Kids whisper at school events. Parents give him long looks, then turn to me with that tight smile—“Well… he’s expressing himself.”
“Do you really let him go out like that?”
“He looks… aggressive.”
And the worst one:
“Kids like that always end up in trouble.”
I always give the same answer.
“He’s a good kid.”
Because he is.
He holds doors open. Pets every dog he passes. Makes Lily laugh on FaceTime when she’s stressed. Hugs me in passing, then pretends he didn’t.
But I still worry.
I worry that the way people see him will become the way he sees himself. That one mistake will stick harder because of the hair, the jacket, the image.
Last Friday night changed all of that.
It was brutally cold—the kind that seeps into the house no matter how high you turn up the heat.
Lily had just gone back to campus. The house felt empty.
Jax grabbed his headphones and pulled on his jacket.
“Going for a walk,” he said.
“At night? It’s freezing,” I replied.
“All the better to vibe with my bad life choices,” he deadpanned.
I rolled my eyes. “Be back by 10.”
He gave a mock salute with one gloved hand and headed out.
I went upstairs to deal with laundry.
I was folding towels on my bed when I heard it.
A faint, broken cry.
I froze.
