Break Free

Chapter Nine

Phoenix sighed to himself as he sat with his two only friends at their house. Rob and Joe were half asleep on the couch. The ginger thought about his two friends who were long gone and he didn't know if he'd ever see either of them again.

Brad's dad was offered a job in Arizona not long after Mike disappeared. He had graduated there and started working as a janitor for the school his mom was working at. He still lived with them but was trying to get money to come live with Phoenix, Joe, and Rob again. He also wanted to get back to searching for their long lost friend.

Nobody stopped looking for Mike but the search never went outside of California. Some thought he ran away but anyone who knew him instantly crossed that theory out. He would never run away. He had a great life ahead of him and now it seemed like he vanished without a trace.

Everyone missed Mike most of all because at least they could still talk to Brad. They didn't even know where Mike was. The guys all Skyped Brad from time to time but they all felt an individual emptiness for their lost friend.

A knock at the door startled Phoenix and tore him out of his own thoughts. The other guys woke up as Phoenix opened the door to see Mike's younger brother, Jay. They all grew particularly close with Jay after Mike disappeared.

"Hey, guys." Jay greeted them somewhat warmly and gave Phoenix a hug.

"Hey, Jay. What's up?" The bassist asked, allowing Jay to step through the threshold and into the house that Phoenix, Rob, and Joe shared.

"Just bored and needed somewhere to chill. What have you guys been up to?" He asked in turn and Phoenix just shrugged, not able to get Mike off his mind at the moment. "Are you thinking about Mike?"

"Yeah." He admitted and silence hung around the room for a few moments.

"I am too." Rob spoke up in a shaky voice. Rob never talked about Mike after he disappeared, only helped search, so everyone in the room was especially heartbroken at the drummer's words.

"Same." Joe sighed and Jay frowned.

"Mom and dad think he's dead." Jay admitted and everyone looked at him in shock. They believed Donna and Muto would never give up on their missing son. "Maybe it's best to think of it that way."

"What do you mean?! No, Mike's alive. He has to be!" Phoenix snapped but his features softened at the brother's saddened eyes.

"It's best to think of him dead." Jay repeated. "If he was alive, he could be getting raped o-or tortured. It's... It's best if he's dead."

"Well, he's not. And you can't make him that way. This is reality, Jay. You can't push it away. He's alive out there, I know he is!" Phoenix said persistently. Joe and Rob fell into a silent trance as they pair fought.

"What if he is, Phi? Don't ignore that he also could be dead."

"Could be." Phoenix agreed sourly. "But he isn't. I won't believe he's dead until I personally see the body."

"Guys!" Joe suddenly interrupted and before he could continue, someone started calling over Skype on the computer. Phoenix instantly went to answer.

"Hey, BBB." He greeted as warmly as he could, not wanting to talk about Mike anymore. The grief inside him for his friend was overwhelming.

"Hey, Phi. What're you guys up to?" Brad asked with a smile. He was always happy whenever he called his friends. He couldn't be otherwise.

"Oh, the usual."

"Sleeping?"

"Yup. You?" Phoenix asked and Brad groaned, standing to show his janitor uniform. All the guys bursted into laughter. He was out for about a week and they had changed his uniform on him while he was gone. It had extremely short, creme colored shorts and an ugly, mucus green butterfly shirt that went along with a un-matching deep brownish purple. It looked absolutely horrible. "That's so great!"

"No, it's not! Remember I'm doing this for you idiots." Brad scowled and Phoenix tried to kill the laughter inside of him.

"Is your mom at least enjoying working at they school?" Phoenix asked with a grin breaking his features and Brad shrugged.

"I don't even know, the students seem to like her though."

"I wonder why..." Joe smirked. "They all want a piece of Mrs. Delson."

"Joe!" Brad shrieked and covered his eyes. "No! No! And no!"

"Mmm, they think the Janitor's mother looks tasty." Joe continued and Brad let out a low scream at the thought.

"Joe! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Brad repeated and scratched at his eyes. "I'll never see those students the same way again."

"Any hot girls there?" Phoenix smirked and added, "Other than your mom?"

"PHOENIX!" Brad snapped and Dave giggled. "I guess, I don't care though. I'm in and out. Instantly."

"What's the grossest thing you ever cleaned?" Rob chipped in finally, breaking away from his silence.

"Well besides all the chewed gum, throw up, and blood stains from people getting bullied... I'd say the teacher's bathroom. Mr. Aoki, always takes a massive shi-"

"Okay! That's enough!" Phoenix interrupted and Brad looked at his watch.

"Oh. I'll be late. Good. Bye, guys." Brad said and signed off before anyone could return the farewell.

"Brad's gross." Joe said, earning a light slap from Phoenix on the arm.

"Says the guy who digs his mom."

"I don't dig his mom!"

"Yeah... Right." Phoenix rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"I don't!"

"Mmhmm." Rob added and Joe shouted nonsense in frustration.

~

Chester was somewhat disappointed when Mike didn't chase after him when he arrived at the bathroom. He didn't care too much though and started washing himself up. He instantly washed his face and was thankful that his skin hadn't turned blue but his hair had a light tint. His arms were also somewhat toned blue but everything else was fine.

He still had his clothes on though and was contemplating what to do about it when Mr. Aoki stepped in. He handed Chester some clothes, way too big for him.

"I know this is extremely large for you but it was all the office had for spare clothing. Don't worry, it's clean." He said with a small smile. "I'm sorry about those boys' actions. I'll be sure they get a proper punishment."

"Thank you." Chester muttered quietly and Mr. Aoki's heart started to ache for the boy. He knew what fate had in store for him. He knew he couldn't get connected like Mike had.

Chester went into a stall and quickly changed. He went back to the sink to wash himself a bit more before grabbing paper towels.

Mr. Aoki suddenly thought this was a perfect opportunity to help Mike out a little. If he could convince Chester that Mike was no good, the pair would stop being friends and Mike could hand him over and go home.

"Where's Mike?" Chester asked softly and Mr. Aoki froze. Moments ago, he saw Mike and another boy, a janitor, hugging in the hallway for some reason. He couldn't think too much of it but he hoped they still were with each other. Maybe Chester would think Mike replaced him with someone else. He only knew the boys were friends but it went much deeper than that.

"Out in the hallway, come." Mr. Aoki said and the pair left the bathroom. Chester stopped in place when he saw Mike and some boy he didn't know. They were hugging and both in tears. Chester instantly felt hurt and when the other boy kissed Mike's head, he had enough. His eyes watered up and he quickly ran as far as he could. He didn't know where he'd go but he knew he couldn't stay here.

Mr. Aoki watched him go. He felt incredibly guilty and hurt. He saw the tears in Chester's eyes and didn't comfort him. The teacher returned to class and left Mike and the other boy remain embraced in each other's arms as the smaller boy left to who knows where.

'It was for Mike's own good.' Mr. Aoki thought to himself.

~

"Mike?!" A familiar voice stopped Mike in his tracks. The boy turned around to see his old friend, Brad. All the emotions came at once and the two raced to each other and enveloped into a deathly tight hug.