Tales of Hex

"I just dont wanna get hurt anymore"

Marcus eventually made it home. His face was beaten and bruised and he was struggling to hold back tears. His right shoulder felt numb and he could barely put any pressure on his left ankle. He reached the front door of his house and started searching for the keys in his pockets, but they weren't there. He looked in every nook and cranny of his backpack but the keys were nowhere to be found. He couldn't hold it back anymore. Defeated he sank down against his front door as tears started to roll down his scratched cheeks.

"I really am pathetic", he thought. "I'm already 12 and I'm still crying about stupid stuff like this, maybe I deserve it". He hid his head in his knees and started sobbing quietly. He could feel his chest get tighter as it became harder and harder to breathe. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably at this point. His heart was beating at a painfully fast pace and his breaths became faster and more shallow. His mind kept spiralling so much that it was making him dizzy. "What's going on?" He thought. "Am I dying? Is this what a heart attack feels like? Am I going insane?"
These thoughts went around in his head for what felt like hours.

Suddenly a car pulled into the driveway. Like a deer in headlights Marcus' head shot op and stared right at the white Subaru. "D-dad", he whispered to himself. His father jumped out of the car and ran towards his son. "Why are you still outside, what's wrong?" He kneeled down so he could look his son in the eyes. (From this point on they're both speaking Spanish btw)
"Oh my, what happened to you?" Antonio noticed how badly his son was shaking and hyperventilating. "Who did this to you?" He then asked calmly as he carefully inspected the scratches and bruises on his face. Marcus wanted to talk but no actual words came out.
"It's ok, you just need to calm down first. Let's go inside, okay?" Marcus tried to get up but he went trough his left ankle again. Tears started to form again in the corners of his eyes. " Is your ankle okay?" Antonio asked with a worried look on his face. Marcus still didn't respond. His father helped him into the house and onto the couch in the living room.

Marcus' breathing had started to calm down a little but his whole body was still shaking violently. And even though it was quite warm inside the house he could feel chills running up and down his spine. His dad carefully wrapped a blanket around him and kneeled down on the soft carpet that was laid on the floor.
"Just try to calm down, you're alright now", his father said reassuringly. "Here, let me take a look". Antonio carefully rolled up Marcus' left pant leg so he could take a better look at his ankle. Marcus squirmed a little. His ankle looked red and swollen. "Well that's not good" Antonio said. He pulled the coffee table a little closer and piled a couple of pillows onto it. "Here rest your foot on that, I'll go get you some ice". Marcus did as he was told and Antonio gently laid an icepack over his swollen ankle. "Can you tell me what happened now?"
Marcus got nervous as his father sat down beside him.

Usually he'd heal his injuries before his dad got home, so his dad had no idea he was getting bullied. But he couldn't hide it anymore. He started explaining how he had been getting bullied for the past 4 years. He broke down crying again in the middle of his story but he did his best to keep explaining. "I just don't wanna get hurt anymore", Marcus whispered after he was done explaining. His father was shocked to hear all of this since it came so out of nowhere. But he definitely believed everything his son had said to him. He immediately called the principle to tell him that his son wouldn't be attending school anymore for the rest of the year. The principle sounded irritated and insulted by such claims about the school but Antonio simply hang up.

"B-but dad I c-can't just stop going to s-school"
"Don't worry about it, there's only 2 more months left of elementary school. Next year you'll get to go to a completely different middle school. You can just stay home for now."
"T-thanks"
"It's the least I can do. Im so sorry you had to go through all of that buddy. Some of the things you said really worried me so I think it might be best if you get to take a break for a while."
Marcus nodded softly in agreement.

He stayed home for the rest of the year. He learned how to cook and do all the chores around the house. He also got more time to focus on drumming which had been his favourite hobby ever since he was 6. Everything went smoothly, at least for the most part. It's just that every time he thought about having to go back to school he'd start feeling anxious again. His chest would tighten and his hands would shake. Actually it kind of felt like that anxious feeling never really went away, it would always just be lurking around the corner waiting for a chance to strike. He tried telling his dad about it but Antonio would shrug it off saying that it would probably just go away with time. Tho sadly it didn't.