He walked into school, his lunchbox swinging from his hand. He was thinking about the basketball game that he had watched late last night—he still couldn't believe that his favorite team had lost!
Rosemary had shouted in anger, stomping her foot against the carpet. And Will had remained silent, arms crossed, sullenly staring at the TV.
"Hey, Miller!" a voice shouted, bringing Will out of his thoughts. He glanced around, but before he could turn, hands grabbed at him, whirling him around and holding him against the hard, brick wall of the school.
Will blinked in shock as he came face to face with Jackson Crowle.
"Imagine my surprise when I found out who you were," he seethed at Will, who scrunched his nose in confusion.
"You're the coma girl's brother," he replied. "Rosemary's brother."
His eye twitched. "Yeah," he said. "How do you know her?"
"We met," Jackson shrugged. "A couple times. Can't say they ended really well. Most of the time your brave big sister ended up in tears." He laughed and Will glared at him.
"It's not her fault that she was in a coma, Jackson," Will said. "It's not her fault that she's mentally younger than people her age."
Jackson's face contorted in fury. "You think I'm angry about that, Miller?"
"I don't know what you're angry about," Will said calmly. "Just...just leave her al—"
Smack!
Will bit down a cry of pain, tears swimming his vision. He looked up at the older boy, his lips parted in shock as he raised his hand to his suddenly hot cheek.
Jackson had slapped him.
He wasn't sure why it came as a surprise. After all, Jackson had punched Will before. And Will had watched Jackson beat up many other little kids, Will's age or even way younger.
"You and your sister both have to learn how to shut up," Jackson hissed down at him.
Will looked at him, horror etched on his face. "Did you hit her?" he demanded lowly.
Jackson raised an eyebrow.
"Did you hurt her?!" Will shouted, and still, Jackson didn't reply, amused to see what Will's reaction would be.
"What if I have?" Jackson asked finally, tilting his head, and for a moment, Will only saw red.
He pushed up against the wall, his fists clenched. And suddenly, it wasn't Will who seemed like the scrawny, shorter one.
"Have you?" Will demanded, and Jackson shrugged.
"What are you going to do about it?" he taunted playfully.
And Will jumped on him, pushing the older boy down with surprising strength. He wasn't even sure what the heck he was doing. There was only one thing on his mind; he couldn't ever see his older sister get hurt. Not by an accident, not by a coma, and definitely not by an older boy named Jackson.
Jackson, on the other hand, had been surprised. He took the blows Will inflicted on him, which were surprisingly hard. Just when he'd been about to get his bearings, a voice shouted,
"Hey! Hey, stop it! Stop it!"
And suddenly Will Miller was wrenched off of Jackson. Jackson blinked up to see his friend, James, gawk at the younger boy, who lay heaving for breath on the pavement.
"Will?" James asked, shocked, for Will had always been a peaceful, calm person.
"James?" Will responded hazily.
"What the—" James shook his head, and they all turned their heads as a stern voice called,
"What the hell is going on here? Jackson Crowle, William Miller—my office. Now."
---
"What happened, Will?" their dad asked disappointingly as they walked back to the car. Will, as it was his first offence, had been suspended for only two days.
"Nothing, Dad," Will murmured, crossing his arms as he sat in the backseats.
"Obviously it wasn't nothing," his dad said, frowning. "What made you hit that boy? He was black and blue and purple when I saw him!"
Good, Will wanted to say. He hurt Rosemary.
But he didn't say a word.
He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because Jackson was a bully. Maybe it was because, even if Will did tell his dad, then his dad would tell the school. And then maybe Jackson would get expelled or suspended. And even if Jackson did get expelled, he lived right in Will's own neighborhood.
Will couldn't avoid him.
"Will—"
"I said nothing, Dad!" Will snapped, and with a warning glance to Will, his dad stopped asking.
---
"Why did you get into a fight?" Rosemary asked him later.
"Why do you care?"
And like all those other times, Will wasn't sure why he was being so snappy. But he was getting irritated that so many people were asking him—the principal, the vice-principal, his parents, and now, Rosemary—the person why he hit Jackson back.
"Come on, Will," Rosemary coaxed. "I won't tell anyone."
Most of the time your brave big sister ended up in tears.
No, Will thought, I can't tell her. She'll go to him. He'll hurt her.
"No." And with tears in his eyes, Will turned away.
---
He lay on his back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"When did I start hating you?" he wondered. "When did you start hating me?"
"Did you even hate me in the first place? Everyone says you never did. They say you loved me, even whenever...I didn't.
"I wish...I can speak with you. One more time. Just to say sorry. It isn't the same just speaking to open air, and it makes me feel guilty. I hurt you so many times, too many times for me to even count."
"Why did your life end like this?" he asked into the silence. "Why did it all have to end like this?"
~ Lyn
Words: 953
Ahhh, guys, I'm so scared, I have a competition tomorrow morning and I'm feeling anxiety right now :(
Hopefully it goes okay?
Anyway, I'm gonna go sleep now, but I hope you liked this chapter! Please comment! <33
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𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝...
General FictionA game against time. A story of sibling love. Would it be all right at the end? At twelve years old, Rosemary Miller had been part of an accident that had sent her into a coma for two years. Two years later, when she woke up, she wasn't the same...
