A Modern Love Story

Chapter 3 - Skipping

Criticism spot! :)

Crutchie's POV

This morning, I had woken up later than usual, which meant I had to rush getting ready. Thankfully, I made it to the bus, putting my earbuds in and starting to listen to some new music Jack had sent me.

When I reached the school I went straight to my locker, grabbing my books as quickly as I could and going to the bathroom so I could take my medicine. I didn't have time to take it before I left, and I knew that if I didn't take them before class it'd end up with me crying from pain. Just to be safe, I decided to go into the handicap stall, purely out of fear that, with my luck, Oscar or Morris could come in. I took my bag off and took out my pills and waterbottle, setting the bag on the ground. As I went to open it, I heard footsteps coming into the bathroom, but since I was in a stall I didn't mind.

"What do you think will happen?" Someone whispered, but again, I ignored it since I was safely hidden in the stall.

"We won't have to deal with him in class," whoever was there snickered a bit, now grabbing my attention. I didn't recognize the voice, but I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Got the speaker hooked up?" I had stopped moving altogether now, growing worried about what was happening.

"Mhm, just hit play," I stared toward the stall door as if I would be able to see what they were doing through it, starting to panic.

Only a few seconds passed before the entire bathroom was filled with what sounded like a car, instantly making me tense up. It kept going for a few moments, when suddenly the unmistakable sound of tires skidding began, causing me to panic right away. I gripped the handle of my crutch as tight as I could, my heart beating out of my chest. The horrific, terrifying noise of a collision following.

Everything around me felt as though it was falling apart, my entire body feeling confined like a seatbelt was around me. It only grew louder and louder, and I no longer felt as if I was at school at all. I was back in the car the night it happened, the sounds and images replaying endlessly. While the video stopped coming through the speaker, it didn't make me calm down whatsoever.

"Happy anniversary!" A boy yelled, the group leaving the bathroom.

I collapsed to the ground, my pillbottle falling from my hand and the medicine skattering all over the inside of my backpack. Of course, my backpack toppled over as well, my waterbottle rolling away from me and my crutch crashing to the tile below. My heart was racing and I couldn't breathe, slipping in and out of reliving what had happened before realizing where I was. The bell had rang at some point, which only made me worse. I saw my phone light up, and I managed to pick it up, reading whatever had been sent to me.

08:27 am Are you staying home today?

08:29 am I'm here

Was all I could type back, barely understanding what Jack had said. He responded quickly, likely worried since I was not only not in class, but also wasn't texting like I usually do.

08:29 am Is everything okay? Where are you?

08:29 am I don't know

08:29 am What's going on Crutchie
08:30 am Where are you

I couldn't respond anymore, my hands shaking so bad that I couldn't properly read what he had said. I felt sick to my stomach, dropping my phone to the ground.

Jack's POV

Since Crutchie had read receipts on, I could see that he had read my message right away. I only grew more worried when he didn't say anything back, and I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my stuff and left the classroom, thankfully able to do so swiftly since we were watching another video.