Summer. For many, the season is cause for celebration, as it signals the end of another school year. Closely following the season comes summer vacation, the time when little is done, and seemingly little time is savored, as it passes by quickly and silently, creeping up on the unsuspecting with homework and projects. At one point, they were set aside, but as the end of vacation drew nigh, they became the forefront of everyone's minds.
The sun's blazing heat poured in through Johnny's window. He wasn't exactly in the mood for anything this day had to offer him, let alone this summer's heat, which bore down relentlessly on his face through the window as he looked out at the lawn with squinted eyes. Exhausted from a lack of sleep, and irritable from the frustration the day before, he wished for nothing but suffering to those who could enjoy such a morning.
Shakily, he stumbled half-consciously towards his dresser and rummaged about for shorts and the print t-shirt that had his streaming channel's logo printed on the front: a fiery red imp holding a game controller. Simple, just as simple as his stream handle.
Fully dressed, he fumbled with the doorknob, in a bleary attempt to leave his room.
"My hands aren't working today." He thought.
He examined them. They were slightly bruised, most likely from the desk-slamming from yesterday. The sore spots in his fingers made it difficult to manipulate the door properly. A
After a couple of moments of bleary-eyed fiddling and muffled swearing from the stinging pain, he managed to open the door.
"Ahh, it feels good to function like a normal human being." He remarked.
In his half-conscious state, even a door could pose quite a challenge.
He exited his room, and descended down the stairs, with the single-minded intent to ignore what he predicted would be the awkward glances his parents would cast in his direction. After breakfast was over, he would immediately retreat back to his room.
However, it was eerily quiet throughout the house. This was unusual, given his brothers were pretty noisy when they were home for summer break. Yet the nuance eluded Johnny's attention, as his foggy senses couldn't pick up on the oddity. Oblivious of his surroundings, he slowly hobbled down the stairs, stifling another croaky yawn.
"Mom, Dad, what's for breakfast?" He halfheartedly called out midway down the stairs. This would be his only words for that morning, or so he hoped.
Several seconds and stairs passed, and his words were greeted with nothing but silence. It was only at the bottom of the stairs that Johnny realized something was amiss.
He entered the livingroom, which abutted the stairs. No one was there.
He entered the kitchen, only to find it empty as well. The dishes were washed and put away, and the table cleared, except for a singular note that was lying face-up on the table.
"They had breakfast without me?" He grumbled spitefully.
Johnny reached for the note lying on the table, his name written in his father's archaic, loopy style of cursive. Inside, it read.
"Your mother and I are out with the boys today. Take care of the house. We'll be back before dinner time."
"So, they took the only car I have a key to," He muttered with a sigh of exasperation.
That's right. It was times like these that he wished he had bought a car. It's not like he couldn't pay for two new cars with what he had saved up from his streaming, but driving never really mattered to him as a shut-in, unless it was for running errands for his parents. Since they took the only vehicle he was allowed to drive, he couldn't even go to a restaurant. Now he's reduced to ordering food online.
"Today couldn't get any worse, could it?" He bemoaned his most 'pitiable' situation.
A phone's screen lit. Johnny scrolled down a restaurant's online order menu. Nuggets and fries is the classic choice, but...
The food arrived about fifteen minutes later. His parent's expensive house wasn't too far from the urban center, so most orders in town could arrive fairly quickly, which was convenient for his nightly streamathons and late-night runs.
He flopped onto the Livingroom couch and turned on the TV. Exhausted from sleeplessness, he knew he wasn't in any condition for a decent stream. Instead, he could blankly stare at the TV while eating to pass the time.
He opened up his chicken sandwich and fries out of the carefully wrapped packaging. It was more original than the nuggets and fries, but probably just as bad for him. He glanced at the living room clock.
"One o'clock, huh? Oh yeah, that's why there wasn't any breakfast." He ruminated, as he chewed on a bite of his sandwich.
An hour passed, his food long since eaten. He flipped through the channels, but nothing of interest came to mind.
His eyelids felt heavy, and he yawned deeply.
Another ten minutes passed, and he was fast asleep. The gentle rise and fall of his chest nudged the fast-food wrappers off from their position thereon, where they then fell to the floor as he dozed.
-
"Johnny, wake up, we're home."
A familiar voice filtered through the depths of Johnny's dreamless slumber. It sounded like his father's.
"They must be back." He surmised within his subconscious.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Guess I should apologize for yesterday first thing, huh?" He ruefully decided.
His eyes focused on the face of his father, who was stooping over him.
"Ah, you're awake. You were out cold." His father said. Johnny could tell through his forced joviality that he wasn't acting naturally.
"I didn't get much sleep last night." He responded.
Johnny watched his parents leave for the master bedroom.
They returned to the livingroom once more. Now, his father's face seemed somewhat strained. His mother's expression wasn't relaxed either. Earlier, his brothers departed for their rooms on the second floor, leaving him alone with his parents.
A pang of guilt made its way from Johnny's gut up to his throat, settling itself in the space between his Adam's Apple and chin in the form of a large lump. He felt bad for making his parents look that way. Memories of what he said yesterday, the insensitive things he said to his mother, his complete and total refusal to hear their complete side of the story stabbed firey pokers into his heart. Looking back, he chose a pretty rough hill to die on.
"I'm...sorry about yesterday.." Johnny weakly began.
"No, no son, it's not your fault. It was ours for prying so hard... no, it wasn't your mother's fault at all, it was mine. I put too much pressure on you, and never even thought of how you felt about it. It was an oversight on my part. I hope you'll forgive me." His father remorsefully declared.
"Dad..." Johnny began.
However, his father held up a meaty hand to prevent him from his turn. Once more, the serious expression from yesterday appeared on the middle-aged man's face. He inhaled deeply.
"Son, it's time we talked about your future, but this time it's not about college. It's about where you'll be living from now on..."
"Huh?"
"Your mother and I have decided that to make up for our mistake yesterday, there was only one thing we could do. And that's to send you off with our blessings..."
"Wait...?"
"We dropped your brothers off at their friends' houses to hang out while your mother and I shopped around town for a suitable place, and we came across a decent spot that's near everything you could need..."
"Hold on."
"It's eight hundred a month, including electricity, gas, and laundry services. It's cable ready too, so you can set your computer up there however you like..."
While Johnny's father continued listing the amenities to the apartment, the confused NEET found himself at the crossroads of life; the union between shock, horror, denial, and complete and utter helplessness.
"Why was this happening?" Johnny asked himself. He apologized, so why was he getting kicked out? This wasn't what he was expecting. He didn't do anything wrong, right? Was his apology flippant somehow?
His mind was tripping over itself trying to process what he had just heard. For the first time in all Johnny's years of life, he was in a serious crisis. Years and years of mediocrity had conditioned him into apathy for everything related to life outside his parent's influence. Sure, he knew one day he would have to leave, but only when he was mentally prepared for it. He didn't even have a real job yet. There's no way he could live on what he makes streaming, with the rent as high as it is. It would mean he would have to interview for a job somewhere he was not prepared for.
"I'm a fucking shut-in, for christ's sake!" Johnny's inner monologue erupted.
"...so next week we were thinking of taking you to see the place. Does that sound good... is something wrong Johnny?" His father asked, breaking off from his flow in response to the horrified expression on Johnny's face.
"O-O-Of course not dad, what do you mean..." He replied while attempting to reconfigure his face into a more subdued appearance.
"C'mon face, why do you have to sell me out like this." He admonished his face inwardly.
To say that Johnny's face a moment ago was the picture of disbelief would be an understatement. His face was akin to what one would make after hearing a rumor one's mother had had an affair with the neighbor's son next door, rejected it, and subsequently found out about it by stumbling into them in the act. But the narration digresses...
"You just seem shocked about it." His father noted.
"No no, I'm not at all, I was expecting this sort of thing to happen sooner or later, ahh..heh...heh.... just not right now..." Johnny's voice trailed off into a low mumble.
"Why am I even acting?"
Johnny inwardly cringed at his immaturity. It was wrong, everything about this situation was wrong, from the discussion at hand to his mediocre rendition of an understanding son. He was, without a doubt, not prepared for this kind of talk.
The exasperated NEET desperately pinched his side, hoping the dream would end there before any other surprises threw him into cardiac arrest. But he didn't awaken. He was already awake.
After his father said his piece, Johnny's mother picked up the conversation to work out the details on what Johnny would need to pack. She was supportive of the whole idea, which only made Johnny's complete defeat certain. His small world of self-pity and shame began to crumble about him; his past frustrations and worries all flew in the face of the sudden reality that had suddenly appeared out of left-field. He was, unequivocally, banished from his life as a speedrunning, streaming shut-in.