ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ʙᴀᴛʜ- ᴠᴀɴᴄᴇ ʜᴏᴘᴘᴇʀ ✓

THIRTEEN

TW: MENTIONS OF RAPE

Baylen couldn't sleep.

Ever since his sister went missing and the mysterious phone call he'd received he was set on finding her. He looked everywhere. The town was a wasteland, no one even caring about the murder case. All the people cared about was staying away from the Parkers. The family was now considered crazy, proving Blues point even from miles away.

Baylen lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling with thousands of thought's crawling in his head. He was exhausted from the lack of sleep but he swore he'd never fall asleep until he found Blue which was a lie. He only slept when he couldn't even hold his eyes open with his fingers anymore. But that was it.
The boy was a complete mess without his sister. The nightmares he had even when Blue was home were usually about losing her. And now his worst nightmare was true.

School was extremely hard. A rumor had went around saying that Baylen helped her hide the body. No one would talk to him anymore, including his "friends." Every time he'd walk by, someone would always whisper something to another. He hung his head low, walking as fast as he could to his next class.
        The rude comments always got to him though. Some people told him to kill himself. He'd go home and throw things, making a mess of his room than cry and cry until he fell asleep.

His mom was very worried about not only Blue but also her son. The whole family wasn't doing well and everyone knew it. Mandy saw how exhausted Baylen was and even thought about pulling him out of the school for the time being.

~~~

Baylen waited in front of the school, leaning against a brick wall listening to everyone's piercing voice. His eyes drifted in and out of sleep until finally the bell rang, making his eyes fly open as he walked to class.
"I heard it was buried in an old outhouse." A kid whispered to a friend but loud enough for Baylen to hear. He clenched his jaw, lowering his head to try and disappear which obviously didn't work. "I heard he threw it in the river." The friend whispered back.

Baylen immediately thought of Blue and what she would've done in this situation. She would've thrown the kid into a locker and beat the tar outta him if she was there. But she wasn't, so Baylen just stopped thinking about it and went to class.

Mrs. Betts looked at him with sad eyes as he sat down in the far back, resting his head on the table. Exhaustion flooded his eyes and body, making it extremely difficult to focus on anything. Kids laughed and pointed at him which Mrs. Betts immediately had something to say about. "Everyone zip it! Sit down and turn to page 20." She demanded, making everyone shut their mouths and do as told.

She walked over to the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go take a nap in the nurses office." The woman with short red hair said softly, giving him a kind smile. Baylen looked at her with no emotion but his eyes said it all. They silently thanked her as he quickly slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out the door.
       Some kids laughed under their breaths but one look from Mrs. Betts immediately made them shut up.