Whispers on a Wing

Chapter Eleven

As always the next chapter is up and ready on Inkitt! Hope you enjoy :D

Sunday came and went in a thankfully calm and uneventful manner, there were no unconscious boys needing rescuing and no head injuries for me to stress over, but even with all that I couldn't help but think about Jake and wonder whether he was okay. The head wound had looked pretty gruesome with a lot of blood to show for it, and I wasn't sure why but I was kind of waiting for Monday to roll around so that I could go into school and find out whether he was okay. Surely one of his so-called 'friends' would know how he was doing and I could overhear them talking about it. I knew I couldn't just go up and ask him, that would open up a whole can of worms that I just can't deal with right now.

I wasted the day away by reading another borrowed book from the local library and gathering any food I could find from the surrounding areas in town. I had to be careful when doing that during the day. The last thing I needed was someone to catch me stealing fruit and veg from someone's allotment or going dumpster diving at the back of the local supermarket. That was sure to attract attention to myself and get people asking questions about me.

When Monday finally came I was both anxious and relieved. My brain hadn't shut up all weekend and unless I was constantly doing something it would always flick back to Jake and how hopeless he'd looked that night. Did he have a concussion? Was his mum able to fix him up? Did he need stitches? I was honestly so close to banging my head against the wall I had to fly around until way past dark just to try and clear my head.

It wasn't like I was worried about him specifically, but I was aware of what self sabotaging behaviour looked like, having lived with it myself for a number of years, and I was always worried for someone who was going through the same thing. I didn't know what Jake was going through to feel like he had to drink the night away and get so blinding drunk he separated himself from his friends and knocked himself out on a rock, but I wasn't going to make it my business. I couldn't make it my business.

There was one thing I was going to confront him about though, and that was where he'd really been Saturday afternoon. There was a lot I'd put up with, the rumours and the hateful words that were spoken about me in nearly every school I went to was almost easy to ignore because I knew they weren't talking about the real me. But lying to my face, looking me in the eye and saying he'd been somewhere when he hadn't, that was something I couldn't stand for.

I sat in my usual seat before school, book out, as I waited for any sign that Jake was going to be making it in today, but when the bell rang and there was still no sight of him or his truck I gave up and made my way to first period. I guess I'd have to confront him another day.

It was Wednesday before he'd finally shown his face back in school, a stitched up cut across his forehead and some impressive looking bruising across his eye socket and cheek bone that made him look like he'd done a round with Mike Tyson.

I cringed as I took in the multicoloured bruising but quickly schooled my face to make sure it didn't look like I was interested in him from a passer by. I'd confront him later today in psychology, where I'd give him an ultimatum. If he didn't tell me where he'd been, really been, on Saturday afternoon then I was going to march right up to Mr Reeves and demand a new partner or I wasn't turning a paper in at all. A risky move on my part, but I hoped the teacher wouldn't call my bluff and see if I'd go through with my threat. I knew how teachers worked, how it made the school look better the higher the students' grades were, and I had my fingers crossed that Mr Reeves would care more about his class average than some petty stand off with one of his students... that was the theory anyway.

I hoped it wouldn't get to that stage though, I was going to make sure Jake listened to me and told me the truth whether he liked it or not. No one lied to me. Not even pretty boy Jake Sulfree.