Mindless Romance

Chapter 4 The Aftermath

    School got hard for me after the fight incident. The guys on the soccer team kept getting under my skin. They did get kicked off because of the team so now we have to have tryouts again. The guys started to talk about me behind my back. They spread so many rumors that they all sooner or later got right back to me. Some of them were like “He was beating up this kid but blamed us when he got caught. He was the ringleader but got away with it because he is the star player.” They even spread rumors about Josh. They were worse and he almost moved schools because of it. “The reason he got beat up was that he was hitting on one of the soccer players,” or, “He deserved what he got, ya know because he is gay.” Those were only some of the things that they would say. There were so many worse things that were happening to Josh.

    Today was one of the worst days I had in a while. The guys got back a few days beforehand but they hadn’t seen me. I was avoiding them at all costs. I was in the bathroom right before lunch when I heard about five people walk into the bathroom. “When I get my hands on him, he won’t know what hit him.” Someone said, “Yeah, I can’t believe he ratted on us. Now we are not even on the soccer team.” Another person said. I stayed still in a stall. They all sounded like they left so I started to walk out of the stall. I was met face to face with Justian. One of the guys who got kicked off of the team. He called everyone else back in. They walked in and crowded around me like a vulture about to feast on its prey. The first hit I remember was in the back of my knee. I fell to the ground and clenched my fists. I tried to stand back up but someone grabbed my neck and shoved me back into the ground. I think then I got hit over the head with something then I blacked out.

    The bright lights forced my eyes open. A white blanket laid over my legs and there were machines hooked up to my arms. I moved to sit up in the bed and felt something on my hand. I looked over to see Josh laying next to me his hand on mine. He looked so peaceful while he slept. His eyes fluttered open and he just looked at me in a daze. “You’re...you’re awake!” He leaped to his feet and wrapped his arms around my neck. “Ouch!” I whimpered with my chest now stinging. “Oh...sorry,” Josh looked to the ground saying meekly. “What happened?” I puzzled.