Scream: A Drake & Josh Story

The Shed

"Wake up," came a gentle voice, and Drake's eyes slowly opened to his stepbrother's face. Josh was leaning over him in his bed, for he'd kindly offered to share his space with him again.

"Hey," Drake said quietly, his voice strained from exhaustion.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving so you don't freak out when you wake up and see I'm gone."

Drake's brow furrowed. The absence of Josh got his heart pounding, waking him immediately. He pushed himself onto his elbows. "Where are you going?"

"To school."

"What time is it?"

"Seven thirty."

Drake slung the comforter off of himself. "Jesus, why didn't you wake me?" He hurried over to his dresser and opened one of the drawers.

"Dad and I thought you and Megan might wanna stay home today. He was gonna call out of work to be with you."

"I'm okay."

Josh watched him replace his pajama pants with jeans and switch to a clean tee. "Whoa, what happened to your back?" He only got a quick glimpse because Drake was so quick to throw on the new shirt.

"Nothing," the boy said, but he knew Josh wouldn't accept that. "Just some jerks at school."

"Huntley?"

"Just don't...say anything to anyone this time, okay?"

For a moment, there was silence as Josh debated this. He wanted to encourage Drake to speak up about his bullies, but he knew he wouldn't, so he let it go for now. "You don't have to go," he said.

"I know."

"With it being...the anniversary and all..."

"I'm fine."

"The pep rally's today. I didn't think you'd be up for it."

Drake turned to him now, sounding vulnerable when he admitted, "I'd feel safer in a crowd."

"Okay," Josh said gently, understanding and supportive. "I'll wait for you."

"I just have to brush my teeth. I'll be quick." Drake hurried out of the room, and his stepbrother headed downstairs to update his dad.
_______________________________

For the most part, the teachers at Woodsboro High had taken the students grieving into consideration and postponed the normal Friday tests — everyone except Mrs. Hayfer, of course. Drake knew he had bombed it once again. He couldn't concentrate on anything the teachers were saying, and most seemed to understand that and wouldn't call on him to answer questions they knew he wasn't listening to. They all knew how close Drake had been with Stephen. He'd lost his best friend, his ex-girlfriend, and attempts had been made on the lives of both himself and his stepbrother. Who's next? That question stuck with him for the rest of the day.

At lunch, Drake didn't bother grabbing a tray. He felt sick to his stomach, and he couldn't eat. He sat down at the same table as yesterday, but this time, Craig and Eric, two of the nerdiest guys in school, accompanied him — no doubt as a favor to their fellow nerd friend Josh. Drake didn't argue this time. In fact, he didn't say much of anything, and they both gave up on trying to rope him into conversation after a while. Instead, they got into some heated physics debate that Drake couldn't even begin to comprehend. Still, it was better than sitting with Mindy. He knew she must be enjoying every second of his downward spiral. He used to be so popular, and he still was, but not in a good way. Everyone still talked about him, but they also avoided him like the plague. No one wanted to get close to him because they all knew they would become targets themselves.