Checkmate

“What are you going to do for Halloween?” I ask Alex as I look up at him. We’re currently watching and movie at his place, and I have my head rested on his lap.
“Nothing.”
“You aren’t going to do anything?”
“No.”
“Isn’t there anything that you could do?”
“I was invited to a party, but I’m not going to go.”
“Why not?”
Alex shrugs. “Parties aren’t my thing. Besides, the only people that I would know would be Demetria and Caelan.”
“What if I went with you?”
He finally looks down at me. “I’m not letting you come with me even if I did go.”
“Why?”
“Because... Because we can’t go public.”
“The only people that you know are Demetria and Caelan. Is there going to be anyone that could tell on you?”
“No, but-”
“I don’t see what the problem is.”
“It’s not going to be much fun.”
“It will be better than just staying indoors. I end up being stuck in my room every year for Halloween, and I want to actually go and and dress up and have fun.”
“Well...” Alex sighs. “I guess that we can go together, but you have to stay by my side the entire time. Got it?”
I get up off his lap and give him a hug. “Thank you. It means a lot. Are we going to be dressing up?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t think it’s that kind of party.”
“Well, alright. I can deal with that.”
“So what are you going to tell your parents?”
“That I...” I was going to say that I was going to go out with Raven, but then I realized that that won’t happen. Every Halloween, Raven is with her family. It’s more than just a simple holiday for them, and I know that she wouldn’t be allowed to skip out. My parents would know that too along with the fact that Raven wouldn’t want to skip out on it. “I can’t say that I’ll hang out with Raven. She’s going to be busy.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Um, I guess that I’ll just have to sneak out.”
“What? So are you going to be that bad boy that sneaks out of the house late at night to be with his boyfriend?” Alex chuckles.
“Well I am already that bad boy that is dating his teacher.”
“True. You already skipped the first bad boy steps, so it wouldn’t be that bad to go back to the basics. What will happen if you get caught though?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, they could just make it so I can’t hang out with Raven, but I also know that they like it when I hang out with her. They think she’s a good influence on me.”
“Really?”
“Raven really cares about her family, and they wish that I was the same way.”
“Ah. Well, I can see why you aren’t. I wouldn’t be too if I was treated the way that you are, and I don’t even know to the extent that you are mistreated.”
“The only thing that I’ll tell you is that they are very controlling and want to control my life.”
“It was the same for me.”
“It was?”
“Yeah. Well, it wasn’t for my actual parents or... my stepmom. No, it was more of the other parts of the family. They wanted me to act a certain way and agree with them on everything. The thing is that I didn’t agree with anything that they wanted. My stepmom always looked to me for advice, so my opinion was important, and they hated that. They ended up doing something horrible, and I ended up leaving because of it. I haven’t gone back since.”
“What did they do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Understandable.” I pause. I’m not sure if I’m crossing the line or not if I ask this question. The truth is is that that is the most I have ever heard about his past. He isn’t open about it, and I can tell, so it’s surprising he said that much, and I’m not sure if asking anything else will be too much. I look into his eyes, and I don’t know why, but I can see that he’s alright with my question. It’s weird, and I don’t know how I can tell. It’s not like we’re a couple that has been together for years and just know what the other one wants. We’ve only been together for a week and have only known each other for two months. Even though I don’t know how I know to ask, I go ahead and ask. “Do you miss them?”
Alex seems to have been expecting the question and closes his eyes. “The truth is that I do miss them. I mean, I don’t miss the assholes, but I miss my stepmom and my friends. Sometimes my friends come and see me, but it’s just not the same. Although my old life was too much to take most of the time and this life is so much easier, I do wish that I could have it back sometimes. Sometimes I wonder how it would be if I did whatever I was told instead of being myself. How different would my life be? Lately though I haven’t been wishing or wondering about that.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I have you now, and if my life was the way that it was before, I wouldn’t have moved here, became a teacher, and then met you.”
Since I have no idea what to say, I hug him tightly. His arms wrap around me, and I can feel his lips gently kiss my neck for a second. We stay in each others arms for I don’t know how long. I almost don’t want it to end since it’s so comfortable, but I know that it can’t last forever and the sooner it ends, the easier it will be. I undo myself from him and give him a smile. A feeling comes over me, and the only thing that I can describe it as is being proud of him for him telling me as much as he did. I wonder if he’d tell me more, but again, I don’t want to push him too far. That’s why I don’t ask anymore questions, but it doesn’t matter because he ends up asking me a question.
“Have you always lived here?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“I thought that you might want to know where I’m from.” That’s right. He did say that he moved here before becoming a teacher.
“I’d like to know as much about you as you’ll let me.”
“Well, I can go ahead and tell you this bit. I’m originally from England.”
“Really? I never would have guessed. Your American accent is dead on.”
“What can I say? I’ve lived here for years.”
“Would you talk in an English accent for me?”
“Not today, but one day I will.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I guess that I think it would be cute to see your expression when I do it out of nowhere.”
“Well, fine then,” I huff sarcastically. He chuckles and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
“You know a bit about me. Why don’t you tell me something about yourself?”
“I don’t really know what to tell.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“I have an older brother and sister.”
“That’s something. Tell me a bit about them.”
“My sister, May, is the oldest, and then there is my brother, Joe. They’re a lot older than me, so I didn’t really hang out with them much. They were too busy doing family things. They still are doing family things. That’s why I never get to see them even if they would be a ‘good influence’ on me. I truthfully don’t even know where they are right now. Sometimes I wish that the pressure that’s on me was on them instead. May is a lot smarter than me, and Joe is a lot stronger than me. They both love the family so much too. They aren’t as pressured though. I’m the one that is pressured. I don’t know why it had to be me. I’m the weak one that only does alright in school. Sometimes I just lay in bed and think about it all. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be if I just gave in. That’s when I realize it would probably be even worse than it is now, and I need to just stay strong until I’m eighteen.” I don’t know at what point during my little speak did I end up snuggling with Alex, but at the end, I am.
“Maybe it’s because you’re an individual.”
“What?”
“Your siblings always do what they’re told, but you’re different. You do what you want to do, and you don’t care what the others think. Maybe that’s why there is this pressure on you. I don’t know what you’re going through, so it’s just a thought.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
Yeah. Perhaps Alex is right.

Notes

Wow. This is so late.
Sorry about that. I was taking a break to get used to college.... and then that break never ended.
I'm slowly coming back though. I would have had this done earlier today (technically yesterday), but I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed in best all day. I'm all better now, and I might go ahead and write some of the next chapter tonight. Oh, and another thing. I went back and changed a couple of parts in the other chapters. It's not much, so you don't have to go and reread. I just wanted to writing to be a bit better, and I checked for some mistakes. That kind of stuff.
This chapter is mostly dialogue, but now you know a bit about Alex. Wish I could tell you more, but I can't.
Anyway, I hope you liked it!