Frozen on Exam Day Chapter 04
Author: Perfect Timing
If Mom had looked for just three more seconds, if she had zoomed in just a little further, she would have seen that my chest was not moving. She was so close to realizing I was already dead.
The last exam ended. Darren was the first one out of the testing hall.
“Mom, Dad, I did great! Everything’s fine. Let’s go home and tell Wes the good news!”
Dad nodded. His eyes were glassy as he started the car.
“Good, good. It’s all over now. We’ll head back right now. Your brother’s been home alone for two days. That should’ve been enough time for him to come around.
“We’ll pick him up and the whole family can go to church together.”
Mom sat in the passenger seat, tears running down her face. “I was too hard on Wes. I know that. As long as he’s willing to change, from now on, whatever Darren has, he’ll have too.”
I floated there in the void, wearing a smile that was worse than any cry.
Mom, Dad, I had waited 18 years for this. Too bad I never lived to see it.
The car pulled into the driveway before long. Darren was the first one through the front door.
Then he stopped.
The food on the kitchen table had not been touched. It was already growing mold. His voice started to shake.
“Wes hasn’t… he hasn’t come out in two days!”
Mom froze for a second. Then her expression went dark. She stormed over to the freezer door and kicked it.
“Wesley! Are you still at it?
“Do you have any idea what your brother’s been through the past few days? He couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep. He was worrying about you the entire time he was taking his exams! As for you? You’re in there playing dead? Who’s that supposed to impress?”
Dad could not hold back either. He walked over with barely controlled anger in his voice.
“Wes, I am so disappointed in you. We spent two days out there thinking about you every second, but have you thought about what you’ve done at all?”
Darren stepped between them, his voice trembling. “Dad, Mom… Wes wouldn’t act like this for no reason. Something’s wrong.”
Both of their expressions stiffened for a moment. That was when Nora walked in. She went straight to the freezer door, holding up her phone.
“I just got a call from our homeroom teacher. She found out Wes missed the SATs and she’s already trying to get him into an elite early admission track.”
Her voice dropped. “Wes, did you tell her? Why would you do that?”
Mom exploded like someone had lit a fuse. “Wesley! We raised you for 18 years and this is how you repay us? You missed the SATs, so now you’re going behind our backs to destroy your brother’s chances?”
Dad’s face was like stone. “Your brother has done nothing but protect you, yet all you can think about is how to drag him down. Here we were, rushing home to take you to pray with the family.
“Wesley, how did I end up with a son like you?”
Everyone was passing judgment on me, everyone except Darren, who pushed past all of them and grabbed the freezer door handle.
“Mom! The door is freezing cold!”
Mom’s eyes were bloodshot. “Enough!”
She shoved her way forward and grabbed the handle herself.
