You Get Me :)

Chapter 24

His fist made contact with my left cheek, sending me to the ground. I tasted blood in my mouth as I tried to get up off of my hands and knees. Tears formed in my eyes as the boys stood tall over me and laughed. I was halfway up before the hair on the back of my head was grabbed, making me wince in pain. The boy yanked backwards, making me fall onto my back, taking the wind out of me.

Now struggling to breathe, tears fell from my face as they all continued to call me names and laugh. James' foot made contact with my rib cage, making me yell in pain. The boys opened the door and ran out, leaving me against the wall, curled up into a ball. Blood starting falling from my mouth and my nose as I held my knees to my chest.

The door opened, and I shut my eyes, praying that James and his friends hadn't re-entered the bathroom to beat me up more. I was already emotionally and physically scarred, and I didn't know what else they wanted from me. I looked at the figure emerging into the bathroom, fully expecting James to be towering over me, but instead, it was a tall skinny boy, with brown hair and bright blue eyes. His facial expression concerned as he saw me on the floor.

"What happened man?" He asked, his voice soft and comforting. I reached up and wiped my eyes to get a better look at the boy kneeling in front of me, who now had his hand on my shoulder. He had freckles around his nose and cheeks, his eyelashes were long.

I tried to speak but no words came out. He stood up and grabbed both of my hands, slowly helping me up to a sitting position.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" He said to me as he grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser. He folded it and pinched it around my nose before grabbing my hand and placing it in the position to apply pressure myself.

"I'm George." I said, barely audible. He seemed to have heard me since he had nodded.

"Hi George, I'm AJ. Let's get you down to the nurse alright? Then maybe you can tell her what happened." He grabbed my free hand and helped me up.

I stood up slowly, wincing as I put my weight onto my feet. My ribs sent shooting pain throughout my body. AJ put his left arm behind my back, helping me walk out of the bathroom. We slowly made our way towards the nurses office, my ribs ached and my head throbbed all around.

We arrived at the nurses office and I sat down in a chair, taking some of the pain away from my ribs. AJ walked out of the room and towards the office as the nurse walked over to me.

"What happened sweetheart?" She asked me, removing the paper towel from around my nose and inspected my face.

Instead of answering her, I started to sob. Tears fell from my face and into my lap, the salt taste falling onto my chapped lips, making the cuts sting. AJ then walked back in with the principal following behind him. The nurse rubbed circles on my back as I let myself cry into my hands.

"Hey buddy, it's me, Mr. Miller. Can you tell me your name?" The principal said, kneeling next to me.

"George." I mumbled back. I lifted my head up to see AJ standing in front of me, looking concerned as his blue eyes focused on me.

"Can you tell me who did this to you?"

AJ then walked besides me, putting his hand on my shoulder. His thumb ran up and down. It made me feel comforted and safe having his soft hand lightly gripping my shoulder as the tears continued to fall off of my face. Part of me longed for Clays hand to be the one on my shoulder, but part of me enjoyed the feeling of AJ's. I snapped out of my trance remembering I had to answer the question the principal had just asked me.

"James." I said quickly.

"James who, George? Do you know his last name?"

I shook my head to the question. I barely knew anyone in the school, I knew the people closest to me, and my new acquaintance who was helping me through this.

"He plays football and he's in 10th grade with me, that's all I know." I said in between breaths. I started to hyperventilate as the tears made my vision blurry. My throat burned as I tried to stop myself.

"I know exactly who you're talking about. You stay put i'll be back alright?" Mr. Miller said to me as he stood up and started to walk out into the hallway. I nodded in response.

"George i'm going to give you some ice to put on your lip alright? You can sit in this room back here with the lights off to calm down. AJ can stay with you if you'd like."

The nurse opened a door to a room with two beds up against the far wall. I walked in and sat on the left bed, letting my feet hang down. The nurse handed me an ice pack, and I applied it to the cut on my lip.

"Do you want AJ to sit with you?" She asked me, turning off the light so that the only light source was from the small window on the door leading into the nurses office.

I nodded, making AJ walk into the room with me. The nurse shut the door, leaving us alone. He sat down next to me, his thigh touching mine.

We sat in comfortable silence. No words were spoken, but I somehow felt safe and comforted. AJ's presence alone was able to help my breathing steady and my hands stop shaking. Clay would have helped just as much but since he wasn't here, I was glad to have AJ by my side, even though I had just met him. We sat in silence for about 20 minutes before Clay's mom walked in the door.

"Oh George, baby, what happened to you?" She said, putting her hands on my face. Tears started to fall from both of us and she hugged around my neck. "He's never going to hurt you again, he's expelled."

I felt a weight being lifted off of my shoulder as she mentioned he was expelled. I didn't have to live in fear of him. She then realized the boy sitting next to me.

"Hi there, who are you?" She asked, sticking her hand out for him to shake. He took it willingly and shook.

"Hi, I'm AJ, I found George in the bathroom so I helped him out."

Clays mom smiled and thanked AJ for helping me. He nodded and smiled back as she stood up.

"I have to go talk with Mr. Miller really fast, but we'll bring you home after alright George?" I nodded as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, George?" AJ said as he turned to me.

"Yea?"

"Will you text me and let me know how you're doing later?" He held out his phone for me to type my number in. I nodded and typed it in quickly before handing it back.

"Thank you for helping me again. It really means a lot."

"No problem. Glad I could help."

The door then opened revealing Clay's mom and Enzo, who was holding my backpack.

"Let's go buddy. Enzo brought your backpack for you."

I held out my hand to take the backpack from Enzo's grasp.

"Thanks." I said to him, walking past him and out the door. I said goodbye to Enzo and AJ as I walked out of the room and out of the school, following Clay's mom.

Yet another new character has been introduced...👀

Anyways hope you all are enjoying! I love writing this story!

Also please help the song Heat Waves has been stuck in my head for days and I CANT GET IT OUT