Waterloo Road - Moving On [COMPLETE]

Circles

"Jake? You alright?" asked Graham, sounding concerned, as he rushed into pastoral care.
"Yeah, it just hurts," I said, weakly.
"What did I tell you about picking fights?" he said, intensely.
"Graham, it wasn't entirely Jake's fault. I think he just needs our support right now, not a lecture," interjected Mr Mead.
"Very well then," said Graham. "Shall we get you home? What do you fancy for tea? Pizza?" I nodded, and tried to get up, but pain flooded through my body.
"I'll give you a hand there," said Mr Mead, rushing over. I smiled at him.
"It's fine, I'll get him. Come on lad," said Graham, gently pushing Mr Mead to the side and grabbing a hold of me, much less gentle than Mr Mead had. "We'll give him a day or two off, then bring him back in," he informed Mr Mead, then ushered me out. I could tell Mr Mead was giving him a dirty look.

After two days off, I returned to school. Kyle, Harry and Sam were parading me around the canteen, when Ethan walked up to me. He just glared at me, and the smile wiped off my face.
"Put me down," I instructed Kyle, as he lowered me off his shoulders. "Come on," I added, ushering Ethan out the room, and looking for a quiet place. Eventually, I found an unlocked English classroom.
"Did you hear what happened?" I asked him, sitting on the desk. He sat on the desk opposite me.
"Yeah. From Denzil," he said, bluntly.
"Look, I'm sorry," I began.
"Why didn't you call me?" he demanded.
"I wanted to, but Graham won't pay for a top up on my mobile," I moaned. "He pays for some of the other kids."
"Ask to use the care home phone then?" said Ethan.
"I did! He said it was only for an emergency! He said I was safe, not about to die or anything, so I had no reason to call you," I informed him, agitated.
"But I'm your brother. That's always the reason to call me," sighed Ethan.

There was a short silence, where we both just looked at each other.
"Try telling him that. All he knows is foster care, adoption. He doesn't understand that he'll never be my first family. I'll never be who he wants me to be. But you, dad, your my family. I can't stand not living with you," I said, trying not to cry.
"I could ask to move into the care home," said Ethan, kindly.
"You can't. It's for teenagers only. I'm not waiting two years to live with you again," I sighed, this time letting out a small tear.
"It's okay. I feel the same way," said Ethan, sitting next to me. We leaned on each other, comforting one another, and talked about memories from before everything got like this.

"What are you pair doing in here?" asked Mr Clarkson, barging in the room. I wiped my eyes quickly, and turned to face him.
"Nothing, just catching up. You know, because I've not been allowed to talk to my brother since we left dad's" I snapped, storming out the room. I was starting to go full circle. Mr Mead had convinced me moving into care was for the best, but now I wanted to be in that hell hole again, but with Ethan.
"Jake! Jake!" shouted Mr Clarkson, but he did not follow me, and ran off in the other direction. I decided to follow him, so I doubled back on myself. He had gone straight to Mr Mead's room, and bound in to talk to him. I sneaked behind the glass, and started to listen in.
"I found him in my classroom, talking to Ethan. He seemed pretty upset, he was crying, but he stormed off as soon as I said anything," informed Mr Clarkson.
"Jake was crying?" said Mr Mead, sounding shocked.
"Yeah, I know," agreed Mr Clarkson.
"He's always put a strong front up, especially in front of Ethan. Something serious must be up with him," reasoned Mr Mead. "That Graham seemed pretty shifty to me. I bet it's something to do with him." And with that, I left.

I hovered outside Ethan's classroom, trying to get his attention. Eventually, he saw me and I watched as he asked to go to the toilet. We walked down the corridor a bit, then I turned to speak to him.
"Look, it's okay because Mead and Clarkson, they're suspicious of Graham so once they go in they'll sort it," I smiled.
"Yeah but what about until then?" asked Ethan.
"It won't be long, Ethan, I promise," I reassured him, but I could tell he wasn't buying it. He paused before he spoke.
"Here," he said, pulling a ten pound note out of his pocket. "Have this and you can top up your phone."
"I'm not taking your money," I said shaking my head.
"I want you to. For me more than anything. So we can keep talking," he sighed.
"Okay then," I said, defeated. "Now get back to class," I added, patting him on the shoulder.

I got to my first class, maths with Mr Chalk, ten minutes late.
"Nice to have you back, Jake, shame you couldn't make it in time," he said.
"Sorry sir," I muttered, taking my seat next to Sam at the back. I could tell Finn was glaring at me.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
"Just sorting something out," I said bluntly, and she looked concerned. "Don't worry, I haven't done anything stupid."
"I didn't think you- anyway, is it fine now?" she smiled.
"Yeah, I just wish I could get him to give it a rest," I said, nodding at Finn. He was still staring at me, and when Sam looked up he turned around.
"Well a few of us are going out tonight. You should invite him, just to the park for a kick about and some beers," she suggested.
"Okay, I'll try," I said, looking up to see Mr Chalk wasn't paying any attention. I quietly went over to Finn's desk and sat down in front of him.
"What do you want?" he snapped.
"Listen, a group of us are going out to the park after school if you're interested. Bit of booze you know," I said.
"You think I'd want to go anywhere with you?" he continued.
"No. But you won't want to miss out on some fun. There will be loads of us going, we don't even have to speak," I pointed out. I could tell by his expression that he was thinking of something.
"Okay, I'll be there," he smiled, as the bell went.

"Finn's coming," I said to Kyle and Josh as we walked down the corridor. I could see Ethan just ahead of me and I smiled to him.
"Thought you didn't want anything to do with us?" smirked Kyle to Finn who was walking down the corridor behind us.
"I don't. But it will be a perfect time to put him in his place. No teachers for protection or anything," he said angrily, then walked off.
"You can't go now. Finn's proper mental about all this, you'll never walk again!" moaned Josh. I could see Ethan was still around, but when I acknowledged him he ran off.
"It'll be fine, honest. Sharkey couldn't hurt me even if he tried," I answered.
"What about last time?" pointed out Kyle.
"It'll be fine, I swear. Less painful than being in that hell-hole of a kids home," I said, marching off.