If You Had Stayed (published)

Chapter 2

"Did you guys end up completing the homework Mr Carlson gave us?" Haylie asks us as she place her bag on her lap.

Josh nods as he sat down beside me, setting his bag down beside his feet. "I did. It was a piece of cake."

I scoff, resting my bag on my lap. "Of course it was a piece of cake for you. You're a whiz at maths." I turn to Haylie. "I kind of completed it."

She raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean kind of?"

"Well, I didn't really do it. Josh did it for me. He came over last night and saw me struggling with my work, and he answered them for me. The amazing thing is he didn't even stop to think what the answers were. He just answered them with no trouble at all."

Haylie looks over at Josh in surprise. "What's your secret, Josh? How can you do maths so well?"

Josh shrugs. "There's no secret. I'm just good with numbers."

Haylie turns to me. "Did he get all of the questions right?"

I nod. "I looked up the answers in the back of the textbook and they are all correct."

"Wow, that's incredible. You just hope Mr Carlson doesn't think you cheated."

I chuckle. "I doubt it. I'm pretty sure half of the class actually do look up the answers in the back without working it out for themselves, and he doesn't say anything."

"He will know you looked them up when you do your tests and can't work out a single thing the paper says, but yet you can answer them correctly in your maths book."

Haylie had a point. "True. But whether I do it the right way or not, I still suck at maths."

"Hey, Freak!"

We look up to see Elliot Cox walking over to us with his friend Ron Gold. Their eyes were set on Josh. Josh sees them, getting up to swing his bag over his shoulder, ready to make a dash if he needed to. The guys didn't even seem to care that Haylie and I were sitting right there beside him. Haylie and I stood just as Elliot and Ron approach him, grabbing him by the shoulders before he had a chance to escape and push him into the tree trunk. Both of the boys were slightly taller than Josh.

"Elliot, Ron, stop it," I scroll at them.

But they act like I'm not even there.

Josh tries to push them off him, but the boys don't let go of him, keeping him pin up against the tree.

"Hey, Freak, seen anything that shouldn't be there lately?" Elliot smirks.

I approach Elliot and Ron, and as I put my hands on their shoulders, Josh looks to his right where I'm sure he was probably seeing Davis, the bad boy who is always ready to get into a fight and protect Josh from anyone who tries to threaten him. He shouts out, "No!"

The tone of his voice makes me jump for a brief second, making me take a step back in case he was protecting me from something I couldn't see. Ron and Elliot just laugh.

"Who are you talking to, Freak?" Ron laughs.

I put my hands on Ron, not even sure if Davis was still here, even though there was nothing he could do to stop these two bullies from hurting him. But I could do a whole lot more than what Josh's hallucinations could. And if they were real people, I'm sure no one would mess with Josh.

I push Elliot out of the way so I was standing in between him and Ron. "Leave him alone."

Both Ron and Elliot let go of Josh and turn to me.

"Maybe I don't want to leave him alone," Elliot says.

"Well, I'm telling you to leave him alone. You have no right to come over here and start causing trouble."

Elliot smirks, standing right up in my face. I take a step back. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it if I don't leave him alone?"

I point towards the school building. "Leave Josh alone, or I will march right to the principal's office to report you." I put my arm back at my side. "I don't think you want to be called down to Mr Mathison's office first thing in the morning for bullying another student."

Elliot's jaw clenches. "You aren't going to do that, you hear me?"

I glare at him, his brown eyes threatening mine. I wasn't going to let this bully stand in the way of my best friend.

I turn towards Josh and Haylie. "Come on, Haylie, Josh. Let's go."

I go to turn, but Elliot grabs my wrist.

"Hey, I didn't say you could walk away from me. You think you're Josh's hero?" He laughs. "Trust me, Emily, but you need to stay away from this freak. He is dangerous. He's mental. He belongs in a straitjacket."

I shake my head, pulling my arm around him. Before I had a chance to defend myself, Josh grabs Elliot from behind.

"Don't you dare touch, Emily," Josh warns. He drops his arms at his side and stares at Elliot, ready to fight him if he needs to.

"And what are you going to do about it if I do touch her?" Elliot puts his face right up to Josh's.

Josh looks at me and then shoves Elliot hard in the chest to get him away. Ron steps forward, but I see the panic in Josh's face as he takes a step backwards. Josh wasn't a fighter or believed in any kind of violence. Some students at this school, maybe even some of the teachers, feel he is a violent person just because he has schizophrenia. Teachers always kept a close eye on him in case he harms other students, but Josh has never done that to anyone. Not even to me. If he wanted to hurt anyone, it would be himself. Ron and Elliot, always provoked him in hoping Josh will do something crazy, or do whatever myth people might believe that someone with schizophrenia was capable of doing.

Before the boys could get into an out of control fight, which is the last thing I wanted because I knew Josh will immediately be blamed, Haylie and I step in between them. Haylie scolds at them both to leave Josh alone, while I walk Josh away.

"Are you okay, Josh?" I ask him.

"I'm fine," he says.

I look over my shoulder to see Hailey walking over to us. Elliot and Ron were laughing, probably saying something about Josh. I don't know how they can be proud of what they do. They should be ashamed. I was afraid they would follow us, but luckily the bell rings and we head inside to roll call.