As the sun shone brightly into his dark green wallpaper through his window, Johns ma walked in the room. "John?" She called out when she couldn't see him lying on the bed. "I'm here, ma!" Came a muffled noise from the bathroom. A second later, out stepped John. He was brushing his teeth, and some of the toothpaste was around his mouth.

" Honey, why are you up so early?" Asked his ma. John went back inside and swished the toothpaste around his mouth before cupping some water into his hands, then into his mouth and gargling it. After spitting it out, John finally replied. " I'm just excited.. because you know, Da's coming." His ma nodded her head. " Yes honey, I am too." She said and after giving a smile, left the room.

With a smile, John checked the time: 7:49AM. He had still got about two hours until he had to go wait for the bus. Hastily, he chose a pair of pants and put them on. He didn't care for what he wore, as long as it was clean. He took his glasses from the bathroom, as he had taken it out to wash his face. John then picked up his phone and AirPods. He put on "snowman" by Sia and hummed quietly to the tune as he did his bed, took his dirty clothes and went out the door. He put the clothes inside the laundry bag, and went down the stairs. He then sat down at his kitchen table and watched as his ma made him a omelette and prepared his breakfast. "Thank you ma", he said as she laid it down for him. "Mhmm" she replied. John took out his AirPods and went through his YouTube as he began eating.
He decided on a MrBeast video and began watching.

" John, honey," his ma called out, and when he didn't reply she tapped him gently on the shoulder and waited until he paused his video. "Yeah?" "Darling, don't talk too much about what he did there, okay honey?" She told him. "You mean da? Why?" John surprisingly asked. "I didn't want to tell you this yet, John, but something bad happened there and your father was one of the 10 people or something that survived." John was concerned now. He stood up. "Ma! Why didn't you tell me?!" He said. " I'm sorry honey, but your father made me promise him that I didn't tell you!" She answered. " How did he tell you this?" John furiously asked. "Through a letter that was sent 2 months ago."

As  John walked to school, he kept a constant frown on his face until he bumped into Quinn, the girl on whom he had a crush on since kindergarten. "Hey Johnny! What's up with the frown?" John quickly fixed his frown into a smile and replied. "Hi Quinn, I'm just having a bad day I guess." Quinn and John had been friends since childhood, and she considered him like a brother, which John was most displeased about. When they went to high-school, Quinn had a major glow-up and became one of the popular ones whilst John maintained his reputation as a nothing, but Quinn did include him in many outings and group activities, although John would've preferred being with her alone. "Well I hope it gets better, isn't your dad coming today?" Asked Quinn. "Yeah he is and I'm really excited about it!" John replied, finally pleased that someone asked him about it. But he was then reminded of the news he had received that morning and his smile turned upside down once again. After a warm smile and a peck on the cheek, Quinn said bye to John and went off to class with Becky and Georgia, her "pack" as most people called it.

"Good morning students" was the greeting the students received by Mr. Harlow, their teacher. He was young, probably in his early 30's and always preferred students to call him by his first name. "Mr. Simon, will you be giving us the results of our tests today?" Asked Angelica Moira, the student with the highest IQ in the class.

She was also the snobbiest, and being filthy rich didn't help. Everyone despised her, but John found her quite amusing. She was also nice, even if it meant she was just going to brag about her belongings and quality of life.

"Yes, Ms. Moira, I shall show you all the test results, thank you for the reminder." He answered. Reaching for the test papers, he knocks over a glass of water and it smashes onto the floor, breaking into a million little pieces. Mr. Simon sighs, and rubs his forehead, while cursing under his breath. He goes out of the classroom and headed for what looked like the health room.

Cody runs out of the class, and returns with the cleaning lady, Mrs. Mess who cleans up the mess.
Cody Yemming had a natural instinct to help, John observed. He and Cody had been friends before but after Cody's parents died, they didn't talk
much and that, John understood that was his fault. He regretted his ignorance to Cody but couldn't take it back.

John bit his nails anxiously as Mr. Simon passed him his test paper. It was a history paper which would determine thier grade for the rest of the term. John closed his eyes and flipped his paper and slowly opened his eyes to a 97%. He slid back in his seat, relieved to see this. He had been overthinking it, as his did most things. He looked across the classroom to see Angelica showing everyone her test paper. She had a broad smile on her tan face and a glimmer in her eyes. He smiled at her, and got a smile in return. The clock struck 2:30 and the bell rang. Everyone got of their seats and headed for the door when Mr. Simon wished them a happy weekend.

John headed for his locker when he was stopped by Angelica. "Hey John! I'm having a study group this evening and I was wondering whether you wanted to join?"

John thought about this. He had felt Angelica liked him but he didn't feel that way for her and he felt he would be leading her on if he accepted this. And of course, his father was coming home.

"I would love to join, Angelica, but my father's coming home today and I really want to spend the weekend with him, if you don't mind."

"Oh of course that's totes fine with me!" Angelica blushes. "Is there going to be a welcome home party for him?" "Uh.. I'm not sure yet. I'll talk to my ma about it and if there is one, I'll text you." John answered. Angelica gave a nod and walked away. John thought about the words his mother spoke. Something bad happened... don't talk about it... one of the 10 people that survived. John didn't understand. What happened there? Was it someone who killed them? Or was it an accident? And why didn't the newspapers cover this? So many questions, yet he wasn't allowed to get the answers.

John ran back home, anxious to find at least some of the answers to his questions. He unlocked the door and called for his ma when he remembered that she was doing an extra shift at the restaurant. His mother was a chef, but got very little salary every month. It was the checks that his pa sent him that made them get through so much.

John walked in the kitchen and put on the coffee machine. He was very fond of coffee, but it wasn't a habit that he picked up from his ma or his pa. As he was sitting on the sofa with a mug of coffee, he remembered that his mother mentioned something about a letter. He quickly put the coffee cup down and ran up to his mothers room to rummage her belongings in the need to find the letter.

Bags after bags, cupboard after cupboard and still nothing. He sat inside his mothers closet and slapped his forehead. His mother had a secret compartment under the floor boards that John had discovered when he was a kid and searching for his beyblade that his mother hid. He opened the compartment to find a letter and some other stuff belonging to his father. The letter was addressed to his mother, and as John read it, he felt that his pa was hiding something from his ma. His pa had assured his wife that things were going fine but mentioned that one bad thing happened and that he would be home soon. John flipped over the letter and was putting it back into his envelope when he noticed another piece of paper sticking out the back. It was stuck there, and his mother didn't open this one, he realized. Scrunching up his eyebrows, John opened it. This one was solely addressed to him.

My boy John. You must be so old now. I miss you and your mother terribly. I want you to know everything, in case something happens to me.

John widened his eyes in shock and came to the realization that his pa didn't tell his mother this. His pa was telling him something, and something he didn't want his mother or anyone else to find out. And that what his mother told him was just the start of something really, really big.

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  :: 𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬 ::

𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴!