Break Free

Chapter Ten

"Mike, what the hell are you doing here?! Where did you go? What happened? Where have you been? Why haven't you come home?!" Brad asked several questions, one after the other.

"I-I can't explain it to you right now." Mike stuttered and dried the tears in his eyes.

"I have to tell the guys! Oh my god, I missed you. We all missed you so much! Mike!" Brad cried out again, tears rolling off his cheeks. He pulled Mike in for a hug again.

"No! You-you can't tell the guys. I'll explain later, I swear." Mike said and Brad's body was shaking from so many feelings wrecking through him.

"God, it's so so great to see you again. Jesus, Mike. I knew you weren't dead!" Brad cheered and Mike squinted his eyes at his old buddy.

"Who thinks I'm dead?" He asked softly, hoping it wasn't any of his friends or family.

"I don't know many anymore but most people at our old school before I came here thought you were murdered or something." He explained and Mike was about to continue but he remembered Chester suddenly.

"Shit." He swore under his breath and looked to the bathroom door and back to Brad. "Look, I can't go anywhere after school but I have a study hall and lunch when we can talk. I wanna know everything. You just can't tell anyone anything about me, okay? I'll explain it then. My study hall is fifth hour, right after lunch."

"Okay, I'll meet you outside the school during lunch?"

"Perfect." Mike agreed and the pair hugged again. Tears shining in both their eyes. Brad turned and left and Mike shook away all the emotions running through him. He didn't have time for them, he needed to help Chester.

Mike went into the bathroom and Chester wasn't anywhere to be seen. He went back to class and noticed Chester wasn't there either. He couldn't ask Mr. Aoki about it or else he'd tell Scott. Mike spent the rest of his first hour looking at the blue paint surrounding Chester's chair.

~

Mike had went down to the office between hours and asked for Chester's schedule so they could work on a "project" they had to do together. Mike went to search each class and Chester wasn't in any of them. By fourth hour, Mike was scared senseless. Lunch came and he met up with Brad but he wasn't in the mood to talk without knowing where Chester was.

"We have to go somewhere." Mike said right when he and Brad met up outside the school. "I need to find Chester."

"Who?"

"Oh god, where is he?! What if his dad came to get him? I shouldn't have made him skip going to his uncle's. What if he found out he was at the police station yesterday? Or that he skipped school? Shit, shit, shit."

"Mike, what are you talking about?!" Brad exclaimed and Mike grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the school.

"Just come on!"

~

"Please be here..." Mike muttered to himself as he continued through the woods behind the park.

Brad thought his friend had gone insane. He hadn't seen him in so long and now his concern seems to only be for some boy named Chester. He believed Mike should be focused on him because they hadn't seen each other in so long.

"Mike, this is ridiculous-"

"Shh, I hear something." Mike paused and his eyes darted towards a clearing. Brad didn't hear a thing but followed Mike as he charged into the small opening in the center of the woods. A small, blonde boy sat on a tree stump, a joint in hand. "Chester!"