Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 25: The Tear

Zack (1st person)

I woke up to Bryan's huge head in my face. "Zack!" He yelled. I shoved him away and sat up. I yawned. "What time is it?" I asked. "I don't know," he said. I looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning. I don't get up until nine, but Bryan's kindergarten starts at eight forty-five. "What do you want?" I grumbled. "I'm hungry," Bryan said. I groaned and stood up. I stretched for a minute, then I followed Bryan to the kitchen. "Can I have ice cream?" Bryan asked. "No," I said. "Oh. Never mind..." he said. "Never mind what?" I asked. "I'm not hungry anymore," he said. I wanted to pick him up and throw him across the room, but that wouldn't be beneficial for either of us.

I made him TartPops anyway, and I decided to make some for myself as well. He ate them, then he asked if we could watch Toddler Funtime. "Whatever," I said. "Yay! How do I get it on?" he asked. I put it on for him and did some homework, though I eventually gave up on trying to get anything done. My dad and Bryan left for school around eight thirty, since it was right down the street. I waited around a bit, then I left as well. I met up with Lauren, and she and I walked to school together. She seemed uncomfortable. I thought I knew what was going on, but I decided to ask anyway. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"Period," she said. "Alright," I said. When we got to school, I went to science, and she went to AVID. After that, she and I met up and went to study hall. In study hall, Lauren's stomach kept making loud noises. "...Uh... Phil?" she asked. Phil looked over at her. "Yeah?" he asked. "Um... Can I borrow your jacket?" she asked. "Why? Are you cold? It's pretty hot today," Phil said. "Yeah, whatever. I'll give it back," Lauren said. "Uh... I- I don't know..." Phil said. "Please?" Lauren asked. "I... Um..." Phil said. It was clear that he didn't want her to take it. "Phil," I said. He turned to me. "Come over here," I said. We went away from Lauren, and I told him why Lauren probably wanted his jacket. "Oh..." he said.

He went back to Lauren. "Here," he said, taking it off and giving it to her. "Thanks," she said, tying it around her waist. "Yeah... When will you give it back?" Phil asked. "At the end of the day," she said. "Okay," Phil said. On the way to art, I decided to stop at my locker and drop some stuff off. I saw 5 and Joy go into the locker alleyway. I decided to see what they were doing, since the art room was right down the hall, and I still had six minutes. Phil was at his locker, and 5 and Joy had cornered him. I thought 5 was nice now, so I wanted to see what was gonna happen.

Joy whispered something to 5. "What? No!" 5 said, opening his locker, which was right next to Phil's. Joy whispered something else to 5. I went closer to them to hear what they were saying. "...I... Okay..." 5 said. 5 pinned Phil against a locker. "Punch him in the face," Joy ordered. 5 punched Phil in the face. Hard. I heard 5 quietly apologize to Phil. "Again," Joy demanded. 5 punched Phil in the face, again. Phil groaned. Obviously I wanted to help, I was scared that 5 might hurt me. "Do that thing I did to Lila," Joy said. 5 sighed and repeatedly slammed Phil's head into the face of a locker.

"That's enough, 5," Joy said. 5 let go of Phil, who slid down to the floor and moaned. 5 and Joy left. All of that happened in about a minute. "Phil..." I said, approaching him. He had a few reddish spots on his face that would probably turn into bruises, and his invisible nose was bleeding. I helped him up and decided to take him to the nurse's office, even if it made me late. When we got there, I took Phil inside. "Goodness, what happened to you?" she asked. "I- I... I fell down the stairs..." Phil said. I didn't object to his lie. Maybe he didn't want to get 5 in trouble. "Oh, that's unfortunate," she said, getting Phil an ice pack for his eye and bruises, and tissues for his nose. "Want me to call your mom?" she asked. Phil nodded.

"You can go back to class," she said to me. I left. I didn't see him for the rest of the day, so I'm assuming he went home. Throughout the day, my friends asked where Phil was. I just said he fell down the stairs and went home. I went to Lauren's house, and we played Hysteria two together. "Zack, you keep making us lose!" Lauren said. "Yeah, well, maybe if this wasn't so hard it'd be a different story," I said. "Zack, this is the easiest game mode on the easiest difficulty," she said. After losing again, Lauren got frustrated, and we decided to take a break. "Hey, Zack, you should take this," she said, giving me Phil's hoodie. "Why?" I asked. "I'm definitely gonna forget to bring it back to him later," she said. "Okay, I'll try to remember," I said, taking it from her.

I went home about an hour later, and Bryan greeted me at the door. He hugged my waist rather than my legs, since he's gotten a bit taller now. "What's that?" he asked, snatching Phil's jacket out of my hands. "Hey! Give it back!" I said. He laughed and ran to the living room. I chased down the hallway, but then I lost track of him. I stopped to catch my breath for minute, then I looked around. "Bryan!" I called. I heard giggling from his room, so I went there. He was clearly in his closet, since the door kept shaking, so I tore open the closet door and tried to get the jacket.

He somehow slipped away from me and ran down the hallway again. I chased him. He turned around and somehow passed me again, and he went to the living room. I sighed and turned around. His giggling stopped as I went a down the hallway. "Uh... Zack?" he asked. "What did you do?!" I asked. Phil's jacket was clearly torn, and it was close to tearing in half. "I- It caught on the table..." he said. I got it back and went to my room. I decided not to tell anyone except Lauren about what had happened until I found a way to fix it.

Phred (1st person)

I'm pretty sure something happened between 5 and Phil. I'm also sort of doubting that Phil just 'fell down the stairs'. On my way to math, the first period of the day, I saw 5 and Joy go into the locker alley. I followed secretly behind them. Smiley and Phil were in there, at Phil's locker. Joy whispered something to 5. "No... No, I can't do that, not to Smiley," 5 said. "I guess that makes sense. Okay, just do it to Phil," she said. 5 looked reluctant. Smiley and Phil tried to escape, but they were cornered. I wanted to help, but I was scared of 5. Joy whispered something else to 5. 5 groaned. "No, Joy, I'm not doing it," 5 said, turning and walking away. "Wait!" Joy called as she chased after 5. Phil sighed with relief. "Phil," I said. "Yeah?" he asked. "You never 'fell down the stairs', did you?" I asked. Phil sighed. "No..." he said. He wouldn't explain what had actually happened to him.

Zack (1st person)

On Monday, when I was walking to school, Phil questioned Lauren about his jacket. "Do you have my jacket, Lauren?" Phil asked. "I gave it to Zack because I knew I'd forget about it," Lauren said. "Zack?" Phil asked, turning to me. "I... I'll bring it tomorrow..." I said. Phil sighed. I'd brought it in my backpack, though I don't really know why. I thought about what to do during the first couple of periods. By lunch, I still hadn't thought of any good ideas. Joy approached me. "You messed up Phil's jacket, didn't you?" she asked. "Uh... Why would you think that?" I asked. "Lauren borrowed it during study hall, and 5 told me that he heard Lauren say that she gave it to you. Phil isn't wearing it, so you must've done something to it," she said.

"Please, don't tell Phil," I pleaded. "You know, I could get my butler to sew it," she said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. In fact, I could get it to you tomorrow," she said. I thought about it for a minute. "You just have to do one thing for me," she said. I sighed. "Just burn this," she said, holding up a paper. "What is it?" I asked. She didn't answer me and held it above my head. It lit, then burned. "Good. Where's the jacket?" she asked. I took it out of my backpack. "Ah, okay. Yeah, I'll give it to you before school tomorrow," she said. When I got home, I started worrying that she wouldn't have it, and I started to regret giving it to her. The next day, though, she was standing by my house with my jacket. "Here, Zack," she said, handing me the jacket. It was perfectly sewn, and you couldn't even tell Bryan had torn it. "Thanks," I said. I met up with my friends and gave it to Phil. "Thanks, Zack," he said, putting it on. "Yeah, no problem..." I said. I can't help wondering what that paper was that Joy had burned...