Zombie.
( 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫 )
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TL;DR He agrees he'll go to school as long as his mom doesn't expect him to get good grades. He's worried about his little sister and asks his mom if she's read the news about the missing children
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tl;dr
lucas saunders
The boy your mom warned you about.
Lucas wasn’t expecting the first thing his mother said to be an apology, and the gentle yet unfamiliar weight of her hand on his shoulder came as a bit of a surprise to him. It was sad, but true. This wasn’t Lydia’s fault alone: the epitome of a teenage boy, Lucas was just as guilty of repressing his feelings as she was, so physical touch between them wasn’t exactly common. He didn't hate it, though.
He’d been expecting a little more of an argument when she heard his reasoning for not wanting to go, but honestly? Hearing his mother’s unexpected apology, for a brief moment, actually made his guarded heart twinge with guilt. It wasn’t her fault he felt the way he did about school, he at least knew that much. Sure, her constant nagging didn’t help, and maybe if things had been different at home he wouldn’t find himself in as much trouble as he did, but that was beside the point.
In Lucas' world, school was like a persistent and monotonous hum in the background of life—an annoying tune he just couldn’t seem to harmonise with, no matter how many times he tried (and failed). It always demanded something of him, and if you don’t fit into the system the way they want you to, you’re automatically deemed unintelligent, or worse: a problem child.
Despite that, as Lucas listened to his mother’s words, he felt a shift in the usual narrative. Lydia Saunders, single mother and perpetual juggler of a demanding career, momentarily seemed to shed her veneer of strength and success as she recounted her own hardships of the past out of concern. In that moment, she actually seemed vulnerable for once.
While Lucas remained skeptical of the American education system and still hated going to school with a passion, he couldn't dismiss the authenticity in what his mother was asking of him. This was odd—for once, it didn’t feel right to argue back. It was clear to him that there was no other way around it, at least for the time being. He was going to school whether he liked it or not.
“Alright, alright.. I’ll go.” he finally said after a short pause. “But don’t expect straight As, okay?” he added, trying to lighten the mood a little with the half-joke. This was going to be interesting. He couldn’t remember the last time he stayed in school until hometime for three consecutive days, let alone five. How bad could it really be?
Lucas’ backpack was already slung over his right shoulder, still packed with a few basic scholarly necessities from the last time he pretended to go to school. It was too late to do homework if he had any, which meant he was only missing one more thing—his skateboard. He wouldn’t be skating around the hallways or anything, but he couldn’t not take it with him.
Lucas glanced at his mom once more before heading out of the kitchen, grabbing his skateboard from beside the front door so he could at least hit the town during recess if he wanted to. “Hey mom?” he called, raising his voice slightly so that his words could be heard from the kitchen. Before he finished what he was saying, he paused for a moment.
Not wanting to scare his little sister, Lucas walked back into the kitchen and continued what he was going to say in more of a hushed tone this time. “Have you seen the news yet this morning?” he asked. Truthfully, he was more worried about Lucille than he was about having to go to school that day. Lucas wasn’t usually one to show his feelings, but as the question left his lips, the concern was quite evident on his face.
He’d been expecting a little more of an argument when she heard his reasoning for not wanting to go, but honestly? Hearing his mother’s unexpected apology, for a brief moment, actually made his guarded heart twinge with guilt. It wasn’t her fault he felt the way he did about school, he at least knew that much. Sure, her constant nagging didn’t help, and maybe if things had been different at home he wouldn’t find himself in as much trouble as he did, but that was beside the point.
In Lucas' world, school was like a persistent and monotonous hum in the background of life—an annoying tune he just couldn’t seem to harmonise with, no matter how many times he tried (and failed). It always demanded something of him, and if you don’t fit into the system the way they want you to, you’re automatically deemed unintelligent, or worse: a problem child.
Despite that, as Lucas listened to his mother’s words, he felt a shift in the usual narrative. Lydia Saunders, single mother and perpetual juggler of a demanding career, momentarily seemed to shed her veneer of strength and success as she recounted her own hardships of the past out of concern. In that moment, she actually seemed vulnerable for once.
While Lucas remained skeptical of the American education system and still hated going to school with a passion, he couldn't dismiss the authenticity in what his mother was asking of him. This was odd—for once, it didn’t feel right to argue back. It was clear to him that there was no other way around it, at least for the time being. He was going to school whether he liked it or not.
“Alright, alright.. I’ll go.” he finally said after a short pause. “But don’t expect straight As, okay?” he added, trying to lighten the mood a little with the half-joke. This was going to be interesting. He couldn’t remember the last time he stayed in school until hometime for three consecutive days, let alone five. How bad could it really be?
Lucas’ backpack was already slung over his right shoulder, still packed with a few basic scholarly necessities from the last time he pretended to go to school. It was too late to do homework if he had any, which meant he was only missing one more thing—his skateboard. He wouldn’t be skating around the hallways or anything, but he couldn’t not take it with him.
Lucas glanced at his mom once more before heading out of the kitchen, grabbing his skateboard from beside the front door so he could at least hit the town during recess if he wanted to. “Hey mom?” he called, raising his voice slightly so that his words could be heard from the kitchen. Before he finished what he was saying, he paused for a moment.
Not wanting to scare his little sister, Lucas walked back into the kitchen and continued what he was going to say in more of a hushed tone this time. “Have you seen the news yet this morning?” he asked. Truthfully, he was more worried about Lucille than he was about having to go to school that day. Lucas wasn’t usually one to show his feelings, but as the question left his lips, the concern was quite evident on his face.
code by valen t.
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