This Little World of Mine

Chp. 11

Er, I apologize for making you guys wait so long. It's becoming more evident to me that I am a terrible updater.

But since you're so excited, why don't you fave and comment anyway.

Enjoy xx

I managed to suffer through school, despite seeing girls that weren't my girlfriend around every single frickin' corner.

She wasn't even technically my girlfriend, but I feel like we skipped a few steps there anyway, so I guess it didn't really matter.

"Matthew!" I heard my name being called, so i turned around- just in time to get my nose broken by Arthur.

I shook it off a little, even though I could feel the blood streaming out of my nose. "Wha'd'ya want, Arthur?"

"I want a lot of things, but this will satisfy me for now." He caught me twice in the stomach and held me against a locker, the lock jamming into my back. I was breathing heavy, choking on my own blood, but the psychopath wouldn't let up.

"Arthur..." I moaned quietly. In attempt to punch him back, I ended up catching my shirt on his belt. I also didn't actually make contact with him, otherwise.

"Peters, what are you doing? Stop that!" He nailed me right in the ribs. Over and over again he repeated the same routine, until eventually I was sprawled on the ground, probably not going to get up for a while.

"That'll teach you to take my girl, Peters." He kicked me one final time before spinning around and leaving.

"Matt! Matt!" a figure leaned over me and shook me.

"Idiot! You could hurt him worse, Pace. Leave him be." That figure I could recognize as Lucy, and based on what she said, the other was Pace.

"I am the grammar Nazi! I could hurt him more, not worse," Pace argued, but he stopped all the same.

"His shirt is coated in blood. What happened?"

"I wasn't with him. I had to go, er, talk to Delilah."

"That's really great, Pace, but why didn't you stay with him?"

"I told you-"

"He could have gone with you."

"No. No, he couldn't have."

"Yes-"

"Besides, why wasn't he with you? You two were going home together after school!"

"Don't pin this on me! It's not my fault! I don't even know who did this!"

"Take a wild guess, Lucy! Take a guess!"

"Arthur wouldn't-"

"You know what he's done to you, why wouldn't he do it to Matt?"

"Matt told you?" Lucy had stopped yelling. She started to sound a little defensive, but then her voice trembled. "Why would he- Arthur did this to him, didn't he? Why wouldn't he fight back?"

"Because he's a coward. Your new boyfriend is a coward, Lucy. He wasn't man enough to stand up to somebody else, except to make the first move." I could hear it in Arthur's voice. He knew what she would do. He knew that she would take his word as gospel because that's what she'd always done.

"Matt is not a coward! Matt does not start fights!" Pace shouted.

"Well he did, he caught me in the hip and tore me shirt," he pointed to the piece that was ripped when he pulled away from me, "so I fought back. He wouldn't relent, he just kept resisting."

Arthur made it sound almost like I was the bad guy, there. I tried to stand up, but I probably had some broken bones, so I stayed flat on the sidewalk.

"That doesn't sound like Matt," Lucy said, though she sounded unsure.

"That's what happened, though. He attacked me." I've got to admit, Arthur was good at making things up on the spot.

"I can't believe Matt would do that!" Lucy moved further away from me, and closer to Arthur.

"Can't you see he's manipulating you?" Pace asked angrily. "Can't you see he's trying to turn you against Matt?"

"When has Arthur ever lied to me?" I was losing her. She had stopped believing in me; all because of a stupid, egotistical guy with a god complex.

"You know Arthur, right? He's and egotistical idiot with a god complex," thank you, Pace. This is why we're friends. "He beat you. He probably lied every step of the way. There is absolutely no reason to trust him on this."

Arthur probably glared at pace before he and Lucy walked away, but I couldn't see it.

"Lucy! Lucy please! Think about this! Why are you doing this?" Pace called her name for a solid minute before he gave up hope. Then, he plopped down beside me. "Look, man, we'll get her back somehow, but first, we should probably get you to the doctor."