Broken Ballerina

Chapter Five

Attached is a photo of Aaron.

Jane speeds down the M50 motorway as I frantically call Aaron over and over again. I'm flooding the car with tears and Jane is out of breath with worry.

"Did he say where he was?" Jane asks.

"No I'm trying to think. We were talking yesterday about what we were going to do today. He said something about going out with his friends in Landsgrove but I can't remember where!"

I'm hyperventilating with worry. The thought of Aaron lying in a street alone at 1am on a Saturday night makes my stomach churn. It doesn't settle my stomach that he was with the guys from Landsgrove either. Landsgrove are bad news. They meet up every week and go to Landsgrove park where they drink spirits straight until someone K'Os, and smoke weed until they can't fathom anything that's happening around them anymore.

"Landsgrove Park!" I yell. "He's in Landsgrove Park!"

Jane steps on the accelerator until her foot is almost touching the floor. This may seem like a stupid move after being in a car accident just over two months ago but Aaron is in trouble and we need to get to him as fast as humanly possible.

"What happened on the phone exactly, Rosie?"

"He was mumbling. He said that he did something terrible and then there was shouting and he was shouting at someone else and it all became a blur of shouting and then I just heard someone say 'you're going to pay for that, Williams' and then I just heard Aaron grunt with pain. It kept going and then the phone went dead."

I've given up on wiping my tears away because they just keep coming. I'm clutching my phone in my hands praying that he'll call again and say he was messing with me and then I'll get mad for a split second and then just be happy he's safe. I don't think I could go through any of this without Aaron by my side, sharing a jar of Nutella and about three packets of cookies. I can't live without his warm embrace, or his comforting cuddles when I'm down. I can't live without him being the only person who actually understands me. I can't live without his flashy smile and his soft winks with his huge eyes. I can't live without his goofiness whenever I'm hysterically crying. I need Aaron.

We pull up outside the park and I almost fall out of the car and dash inside the park.

"Rosie wait! You can't go in alone!" Jane shouts from behind me, running as fast as she can.

My legs are screaming at me while I'm running but I ignore the pain. I have to find Aaron. I check all of the large grass areas, in between clumps of trees, but he's nowhere to be seen.

"Aaron!?" I yell into the deserted park.

Silence.

I see an opening into a forest and decide it's worth a shot. I run through the trees and continue yelling in every direction. "Aaron!?"

I keep running until I notice three naggins of vodka and a two empty boxes of cigarettes. He's around here somewhere.

"Aaron!?"

I hear fumbling in the leaves covering the ground to my left. I follow the sound in the hope of finding Aaron. "Aaron?" I say softly into the trees.

I hear a small faint grunt. I look around but I can see nothing. I hear the grunt again and realise it's a lot closer than I think. I look down to the ground and see Aaron in a heap beside a large oak tree. I dart over to his side.

"Aaron! Aaron what happened?" I hurry to his heap of a body, covered in bruises and blood. He keeps his head facing the ground. I lift his chin with my fingers and gasp at the sight of his face. His lip is completely busted, his right eye is swollen and black. His cheeks are bruised and blood is pouring out of his hairline. He points down to the side of his stomach. I glance down at his wound and cover my mouth with my hand. His white shirt is now red at the bottom, and is ripped. A huge cut lies on his hip. "How?" I whisper.