章 2: Chapter 1
He had a good story compared to other kids like him. Got moved from one foster home to another foster home. The very first one he got was a good one and he got along with the couple. He had been with them thirteen years. It was all going well. That was what he told himself so the perfect illusion he had of a happy perfect family wouldn't break.
He ignored that sometimes it would just be him and his dad having dinner. He ignored not seeing his mum days in a row. He also ignored the screaming matches that would wake him up from his sweet dreams. What he couldn't ignore though was the separation. Of course he blamed himself. Their life seemed to be perfect before he came along. Maybe they never wanted kids, but were too nice to say so.
His dad had assuaged his fears telling him that he wasn't to blame. He pretended to believe him. There were two ways a bad situation would always go. Either from bad to good or from bad to worse. And it did go worse. His mum was bleeding his dad out dry. For some reason the love was gone and she wanted to take everything away from her ex, him included. Though he was young he knew what he wanted.
No one was a saint, but his mum was never a mum. Elliot had been the one enthusiastic of being a parent. He had always been there while she had just been in the background. Not that she didn't do anything for him, but as far as he could remember dad had always been there. He knew who he wanted to stay with, but sometimes what you wanted was not in your hands to decide.
He knew dad was going through a lot and him coming by to ask for money for things made him feel shame. It was hard now and his dad had taken up multiple jobs. He had taken up a job to ease a little burden from his father's shoulders but he knew it wasn't enough. That barely covered his own expenses.
He put on his clothes for school and put his backpack on his shoulder. He wasn't expecting to see his dad when he came downstairs. He wasn't expecting to see breakfast, but there it was. Toast with spread. He smiled at the little note that his dad left. He was too sentimental. He loved it.
He took a bite getting a bottle of water and tossing an apple in his bag as he left. It wasn't a long walk to school. School was the only place he went to most of the time and it was a sort of escape from the troubles at home. And of course he loved school when he had Beck.
Beck Cameron.
The golden boy.
The star quarterback.
Tall, blonde, blue-eyed, straight 'A' student. Charming, sociable and the one everyone wanted to be with, strived to be and all that. And that perfect guy somehow landed the position as his best friend. There was the Beck people knew, and there was the Beck he knew.
Beck was weird. Sort of a geek, but still funny so he let him tag along. No he didn't. He needed a friend and he was never a sociable person. Had never been, so when Beck came into his life he held on tight and he wasn't going to let go without a fight.
"Thinking about me?" Beck said in what he claimed was his charming voice.
"Why would I do that?" he questioned.
"So you're thinking about someone else? My heart" he squeezed his chest.
"You know when you told me to stop you when you got weird? You're being weird" he deadpanned.
"Anyway" he placed his hand on his shoulder. "How's the house?"
"The usual. I don't see my dad anymore and my mum is trying to run him dry" he lamented.
"Sorry dude" he said comfortingly. "But if you need anything, a place to crash, just to escape for a while, anything at all just come to me".
"Being weird again Beck" he lied, unable to hide his smile. "I just wish that there was some way that I could help him. I live off him, he feeds me, provides everything for me…I know that I'm the reason that he's currently going through this" he admitted painfully.
"Hey!" Beck jostled him. "Stop blaming yourself. You are not the cause of anything. What happened between them is between them. You didn't do a single thing and you're the cause?" he asked dumbfounded.
He pretended to believe that.
"Well I have a suggestion" Beck was squeezing his neck right now with his arm. "With those green eyes and that pretty face of yours…that's what people want to see" he wriggled his brows suggestively.
"What are you talking about Cameron?" he asked aghast, his eyes widening in shock.
"You're pretty, you got a good body. Get a camera and strut your stuff Matthew!" he yelled.
Matthew pushed him off then. "Weird. Very weird! I'm going to class!" he was embarrassed. He was going to ignore that. If he was going to remain best friends with Beck he had to keep his grades up. He had to avoid being compared didn't he? To be close to him he had to be just as good as him. At least that was what the school said. Not with words but they certainly showed it.
"You said you want easy money" he pulled the hood of his shirt so he couldn't escape. "Not only would you not keep asking your dad for money, but you'll be able to help him. Think about it" he nudged him playfully.
"I get that you're trying to make me feel better, but it's not working!" he spoke harshly.
"Okay" Beck backed down. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Now let's go to class" a blinding smile took over his face and he was dragging him to class.
55555
He wouldn't say it out loud, but what Beck had said stuck and it wouldn't go away. Fast money. Easy money. He was desperate. In class his mind had been on him being behind camera, and instead of him doing his homework he was doing research on being a camboy. With the information he was unfortunate to be provided, it seemed that anyone could just get up one morning and do this.
He heard the door open and he jumped in his seat. He dropped his phone on his laps and dropped his legs from the table. He pushed his phone under his lap and looked to his dad. He hoped he didn't look as suspicious as he felt.
"Good evening" he gave him a smile and stood up. He looked exhausted. He walked up to him and took his bag. He had also gotten groceries. This was how it was these days. They wouldn't see each other all day and when he came back he would be so tired that they couldn't even have a conversation. He wouldn't even eat dinner.
"How was work?" he asked as he started putting things away.
"The usual" he replied tiredly, fighting off a yawn.
His dad was a financial consultant and he was still able to have a hobby as a telemarketer. And on the weekend he had an assistant managerial position at some store. Still he didn't want that for two of them. It'd continue like that and then they'd be used to it. He didn't want that.
"Hey dad…" he began.
"Hmm?" he replied.
"I was thinking maybe we could hang out this Sunday. It's been a while since we did something Just the two of us" he turned back to see his dad had fallen asleep.
He sighed disappointed and walked to the couch. He crouched down and removed his shoes. He removed his jacket and put him into a more comfortable position. He went to the closet and got a blanket from there and covered him.
They couldn't keep living like this. How long before he would get sick or collapse? Should he call his mum? So they could reach an agreement. No he couldn't do that to his dad. He looked to where he had been sitting and his phone was still there.
He picked it up and made his way to the dinning to put dinner away. Maybe Beck was on to something. He sat on the chair where he had kept his books and opened it to start something. He still couldn't concentrate and decided to forgo it for his phone. The work wasn't due till next week anyway. He closed the book and leaned back on his chair and scrolled through the article. It was the first one that popped up and he just went for it.
He looked to his dad one last time and all doubt disappeared. He went back to his phone.
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