The Mystical and Foolish Mr. Kirkland (FACE)

8

I smiled as I added Mr. Kirkland's number to my phone. Alfred would make fun of me if he realized how fast I went to look for the paper. "MATTHEW!" I heard a shout. I jumped up from the spot I was in and quickly left my room. "Yes?" I asked. Ivan stood at the bottom of the stairs with his arms crossed, and I slowly walked toward him. "Where is your brother?" He hissed. I looked down at my feet and did not know what to say. Alfred did not text me, and I did not realize that he had not come home yet.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" He yelled. I stood up straight and looked at him quickly. He looked livid. "I am not sure," I spoke. "What? You are not sure?" He mocked. I nodded in response, and he got closer to my face. I would dissociate at times like this, but I could not. I wanted Alfred to come home or maybe Mr. Kirkland to save me. I wanted him to tell me it would be okay like he usually did and reassure me to look on the bright side of things, but I could not scream or yell.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and shook me back and forth. "Where is he? I know, you know! Tell me where he is!" He demanded. "I do not! I swear! He has not texted me anything; he is probably with his friends again," I lied. There was a good chance he would stay after school to talk with Mr. Kirkland again. I had to go home early because of a doctor's appointment, which Ivan did a terrible job helping.

I looked at Ivan and saw him reach his hand up.

He began to pretend that he would hit me, and I flinched.

"Awww, what a pussy, you flinch at anything," He laughed. He continued to pretend to hit me, and each time he swung, I flinched more and more. "HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Alfred spoke. We both turned, and he was standing at the doorway. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Ivan yelled. "Leave him alone!" Alfred said again. "Or what? Will you fight me? As if," Ivan laughed. Alfred walked over to us and pulled me away from him.

This idiot!

"Go to the punishment closet," Ivan demanded.

"No! FUCK YOU!" Alfred spoke. My eyes widened, and I shook my head at him to shut up. "Now, or else," Ivan warned. Ivan lifted his hand as if about to hit him, but Alfred dodged him as he swung. Ivan ended up hitting the wall beside me, and I flinched. "Come on!" Alfred spoke. Ivan had his fist stuck in the wall and tried to pull it out. "Yeah, okay!" I said, terrified.

Alfred grabbed my hand quickly and began to pull me toward the door. "YOU TWO GET BACK HERE NOW! OR I WILL HAVE YOU SEPARATED!"Ivan threatened. I looked back at him, shocked, and he pulled out his arm in the most terrifying and bloodthirsty way.

"You two are going to get it! I will find you!" He yelled as we started to run. He was holding his hand in pain, and blood was falling from his arm. He might have cut it when he punched the wall.

"Come on, Come on, Come on!" Alfred spoke.

We started running away, and I noticed it was dark outside. "Where are we going?" I asked. "I am not sure, but we can't go home to that crazy man," He spoke. We continued running until we stopped in this alleyway. "Are you okay? Did he hit you?" Alfred asked, scared. I shook my head at him and held myself. "He only started to shake me around, but I do not have whiplash or anything," I clarified.

Alfred breathed out, relieved, and moved his hair out of his face, stressed. "Where were you?" I asked. "I stayed after school...with Mr. Kirkland..." He spoke sadly. He looked as if he felt guilty about the whole thing. He looked down at his feet, but I stopped him. "Hey, look at me," I started. "Don't worry about not being there; I am fine! See! He was only shaking me; he didn't hit me or anything," I spoke.

"Yeah, but what if he did? And I was not there to help you? What if he killed you or something?"

"Relax, He wouldn't; it would not benefit him at all," I clarified.

I grabbed his hand and tried to smile to make him feel better. "I won't stay late anymore; I will make sure to go home with you every day, so this does not happen again, I promise," He tried to reassure me. "Don't worry, I don't think you should stop going because of this; I think it was bad timing," I laughed.

"ALFRED! MATTHEW!" The familiar voice snapped us out of it, and Alfred grabbed my hand again. "Come on! We have to get out of here," He spoke. "But where? There is nowhere for us," I uttered. "I am not sure, but we can't stay here right now; he is going to find us," Alfred spoke. "How about the school? There are still sports practicing right now; we can sneak in and stay there for the night," I spoke. Alfred nodded at me and began to pull me again. "Come on then," He demanded.

We both started running again, and as we left the alleyway, I saw Ivan in the distance with Emma. They were looking around for us, and we would have been caught within minutes if we did not leave immediately. "Come on! this way!" I spoke. I pulled Alfred down another way, and he followed me. I wanted to throw off our tracks by running in different directions to get to the school. We knew other ways to get there, so we would be able to get there that way. I can't believe we ran away again; I knew we would get into trouble for doing this.