Roar of Dragons

[Luke – 12 years] → starts during Chapter 11

"Ack!" I exclaim as something grabs the back of my shirt, preventing me from moving further. "Dad! Don't tear the shirt! It's a new one and I've gotta look good when meeting new people!"

It's from the clothes I bought with Parker last week, a black sleeveless shirt with a yellow stripe down the right side of the front, and I'm wearing a pair of black shorts with yellow stripes down their sides. My sneakers for today match as well – they're black and silver with yellow accents.

I picked this outfit out because not only do I like it, but I think it's calm enough that it won't freak out Xander and I don't want him to be too tense around me. My presence is supposed to help make him calm, which is a weird thing in the first place considering I'm a king of lightning. Being calm isn't exactly something I can do when I'm calm.

"Pour all of your mana into this," Dad hands me a crystal orb. "You're still in recovery from the weekend but are already going into hyper mode. Such energy levels are bound to spook Xander."

I comply as Dad instructs, pouring my mana into the crystal as quickly as I can. Sparks dance along the crystal as I do this and a yellow-white glow begins to form inside of it. That doesn't normally happen when a mage does this, but I'm not normal. The purpose of me doing this is to reduce my energy levels so that I'm not as hyper for when I go to meet Xander.

This isn't my first time pouring my mana into an orb like this, my parents make me do it anytime I need to be calmed down. The benefit dinner on Friday is going to be one such instance where they have me drain myself as much as possible into one of these. It will make it much less likely for me to annoy the other guests, and the same will probably work for Xander especially with how much more subdued I am right now than normal due to burning through my mana for two days straight.

"There!" I hand my dad back the orb once I finish charging it full of my mana. "Now! Snacks!"

I finish entering the kitchen, which I was trying to do when Dad grabbed me. Opening up one of the freezers, I pull out some cooler sleeves to slip onto some smaller milk bottles I pull out of the fridge. Six bottles of milk, or three for each of us. I also fill up some containers with cookies that Xander baked, and a big bag of chips, then set off outside. Mom is talking with Parker, who arrived while I was on my way out.

"Did you bring them?" I ask Parker.

"Yes," Parker says. "They're already in the car. Why did you want my parents to bake two cheesecakes, anyway?"

"For Xander!" I answer. "I asked Trey last night what kind of food Xander likes 'cause I figured, after some classes, he could use something fun! And it might help him tolerate me more. Oh, hey, I see a backpack! Are you bringing snacks, too? And swim shorts? Trey said that Xander is going to take some swim lessons, too, and asked if I'd stick around for those as well as Xander's probably going to be really anxious being alone with a man in swim shorts."

"You didn't burn off your mana?" Parker asks. "Shouldn't you do that so you don't spook Xander?"

"Dad just had me do it a minute ago," I tell him.

"Nervous babbling, not hyper babbling," Mom says. "He's anxious since he heard that Xander is easily spooked. The poor kid was apparently abused in the past and jumps at almost everything right now. That's part of why Trey wanted some other kids his age around during the classes – so it wasn't just Xander and adults."

"Yeah," I say. "And I want to help him get better because nobody should live in fear. But what if I end up scaring him?"

"Remember," Mom tells Parker. "If he starts babbling too much, just pinch his ear."

"What?" I ask. "Hey! No! That actually hurts! It's not like lightning!"

"Come on," Mom says. "It's time to go."

We get into the car and Mom drives us to Trey's, and when we get out, Trey greets us out front and gives a curious look to the cheesecakes.

"You were wanting to bring something?" Trey asks. "Is that why you were asking?"

"Yup!" I answer. "For after classes, since I figured it might help Xander relax after!"

"I'll get those put in the fridge, then," Trey tells me. "Come on in."

We enter the house and Trey puts the cheesecakes in the fridge while talking with us and my mom, then leads us to the room where we'll be hanging out with Xander. It's like the classrooms at school! Trey must have arranged that, especially since Mr. Massey is here.

Parker and I take our seats and Trey leaves, then he returns a few minutes later with Xander. Whoa. And I thought my hair was light in color. Though his hair looks brown, I can tell that he's blond because of his eye lashes. Xander didn't dye those and they are so light in color!

He's not albino but his platinum-blond hair seems even more bright and bold than mine, and I'm a natural lightning mage! He's clearly not, though, as the electricity in him isn't all that strong. In fact, it's something I normally see in someone who's close to death. It could just be that he has a naturally low level of it, though. Some people do.

It becomes evident before we even finish the assessment tests that Mr. Massey gave us just how badly Xander needs remedial classes. I keep sneaking glances over at his paper and he struggles even with basic math and he tries to do all problems without using order of operations. Division written like a fraction completely stumps him.

It's a good thing I brought snacks, because that's the perfect way to help someone relax when they're stressed after a test, even one that's just meant to see where someone is. Xander's a bit hesitant at first, and I get to learn that he doesn't even know about cooling sleeves (official name: refrigeration sleeves). Once he has some food, though, he relaxes a little bit more.

The rest of the math class goes pretty well even if it's boring for me, but I still try to outpace Parker on finishing all of the questions while Xander's learning.

When Xander goes to put his homework and cheat sheets in his study, Parker has to stop me from rushing and grabbing the teddy bear hanging out on the bed. Whoops. It seems like I startled Xander and forgot about asking permission. The bear really is cute, just like its owner.

Whoa. He has so few clothes, and most of them are old. Did Trey not buy him very many? I'll ask my mom if she can say something to Trey about that, Xander definitely needs more than ten outfits, and only two of them look new. Wait, no, it's nine. So he had seven before he came here and Trey only bought him two. I know he's new to parenting but even that should be obvious!

Down at the pool, Xander starts to freak out about something. I'm not entirely sure what, especially since Coach Evan is a cool guy even if he tends to be extra-strict with me during class due to me being a bit… hyper. Oh, jeez, I'm building up hyperactivity again and I'm still really low on mana.

As I take a few deep breaths to try and calm my energy levels, the security guard that was hanging out in the classroom and who is in here steps in front of Xander and shows him his gun, promising Xander that he'll shoot Coach Evan if he tries to do anything inappropriate to him.

That's when it clicks for me. Why Xander needs other kids his age around if he's going to be in a room with an adult like this for hours. Why there's a security guard around with a promise to shoot the teachers if they misbehave.

If they do anything inappropriate to him.

Xander was raped, wasn't he? That's why he was freaking out so bad after seeing Coach Evan. With Coach wearing just board shorts, it must have sent Xander into a horrible flashback. That probably wasn't thought out very well. Coach is used to teaching us at school and being ready to jump in and rescue someone who needs it. He forgot to account for Xander's fears and just did what he normally does.

At least Xander seems to calm down after the security guard promises to shoot Coach, though I know it won't be necessary. Coach would never do something like that. He'd sooner shoot the guy trying.

We go to the changing room and I try to avoid looking near Xander so that he can change more comfortably, but he ends up seeing my leotard and looking confused by it. Most people are when they learn I wear one under my normal clothes, so I let him know it's in case I need to lightning-charge myself. I don't wear it while swimming, though, so it comes off before I put on my shorts.

Once we're all ready – with Xander wearing the swim trunks in his locker rather than the swimmer's suit – we go out to the pool. I know what Coach wants to do to try and get Xander used to the water and I'm going to do something completely like a thirteen-year-old boy and go the more direct way… but I have to trick Xander into doing it. This is the real reason why I wanted Parker to bring a couple of cheesecakes his parents made. Xander may hate me after but the cheesecakes might calm him down.

I convince him to close his eyes and let me spin him around a few times so that I can disorient him. I feel bad for taking advantage of his fears but I know he won't realize that we turned the wrong way.

Once we're at the end of the pool, I stop Xander with him close to the water's edge – his toes are almost at the edge. I let him calm down a little and relax, then let him try to see how close he is to the water. Then, I have him take in a deep breath… before I cover his mouth, pinch his nose, pin his arms to his sides, and shove us off and into the water.

Xander panics. Hard. And he's surprisingly strong for someone with almost no meat on his bones. But I mange to keep hold of him – and my hand over his mouth – until he calms down. Then, I swim us over to the shallow end because treading water like that is really hard and Xander could probably use having his feet on solid ground.

I start apologizing to Xander. Babbling, really. Xander was definitely scared and while I don't want him to hate me he probably does. But he's in the water without panicking now and that should make things easier for him in the future. Even if he doesn't talk to me again now, I'm sure he'll understand in a few years while I did this.

"Do you know how to shut up?" Xander suddenly asks, right before his face turns bright red and he starts apologizing over and over while looking terrified.

Terrified because he said something almost everyone says to me at some point? I want to know who hurt this precious boy and electrocute the crap out of them.

At the same time that Xander starts apologizing, Coach snorts and Parker starts laughing so hard he falls into the pool.

"Sometimes!" I tell Xander. "You have to hit me in the back of the head really hard, though. Might cause memory loss. Want to give it a try? Here! Go on!"

I turn so that my back is to Xander, but nothing happens.

"Come on, Xander!" I say. "Hit the 'off' switch!"

"Hitting people is bad. So is drowning them."

"Oi! I'm saying it's okay to hit me!" I tell Xander. "And I didn't drown you! I know you're probably really upset and mad and scared but I really did have your best interest at heart! See? You're not freaking out about the water!"

"My panic is all wore out right now," Xander says. "And hitting people is wrong."

"No, no, no," Parker says. "Hitting people without their permission is wrong. Luke's literally telling you that he's okay with you giving him a good whack to the back of the head right now. If you hit him this time, you won't get into trouble."

I look over to see Parker getting into the water and moving closer to Xander, then I face away again.

"Come on, Xander!" I say. "Don't you want to try and turn me off?"

"You gotta do it like this," I hear Parker say right before I realize the reason he got into the pool.

There's a solid strike to the back of my head. Parker really put as much force into that as he could – and he used his fist! Fortunately, I'm a pure-blooded mage. I'm made of sturdy stuff.

Well, actually, I'd enhanced my physical toughness because I'm not sure how strong the skinny guy actually is but holding him so he didn't accidentally start drowning himself let me know he's strong enough I'd need to enhance my toughness. That's close enough, though.

"Hey!" I twist around, then try to tackle Parker.

I manage to dunk him under the water but he wiggles free and wrestles me down, the two of us goofing around for a minute before Coach blows his whistle, which startles Xander more than us.

"Parker, Luke," Coach says. "You two have far too much energy. Swim laps along that side of the pool until I say stop."

Parker and I get to work on our laps, and I can see Coach talking with Xander at the side of the pool. Coach is out of the pool, Xander's moved closer but is still in the water. Xander seems to be listening intently, then I'm swimming away from him and can't see. When I reach the end of the pool and turn around, Xander's holding onto the edge of the pool and is floating like that.

Instead of being really close to Xander, Coach is several feet away, though he's sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs into the water so that he's lower down and not as imposing. That's probably a good thing, as standing over Xander would probably scare the guy and he's already been spooked enough for the day.

Coach continues to talk with Xander and I can see him gesturing with his hands and arms a few times. At some point, Xander starts kicking his feet, though he stops several times, probably so that Coach can let him know something wrong with his form.

Xander soon gets to kick using a small float board to hold onto, propelling himself from one side of the pool to the other. He sticks close to the shallow end for that, and when Parker and I reach back down to that end during this, Coach calls for us to stop.

"Parker, come here," Coach says. "Luke, stay there. Xander, stop once you reach this side again. You're looking worn out."

Parker swims over to Coach and I look over at Xander, who's trying to be sneaky with his glances toward me. Yeah, he's scared of me. I hope that once I'm gone and he's calmed down, he realizes I had his best interests at heart. Even if he doesn't, that's okay. If he never wants to see my face again, I'm okay with that. Hoping for a new friend in such an easily-frightened boy isn't something I should do since I'm aware I'm too energetic most of the time. That's why I was okay with taking a risk and making him hate me forever, because there already wasn't a chance of us becoming friends.

I'm okay with that. Really. I'll eventually find people who are cool with being my friends. At least Xander should have an easier time with his fear of drowning now.

After Coach talks with Parker for a minute, they teach Xander how to float on his back with Parker being the one to hold Xander for the initial floating moments. That turns out to be difficult because Xander panics a little anytime his ears go below the water. It takes some time for him to eventually start floating, but he manages it.

Then he just drifts there. Coach has Parker and me move to the deeper end and tosses in some water torpedoes and has us race to collect them. While we do this a few times, Coach returns down to Xander and tells him something. The next time I look over, Xander is doing some sort of half-hearted attempt at kicking his feet. I think he's supposed to be doing a backstroke but he's too tired from the swimming he's already done.

By the time the class is over, Xander really looks like he just wants to take a nap. He's probably not used to exerting his body so much. Chances are good he's going to be really sore over the next few days.

"Xander?" I say once we've showered and changed, and he inches away from me a little. "I'm sorry for scaring you so much, and I know you probably hate me now. But… can I ask something? Are you okay with my reasons for it?"

Xander doesn't answer and that's all I need to know. He hates me now. He hurries out of the changing room and I sigh.

"You didn't even try to make friends with him," Parker says with a little bit of anger in his voice. "You just went and did something stupid."

"Not that stupid," I tell him. "I made him confront his fear more head-on than Coach was going to do. And it worked. He was fine being in the water. I feel really bad for scaring him but better me than someone he actually could be friends with. We both know he'd never like me."

Parker huffs but he knows I'm right. As much as I want to try and make friends… the absolute last type of person Xander could make friends with is someone who has a tendency to babble as much as I do. That's not a guess, that's a fact. He needs someone a lot more calm – like Parker. Though Parker's also more like a typical thirteen-year-old boy so he can be rather goofy and hyper, too.

We take a little bit longer to leave the changing rooms than probably necessary. The plan was originally for us to stay for lunch as well but I don't think Xander wants me around anymore. As we reach the dining room to check, Xander's putting lids on containers. He gives me a really nervous look, but grabs the containers and hands them to us, quickly backing away from me and looking at me like he's afraid I'm going to attack him.

"Bye, Xander," I say. "I hope you have a good rest of your day."

Parker and I leave and I text Mom to let her know we're done early. She's here not long after to pick us up, then takes Parker to his house before driving back to ours – we're actually neighbors with Trey, but the properties are pretty huge. Well, we Gates are, Parker lives in a completely different neighborhood.

I'm still really bummed that Xander doesn't like me anymore but I'm happy I was able to help him, even if it made him panic for a bit until he realized he was okay. Mom and Dad are probably going to scold me really hard once Trey tells them.

Upon entering my room, I drop my backpack by the door, then kick off my shoes and plop myself onto my bed, then scoot back a bit before sitting cross-legged. Xander was probably boxing up what was supposed to be our lunch to still be a good host. I open up the container he gave me and find four large muffins in it. They have bits of what looks like peaches in it. I love peach muffins!

I pull one of the muffins out, pull off its wrapping, and take a massive bite out of the top. Then feel my eyes widen as I do my best not to scream from the pain while keeping my mouth as shut as possible while forcing down the definitely-peach-muffin-but-also-with-the-flavor-drowned-out.

"Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmmmmmmmm!"

My clothes burst as I lightning-charge my body and zap myself out of my room, down the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Even Dad shooting me with a bolt of lightning doesn't stop me much because the only thing I want right now is some milk. As soon I'm there I yank open the fridge, grab the gallon of milk, rip off its lid, and start drinking straight from the jug.

"Haa. Haa. Haa," I gasp once I'm done. "Hooo."

"What… was wrong?" Dad asks.

"I upset Xander and he got revenge."

Just how strong was the hot sauce he dumped onto the muffins? Even more importantly… just how much did I upset him that he was actually brave enough to do something like that? I'm actually kind of impressed by that, even if it was incredibly painful for me. Despite being full of anxiety and fear, Xander really knows how to express himself when he's upset!

He even communicated it to me! Progress!

[Sig – 13 years]

I spent the morning mowing some lawns and other things, then spent most of the afternoon playing games with my online friends. Now it seems I'm home alone as all of the lights are off and my parents are nowhere to be found. Guess that means I'm on my own for dinner.

Turning on the light in the kitchen, I go to the fridge to see what my parents bought when they went shopping and find that the note I posted on the fridge this morning is still there.

SHOPPING NEEDED:

We're pretty much out of food. Completely. Period.

Milk – Eggs – Butter – Pasta

Pasta Sauce – Freezer Meals

Frozen Pizza – Ramen Noodles

Fruits – Veggies – Bread – Jelly

Peanut Butter – Ground Beef

Chicken – Taco seasoning – Salsa

Lettuce – Tomato – Onion

Snacks – Ice Cream – Bacon

That's not really everything we're out of or could get more of and they tend to just buy groceries regardless of what's on the list so what we end up with doesn't usually match the lists I put. Though they do sometimes forget to buy stuff that would turn into full meals… like the time they bought four jars of pasta sauce but no pasta. I'm still able to work things into meals usually, I just wish my parents didn't prefer to order food for themselves or eat out as much as they do.

The fact that the list is still on the fridge is a bad sign. It means they didn't leave to go grocery shopping, which I kind of assumed because of the second note that's on the fridge – which wasn't there when I got home from doing other stuff.

We went to the Grand Canyon. Will be back next week. Mom & Dad

I open the fridge just in case they simply forgot to grab the grocery list but it's still the same bare thing it was this morning. Enough milk for less than a full cup, half a bag of old shredded lettuce that's probably going to be a dud tomorrow, half an onion that probably needs thrown out, a quarter of a stick of butter, and… well, I guess the leftover tortellini being gone means it's not the same as when I left this morning.

Pulling out my phone, I send a message to the group chat.

Sig: parents went to GC again sleepover?

Connor: Time?

Sig: next week

Connor: Food?

Sig: no shopping :( order pizza maybe $15 buy-in will get stuff tom

Sam: to the rescue!

Isaac: doing chores can b there @ 7ish

We agree on about seven, so that gives me two hours of killing time until my friends get here. Mr. Thompson texts and asks me if my parents gave a more specific time for their return this time and I let him know that the note just said 'next week'. The fact that they actually remembered to let me know before leaving is impressive, they usually forget until they're on the road and I get a text from them.

The grocery thing was probably just them thinking that they didn't need groceries since they weren't going to be here. If they can eat, then so can I. They're a bit absent-minded about some things.

I start playing games in the living room while waiting for the others to show up. Without a TV in my bedroom I can't play on the consoles except out here. It wasn't even something I needed to buy on my own, my parents got it for me for Christmas last year, though neither of them apparently remember being the one to buy it, wrap it, and put the tag "From: Santa" on it. As long as my chores are done, my homework is done, and my parents aren't using the TV, I'm allowed to play.

Since my friends are coming over, I'll wait to eat until they arrive. The four of us will pool money together to order something for all of us.

At about six-thirty, the front door is unlocked and opened.

"Have no fear, food is here!" Connor exclaims as he nearly throws open the door.

A reusable shopping bag is held in his right hand, and his dad behind him has two of them.

"I was going to get me stuff tomorrow," I say as I pause my game.

"I know," Mr. Thompson says as he and Connor enter the house and Connor works his key out of the door. "But you shouldn't be having to spend the money you're earning to buy groceries, Sig. You're thirteen. Told Connor to put his shoes on and we went to the store. He wanted to buy nothing but junk food but I made sure there was some actual food as well."

"Chips, soda, cookies, candy, and ice cream are real food!" Connor shoves his key into his pocket. "You've got dairy, you've got sugar, you've got fruit depending on what you pick, you've got grains… see! Food groups!"

Mr. Thompson would probably bop Connor on the back of the head if his hands weren't full. I go out and get Connor's backpack from the car, then return inside and close the front door and help put away the groceries. Some of this is definitely meant for us boys to eat during the sleepover but I'm pretty sure I can tell what Mr. Caldwell picked.

"Did you eat yet?" Mr. Caldwell asks once we finish putting the groceries away.

"Not yet," I say. "Was gonna wait until everyone got here and order some pizza once we figured out what we wanted."

"We didn't eat yet, either!" Connor tells me.

"You two start making patties," Mr. Thompson tells me. "I'll go get the charcoal, then head around back and start the grill. Make enough for everyone, the other dads said they'd hold off on feeding the boys."

Mr. Thompson brought charcoal so we can grill? Awesome! Connor and I quickly scrub our hands clean and get to work on making burger patties. Since we're making thick burgers rather than the thin sort we only prepare seven patties. They bought some seasonings as well so we mix those into the patties, then we clean our hands again and start making onion rings since we have the ingredients.

The other guys and their dads arrive while we're bringing the food out to the back so that Mr. Thompson can start grilling (he has a thing on the grill for the onion rings). All of them brought a little bit of food or snacks as well and we enjoy a dinner of burgers, onion rings, chips, and soda. After that, the dads leave but not before giving us a reminder to behave.

With the dads gone, we roughhouse in the back yard for a bit, then go inside and play video games for a little while. Once we start getting hungry again, we make ourselves some ice cream sundaes using stuff Connor brought and brownies that Sam bought on the way here.

"Oh!" Connor exclaims as we all return to the living room with our ice cream. "Sig! Dad forgot to ask while we were here but we're going camping this weekend. Gonna leave Friday morning and return probably Sunday evening. Wanna come?"

"Sure," I answer. "Tent or cabin?"

"Tent this time," he answers. "Bring your trunks, there's a lake we can go swimming in!"

"Cool!"

"Wish I could go," Sam says. "There's a family reunion this weekend that I have to go to. It's gonna suuuuuck!"

"Going to my mom's on Friday so I can't," Isaac says. "Oh! I found that out today and forgot to tell you guys! I'm going to my mom's on Friday and won't be back until next Sunday. Not this one. I'm gonna convince her to take me to an amusement park and see if I can get her onto a roller coaster."

His mom has no issues taking him to amusement parks… but she's terrified of roller coasters so that's just a dream.

"Can always count on you to not leave me alone," Connor grins. "Would be so boring if no other kids were there."

"Be careful what you wish for," I grin back. "The other sites might have dozens of small kids."

"No!" He exclaims as I giggle. "Not again! We are never, ever, ever going to do that again! If we show up and every other camp has a five-year-old or four, I am telling Dad that we are leaving and finding somewhere else to camp!"

That was a nightmare trip for us and I don't think his dad would need anyone to tell him to turn around and find somewhere else.

"Wait, what happened?" Sam asks.

Sam and Isaac haven't actually been our friends for that long. Connor and I have been classmates since preschool but became friends back in 2020, so only three years ago. Sam moved into the area last November and we became fast friends with him. Then, he and Isaac met back in January at a meeting for parents struggling to accept their children were or might be gay and became friends and Sam introduced him to us.

Which actually means that Sam and Isaac haven't been bowling with us for very long. Originally, Mr. Thompson bowled with Connor and me, but then after we met Sam and he started joining us regularly, the two dads bowled separately and let us bowl alone. Isaac joined us for bowling almost immediately after joining our friend group and found he liked it as a fun activity, just like us.

Because of that, they haven't done too much camping with us yet.

"So last summer," I say. "We got to this one campground and I guess a blogger mom group or something decided to all go camping at that place for the weekend as well. There were nineteen kids who were three to six years old. It was insane and chaotic and almost everyone else who'd booked a trip there asked for a refund."

"Dad included," Connor says. "We'd booked a week-long trip there thinking it'd be fun and relaxing and ended up being absolute chaos with a bunch of screaming kids who kept coming into our campsite and messing with our stuff. The trip had been booked a year in advance and Dad found out that the mom group had only booked over the course of the previous month. And the campgrounds didn't bother telling anyone who'd booked long before then that they were going to end up dealing with almost two dozen kids as well."

"Jeez, that's awful," Sam says.

"It was horrible," I say. "I ended up throwing one of the kids."

"Into others," Connor says. "That was one of the only times the moms actually tried doing anything, and it was to yell at us and say they were going to call the cops."

"Up until his dad said he'd already done so for neglect," I add. "He even recorded the thing which led to me yanking and tossing the kid."

"What was it?" Sam asks.

"He tried reaching into our campfire," I say. "Mr. Thompson was actually recording Connor and me goofing off, it wasn't like he pulled out his phone to record the kid doing that. I saw what was happening and kind of panicked and grabbed the kid and threw him into his friends, who were all right there. Couldn't have been older than three. Screamed up a storm and that's what got the moms over."

"Dad never said if he called the normal line or the emergency line," Connor says. "But the police were there fast. Apparently, 'a bunch of small children are unattended and keep running towards people using axes and trying to reach into fires' got their asses moving. He probably said some other stuff, too."

"Damn," Isaac says. "Those moms were insane."

"That's blogger moms for you," Connor says. "Focused more on social media than they are actually being moms."

"I'm glad I wasn't there," Isaac says. "At least my mom's a real mom. Usually. Sometimes she forgets I shouldn't eat a whole gallon of ice cream and only remembers when I'm done."

"Your mom would probably let you get away with murder," Sam grins at him.

"She'd probably help him hide the body!" I giggle.

Isaac's mom is awesome, but she lives in another state so I've only met her once, when she flew out here for Spring Break. After she left, Isaac told us that she wasn't being like that just because we were his friends and it was a short trip, that she's always that fun. The reason his parents divorced was mostly because his dad got a job in another state a few years ago and she didn't want to move, so they decided to split amicably. Mr. Michaels gained primary custody during the divorce since her job would give her little time to actually care for a kid on her own and Isaac was a little bit too young at the time to be left alone for so long.

"Guys!" Sam suddenly exclaims. "Let's hurry and finish the ice cream! I've got an idea!"