I'll take care of you

Back to school

-STEVE
I just woke up and I'm sitting on the couch. Today I'm gonna take Dustin to the mall, to buy a new cap. We also need a new door. I look at the stairs. They're still empty, because Dustin's still sleeping. Normally he's already awake at this time, so I decide to go upstairs and check on him. I the door from Dustin's room. He's still sleeping peacefully. I smile and close the door. We made it late last night, taking the door out. I walk downstairs and set the table for Dustin. I already had breakfast, so there's only one plate. 'SHIT.' I run upstairs. 'DUSTIN! YOU HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL!' I yell. 'SCHOOL IS STARTING, DUSTIN, WAKE UP!' I clap my hands. 'Jesus, calm down.' Dustin looks at the clock. 'Shit.' He jumps out of bed and I run downstairs. '5 MINUTES!' I yell while almost tripping. Dustin comes running downstairs and we get in the car. 'Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.' He yells. I start the car and we race to the school. 'Have a nice day.' We do our handshake and Dustin runs inside. I watch how he runs through the hallway and disappears into the crowd. I look in my mirror. 'Ew.' My hair looks different. 'Screw you, Steve.' I tell myself. 'Screw. You.' I start the car and drive to Family Video.

'Hey, Steve's back.' Robin raises her eyebrows. 'Where have you been?' She looks at me confused. 'A lot happened. I'm glad to be back, warm welcome, I appreciate it.' I say sarcastically. I get behind the counter and start organizing tapes. 'So, what happened? The last time you were at work was probably 2 weeks ago.' Robin sighs. 'Sorry.' I make a pile of tapes and nod proudly. 'Two boys broke into our house. We knew who they were, so we fought the bitches. And before that, you know I was in the hospital. It makes sense.' Before Robin could answer, the phone rings. 'Hello? This is Steve.' I mumble. 'Steve Harrington.' I recognize the voice. It's Dustin's mom. 'What do you want?' I bite my lip.
'The school called.' She growls. 'They want to know what's wrong with Dustin. Since you're his only friend, where is he and what's wrong with him?' She asks. My lip starts bleeding. I taste the blood. 'There's nothing wrong with him. Leave him alone.' I get mad. 'So, he lives with you, huh?' She laughs. 'Yeah. You have a problem with that?'
'No. I just don't think the school likes it.'
'Don't you dare.' I look at my hands.
'No, I don't. I wanted to get rid of Dustin a long time ago. I don't want anything to do with him, or the school, so you better fix this. Before they come to my house. Bye, Steve Harrington.' She hangs up. I smack the phone on the table. 'That crazy bitch.' I get my coat and open the door. 'Sorry, Robin.' I look at her. She sighs and smiles. 'Go ahead. For Dustin.'

I enter the school and knock on the principals door. 'Come in.' I walk trough the door. 'Steve Harrington! Old student. What are you doing here?' The principal points to a chair and I sit down. 'I'm here to talk about Dustin. Henderson.' I sigh.
'They called his mom? They said something was wrong with him.' I tap my feet on the floor.
'Oh, yes. After lunch break, he came into class with a nosebleed. I don't think it "just" happened. I think he's getting bullied. We've got different signs.' The principal looks at me. 'But, why are you here? Why isn't his mom here?' He looks at me confused.
'Yeah, about that.' I take a deep breath and start talking.
'Dustin lives with me. His mom wanted to get rid of him a long time ago, but she couldn't find the right moment. He broke a rule they had, so she thought it was the perfect moment. I just came back from work, when I saw him in the pouring rain, sitting on the ground. I took him home and he's happy now. Please, just give us a chance.' I feel tears coming up in my eyes when the door opens. 'Dustin Henderson.' The principal laughs. I turn around. Dustin is standing in the doorway with tears in his eyes. He wipes them away as he sees me. 'Steve?' He says with a high pitched voice. I stand up. 'Hey, man, what's going on?' I grab his arm. 'Dustin.' I shake his arm. Dustin starts crying and I look at the principal. He just keeps smiling. Shit. This is my chance to show him I can take care of Dustin.
I wrap my arms around Dustin. He does the same. I've never hugged someone this tight. 'It's okay.' I say. Dustin sobs. I let go and look him in the eyes. 'What's going on?' We walk to the chairs and sit down. Dustin starts talking. 'It's just.. everything. I've been bullied my entire life. I thought when I got to high school it would stop, but it didn't. There's these boys, they always hurt me.' I look at Dustin. He has a blue eye and he has scars on his hands. 'Dustin, why didn't you tell me?' I ask. Dustin starts sobbing again. 'I don't know.' He puts his face in his hands. 'Today. Today they had a knife.' Dustin rolls up his sleeve. I gasp. Dustin's arm is covered in blood. 'What the actual hell.' I say. The principal stands up and looks Dustin straight in the eye. 'Tell me, right now. Who did this to you?' Dustin looks at his arm. 'That's the worst part. I don't even know who they are.' Dustin closes his eyes. 'We're gonna go into every single class. If you see them, you're gonna tell us. Let's go.' The principal walks to the first class. 'It's okay.' I whisper to Dustin. His hand is shaking. 'No. They're not here.' Dustin says as he looks into the classroom.
'Nope.'
'No.'
'Pretty sure they're not here either.'
We sigh and walk to the last classroom. As we walk in, I notice 3 boys. They're laughing and pointing at Dustin. I look at Dustin. I see tears coming up in his eyes. 'Yes. Yes, that's them.' The principal whispers something to the teacher, who's eyes get big. 'Yeah, go ahead.' The teacher says. He winks at Dustin. 'Boys.' The principal looks at the 3 boys strictly. 'Office. Now.' Dustin and I walk ahead.
'Wait outside, please. I'll be right back.' The principal walks into his office with the 3 boys.
Dustin and I sit on the floor in front of the lockers.
Dustin lays his head on my shoulder. I get my bag and look for bandages. 'There they are.' I say. I roll up Dustin's sleeve and roll bandage around his arm.
'There.' I roll the sleeve back down. 'Thank you.' Dustin sighs. 'You can talk to me, Dustin.' The principal walks out. 'You can come in.' Dustin and I stand up and walk into the office. The boys are looking at me with a frown. 'This is his dad.' One of the boys whispers. The others laugh. 'His mom didn't love him.' The other one whispers. I make a fist with my hand. I'm so mad. 'Sit down, please.' Dustin and I sit down. I make sure I sit next to the boys and not Dustin. 'Boys. You're gonna tell us everything. From the start to the beginning. When did this start?' The principal gets a pen. 'At the beginning of the year. The third day of school. We saw him at lunch break.' One of the boys says. The principal writes it down. 'Why on earth was Dustin your victim?' He asks. The boys snicker. I make a first again. The little bitches. 'I don't know.' The other boy says. Dustin looks at his shoes. 'Because I looked like a nerd.' He says. We all look confused. 'Yeah. Probably because he looked like a nerd.' The third boy says. The principal sighs. 'Where did you get the knife from? Where did you keep it?'
'We found it on the street. I kept it in my locker.' The first boy says. The principal gets the phone and dials a number. 'I'm calling your parents to pick you up. You're gonna stay here till they arrive.' He holds the phone by his ear.