Dawson opened his eyes to the bright sun peeking through his blinds. He sat up and stretched; Dawson looked at his clock to see it was already 12:30. So he got up, got dressed, and went downstairs. When he walked off the last step, he saw Octavia on her phone playing a game; then she looked up at Dawson.

“Oh, good morning to you. Are you going somewhere? Why are you dressed up?” Octavia questioned.

“I’m going over to my friend's house.”

“Ok, be safe. Love you!” Octavia yelled to Dawson, who was putting his shoes on in the mudroom.

“Bye, love you!” Dawson yelled back as he closed and locked the door.

Dawson memorized the directions to Felix’s house from the few times he dropped Felix off. He pulled up to the driveway and didn’t see any other car in it. Then, he remembered what happened last time. Felix’s mom came home and made him cry. Dawson didn’t want to make any assumptions, but his first thought was Felix’s mom was a bitch, an abusive one at that. He got out of his truck and went up to the house. Dawson banged on the door and waited for someone to open it. It creaked open as Felix answered, “Yes? Oh, hey Dawson.”

“Hey, want to hang out?” Dawson asked.

“Yeah, you can come in!” Felix answered excitedly.

Dawson walked past Felix and started up the stairs as he asked, “So… where's your mom?”

“...I’m not sure. She didn’t come home last night….” Felix coughed quietly.

Dawson hummed as he sat on Felix’s bed.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Well, did you-”

“Give me your phone number; I don’t have it,” Dawson said, interrupting Felix.

“Huh?” Felix asked, shocked.

“Your number? What’s the problem?” Dawson jeered.

“It’s the- I don’t… uh… have… one...” Felix fidgeted with his fingers as he looked down.

“You don’t have what? A number?” Questioned Dawson.

“A phone…”

“What!? How do you not have a phone? How do you tell the time? Or text people?” Dawson exclaimed.

“I don’t go anywhere but school, so I just get up when I hear my mom leave. And I don’t have any friends to text.” Felix said quietly as his face scrunched up in sadness.

Dawson could see the tears filling Felix’s eyes, “Well, you got me. Put your shoes on. You’re coming to my house. Your house is too sad.”

“What?” Felix’s voice cracked.

“Get ready; I’ll wait in the car,” Dawson repeated when he left the room.

Felix quietly got in the car after a few minutes. Even after Dawson tried to stop him from crying, he saw the slightly red blotches Felix was trying to hide.

When they got back to Dawson’s house, Felix gawked at the home and said, “Wow… your house seems nice.”

“Thanks? I guess?”

“No, I mean, it has a good vibe. Do you get it?” Felix asked as he continued to look at the house.

Dawson nodded to make him happy, even though he had no idea what Felix was talking about. Dawson unlocked the door and heard his sister call out to him.

“Dawson? You're back pretty quickly. Did something happen?” Octavia questioned.

“This is,” Dawson pulled Felix roughly into Octavia’s view and pointed to him. “This is my friend, Felix.”

“Oh.. h-hi,” Felix mumbled anxiously.

“Hello, I’m Octavia. I’m his older sister.” Octavia replied happily.

“That’s nice….” Felix whispered, backing into Dawson’s side, unconsciously trying to hide.

“Ok, we're going upstairs now.” Dawson but- in rudely. Trying to help Felix out of this awkward situation.