?" He asks, still laughing. "You look like Freddy Krueger."

"Frederick and his pals," I say.

"Oh..."

"Um, hey Jason,"

"Yeah," he wipes his nose and stares at me.

"How come People don't bully you?" I ask.

Jason looked surprised and scratched his head. "I don't know, maybe because I'm not a nerd."

I nod my head. "Yeah, maybe."

"So you still coming over?" Jason asks smiling, his emotions changing like the blink of an eye.

I shook my head. "Nah, I gotta rest"

"Okay," Jason said. "Tomorrow right?"

"I'm not sure--" Jason ends the call before I finish.

I turned off my phone and threw it to the side of my bed.

Staring at the ceiling, I thought about what dad was doing without us.

It had been five years since I last saw him and a lot has changed since then.

I still wished he could teach me sorcery.

I remembered the silly book in my drawer.

I scoffed.

After staring at the ceiling for a while I began to think that the book was legit.

Maybe the Devil's Order is a group of magicians!

Just like the four horsemen in the now you see me franchise.

I could learn spells and stuff and hopefully, stop Frederick and his goons from bullying me.

I smiled and rushed to the drawer and pulled it open.

The book sat quietly inside and I reached for it.

Suddenly, I heard Mom's voice from the living room.

Our house walls were thin as bread, so my house wasn't a good place to talk about secrets and stuff.

"Chad?!" Mom cried. "Are you home?"

I stare at the book mournfully, "You'll have to wait."

I ran to the living room to see mom standing there with her hands on her hips.

Natalie and Patricia were there too. For some reason, Natalie wore a smirk on her face and Patricia had her signature innocent look on her face.

"Uh--hey everyone," I say.

Mom looked a little bit angry. "Chad, you left the front door open."

I cringed and I remembered how I ran to my room without even locking the door.

"Sorry," I scratch the back of my head.

"You have to do more than sorry," she says. "What if a burglar breaks in and steals stuff...you know we're short on money"

I laugh a little. "Mom this town is so small and peaceful, I doubt it that there's a burglar here."

"You never can tell, "Natalie says, sounding responsible.

"Shut the fuck up," I snap.

"Language!" Mom cried.

I sighed. My stepsisters and I could never get along.

Never.

"Natalie, Patricia, why don't you go to your rooms?" Mom tells the two of them.

"Okay," Patricia says.
They walked away and Natalie threw me the finger.

Mom saw it but kept quiet.

I turned to leave but mom stopped me.

"And where do you think you're going, young man?" She then yelps. "Goodness, what happened to your face?"

I still couldn't believe that she didn't notice until now.

"Uh... fell down the stairs," I say sheepishly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't lie to me,"

"I'm not lying,"

"Is it those bullies again?"

I swallow. I didn't want mom to go to school with me tomorrow and report about this incident.

She was the principal at the elementary school, so most people in school knew my mom very well.

During her eleven year marriage with dad, she was a teacher.

Shortly after they divorced, she became a principal and was, later on, she was assigned to Stanley Falls Elementary.

"No," I say.

"Stop lying to me Chad," she persuades.

"Fine," I say, mom was going to keep pressing on until I tell the truth.

"It was the bullies, but please don't report...I...I can handle this myself."

She shook her head. "You know you have asthma, I don't want you to get in a situation where you get into a serious attack that can land you in the town's hospital,"

"I'm sixteen," I say.

"Asthma Kills!" She cried all of a sudden. "My mother died of asthma...I don't want to bury you."

I lowered my head and placed my hands in my pockets.

Mom wipes some tears out of her eyes. "Also, Principal Roy called,"

My head shot up immediately.

"You missed a whole day of school?" She says. "That doesn't sound like my son,"

"I'm sorry," I said and sat down on the couch. "I just...,"

"You just what?"

"Mom...a lot of things are going on right now," My head spun as I thought of a way to change the subject.

"I'm going through depression," I lie.

Mom's eyes widened. "What?"

"Lately, I've been thinking about dad...maybe you weren't supposed to divorce him."

"So thinking about your dad and our divorce has depressed you?" Mom asks sternly.

"Yes," I say.

"Your father worked with the devil..."

"That's a lie!" I bark.

Mom shook her head and sighed. "We'll talk about this later,"

I nod, at the back of my head I was wondering what would happen if I showed her the book that Dad sent me.

I knew one thing for sure.

She would go bonkers.