His Lifeline

Chapter 2: I Get Clotheslined

"Mr.Jackson, where is your homework?"

Shit.

"Um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Velma, I forgot we had it," my hand flying to the back of my neck, scratching it.

"Jackson, if you continue to do this, your grade will not be able to come up. I'm going to give you someone as a tutor" Oh great. Hopefully, I can annoy them enough to not talk to me and just fake our sessions. Maybe they'll ignore me, but of course, that's wishful thinking. The only people teachers assign as tutors are teachers' pets who have A+s.

I groaned internally but smiled up at Mrs.Velma. "I'm sorry I'll try harder." I tried, I really did, but regardless she still told me to come after school to meet my tutor.

After the embarrassing show in front of the whole class, Mrs.Velma walked back to the front. She began her boring monologue about whatever math term she was trying to explain.

I zoned out after she said," Start taking notes," and couldn't get back into the real world until the bell rang.

Mrs.Velma gave me a pointed look, and I nodded to her as I rushed out of class.

Running to my locker, I felt my legs and torso scream at me to slow down. I felt the cuts and glass in my left arm move as I ran. But I didn't care. I needed to get to my locker and back into a classroom before most kids came out of class.

I skidded to a stop, almost falling on my face as I hurriedly opened my locker. Exchanging my books around and grabbing my Biology notebook, I slammed the door closed. And ran to the opposite side of the school; kids were filling the hallways even more now. My breath hitched as I bumped into a guy who hit my left shoulder.

"Hey, are you ok?" his voice died behind me as I continued running. Another reason why I don't want to be in the hallways in between classes; there are too many people. I get bumped, or I flinch, people look at me weird or ask questions.

I finally was turning the last corner when someone clotheslined me. I felt right on my back; the wind knocked out of me as I gave a small squeak. I heard laughing above me, and I saw the two jocks from the party. They were my regulars; honestly, I couldn't be bothered to learn their names; it didn't really matter to me. They continued to laugh as I tried to regain my breath.

I slowly sat up and saw a few people snickering to their friends, not that I cared. All that mattered was getting through the weeks to see my mom alive and well. I stood shakily and was then pushed roughly into a locker. I winced as my left shoulder got a majority of the impact. My eyes widened as I felt something in my gut tear. I looked around and saw kids walking to their classes. Jock #1 and #2 weren't here anymore. I breathed a small sigh of relief as I brought my hand to where the bottle was lodged.

Feeling my stomach through my hoodie, I brought it back and felt small wetness. I paled. It had just opened up, and I'm already bleeding enough where it was soaking through the new bandages.

I felt panic rise through my chest. I gulped and tried to steel myself. In and out, in and out, this is nothing. I'll just go into Bio and tell the teacher I need to go to the nurse and put on more bandages. Simple. Easy.

I walked as calmly as I could, trying not to show how panicked I really was. I opened the door, saw my teacher, Mrs.Rachel, and said softly," I got shoved pretty hard during the passing period. Can I go to the nurse to check it out?"

Mrs.Rachel was an angel on Earth. She was the nicest, sweetest person you will ever meet, besides my mom, that is.

Her face instantly fell as she looked over me with a worried look on her face. " Why, of course, dear, if you need to stay with the nurse, I don't mind. I'll give your math tutor your homework," I groaned internally. Does everyone know that I have a math tutor? I just figured this out not 20 minutes ago!

I plastered on a smile and said gratefully," Thank you, Mrs.Rachel. See you tomorrow,"

She smiled at me as the warning bell rang. I pushed open the door and walked out into the mostly deserted hallway. I walked quickly to my locker and thrust it open. Putting my Biology notebook back and grabbing my first aid kit, I kept inside.

Grabbing my history book, I closed my locker and walked to the nearest restroom. I quickly shuffled into the largest stall, locking it, I slowly took off my hoodie and shirt. My bandages were stained mostly red, and I winced as I unwrapped the bloody bandages.

My wound was bleeding freely as I slowly unrolled some new bandages. Grabbing some gauze, I placed the small amount I had over the larger holes and tried to wrap my bandages. As soon as I got a super loose first layer of bandages over the gauze, I did a few more wraps that were much tighter.

I then placed back on my articles of clothing and looked at the time. Fifteen minutes had passed since class started. I sighed contently; I had another fortyish minutes until I had to go to history. I laid down on the bathroom floor. Gross, I know, but it was better than going out and being caught by a teacher or another kid.

It would probably be a good idea to stay still for a while and let the wounds close—what better way to do that than taking a nap. I grabbed my phone, set a thirty-minute timer, and closed my eyes.