Chit and Jake

Chit

It was hard to explain my feelings. Jakes absence had left an empty void in me but Levy and Chris' companionship, it was the closest I'd get to filling it.
"Dammnnn, look at the hottie that just stepped onto the bus." Chris whispered excitedly to me, which earnt us both a glare from Levy. I looked up at her, she was pretty in an exotic way, with her caramel skin, long glossy chocolate hair and a red dot in the middle of her forehead. I rolled my eyes, Chris really was hopeless.
"Oh I hope she has an accent. Please, oh please have an accent." Chris made a praying action as he mumbled this and looked upwards. She walked past us and Chris let out a sigh. "Life is so unfair." He groaned.
"Cheer up big guy, she might still have that accent." I suggested in an attempt to save us from his eternal groaning.
"You're right!" He perked up and a wide smile spread across his face as he caught site of Levy's glare. The stare-off lasted a minute before we all erupted in laughter. I had no idea that other people could be this fun, that other people could make me smile and laugh. This was new to me, though I'd never tell them that. This was the first time I'd experienced these things with anyone other than Jake and, ashamedly, I liked it. Jakes missing presence dawns on me the most when I'm alone, so catching the bus in the morning is always the highlight of my day. We got given 3 pop quizzes yesterday and my grade has improved from 98/100 to 100/100 in Science, Humanities and English. Being alone during the day gave me nothing other to focus on then class so I finished everything early and often ran out of work very quickly. I can't tell if this annoys or impresses my teachers, it doesn't particularly matter either way. During breaks I've started reading and I'm almost finished the second book, Linger. Chris read at about the same pace I did but we couldn't talk about it on the bus because Levy hadn't caught up yet and didn't want us ruining it for her. Tomorrow's the weekend and I don't know what I'm going to do. I have several sheets of homework but they won't take me long at all.
Ring, ring. Another day down. It's almost been a week at school without Jake and somehow I'd managed to survive. Nobody had bullied me yet and I'd made two new friends. I can't wait to see Jake and tell him about all that he's missed. Of course Levy and Chris will love him too because he's Jake. I'm so excited; I hope I get to introduce him to them. Maybe we can all even hang out in the mornings on the bus.

'Get out! And stay away from my son!'
'Stay away from my son!'

Jakes' mums words echoed through my head and tears sprung to my eyes. What have I been doing? I hadn't texted him. I hadn't emailed him much. I hadn't even rung him. I didn't ask if he was okay, I didn't ask why he wasn't coming to school and I never even said hi. The tears slipped down my face silently as I packed my bag in our lockers. What if he didn't come back to this school? What if they moved? What if Jake thinks I don't care about him? What've I done? God I've screwed up.
"Charles?" I didn't turn around, I knew it was Levy and I couldn't let her see me like this, I just couldn't. "Charles, I'm serious. What's wrong?"
I almost replied, but then I heard it. I heard the whispers that had begun the instant she started talking to me. My name was Chit on the role, so calling me Charles was only making it worse. I grabbed my bag out of my locker and locked it. I then turned my back to Levy and walked away. The whispers stopped and people regained normality. Luckily I'd made sure to keep my gaze on the floor so nobody realised that I was crying. The further I walked away from Levy the faster the tears fell. It was breaking me to do this to her, but it was for the best. I know I was hurting her but how else could I protect her from the whispers? Those awful hushed words that spread like wildfire and brought people to the edge of insanity or a blade, sometimes both. I couldn't be the reason for her unhappiness. It would break not only her but Chris and me too. I wasn't sure how it would affect her "friends" because they're usually the ones to start the flame. She would survive losing me, of that I was sure. Levy had known me a week and had an abundance of good friends so she'd get out of this fairly unscathed.
...I'm not sure about me though.

I made it home without seeing Chris or Levy. I was both relieved and saddened. I'd have liked to explain it to her in person. She'd get it then, she'd understand why I did it. I'd call her if I had her number, though I'm not sure if she would pick up. I might have even gone and seen her if I knew where she lived, but I didn't. I walked upstairs and collapsed on my bed. I felt too exposed so I sat up in the corner of my bed, the one against the wall. I grabbed one of my pillows and curled into a ball. I stayed that way, hugging my knees and crying into my pillow until I eventually drifted off into sleep.