Meet You Halfway

CHAP. 9

In the early hours of the morning, Mr. Keating comes into (Y/n)'s room. He sits on the edge of her bed and nudges her shoulder gently. "(Y/n)...wake up. Come on. Get up..."

(Y/n) slowly opens her eyes and looks at her father. When she realizes that there are tears in his eyes, she sits up, taking his face in her hands. "What's wrong? What happened?" Mr. Keating places his hands on (Y/n)'s

"...It's Neil."

It didn't take (Y/n) but seconds to come to a conclusion about what happened to Neil.. The school didn't give Mr. Keating any information aside from that he'd been hurt.

The girl barely got her coats and shoes on as she ran out the door. She had planned on going to the cave. Hoping it would suffice as an escape from the choking atmosphere of the school. The tears in her eyes blind her from seeing the boys outside the door as she runs into one of them. She clings to their coat as she catches her breath. Pitts wraps his arms around her, trying to calm her down.

Her voice trembles as she asks, "Does- Does anyone know how he's doing?" (Y/n) sniffles and wipes her nose with her sleeve. No one says anything. Todd starts to walk out towards the water. The group follows a few steps behind. He stops and looks around before turning to the group with a smile. "It's so beautiful..." His smile slowly drops as he starts to gag.

He turns from the group and falls to his knees, vomiting into the snow. "Todd!" Charlie and the rest rush to his side. They all wrap their arms around him. "It's okay, Todd. It's okay." Charlie wipes Todd's mouth with snow. He sobs and hiccups, sucking the cold, winter air into his lungs.

"He wouldn't- He wouldn't have done it." (Y/n) kneels in front of Todd, taking him in her arms as he sobs into her shoulder. She tries to calm him as her own tears make her choke. "You can't explain it Todd-" Pitts starts in.

"It was his father! His father did it-" Todd pushes away from the group and starts to run down the hill towards the wooden boat dock on the water's edge. Todd slips and falls. A few of the boys try to run after him but Charlie stops them as Todd starts to run again. "Leave him be."

-

The group walked for hours in the snow, being consumed by their thoughts. "We can't even go see him. Mr. Perry will recognize us." Meeks states. "We've got to figure out something! How will we know if he's okay?" Charlie bites his lip, only releasing the reddened flesh when (Y/n) speaks.

"I could go see him." She stops walking. "Mr. Perry didn't see me. He doesn't know who I am. I have a better chance at getting past him." "No, (Y/n). He'd never let you in." Cameron protested.

"I'll get through. And if he doesn't let me see Neil, I'll sneak in when he's not around."Charlie looks at the boys. "She's the only one who has a chance of getting within ten feet of Neil." He turns to (Y/n). "Do you think you can go tomorrow, check in on him, and report back to us at the cave?"

She nods. "I'll try my best."

-

When Mr. Nolan called for an assembly, they all hoped that they would hear more about how Neil is doing. Unfortunately, they did not. Mr. Nolan spoke about how terrible it was that Neil Perry had been hurt, and that he sends his condolences to the family and friends of the boy. The school's priest held a prayer for Neil, then they were dismissed for the rest of the day.

-

Mr. Keating spent the majority of the day at Neil's desk. With the minimal information provided, he could only hope Neil was okay.

(Y/n) put on her coat and walked out to the staff parking lot. She got in her dad's car and drove to the nearest hospital. After talking to the receptionist and finding out that Neil hadn't been admitted there, she drove to the next hospital.