Everett's POV

“Vicki! I just found my link!” I heard the girl behind me whisper-yell into her cell phone. “No, like just about ten minutes ago! It was amazing! He was tall and handsome and….”

I tuned out of the fairly annoying conversation. This bus was way too crowded and the fast pace of my heart reminded me why i usually avoided public transportation. My head hurt and the girl behind me just wouldn’t shut the hell up.

I didn’t care much for this whole “link” thing considering I’d never find mine, but that’s a story for another time.

I watched the scenery pass by through the dirty bus window as I desperately wished my piece of shit car hadn’t broken down the day before. I didn’t have the money to get it fixed which meant an indefinite amount of time taking the bus to and from work.

I worked as a secretary. The money was ehhh, but i didn’t have to interact with that many people, so basically it was right up my ally. It was a lot of paperwork and organization which i strangely enjoyed. I was fresh out of high school and fairly lucky to have the job in the first place, so I wasn’t planning on complaining about it anytime soon.

I had to first focus on getting enough money to get out of the boy’s home I was put in after the police got tired of the constant “disputes” between my father and I.

My fists clenched as my thoughts took me to dark places that I didn’t want to go to.

I looked up for the first time since getting on the bus, being very careful not to look directly at anyone.

It was almost my stop. I grabbed the small backpack I carried and got ready to make my departure from the bus that smelled like sweat and baby spit up.

When the bus stopped at the bus stop that was located only about ¼ of a mile from the boy’s home, i got up and tried to hurry off like my life depended on it.

Unfortunate for me, i was never very coordinated, so to my devastation, I tripped over one of the grooves in the floor. Before i could fully fall, a hand had already caught my elbow trying to steady me.

The contact brought tears to my eyes and i didn’t dare look up at the owner of the hand.

“Are you alright?” the person, a male by the sound of his deep voice, asked in a concerned tone.

I just nodded my head and pulled my arm away, afraid that if I responded even quietly, the tears that were threatening to come out, would definitely overflow.

I quickly got off the bus and ran the rest of the way to my residence.

**************

I quietly walked into the house, trying to not disturb anyone. It was only about 8:30pm considering that i got off of work at 8:00, but I liked to make sure everyone else in the house barely remembered I existed. It worked better that way.

My heart was finally calming down from the incident on the bus, and the wind outside had dried the tears, so even if someone were to see me, there would be no reason to verbally approach me about anything. Or at least that was what I thought.

“Hey, mute boy!”

I continued walking toward the stairs that went to the second floor and more importantly my room, which I shared with one other boy. I was staring at my shoes when I felt Jason yank my shoulder back and make me face him, or at least face in his direction.

“Oh, so you’re mute and deaf now? What a killer combo.” I knew he was smirking at me without even having to look at him.

“Can’t you just leave me alone for once?” I asked barely audibly.

He chuckled and said “It finally spoke! What a pretty voice you have there. I almost feel moved!” He laughed again “but to answer your question, what fun would that be Evy?”

Jason grabbed my wrist which legitimately made me want to vomit, and drug me to his room which was on the first floor. He was the son of the owner of the boy’s home, so basically, he could get away with anything. He was also a horny bastard who didn’t care who he was with as long as his dick was inside of something. He hadn’t found his link yet and I don’t think he planned on staying with them even when he did.

He harassed me every few nights. Whenever the mood hit him and he wanted a target I guess. I was an easy target because of my quiet and reserved demeanor compared to the other boys who were mostly all here because their families thought it was a way of reforming them. It was basically a house for delinquent bad boys. I didn’t fit the bill, but what with my age and my circumstances, this was where I was placed for the time being.

He threw me on his bed and my head hit the hard wooden headboard bringing tears to my eyes. He pinned my hands above my head. I squirmed beneath his grip, which earned me a swift punch to the gut with the hand that he wasn't using to pin my hands. “Just be cooperative this time kid. You should feel lucky! Do you even know how many people beg me to fuck them senseless?”

I was silently crying without even know it. I had my eyes squeezed shut. “Then why don’t you go after one of them and leave me alone?”  

“Chatty tonight now aren’t we?” Jason said sarcastically.

He grabbed my chin in his hands and forced me to look up at him. My eyes were still squeezed shut. My stomach hurt and I felt like throwing up. “Look at me!” He demanded.

I ignored him, keeping my eyes closed and feeling tears trail down my face. “I said look at me!” He punched me again, which forced my eyes open from the shock of the blow. My eyes stared directly into his which were just inches away from mine.

“No…” I whimpered softly before the impending darkness, that had been threatening me since he forced me into this anxiety attack, finally engulfed me.

Before everything went entirely black, I heard the door open and I heard the voice of my roommate Renry, saying “What the fuck Jason! Let go of the poor kid!” and footsteps approaching my now limp body.

Then I was left to the whims of my subconscious mind.

Surprisingly though, my mind wandered to the scene on the bus earlier, and to the man who tried to offer me kindness much to the dismay of my anxiety ridden body.

Regardless of that though, a complete stranger had offered me some kind of kindness. I realized that my mind was turning it into a comforting memory instead of one of fear.

I was confused, but I welcomed the change as I sunk into the memories that my mind was providing me with. It even offered me all kinds of scenarios of what it would be like to make friends with that person and have someone to trust, even though i knew that would never happen and he was just a stranger that I’d most likely never meet again.

I never wanted to wake up from it and face my reality which seemed like a nightmare itself, but i really didn’t get what I wanted very often, and this was no exception.

My eyes fluttered open to look up at the tiled ceiling of my bedroom.

“You’re awake. I hope you’re feeling a bit better. I’m sorry about that asshole. He gets fucked up and can’t control himself sometimes.”

Renry, my roommate, was an old school friend of Jason’s. I could tell he was a good guy, but he would stick up for Jason until his dying breath.

I just turned over and faced the wall, pretending to go back to sleep. Renry sighed and turned out the light. “Goodnight Everett.”
***************

Ok guys! I know this first chapter was a bit intense, but I hope you can keep with it. It’s gonna get better and it will have a good amount of happy and funny parts!

Vote and comment! I really want to know what you guys think so far!