Gone-ON HOLD

Detention

That day at school, things were different. Erika didn't do anything to Megan once. Dale and Megan found that extremely weird. Louriza also didn't get up in class or start a riot.

At detention, Megan and Dale sat next to each other. They scanned the room. Erika and John were there, Erika looking extremely pale. Louriza was the only other one in there, and her face was tear stained.

They were about half an hour into the two hour detention when Erika began gagging. She grabbed the trashcan John had put next to her. Out of instinct, Megan pulled up her hair. John backed up, disgusted. "John?" Erika whispered.

"You're on your own," John said flatly.

Megan moved so that she was in front of Erika. She placed a hand up to her forehead. "I think you have a fever," Megan said. "Do you want some water or anything?"

Erika shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Megan said. "You're sick, there's nothing you can do about that."

"No, for bullying you. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because, you need someone, and if John isn't gonna help I might as well. You seem pretty sick."

Erika looked up at Megan with pleading eyes. "Hey," Megan said soothingly. "It's okay."

Megan gave the small girl a hug. "Dale," she called. "Get my backpack."

Dale brought over Megan's backpack. She scrambled through the mess until she found an unopened water bottle. She opened it and handed it to Erika. "Here, I don't want you to get dehydrated," Megan explained.

Erika sipped the water slowly. Her stomach still hadn't settled and she didn't want to upset it. Erika then began to shiver. She was freezing, even though it was fairly warm in the classroom. Dale took his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem," Dale replied, speaking to the girl for the first time.

"Oh my gosh he talks!" John said, then started laughing.

Erika looked over at him. "Shut up," she croaked.

Megan was stunned. She sat next to Erika, who surprisingly laid her head on her shoulder. Megan took another water bottle, this one Dale's, and held it to her forehead. Megan was actually worried about the girl who'd been bullying her since sixth grade.

Dale sat back in his seat, playing with a piece of lead on his desk until he heard sniffles. At first he thought it was Erika, with her being sick and all, but he looked over to find Louriza, silently crying. He walked over to her. "Hey," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

Louriza nodded. "I'm fine," she replied.

Dale saw that she was looking through texts. "You sure?" Dale asked. "Cause you don't seem fine."

He sat next to her. "It's nothing," she said. "I wouldn't want to pull you into all of this."

Dale made her look up at him. "Hey," he said. "Tell me."

"My boyfriend broke up with me," she sighed.

Dale frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"He called me some... stuff."

Dale brushed away some tears forming in her eyes. He sat next to her, pulling her into a hug. She cried in his arms. It was terrible, seeing the girl he thought was so strong cry. He just held her, rocking her back and forth in attempt to calm her down.

Meanwhile with Megan and Erika, Megan was once again holding her hair up. Erika threw up everything until she couldn't anymore and it went down to just gagging. Megan helped her sip some water since she was so shaky. Erika whimpered.

Megan looked over at John. "Why don't you help your girlfriend?" she questioned.

"Cause that's disgusting! She's not worth it!" he stated.

Erika, who was now crying, went over to John weakly. She cornered him. "We're through," she stated, then walked back to Megan.

Megan allowed Erika to put her head back on her shoulder. She rubbed the weak girl's back.

The rest of detention seemed to drag on. When it finally ended, Erika could barely move and Megan helped her outside. "Is your mom coming to pick you up?" Megan asked.

"N-no," Erika replied. "I walk home."

Megan sighed. "Dale, can you call Dani?"

Dale nodded. He got on the phone with his sister. "Dani said she'll be here soon," he said.

"You wanna come to my house?" Megan asked.

"O-okay," Erika studdered.

"Come on," Megan said as Dani pulled up. "Let's get you into bed."

As soon as Dani dropped Megan and Erika off, Megan told her mom what happened and she helped Erika into her bed. "Megan, I don't want to take your bed," Erika said.

"Don't worry about it," Megan said. "You're sick, you need it."

Erika sighed. "Megan, why are you being so nice?"

Megan talked as she arranged pillows to make sure Erika was comfortable. "Because I try to be nice," Megan said. "I always have, especially when you transferred here in sixth grade."

Erika cringed at the thought of her in sixth grade. "Erika, I never understood why we weren't friends," Megan continued. "I always tried to be as friendly as I could."

Erika whimpered. "I'm sorry," she said. "I I didn't know how."

"What?"

"My dad abused me until I was eleven. Then my mom finally left him, and we moved here. I didn't know how to be anything but mean and I ended up in the wrong crowd. I wanted to be your friend and I don't deserve for you to be helping me right now!"

Erika collapsed in tears. Megan wrapped her arms around the small girl. "Shh," Megan said. "It's okay, let it out."

Megan held Erika until she stopped crying. I never knew, she thought. I never knew.