A/N: WARNING, before reading this, there is a trigger warning. Mentions of bullying, drugs, and offensive language are involved. If this offends you in any way, please don't read ahead.
Gaege's (Juicy's) POV (7 years ago)
I shoved my hands in my pockets, minding my own business as my eyes stayed glued to my converse in front of me. I didn't know where Eddie was at the moment. He was probably still in his calculus class that he always complained about.
Eddie and I had been close friends for almost two years now. Although now that he was a senior, I was very disappointed that this was going to be his last year in our high school. He had promised that he will call me or visit me when he had the chance, but it still wouldn't be the same without him. He was my best friend. Especially since I was the weird sophomore that doesn't have any other friends besides him.
I kept walking down the hallway, listening to Dominic Fike on Spotify. The music blasted in my ear, and I pulled my beanie lower. I had decided to wear my favorite pair of ripped jeans and shirt, which I thought I looked pretty good in. Although I still haven't gotten the guts to ask anyone out on a date yet. Eddie had encouraged that I should just take a leap of faith and go for it. I just shrugged and pretended not to care, even if a small glimmer of hope sprouted in me.
I suddenly tripped over something I hadn't noticed before, making me stumble to the ground. I gasped, letting out a small yell as I crashed into the cold, white tiles. I groaned, picking myself up on my elbows as I searched for the unknown object.
"Hey loser," I heard someone say behind me, "You better watch where you're going."
I glanced over my shoulder, fixing my backpack strap with a slight roll of my eyes. "Who the hell are you?" I asked, slightly pissed off about being tripped on purpose.
I met eyes with a group of older guys, probably around Eddie's age, who were chuckling and eyeing me as if I was worthless. I waited for an answer as one of them scoffed. He was wearing athletic clothing and ripped jeans, which were paired with a rich-looking pair of shoes. Most of them were wearing gold chains and probably sold drugs. They already had tattoos on their arms and had cold, mean eyes.
"You better watch your language," The guy that had scoffed earlier told me, "It's pretty rude to curse." I rolled my eyes, turning around. I started to walk off, ignoring the older boys.
It was until one of them said, "Heh, he can't even take a small insult." I stopped, turning back around with furrowed eyebrows.
"I can take an insult," I countered, glaring at the group of boys. They all laughed at me, making me feel like shit. Who the hell did they think they were?
"That's cute." One of them stood up, brushing his blonde hair aside, "But no one likes you."
I shook my head with a shrug, "You think you're original? I could care less."
The blonde boy crossed his arms, "Well, it's true. Who would like someone like you? You're stupid, try to act cool when you're not, and every girl rejects you."
I looked down, feeling a familiar pang of pain in my chest that made me ball my hands into fists.
"You're weird and probably gay also," Another boy jumped in, his blue eyes making my lips part in shock. "What? Didn't think we knew about that?"
I suddenly felt shocked about his comment, knowing that I hadn't told anyone. How did they know about it? Not even Eddie knew.
"We see the way you look at some of the guys," The blonde boy said again, "It's pretty pathetic how you stare at them when they will never like you back."
"I know I wouldn't," The boy with blue eyes said, making all of them laugh. My face grew hot, embarrassed and furious all at once.
I then felt rage rush through me, and I leaped towards the blonde boy. With my vision clouded with hot anger, I started punching him as hard as I could. The other boys quickly started punching and attacking me, defending their friend in a tornado of punches and kicks. I yelled as one of them punched me in the jaw, making me fall to the ground in pain.
I crawled backward, feeling my back hit the wall as the bullies glared at me. I was helpless and no one was there to defend me. They kicked me until I was a heap on the floor, and I groaned in pain as blood seeped from my nose. I shouldn't have tried to hit one of them. One last blow to my stomach was all it took, and I held my arms over my head instinctively. They stopped abruptly, and I could hardly see through the hazy cloud of tears stinging my eyes.
The reason why they had stopped was because of someone behind them. It hit me so hard, I couldn't believe it. My eyes instantly met a dark pair, so familiar, that they were hard to miss.
Eddie. And he was watching everything happen without doing anything.
Eddie's POV
I watched in horror as I saw Gaege beaten on the ground. He was clutching at his stomach in pain, and his nose was bleeding. He had a scratch on the side of his head.
What made me even more shocked was to see my friend group standing over them. I knew they were bad influences on me, but I only hanged out with them because they were cool and respected me.
Ever since I started hanging out with them, my grades have been dropping because I had been skipping school. I started doing drugs and smoking, which I knew wasn't good for me. My parents didn't know about any of this either. It was like I was living a secret life, out of their sight at all times. I had changed drastically the past year just because I had been hanging out with them.
"Hey, Eduardo," Jacob said to me, his blonde hair falling in his face, "Finally came to join the party?"
"What the fuck is going on here?" I shoved his shoulder, not daring to look at Gaege on the ground. "This little shit tried to beat me up," Michael scoffed, his blue eyes darting to Gaege, who continued to groan, "Of course, he didn't get far."
I saw Gaege's eyes tearing up, but I didn't know what to do. "What? Do you actually care about him?" Jacob scrunched up his nose, giving me a disgusted look. I couldn't move, and my mouth couldn't form words. "I..." I looked down, turning my back towards Gaege, "I don't know..."
Michael rolled his eyes, looking back at Gaege. "Don't you forget next time you see us," Michael threatened to Gaege, starting to walk off, "Cause next time we won't play so nice."
They walked down the hallway again, leaving with laughs and rude teasing after them. I looked back at Gaege who had an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't say anything as he collected his bag and stood up with a wince. He looked furious, so furious, he didn't even say a word to me.
"Gaege..." I gently reached out to touch his shoulder, softly whispering, "I'm sorry-"
Gaege suddenly pushed my hand away, staring at me with a scowl. "You're sorry?" Gaege shook his head in disbelief, taking a step back. "Are you fucking kidding me, Eddie? Do you know what just happened to me?!"
"Keep your voice down, please!" I warned him, looking around for anyone around us. "You're going to bring the whole school into this argument."
"No, fuck you, Eddie!" Gaege's voice continued to rise as he burst, "You were there the whole fucking time, and you didn't help me! What the hell is wrong with you?"
I felt a familiar pain in my heart start to rise again, making my eyes tear up as he continued to shout at me.
"Tell me, Eddie, why were you there the whole damn time?" He glared at me, jabbing a finger into my chest that made me stumble back. "Were you watching as I got beat? Were you satisfied like the rest of those motherfuckers?!"
He pointed at the other boys, who were already across the hallway. "Are you happier with them? Cause you might as well tell me now so I can leave!"
His voice cracked when he said the last sentence, breaking my heart. Gaege's eyes were full of upset tears, and I had never seen him like that until then.
"I wasn't planning on telling you this," He then said to me, his voice growing quieter as it trembled. "But I'm dropping out of high school. I'm done with everything and everyone here. Especially you."
"What?!" I finally said, my eyes widening, "Gaege, are you insane?"
"I don't care anymore, Eddie!" Gaege yelled, shaking his head, "No one gives a fuck about me!"
I grew silent, his last words making me hold back tears. "That's not true..." I muttered, "I... I care about you."
Gaege looked at me with sad eyes, wondering if he should believe me or not. He wiped his nose with a sniff, shaking his head again.
"Well, clearly you don't," He finally said, locking his hazel eyes with mine. "Because you would have stood up for me if you did."
He turned around, hesitating before walking off.
"Goodbye, Eddie," He said before continuing. My feet stood frozen in place as I tried to figure out what the fuck just happened. I felt tears rush down my cheeks as I realized how bad I had fucked up.
----- Time skip to the next day... ------
I kept looking for Gaege in the lunchroom, but he wasn't there. I couldn't find him this morning and I couldn't find him now. Where the fuck was he?
I pulled out my cell phone, looking for his contact. I tried texting him, but he had blocked my number and all my socials. It was like he disappeared out of thin air.
"Yo, did you hear that the kid from yesterday dropped out?" Jacob said next to me with a chuckle, "What a loser. Couldn't even take it."
"What. The. Fuck. Is wrong with you?!" I grabbed his collar, rage flowing through my veins, "Do you even care about any of this?! Gaege is gone!" Jacob stared at me in shock as I yelled in frustration.
His words still rang clear in my ears as I walked out in a cloud of rage.
"I'm dropping out of high school because of you..."
All because of me. All of this was my fault, and now, I might never see Gaege again.
A/N: I do not promote bullying in any kind way, so please don't take this personally.
For those of you who don't know what's going on, this is basically Eddie explaining to Narrator what had happened to Eddie and Gaege in high school. Either way, thanks for reading this chapter. A new one will be out soon, love you and take care <3