"Andromedous Collins Parkinson! Hurry up, we're meeting the governor today!" came a shrill voice from the first floor.

  As soon as the voice had called, a mop of teal hair poked out from behind a bed.

  "Coming, mother!" he called.

  Andrew hated when his mother used his full name. But his family was always extremely formal, especially for special occasions.

  "Andromedous!"

  He quickly jumped up, clutching the book he was holding, and hurried down the stairs.

  His mother looked him up and down, sneering at his appearance.

  “You really need to tame that rat’s nest you call hair.” she stated coldly.

  Andrew’s cheeks flushed and he turned away from her gaze.

  He quickly followed her out of their large house, through the massive gate, and into a parked car.

  “Remember boy, you are not to speak, touch anything, or bother us while we are talking.” his father whispered in his ear.

  He nodded slightly, never taking his eyes off the floor of the car.

  Says the dude who can’t shut up about his perfect reputation. Andrew thought.

  * * *

  “You know it’s not like they’re the worst parents to have.” the boy next to him said sarcastically.

  “Sure, Ryan.” Andrew responded dryly, “And I’m the queen of England.”

  His friend just chuckled and looked out at the forest surrounding the property.

  Ryan had been one of Andrew’s best friends for years. He was a dog hybrid, which gave him not only ears and a tail, but an incredible sense of hearing, smell, and sight.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Andrew sighed, “What should we do tomorrow?”

  Ryan's tail started to wag as he spoke, “Maybe we could go to the lake! You love doing that!”

  He laughed at his friend’s antics, finally happy after a long day.

  But before he could respond, the sound of a branch snapping echoed through the night.

  Both of their heads snapped around, searching for the origin of the sound.

  What they didn’t expect was for a voice behind them to whisper into their ears.

  “Hey Idiots.”

  Andrew and Ryan nearly jumped out of their skin. They both got ready to defend themselves until they saw who it was.

  “Amanda!” Ryan shouted, “You promised to stop trying to scare us!”

  But Amanda was laughing too hard to pay attention to what either of them were saying.

  “You should have seen your faces!” She was so busy laughing, she didn’t realize that she was about to fall off the roof.

  The two of them quickly grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the edge.

  Ryan soon started laughing along with her with Andrew not far behind. They sat there laughing for a while, all their worries drifting away.

  But nothing good can last forever.

  “Andrew! Where are you?!” his mother called.

  All three of them jumped at the tone in her voice. She was definitely upset.

  “Well… I better go.” Andrew said quietly.

  He waved goodbye to his friends and sneaked back in through his window. His parents took everything from him, but he wouldn’t let them take his friends.

  Sitting on his bead he called back.

  “I’m in here mother.”

  The door swung open and the slender woman walked toward him.

  “Where have you been?” she said quietly.

  Andrew took a deep breath. She knew that he hadn’t been in his room, that was the first place she would have checked.

  “The garden, mother.” he replied haughtily.

  His mother glared at him, but without a word left his room.

  “Well… at least nothing else could go wrong.”