text: [Themes: family friendly, humor]
  
  Whatever was in that cup looked and smelled horrible, so you shook your head. No way were you about to ingest that, especially if you didn't know what it was.
  
  "Yeah, no thanks. Maybe another day, when I'm legal." You said it simply, and the student merely shrugged, gulping down the rest of it themselves.
  
  "Whatever you say! More for me."
  
  They wobbled off, and you met the gazes of Rose and Gil, who seemed disappointed that you didn't join them in drinking, but they knew better than to make you do anything you didn't want to do.
  
  The two of them decided to leave you be, probably to avoid accidentally pissing you off, because you were already hating this party. Too loud, too many people, to much booze. You didn't like this type at all. It was why you didn't really go to them.
  
  You headed into the living room, before it got too full with people, and you noticed both Olivia and Henry were in here. Henry was sitting on the couch, watching a re-run of Friends and ignoring everyone else, and Olivia was standing in the doorway to the patio, talking to a group of her friends.
  
  > talk to Henry
  You decided to talk to Henry, sitting next to him on the couch, and he glanced to you. He seemed to be ignoring you, almost.
  
  "Look, I'm sorry."
  
  "I know."
  
  "This party's lame."
  
  "I know."
  
  "We're leaving, huh?"
  
  "Absolutely. Wanna come over? We can still hang out."
  
  > go to Henry's
  Henry's home was a small place, but it was quaint and much more home-y than yours. It looked like people lived there, at least. Your mom cleaned the house so much that you neither worried about chores, nor did you feel comfortable there. It was like a house of mannequins.
  
  His family was asleep, and so you went up to his room with him. He plopped down on the bed and asked you what you wanted to do.
  
  > Play games
  You two hopped on the game system Henry had and played around for a bit.
  
  > Sleep
  You laid down on the bed with him, and soon enough, you both fell asleep.\
  
  You could do homework in the morning.
  
  > Continue
  The next day, Henry woke you at promptly five in the morning, and he made you pancakes. The rest of his family had already left for the morning, and so the house was quiet. You were both too tired to talk much, so you spent your time watching television until Henry called you to get in the car and head to school.
  
  > School
  Once at school, you didn't see Henry or Rose and Gil while there, and so the day passed slowly. You didn't have any classes with them, just lunch, so you had to pass your day mostly alone.
  
  It gave you time to think on some things.
  
  You had plenty of time to finish your project, for sure. You'd been working intermittently through your classes on it, and with it due on Thursday, you figured that two more days was plenty of time to finish.
  
  Yes, you could do it.
  
  But the odd part...you felt a lot like Hamlet.
  
  Your father had been killed only a few months ago, though not nearly as dramatically as Hamlet's, in a car crash. It had...sucked, immediately afterwards. It still sucked. How you functioned, well, that was a question you couldn't even answer.
  
  But, you were okay. You had to be okay. If you weren't, what was the point?
  
  Lunch rolled around and you sat with Henry, ignoring Rose and Gil. You didn't want to be around them so much now -- the party, you knew, had been terrible, full of booze and bad things, and there were too many things that could have gone wrong, had you hung out with them.
  
  You were going to keep your distance, for now.
  
  At the end of the day, Henry drove you both to your house.
  
  > Continue
  When you got home with Henry, your mom greeted you at the door, grinning a little strangely, almost forced. She gestured to a plate of cookies, explaining she had baked all day and that you and Henry could help yourselves to the cake in the fridge, too, and that there was plenty of milk.
  
  You two grabbed some snacks and settled at the table to eat.
  
  > talk to your mom.
  "Hey, mom."
  
  Your mom glanced at you.
  
  "Yes, sweetie?"
  
  You decided to ask her about how her day went, and she seemed surprised. You and your mom hadn't gotten along too well after your father's death, because you felt she'd...not cared very much. She gave you a faltering smile.
  
  She was pretending, too, you realised.
  
  You, your mom, and Henry all talked for awhile, and somehow, you felt better about that.
  
  You wondered, maybe, if Hamlet had just spoken to his mother, if things could have gotten better, if he could have found a better way to deal revenge, or salvaged his bond with his mother...
  
  Henry left after a few hours, and you went up into your room.
  
  It was late. You worked on your homework for awhile.
  
  > look at the photo on your desk.
  You looked at the photo on your desk, of your father.
  
  Hell, you missed him. You wanted nothing more than to end the life of whoever killed him, but that obviously not an option. Sadly, the old tales of revenge couldn't count for you, and you had the restraint of the law holding you back. You knew, in theory, that could be avoided, and often was, you had no confidence in your own ability to hide such a crime.
  
  You could remember your dad's laugh, the way he used to play with you when you were young. You could remember his voice, the way he used to yell too loudly at the television playing games, or yell at or horror movie characters that made dumb decisions.
  
  You felt tears slip down your face.
  
  Pretending was hard, sometimes.
  
  > Continue
  One day left to work on the play, and you were pretty confident that you were on track for it. One day, then tomorrow morning you had to turn it in. You were sure you'd get at least a B, if not an A.
  
  You rode to school with Henry, and parted ways at the door of the school.
  
  You finished a majority of the script throughout class and hung out with Henry at lunch, noting the dirty looks that Rose and Gil kept sending to Henry. How concerning. You'd have to confront them sometime. Henry merely shrugged when you asked him about it.
  
  You heard, at some point, that Olivia's father had gone missing, and you tried to be comforting. She appreciated your effort.
  
  Following your usual routine, you went home with Henry, and you spoke with your mom again. An easy night. You finished the play, and it probably wasn't the greatest, but hey, you had done your best. Or, close to it.
  
  Your mom was acting a little odd, though. You wondered why before falling asleep.
  
  > Finish
  You turned in your play that morning, and you were happy about it. You spent the rest of the day relaxing.
  
  Olivia came to you that day and thanked you for being kind to her yesterday. She said she had been really down and didn't know what she would have done if you hadn't helped out, in your own way. She kissed your cheek and asked if she could sit next to you at lunch. You stuttered out an unclear yes and she laughed as she walked away.
  
  Rose and Gil were completely ignoring you, and you figured that was totally fine. Rumor had it that they were moving at the end of the year again.
  
  You hung out with Henry, and you were surprised when your mother confronted you at hom, in tears.
  
  She had sent Rose and Gil to be your friends, to watch over you, to help you be okay, and she was sorry she hadn't realised you just wanted to work it out, and she realized that Henry was probably the best way to go. You felt a little betrayed, but you forgave her, because you didn't have the heart to do anything, to yell or be angry. She had been worried.
  
  You got a B on your play, and you were rather satisfied.
  
  You may have been a good pretender, as Hamlet was, but at least no one had died because of it.