Wrong dose

Chapter 3 (Jake)

"Take that, you cripple!" shouted one of the boys. A punch sailed through the air to land on Jake's rib, where there was already another bruise.

"You baby, too weak to defend yourself?" taunted another one. Jake curled up into a heap on the floor as a kick in the stomach knocked the breath out of him.

"C'mon you wimp," exclaimed a third boy, "You can do better than that!" He jumped on Jake's hand. "Fight us!" A hand yanked his head up by the hair, and then let it fall back on the cold, hard floor. Jake saw stars dancing in front of his eyes.

Then came Jake's nightmare. "Guys, guys, leave him to me," grunted a horribly familiar voice. Benjamin Moore. A list of all the injuries he had given Jake in the past ran in front of his eyes. A broken arm. A sprained ankle. A nasty cut on the forehead. Once he'd cornered Jake outside of school and beaten him until he was almost unconcious.

"So, cripple, we meet again," laughed Ben, looming over him.

It's over. This is it. He shut his eyes and waited for the blow. It didn't come. A voice shouted, "STOP THAT!" Soon the air was filled with grunts, cries, and moans. Then the sound of hurried footsteps heading in the opposite direction. Then, finally silence. Jake opened his eyes a crack.

"You okay?" gruffly asked his savior. Jake gripped the hand that was extended to him. He felt himself effortlessly being pulled up. When he looked into his savior's eyes a jolt went through him. One brown and one bright green. Just like him. He immediately knew they were connected in some way.

The one who had saved Jake was a girl. She had dirty blonde hair, and was very tall for her age. Her build was strong and there was a quiet confidence exuding from her. Maybe other people wouldn't have noticed that, but Jake wasn't other people. Years of silent observation from secluded corners had taught him that skill. He knew who he should stay away from and who wouldn't bother him. He could tell which teachers were more repulsed by him and which ones might actually go to the extraordinary length of actually calling on him in class. The moment Jake saw that girl, he was certain he would never leave her side. He could trust her.

"Thank you for saving me," he whispered shyly.

"It was nothing," replied the girl with a half smile. Just looking at that smile Jake could tell she didn't get that often.

"I'm Jake, by the way," he said.

"Skylar," she said, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to m--" Jake's legs bucked from underneath him. Skylar's eyes widened in alarm and her arm shot out at inhuman speed, grabbing his wrist and steadying him right before he crashed to the ground. Jake's face went up in flames.

Stupid leg braces. He slowly took a seat on a nearby bench and leaned down to tighten the buckles. They must have come loose during the fight. Leg braces were a pain. Jake absolutely hated them. They were the cause of all the name-calling and bullying. They were what set him apart from the others. Even wearing long pants during the entire year couldn't hide much. You could still see the bulges from under the fabric. But other than that, he looked completely normal. Sometimes Jake still wondered why so many people hated him just for being different.

Despite the fact the he had been going to this school for years, Jake still had no friends. He usually ate in the library or in his English teacher's classroom. Mr. Miller was probably the only teacher who would treat him like any other student. He called on him in class, and let him go up to the board, unlike many other teachers. Mr. Miller also loved reading fantasy litterature, just like Jake. He would sit down with him during lunch period and have long conversations together about knights and dragons and castles. Sometimes they would even play chess.

"Are you okay?" worriedly asked Skylar for the second time in several minutes.

"Y-yeah," stammered Jake. What would she think of him now that she knew about his leg braces? Would she pity him? Get scared of him? Would she hate him? Those were the reactions he'd encountered in the past.

However, nothing of the kind occurred. Skylar just nodded and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, d'you know where room 304 is?" she asked, "I wasn't really listening to what the lady at the front desk said."

Jake nodded eagerly. At least there was some small favor he could do for her. "Don't worry, just come with me. That's my homeroom, too," he told her. Just then the bell rang, signaling that there were five minutes left until classes started. Jake hurried up two flights of stairs and into a small room just in time to hear the bell ring again as they took a seat near the back. Jake furtively looked around. In his head, he sighed in relief. None of the boys who had bullied him a few minutes ago were there.

Unfortunately his homeroom teacher was Ms. Evans. He detested her with all his being. She was absolutely terrible. More than once she'd given him a worse grade than that of someone who had gotten the exact same mistakes as him. She was being unfair and they both knew it, as well as the fact that Jake couldn't do a thing to stop her. So he just let her torment him in peace.

"All right, class," began Ms. Evans, "Welcome to another day of school. I hope you've all had nice weekends." Her gaze traveled around the room, smiling and nodding to the respective students. When she made eye contact with Jake, however, her eyes narrowed dangerously and she pursed her lips. Jake could almost see the gears churning in her head, trying to figure out a way to get him to leave her presence. He paid her no mind, however. He knew she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"So, give me just a second to take attendance," continued to simper Ms. Evans. She ran down the list of names, barely pausing to see it they were actually there or not. When she read out Skylar's name, she looked around the room again.

When she spotted Skylar she gave her what Jake already knew to be a huge, fake smile, and said, "Oh, looks like we have a new student with us! Skylar, please stand up!" Much to Jake's delight and Ms. Evan's annoyance, Skylar contented herself with raising her hand and a grunt that sounded suspicioiusly like a, "Hi," but no one could be sure.

It was a relief when the bell rang. Homeroom had consisted entirely of students saying how their long weekends went. After the third "I went to the beach" Jake had begun to zone out and he could see that Skylar had even closed her eyes and rested her head in her elbows. Their rtrance was only broken when Ms. Evans came to their table and dropped--well, slammed would be a better term--a syllabus paper for Skylar on the desk. Then the bell had rung, and Skylar had shot up from her position and half-whispered, "Freedom!" to Jake. Well, perhaps she hadn't said it softly enough because on their way out, Jake noticed Ms. Evans looking after them with a look that was nothing short of murder in her eyes. I guess now I know how this year will go for Skylar, he thought sarastically.

As he led Skylar to their next class--they had almost all their classes together--Jake began to think that maybe the rest of the year wouldn't be so bad after all.