Realistic or Modern Slice of Life (they're human now, but they're still idiots)

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Karma was not looking forward to school today.

On most days, waking up early had meant a moment of peace. His mother was a nurse, so she had a rather early shift that would give him time to speak to her. It was nice every so often to only be with his mom. When it came to his personal life, he did not have anyone else besides his best friend to speak to. So usually, he would spend his mornings making some oatmeal and coffee for him and his mother, talk about Karma's school life, then say goodbye as she forced his older brother to take him (along with Xander) to school. Although he could barely remember his birth mother before she had passed, his adopted mother had reminded him of her heavily. Being with her felt like his second chance in having his mother back. And in the morning, he usually had said opportunity. Of course, Xander would be there at breakfast with him around this time. But it seemed that the other was running a little late.

'Typical,' Karma had thought to himself. 'He probably slept through his alarm again.'

Unfortunately for Karma, his usual calming routine was broken when his father had came downstairs. He did not hate his father, but he would avoid him at all costs if necessary. He was confused as to why he was awake so early, for his shift did not start for another three hours. But from how unhappy he was, he soon realized why. His older brother had snitched on his mother about making him wake up and drive Karma to school. The boy could already feel Eric's evil grin on the back of his neck. 'What a prick.' Karma hated the yelling. He should be used to it by now, but it never gotten easier. He wanted to stand up for his mother. He had always daydreamed of doing so. He imagined himself to be as quick as Xander, and perhaps gain some balls and puff up his chest. He'd imagine pushing his dad away, punch Eric across the jaw, and carry his mother and baby sister into a car to drive far far away.

But that dream never seemed to come true. He couldn't even look at his father directly, let alone push him away. He instead stared dully at his barely touched oatmeal. He couldn't eat with someone like his father around. Then, he heard his mother call his name. He snapped out of his trance and turned to him. Now looking between his parents as he adjusted his glasses nervously. "You're old enough to find your own way to school," his father grumbled. "Go ahead and be on your way."
"Aaron! He is only sixteen! He can't even drive yet!" his mother protested, but Karma smiled weakly and waved her off. "It's fine, Mum. I'm sure Xander's parents wouldn't mind." As much as it irked him to break his routine, he would gladly do it if it meant and end to their arguing. His mother sighed. She looked stressed. "Okay. Tell Xander's mum I've said thank you. Be safe!" Karma smiled breifly at her before making his way.

He grabbed his black bookbag, slid on his sneakers, and hurried out of the door. Karma was glad that his friend did not live far, or else this morning would have been twenty times worse. He walked to the house next door, which was nearly identical to his besides the different paint job. He gave out a long sigh. God was he already tired. Karma knocked on the door, stepped back, and waited patiently for his best friend to arrive.

Cosmic_Chaos

 

[Cosmic_Chaos]

Xander was still sleeping, that is until his mother barged into his room. Well, 'Barged' isn't accurate, opening the door and calling from the corridor was more like it.

"Xander, sweetheart, you have school today. I heard you turn your alarms on snooze, don't think I didn't. Come on, honey. Otherwise you might miss Karma." She told him, and he could hear her walking away as he grumbled a 'morning'. He... wasn't a morning person. He loved his sleep. He did, eventually, get up and tirely made his way through the morning routine. 5 minute stretch to wake himself up so he could actually function, 5 minute shower, brush his teeth, head downstairs once dry-ish dressed to eat whatever his mother decided to cook today. Both of his parents were teachers, His mother being a preschool teacher and his Father teaching college students about travel, but they didn't like to leave him in the house by himself.

They made it work, Karma often ended up giving him a ride to school with his older brother Eric, who was an asshole where even his Mother, the saint who gave everyone 3 chances, felt off put by the guy. But, it seemed that his mother had the day off since she had yet to get dressed and was still in her pajamas. "We have pancakes, but do try to eat them quickly, you don't want to keep Karma waiting." She said and he nodded. "Yes mum." He said, digging into his food, before the doorbell rang. His father, who was a gentle giant, quiet in tone and movement almost, and already about to leave, opened the door to see Karma. "Oh, it Karma! A pleasent surprise in the morning! What can we do for you? Come in, come in, Xanders still eating." He gave a warm greeting, his low voice warm and open, instantly welcoming Karma into the house. Upon hearing that company had arrived, Xander turned around in his seat, mouth full of food as he waved. He managed to swallow everything before grinning.

"Welcome, didn't mean to oversleep. My bad." He appologised, and His mother was already serving a small plate of pancakes. "I'm assuming your brother can't take you today? You rarely come over in the mornings, but thats not an unwelcome surprise. Come sit, I've made enough to feed a small army, so go ahead! Hows your mother? And Bella?" She asks, the Mothers intuition being almost instinctivly aware of whats going on nexdoor. If it wasn't how obviously awkward Karma grew up to be, or how closed off the family could be, it would be the yelling and crying that you could sometimes hear. Muffled, never lasting long, but enough to gain a picture.

"My I haven't talked to Sarah in a while, I should invite her for tea when she's next free, do you mind mentioning it to her hon?" She asked Karma, giving him a loving pat on the head. "Now, eat to your hearts content, I'm free for the day so I'll drive you to school. You know, I'm rather tempted to transfer Xander to a closer school, I hear they're building a new one nearby. Your current one is so far away, 3 miles!" She complained and Xander chuckled.

"Ma, we're in our last year, transferring at this point would be pointless" He grinned after swalling almost half of the pancake at once. His mother sighed and nodded. "I know, I just don't like sending you both so far away. Walking is almost an hour walk, and only one bus even goes close, and you only have one bus you can get on this early, and sometimes even that bus doesn't even show up! I should know, I tried!" She said, almost annoyed. Asthough the distance of the school was an offence. Xander chuckled at his mothers ravings and looked to Karma with an amused expression. "Thankfully we only have to deal with... what, half a year now? Not even that. Ugh, we're going to have so many exams come febuary." He groaned. End of year exams were always the worst for him, and since they were in their last year, they had every exam known to man with the teachers jumping down their throats 3 times more than normal.

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When Xander's father had opened the door, he took a step back. He knew he was a good man, but he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated. Any adult man taller than he was made him feel small and weak, and he made it obvious by his lack of eye contact. "Morning Mr. Chase, sorry if I'm interrupting anything. My brother is busy today, so I was wondering if I could get a ride," he apologized as he walked into his friend's home. Their home was rather wide, so he was able to see Xander eating his breakfast in the dining room. He held back the urge to chuckle at him. It was always funny to see how miserable the other looked in the morning. Karma had always told him that he would get used to it as they grew older, but now that they were almost adults it was clear that Xander was simply not a morning person. Another trait that seperated the two from each other. He murmured a low "thank you" as Mr. Chase welcomed him in, then walked over to the seat besides Xander. "I figured you did. I also figured that you forgot about the math assignment," he says as he opened his bookbag. He pulled out a worksheet covered with worked out equations in a neat, cursive handwriting. "The last three are extra credit. Mr. Johnson said that they were difficult, but they were incredibly easy. Copy those too if you'd like." He placed the homework sheet besides Xander, along with a pencil so the other could copy the answers while eating.

Karma was surprised to see Xander's mother still around this morning. But then he remembered that the primary school students had a day off today, so it made sense if she would be at home as well. "Ah, thank you," he says as he grabbed a pancake from the top of the stack. He didn't bother with a fork, knife, butter or even syrup. The boy rolled it up like a think burrito and ate it dry. He never liked sweet food, so syrup was never his pick. Plus, Beth's pancakes were so good that he never needed anything else to go with it. "Hm? Oh, Mum...yeah, she's okay. Busy as usual," he says as he hurried to swallow the food in his mouth. "Bella's okay too. She starts her first year next year, so my Dad is buying her work books to get her prep. She's very excited." When Mrs. Chase had brought up inviting his mother over sometime soon, he nodded slowly. Karma knew that she would love to get away from the house. Particularly his father. But she had been so busy working and taking care of his father and Eric that it had grown difficult for her to care for herself. "I'll make sure to tell her," he says softly before looking away.

He made a small smile as he listened to the light bantering between Xander and his mother. He always thought that their interactions were humorous because of how alike they were. It always made him chuckle. "Exams will be easy," Karma commented as he grabbed another pancake. "It's just a matter of studying properly. You're lucky you have a professional test-taker that can help you pass," he says with a grin. He watched Xander's mother walk away momentarily before leaning close to Xander. He was waiting to tell Xander this, but he was much too nervous to bring it up around his parents. But now was his moment. "Eric caught me smoking on Friday in my room," he whispered. "He said that he wouldn't tell my parents if I did his chores for him. He's been really weird about it. On Saturday, he made me clean his room. But he ONLY wanted me to do shit on the floor, like clean under his bed or under the dresser."

Karma stopped a moment to glance behind him, just to make sure that his parents still weren't listening, then proceeded with his story. "He kicked me a few times when I was doing it. It wasn't hard though, and definitely not enough to bruise me. That's what he usually would do. He'd just do it to watch me fall over. It's fucking strange." He moved himself back upright to tie his white hair back into a miniature ponytail. His mother had convinced his father to allow him to grow his hair back. He was able to do so as long as it did not reach his shoulders. "What's weird is that he watched me the entire time I do it. You'd think he'd be telling me to clean for him so he could do something else," he commented, still keeping his voice low. "He throws shit underneath his bed purposely so I can clean it. I don't know how to get out of this deal with him."

Cosmic_Chaos

 

[Cosmic_Chaos]

Paul simple smiled and nodded, letting Karma in and closing the door behind him. Xanders father didn't often go until 8:30, and it was barely even 8pm. Xander had took another mouthful of his food and had to wait to chew it properly to swallow it before letting out a loud 'Ha!' and laughing. "Jokes on you dude, I already did all the Math stuff! but the extra credit shit did stump me, so I apreciate the help." He grinned, grabbing his own maths assignment and putting it on the table, a little buit aways from the food because he could be a bit messy while eating. He watched as Karma made a burrito out of the pancakes, smiling amused. he couldn't eat like that, siunce eveerything was often downed in butter or syrup, much to his mothers chargain. He did try to cut back on the amount of syrup, but with his lifestyle he burnt through sugar like nobodys business. And it was hard to get things sweet naturally.

Beth listened to Karma as he talked about his sister and his mother with a gentle smile, chuckling at the mention of Bella being excited. "That means Bella might just be in my class if your parents transfer to my school. I could even take her there, since I don't go too early." His moth offered. She saw Bella as a daughter she didn't have, and often doted on Bella whenever she saw the younger, which was even Sarah came over to chat. She grinne dwhen Karma agreed to tell his mother with an aproving nod, and moved to bustle about. He couldn't help but let out an almost exagerrated groan at the mention of studying. "Ugh noo, I hate studying. Nothing sticks! The only thing I'm good at is math!" he complained, which wasn't wrong. He was average, if not below average, for everyone of his subjects other than Maths. No matter how weird or complicted the question was, as long as the words were limited, he oculd probably answer it.

Xander blinked as Karma leaned closer to him, and winced initially. He had tried to help Karma cut the bad habit, but he knew how easily stressed the other got and that stress and additions never mixed healthily. Didn't stop him trying to help at least. He then realised, as Karma continued, wht Eric's game was. He listened patiently and pensively ate for a moment. Now was a better time to mention it. "Dude, that shit ain't normal. He's behind you while you're cleaning right?" He asked, waiting for confirmation before nodding grimly. "He's watching you from behind. Which is disturbing as shit for it to come from your Brother." He said. "You know what it means when I gues does that right? Watching someone from behind?" He asked, wanting to make sure that Karma know how fucking weird it was.

Eventually he leaned back in his chair and hummed, looking back to his mother. "Ma! Erics being creepy towards Karma, and making Karma clean his room becuase he's got dirt on him. What should Karma do?" He asked, because lord knew he wasn't bright enough to help. His mother tensed up a bit at the mention of Eric, foring a wry smile. "Ah, Eric. I swear that kid is disturbed - I never said that Karma." She said pointedly at Karma before chuckling. "Well, I'd suggest getting dirt on him. Perhaps how I've seen him sneaking out of window at night? or how I've also caught him smoking multiple times, and I'm fairly sure Karma's parents don't allow smoking." She said, seemingly in thought. "That child needs to see a therepist, or a psychologist. Both would work." She hummed. And Xander had to agree. The amount of times he's had to fight Eric over Eric being creepy towards Karma was insane. Luckily, Xander was well built, and found it easier to play sports and fight someone rather than do tests. Kamra was, funnily enough the opposite. At this point, he was fairly sure Eric wouldn't activly pick a fight with him, since Xander was obvious in making it known that he was strong enough to not need to worry.

"Wish I could just punch the sense into him. Maybe knock out the weird-creepy-attitude he has towards Karma and Ma." Xander complained, and he earned a chuckle from his father, who was quet in watching everyon talk. His father was an observer after all. "Now now, Xander. Can't go running into every fight without a plan, thats just going to make everything worse." His father chided gently. His mother chuckled, voice sweet but her words were not. "Exactly! Which is why you pull the rug from under them and watch them sqirm. Patience is very much a virtue~" She sung, and Xander sighed, more amused. His mother was.. sort of protective, so when it comes to planning the downfall of someone who wronged someone she cared about, her sadistic streak showed its ugly side. all mothers could be scary when they wanted to be, but he liked to think his mother cook the cake and the utensils to eat it too.

"Now come on you two, eat up. I know its barely even 8pm, but its best to be early than late. Xander, make sure you don't get food on your work, be careful." She mentioned, poining out that syrup had almost landed on his paper, in which he hastily scooped his paper and neatly put them in his bag again. eventually he did finish all of the pancakes, although he could eat more, but he knew that his mother wanted to get them to school.

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[care_less]

Karma smiled softly in return to Beth. Having someone transport Bella would be a huge relief to his mother. Although he knew that she would have felt terrible for asking other people for help, Karma knew that they needed the help. "I'm sure my mother would appreciate that," he murmured, his eyes remaining focused on the dining table. He only looked up when he heard Xander begin speaking again. He couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the other's complaints of taking their finals. Karma had a natural talent for memorizing information. He was lucky enough to have a photographic memory, which was perfect for test taking. The male could take a single glance at a page of notes, and have every bit of information written down. It was why he was the best of his graduating class. "We'll walk to the coffee shop down the street after school and start studying. Maybe it'll help your attention span," he teased, taking another bite of his pancake. All jokes aside, he was fairly confident that Xander would pass the exam. He would only need a little boost of information to guarantee his success.

When Xander mentioned how abnormal Eric's behavior was, he felt taken back. He was only telling Xander because he thought of how irritating it was. "I don't...think it's like that," he murmured before adjusting his glasses. A nervous habit of his. "I mean, he's a jerk, but not a creep." It was more of Karma trying to convince himself than convincing Xander. He knew that his friend never liked his brother. Who could really blame him? Eric was an unemployed bully now in his mid-twenties living off of his parents. He was spoiled as a child, and continued to have an attitude as he grew older. Karma never really defended himself until he met Xander during their first year. If he was honest, he always enjoyed their interaction. Xander's growth spurt happened much earlier than Karma's, and his mouth was quick. So seeing a child beat up or snap back at Eric whenever he went out of line was always entertaining. It was where Karma picked up his own smart mouth. He could recall every moment Eric has always been rude to him, but never when he was being creepy. Maybe Xander was overlooking it.

The moment Xander called out to his mom, Karma's eyes widened as he shook his head. "Wait! Don't say anything-" he tried to whisper, but it was already too late. His mother turned around and was involved. As much as he liked asking her for advice, he didn't want to get in trouble or let her down because of his nicotine addiction. He had started only a few months ago, and admitted his habit to Xander a few weeks after he started. It wasn't something he was proud of. He couldn't take the stress of his family's drama without cracking anymore, and needed something to keep himself from falling off the edge. But seeing as Xander didn't mention it, he felt slightly relieved. Who knows what his father might do to him if he found out.

"A-Ah, my dad gives him the cigarettes. My mum is the only one that doesn't know," he said awkwardly to her first suggestion. His brother was an adult man. He was a pathetic one, but he was also clearly his father's favorite. He doubted that threatening to expose his "secrets" wouldn't have gotten him very far. But the idea did make him wonder what other dirt he could dig up on the other. He wasn't very strong. The boy wasn't thin on any terms. He grew up doing sports along with Xander, however they were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Karma was a good runner, so he tended to join the track and cross country teams. He didn't enjoy physical contact or anything that involved too much of his upper body. So he couldn't necessarily beat Eric physically. But perhaps the way to go was beat him mentally. "I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, Mrs. Chase."

At Beth's warning on the time, Karma stood himself up from the dinner table. He would hate to have her waiting on him to get ready. Plus, he had long since finished his dry pancakes by then. All he was waiting for was Xander to finish copying the last few answers. "You read the last scene for act two, right?" he asked Xander in reference to Hamlet, the book they were reading for English, as he shoved his own homework back into his bag.

Cosmic_Chaos

 

[Cosmic_Chaos]

Xander perked up at the mention of the coffee shop. "Can I get their hot chocolate? and the little buscuits?" He asked, unaware that his mother simply smiled in amusement and snuck a 10 pound note in his pocket. Behind Xander, Beth put a finger to her lips, a small 'shush' towards Karma. She would never stop the two from hanging out, especially when they were a benefit to eachother. Karma helped Xander pass his classes and exams, while Xander kept Karma safe and the each provided stability for the other. "Oh, I wonder if I should take my laptop then, I can do some writing!" He grinned. Xander liked to write out small little concepts and ideas, but since he was often scatterbrained with too many ideas, none of them ever came together in a solid structure. His mother shook her head. "No, you will be studying. You can do all your writing when you come home, okay?" She asked and he sighed, and nodded.

when Karma waved off his concerns, Xander couldnt' help but try and get Karma to see. "Dude, if you saw what I saw half the time you'd think it's creepy as well. Not to mention, he's tried flirting with my Mum, who's basically his aunt at this point. And I've seen the creepy looks he gives her, its the same look he gives you." Xander explained. Okay, he was overselling it a tiny bit, but it didn't make it any less true. the amount of times Xander stepped in and simply had to fight Eric away because he was being creepy towards someone, specifically Karma or his mum, was way too high. Nowadays, Eric knows he can't wain in a fight against Xander, since Xander actually took to making sure he knew how to fight and make sure to bulk up over time, so he often ends up backing off or keeps it verbal. "It doesn't help that he's trying to be more subtle about it." He sighed, but he did back off. He just hoped that he made it so that KArma was more suspicious of his adoptive brothers actions.

"Oh? Sarah doesn't know? Well then, that can be rectified." Beth said casually. Paul chuckled, shaking his head. "Now now, don't be hasty in causing a scene." He reminded, and Beth looked afronted, but in a comical degree. "Why I would never! Do I look like someone who would cause a scene? Oh honey please~" She said with flare, and you could tell where Xander got his flare for the dramatics from. Paul simply laughed, amused at his wifes antics. Beth turned to Karma with a gentle, warm smile and gave him a pat on his head, only to cup his face, with the gentleless a mother could have. "Good boy Kamra. and Please, you know me for long enough, its Beth." She grinned, gently patting his cheek and busied herself with cleaning the table.

At the reminder of reading, Xander winced. He liked reading, dont' get him wrong. Karma could tell you have the other through all of the books that had a slightly fantasy theme to it. But for some reason he could never get into reading shakespeare. They had read Romeo and Juliet and Xander wanted to burn the book, only really stopped by the fact that it was school property and his mother didn't raise a vandal. "Take a wild guess, dude." He let his head fall back as he let out a weak groan. "Its so boring. Its barely even a murder-mystery, its just a revenge-plot." He complained, earning a light tap on the head from his mother. A Silent command to stop complaining. He sighed, and looked at Karma. "Dude, I looked up the plot online, its so boring. I wonder if this is why I was never interested in the Lion King? Its literally the plot of hamlet." He said, not really complaining but at the same time he was. "I can go over the last scene in the car." He sighed, getting up from the table himself, and making sure he had everything in his bag.

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Karma chuckled lightly as he watched Xander and his mother. They were so similar, one could have guessed that they were siblings rather than mother and son. It made him wonder if Xander had ever thought the same with him and his own parents. Karma was always told by his distant family that he spoke and acted just like his mother. Though he could not see how their speech was similar, he knew that their reserveness and lack of confrontation were identical. It was why the two ended up avoiding his father, and oftentimes together. It also made him wonder: Was there any of his father's traits in him? Karma knew that there probably was. His stubbornness, his cool attitude. But he shook off that train of thought quickly. He wanted to have nothing in common with that man. The less he thought of him, the better.

The boy noticed Beth's slip into Xander's pocket. As much as he didn't mind paying for Xander, he was glad that his mother at least remembered the money. Much like Karma, Xander's mind was constantly running. But because of it, he often lost track of what he was doing or forgot one thing or another. Luckily for the both of them, Xander's mother seemed well aware of this for it wasn't the first time she had sneakingly given her son money. His mood dropped slightly when Xander insisted that his brother's behavior was creepy, and not just annoying. As any other person would be, he was in denial. After all, Eric was still his brother. However, he had noticed Eric's behavior towards Xander's mother. It was uncomfortable, if he was honest. He could recall a few times after dropping off Xander about how attractive his mother was. He would give too many details about why he thought of her as much, but Karma would usually block out his comments. On most occasions, he would either tell Eric bluntly about how strange he was. Any other time, he would blanatly ignore his comments in hope that he would drop the conversation. Maybe he thought that Karma would agree with him, or try to use his unusual obsession with older women to bond.

Either way, Karma couldn't imagine Eric sending that same, creepy towards him. But he didn't take Xander's word for granted and nodded. It wasn't as if Xander was lying to him, right? "I'll be more careful," he promised Xander with a weak smile. When he heard Beth mention bringing the situatuon up to his mother, he shot himself up in his seat. "A-Ah, that's okay Mrs. Chase!" He realized how desperate his plead was and tried to calm himself. Slumping into the back of his seat, he adjusted his glasses nervously before speaking. "Mum has been really stressed over work. I don't want to overwhelm her." Karma grown up putting up a front to please his parents, so it was only a natural reaction for him to back out. He was beginning to wish that he had never spoken out about anything. If he was an outsider, he probably would have thought of his doubts as unreasonable. After all, it WAS a good thing that he had spoken up about his strange encounter. But an embedded mentality made him believe otherwise.

He tried not to think about every worst possibility that could occur on his way to Beth's car. What if she told his mother? How would she react? Would she tell his father? Would his father punish HIM rather than Eric? Would his mother be upset with him too? He was lucky he has Xander, who snapped him out of his worried trance by groaning about their English book. Karma chuckled weakly. He was right, Hamlet wasn't necessarily an exciting read. More of a frustrating one. But he was glad to shift topics. Any topic was better than his family. "You didn't miss much. As long as you know how Hamlet dies, I'm sure you'll live," Karma says. "Ah, and tomorrow I can't meet you after school." He rubbed the back of his neck, as if nervous about something. "My Dad signed me up for a track and field club down in West London. He um...wants me to start training again, since he doesn't think I'll make it to medical school." His voice dropped a little when he finished his sentence. His father had always wanted him to become an athlete, for he could never be one when he was Karma's age. It was the type of thing that Karma never truly enjoyed, but had a natural talent for. He was always a quick kid growing up. He wasn't as well built as Xander, but his body was lean and thin. The perfect setup to a speedy runner. His father became excited at the news of his son's speed, and used it immediately once he was tweleve by throwing him in youth clubs to compete. Of course, Karma had won most of his meets and made quite the name for himself, but that did not make him enjoy running any more. He hated dieting almost constantly to keep his body fat down, he hated the attention of winning, and he hated the injuries he would get whenever he was pushed too hard. But it was the only thing him and his father could bond over. So he tried to endure it.

"My first meet with them is next Saturday," Karma says, his body perking up slightly. "You can come watch, if you have time. I'm still running the middle distance events, so you'll have to stay out late until we can leave. But...I wouldn't be angry if you showed up." He says in almost a stubborn manner. As if he did not want Xander to know that he cared enough about him to ask for support. "Eric will be out of town by then, so it would just be my parents and Bella. Unless you convince your parents to come with."

Cosmic_Chaos