Speak Up

Chapter 6

As soon as I arrive at school the next morning, I search for Emily. I keep a look out for Liam, knowing he was somewhere around the school, waiting for me.

It doesn't take me long to find her, standing at one of her friends' lockers. They laugh at something. The sound of Emily's laughter made my heart go crazy, which only makes me more nervous as I approach her.

"Em-Em-Emily, can I talk to you?" I ask her.

Emily doesn't say anything to me and turn away from me, acting like I wasn't even there. It's not normal for her to act so heartless. But I try to tell myself that she was only acting like this because of yesterday. I was meant to come over and tutor her, but instead I ran off when Liam answered. I should have really stayed there and tell him why I was at his girlfriend's house, but I didn't. I was terrified of what he was going to do. And the way Emily was acting right now, I get the feeling Liam had said something about me.

"Get away from us, you loser," her friend says. "She doesn't want to talk to you."

I ignore her and keep my eyes on Em, pleading with her to hear me out. "I-I really need to talk to you about yesterday afternoon."

"Oh my gosh, are you deaf? I told you already to get lost."

"It's okay, Katelyn," Emily tells her friend. "I will talk to him. Do you mind giving us a sec?"

Katelyn doesn't say anything and walks off.

Emily turns to me. "What do you want, Zach?"

"I-I'm s-sorry –"

"Stop stuttering, Zach, and just spit it out already."

Her words stabbed me. She had never given me a hard time about stuttering around her before.

"I-I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Sorry? Really? Zach, you promised me you will help me, and then when you showed up at my house you told my boyfriend you couldn't do it. Why did you tell Liam that? You couldn't tell it to my face?"

I stand there puzzled. I couldn't believe she would believe her own boyfriend's lies, especially when she knows how he treats me.

"N-No, that's not true, Em. I-I was told by Liam to leave."

"Don't lie to me, Zach."

A hand grabs my shoulder and then slams me into the lockets. Pain shot up instantly on the side of my head and my shoulder. Emily moves quickly a side as my arm is twisted behind my back. I scream out in pain. I don't even have to look to see who it is.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my girl?" Liam says.

I clench my teeth together, wanting to ignore the pain, but couldn't. I stay still as much as I could; not wanting to move the wrong way or my arm might break.

"Liam, stop. Zach and I were only talking."

Liam ignores his girlfriend and keeps me pinned against the lockers. "What do I have to do to you so you don't speak to her, Freak?"

Emily reaches out to stop Liam, but his friends pull her back. Liam grabs the back of my shirt and then drags me down the corridor. Everyone around us stared, but neither of them did anything to help. Not even any of the teachers were even around to put a stop to it. I was even hoping that Trey would help but I hadn't seen him this morning.

Liam pushed opened the boys' toilets and drags me inside. He checked to see if no one was in here and then locked the door so no one could get in.

He releases me and then takes a step back. I stare at him, terrified to breathe or move, knowing he was going to do something to me. Without warning, he strikes me in the jaw with his fist. Pain instantly appears as my head jolts back, hitting the tile wall behind me and sending a sharp pain through. Before I had the chance to defend myself, Liam punches me in the stomach. As soon as he does, I clutch my hands on my hands on my abdomen as I clutch over, unable to breathe. Liam then pushes me to the floor, my glasses falling off my face. I reach for it, but Liam pushes it out of the way, stepping onto my fingers. I yelp.

Blinking back my tears, I start to get up, only to be kicked again. He kicks me a couple of more times in the gut until I was unable to breathe or move at all as I lied there beside my glasses. The bell rings. He chuckles before walking away; leaving me to deal with whatever pain I was going through right now.

I lie there for a short time before getting up slowly, every body part of mine aching. Even though the bell had gone, I didn't leave to go to homeroom. I couldn't go out there and having everyone stare at me, and who knows what Liam has already said to them, making me the bad guy.

As I stood, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My jaw is red and swollen, blood on the corner of my mouth. As soon as I see my face, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. If this is how my face looks, I can't imagine what the rest of my body looks like with bruises.

I hid in a stall, sitting down on the tile floor, resting my back up against the closed door and curl up, sobbing. I couldn't take this anymore. I couldn't let Liam bully me like this and then allow him to get away with it.

I stay in the position for a while until I knew I had to go before someone finds me in here. What would they do if they found out I had been crying in here? Will they laugh at me?

My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I don't answer it. I know it's Trey probably asking me where I am. I didn't want to speak to him. I don't want to speak to anyone.

The first period bell rings. I stay where I was until I was sure the halls were clear. Rather than showing up to class and explaining to the teacher why I was late, or why my jaw was bruised, I head home. Since I had walked home rather than taking the bus, by the time I reached my house, every part of my body seemed to ached more than when Liam beat me up.

I went to my room, avoiding the mirror so I couldn't see how messed up my face was, reminding me what a loser I am. I lied down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, replaying what had happened today. The insults of what people really thought of me got to me as their words ate me up on the inside. I can't take this anymore. It needs to stop.

I wonder to myself what would happen if I just went away. Would people care that I'm gone? I know Mom would, but I'm sure my classmates would be pleased that I'm gone. Trey has only known me for a short time so I don't know if he would care if I'm gone.

I head to the bathroom and head to the medicine cabinet. I stare at the orange container on the bottom shelf with my name on it, the medication I take for anxiety. I grab the container and held it in my hands. Did I really want to do this? Do I really want to just end my life?

Yes, I do. It will be better if I do.

I unscrew the lid, and just before I popped the pills into my mouth, my phone vibrates in my pocket again. I take it out, finding five messages from Trey asking me where I was, and heard that I was seen by someone leaving the school. I ignore everything that he had written and reply back with just two words:

Goodbye Trey.

And then I added:

Tell my mom that I love her and that I'm sorry.

Trey replies back in seconds, wanting to know what I was talking about, but I didn't answer. I leave the phone on the sink, and swallow the pills with water. By the time I had swallowed them all I was starting to feel the effects. My phone kept buzzing with Trey trying to get an answer from me.

My head spins, my vision goes blurry, and felt like vomiting. I collapse on the floor, hitting my head against the bathtub.