"As simple as that."
His mother's lingering voice rang in his ears, even after Linda hung up on him. Jeremy just stood there, stunned.
His mobile phone was still pressed against his ear and he was frozen, ever since coming here, he thought that dying would be his worst hurdle. But now he realized how wrong he was.
Dying was a hurdle, sure. But the people that Luke was entangled with… they were worse.
In most of his lives, Jeremy was never forced to be treated like… this. Sure, he was average in many lives, sometimes dirt poor but handsome, and sometimes ugly but rich, and he always found a way to live a good life.
But in this world, it was different.
'Neither your mom nor your dad cares about you. You are a failure, unlike your brother.' Lisa's voice repeated in Jeremy's mind.
This was the sentence that she had spoken during their visit to the Asylum, and at that time, Jeremy didn't think of it as a big deal. But now? Not so much.
"I need to get their signatures, or in the worst case, I will copy their signature myself." Jeremy gritted his teeth.
[ BEEP! According to the Field Trip Rule Guide, the parents or guardians must give the signatures. In case of absence of both, the school principal may act as guardian. ]
And once again, the ever-present Aria came forward to douse every hope in Jeremy's body.
'Fuck! I can't even kill those bastards so I can get principal to sign! Stupid world!' Jeremy cursed.
The only option left was for him to convince his parents to give him their signs, either nicely or the hard way.
'All I know is I am going on the trip, no matter what.' Jeremy glanced at his phone coldly and thought of calling his mother back, but then realized he can't unlock the phone.
Luckily, during the call, he had noted down her cell-phone number which was flashing on the screen. So by lending a phone from his neighbor, he could give his mom a call.
And so he did.
"Hey can I take your mobile for a bit, it's urgent."
"Get lost fatty, don't talk to me!" *bang* the door was shut on his face.
"Can I use your mobile-"
"No." *bang*
"Can I…"
After trying his luck on all the houses on his floor, he finally received a single decent reply.
"Sure, 5 bucks for 1 minute of call."
IT WAS A SCAM! 5 bucks for one minute? It shouldn't even cost 1 buck for one hour!
Jeremy checked his pockets and money reserve, finding around 723 bucks for usage, so he didn't bother to play conservative at all.
"Fine 5 bucks for 1 minute, give me the phone!" Jeremy hissed, and the cold obnoxious blondie handed him his phone, scoffing and leaning on the handrail.
Jeremy quickly dialed his mother's number.
After 3 rings, she picked up the phone.
"Hello who is this?" her silky voice spoke on the other side, equally neutral and cold as she was with him.
'So she treats me like a stranger at this point… huh?'
"It's me." Jeremy took a deep breath.
'Come on, chill your heart. Is this really the first time I have been abandoned by a parent? No. Then what's this fuss about?'
"Luke." Linda scoffed dryly, "To what do I owe this displeasure?"
"I want to go to the field trip, Mother." Jeremy stressed the word 'mother', being sarcastic.
"I said no. You can't go without our permission." Linda replied coldly.
"I can if I disown you as my parents." Jeremy threw his ultimatum, alas, it didn't land.
"And I can make sure your request for disowning gets delayed till the field trip is gone. Without you." Linda was spitting ice at this point.
"…Why?" Jeremy didn't mean to do this, but maybe due to the remaining nature of Luke in his body, his voice cracked.
"Because your brother doesn't want anything to do with you." Finally, Linda managed an answer, "He said he wants to go to the field trip, but you shouldn't come. You are a disgrace to his friends.
And he doesn't want to get looked down upon, just because his brother is a weak little ugly football."
Although Linda pretended to be cold and dismissive, Jeremy could sense slight emotions and tremors in her voice. She was hurt. She felt bad saying whatever she was saying.
"He is in another class…" Jeremy's voice cracked again, but this time he didn't even bother to save it.
"…" Linda didn't reply for multiple seconds. And Jeremy knew what was happening.
Believe it or not, Linda was still Luke's birth mother. Luke was a child who came out of her own body… a part of her.
Hearing her child's voice cracking and hurt, which mother could not get overwhelmed by her maternal instincts?
Mothers were the most beautiful creatures created by gods for this same reason. Their selflessness towards their kin… was admirable.
"You… You can talk to your father about this." Linda took a deep breath and muttered, "Come home tonight and if he agrees, I will give you my signature."
"Will brother be there?" Jeremy questioned.
"Yes. He is here for the weekend. Are you scared of your own brother, Luke?"
"No, mother. I am disgusted to call him my own brother." Jeremy left a cold response and before she could recover, he continued.
"Send me the location of our house on this number, thank you, mother."
"No need, ask Aria to lead you to Orsics Household. Bye… son." Linda said the last word as low as a whisper as if she was holding herself back from saying it.
But her motherly instincts took over and before she knew it, she found herself burying her head into the mattress of her bed.
"Come home soon, Luke." She controlled her tears, laying on a huge plush bed with her head lowered.
'Aria, give me the directions to Orsics Household.'
Jeremy instantly gave the order to the AI in his mind, deleted his mother's number from his neighbor's phone and paid him 20 bucks for 4 minutes of call.
There was only one thing in his mind…
How to stop himself from pummeling his brother into a mess.