The Loner's Journey

Chapter 17

Archer's POV
I want to ask Grayson if he's ok, but I can't quite pluck the courage to. Instead, I sigh quietly before grabbing my notebook and scribbling my question on the corner of the page. Once I've written it down I nudge him with my elbow to get his attention. As he looks over I slide my notebook over so he can read and point to my question. He looks a little surprised that I'm interacting with him today. After he reads, he smiles softly and picks up his own pencil to write a reply. Once he's done he scoots the notebook back to me. 'I'm fine. But my sisters sick and my dads stressed about it' is what he had written. Once done reading. I write down my apologies and slide it back over. He reads it and giggles quietly before replying again, and sliding it back. 'Thanks. How was your weekend'. I read over it a couple times to make sure I read right. He was wondering how my weekend was? I thought of what to say before writing it down and showing him. He laughed a little at my surprise for him caring. He took my notebook again, and wrote something else. 'Wanna meet with me for lunch? You can bring your friend too' was what he wrote. I blushed a little and looked up at him. He was already watching me. I didn't trust my voice so I pointed to the question then at myself and nodded. He seemed to understand because he beamed at me. He looked like he was gonna ask something else but didn't quite get to since the bell for the end of class rang. I jumped slightly, caught up in my thoughts, but quickly snapped out of it, then grabbed my things and hurried to find Danny. Once I found him he gave me a questioning look at my hurried pace. I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the boys bathroom before saying anything. "What's up, Ace?" He asked slightly alarmed. "Grayson just asked me to eat with him at lunch. He also said you could come." I say, excited. Danny's eyes widen, but then he smiles and hugs me. I laugh and he releases me. "What the heck did you tell him?" He asks. I just grin and he understands what I mean. He high-fives me and we walk back to our lockers to get ready our next class. As we're walking, someone sticks their foot out in front of me and I don't have time to prevent myself from falling. I turn just enough to avoid hitting my face in the floor, but my shoulder gets the brunt of my weight and I silently cry out as I feel it pop out of place. I try to sit up but get pushed back to the ground by someone's booted foot. My visions going dark from the pain in my shoulder. But before I can start to loose conciseness, I hear Danny struggling and cursing someone and I feel a few kicks to my ribs, stomach, and head. I finally black out as someone steps on my wrist and whisper something to me. "Don't think you'll always have your friend to protect you, loser. We'll keep doing this until you do as we said at the beginning of the year." Then they back away and I black out completely.
When I wake next, I'm in the infirmary on a bed. I groan and try to sit up but feel someone push me back down gently. I open my eyes to see Danny sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey. How you feeling, Ace?" He says, with a sad smile. "A splitting headache and and aching shoulder seem to be the worst of it." I try to joke. He doesn't seem to find it funny. In fact he begins looking rather murderous. I shudder at the look in his eyes but try to calm him some by grabbing his hand. He looks back at me and his face softens. "Sorry. Do you remember what happened?" He says, gently. I shake my head after thinking for a minute. "All I remember is falling and someone saying something to me." I reply, glumly. He nods at me and squeezes my hand. "We were ambushed by Trent and his goons. Trent had his goons hold me, so I couldn't interfere, while he beat you up and whispered something to you." He said angrily. After he said that I remembered what Trent had said to me. 'Don't think you'll always have your friend to protect you, loser. We'll keep doing this until you do as we said at the beginning of the year' I shudder at the memory. Danny seems to notice my apprehension and asks what's wrong. I just shake my head and get up from the bed.