Chapter Twelve:

"Are you sure you don't need anything, honey?" My mum asked me as she slowly began backing out of my room.

"I'm sure mum. I'm fine, I swear," I told her.

My mum sighed and pursed her lips, acting as if she wanted to say something more. However, she just shook her head slightly and gently shut the door to my bedroom. Once I heard her footsteps recede down the hallway I let my own sigh escape my lips.

As I had figured, my ankle had been broken. It wasn't a horrible break, in fact it was a pretty clean break, but it was enough to put me in a cast for a few weeks.

My mum had been babying me since the incident, which I knew was coming. However, one night when I was struggling to the bathroom, I had heard my mum crying to my brother about how it was all her fault that I had broken my ankle. It broke my heart to hear cry like that. She hadn't cried with that sort of force since the incident with my father.

I wanted to talk to her desperately, to assure her that she was not the reason I broke my ankle. Hell, I longed for anyone to talk to me about the situation. But, that conversation seemed months away so I would have to keep quiet until the time was right.

My brother was treating me differently too. He'd get off work earlier just so he could get me from school. Then he'd drop me off back at the house while he made a grocery run, getting every junk food he knew I loved. When he came home he'd hang out with me in my room, urging me to play video games with him until I had to get started on homework.

I enjoyed the time my brother and I spent with each other. Ever since he had gotten a well-paying job, he typically didn't have time for shenanigans or pranks or anything we used to do. It was nice having that time back to bond with my brother.

However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for him either.

Bzzzz... Bzzzzz...

I looked over at my brother watching him set the xbox controller down and retrieve his phone from his pocket. He whispered 'boss' and got up from my bed, obviously taking the call and stepping into the hallway. Through my door, I listened to the hushed voice my brother used.

"Yes, I know Jerry, I'm sorry. I'll come in over the weekend and make up for the time. – Pay-cut? Don't you think that's a little ha-... - No, sir. – Yes, this'll be the last week. – Night shift... - No, that's fair. – Yes, I'll see you-."

My brother sighed audibly and gently opened my door back up. I pretended to be busy, continuing to build a farm. My brother plastered a fake smile on his face and sat back down next to me, beginning to collect wood once more.

It worried me the risks he was taking to spend time with me. What if he was fired? My mum didn't make enough money to support all three of us.

What if we had to move back to England?

The thought sent a shiver down my spine. England was where my father was. England was where my nightmares happened. England was the place I feared more than anything.

And if we had to move back? Oh god, I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be too horrified to do anything.

But I was getting ahead of myself. All the scenarios were 'what if's. And that was worst case scenario. That wouldn't actually happen. My luck couldn't be that awful.

Right?

"Hey, Gav, coach told me to tell you that he wants you at practice. At least for the beginning of it," Holden told me at the end of my last class. Nodding, I grabbed my books and shoved them into my backpack. Geoff grabbed my crutches and handed them to me, grabbing my backpack afterwards and carrying it for me. I muttered a quiet 'thank you' as I hobbled out of the classroom, calling out a 'have a nice night' to the teacher.

"Do you want me to wait for you while you go to practice or do you think you're good?" Geoff asked me as he helped me pack up my backpack.

"Nah, I think I'm fine. If you see my brother outside through, tell him I'm going to be a couple minutes late," I told Geoff, watching him nod and hand me my backpack.

"Have fun lugging that around," Geoff mused, clapping me gently on the shoulder and running down the hall to catch up to Ryan, Jack and Ray.

I adjusted my backpack so it sat a little more comfortably on my shoulders and began making my way to the gym where I knew practice would be at. I began wondering the possible reasons why coach wanted me at this particular practice. Was there some sort of huge announcement he was going to make? Or maybe he just wanted me to give some pointers to the temporary point guard and shooting guard. Whatever it was, the ideas swarmed in my mind, turning my head into a beehive.

When the gym came into sight, I immediately noticed the crowded gym. Eyes narrowing as I began to become even more confused, I headed inside the gym catching the attention of at least a dozen people.

The guidance counselor and coach came over to me and ushered me to the front of the circle. I locked eyes with a few people, all of them displaying the same confused look as me. Surprisingly, I even saw Geoff, Ryan, Jack, and Ray amongst the crowd, all of them having identical facial expressions to the rest of the crowd.

When I made it to the front of what I now realized was a circle, I was shocked to see Arron standing in the center of said circle with Michael standing just a couple feet away.

"Alright so the faster you all quiet down and cooperate, the faster you can all leave. Now, all of you were present to witness an act of harassment or bullying between Michael Jones and Arron Gorrazo at a party hosted by Arron. It only recently came to my attention by a student who will remain anonymous that said harassment was happening during school hours. It pains me to think that this has been going on for so long with no one stepping forward and reporting it until now. So, I will make this announcement again. If you witness an act of harassment and do not report it, you are just as much the criminal as the person committing the act. I know many probably think it's an act of weakness to 'tattle' on another student, but physical and verbal harassment is not to be tolerated by any circumstance." The guidance counselor said. She did make a point of looking at me during the reporting portion of the announcement and I made sure to look away from her gaze as to not draw attention to myself.

"Now then, I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Arron's suspension. Because of the upcoming rematch game, we need another experienced player desperately, so Miss. Broughton and I have decided that if Arron publicly admits his mistake and apologizes for what he did, his suspension will be uplifted. So, go ahead Arron," Coach said, beaming at his star player as if he was as innocent as could be.

However, I wasn't given a chance to listen to Arron's speech as my thoughts and fears came tumbling down on me. Arron wasn't being properly punished for his wrongdoing. He was being treated as a kindergartener who had stolen another classmate's blocks. This was awful. If anyone else had committed such an act, they'd be given full suspension and the cold shoulder from staff. But not Arron. Arron could wiggle his way out of anything.

And Michael knew that.

Looking at him, I could see how much he hated this. For once, he didn't have to constantly live in fear of getting beaten, and now, because the coach favored Arron so heavily, Michael's break was ending prematurely. Coach didn't care if this may cost the sanity of another student. He would give anything to show the other schools that he was superior.

Then Arron. Oh, how I wished I could wipe that smug look off his face. He knew what he was getting away with. And knowing who he was, he was certainly going to go back to his antics immediately after this was over. He wouldn't let the school get in the way of his power trip.

But the reason I had a deep sinking feeling in my stomach was this.

This was all my fault.
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Yo. Remember me? No? lol that's okay I don't remember me either.

So, a few months, lots of great memes, and shitty trends later and I finally update. YAYAYAY! So, I'm starting to get my shit together but after I wrote this chapter I kept thinking, ah fuck I have nothing planned after this. Or at least, I have stuff planned but it would be very sudden and weird if I just randomly decided to throw it in next chapter so ayyy, help. Help me please.

Lol this is getting pathetic. But seriously if y'all have any ideas, leave 'em in the comments. I will of course give you credits as always.

Alright. Hopefully next chapter won't take forever to update. Hopefully.

AYYYYYY BYE FRENS!!!!!!

PS: (Did you know this means PostScript. I didn't until seventh grade. Thanks Mr. T! Teaching the important stuff!) I didn't proofread so bear with me if there are mistakes.