Another Reason To Live (Watty Awards 2014)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

As my math teacher walked down the row of vertically arranged desks, I slid my drawing under my notebook and pretended to work on the classwork he assigned.  I was in the far back corner, so I had enough privacy to work on my drawing without drawing extra attention to myself.

I drew out a triangle on the lined paper and added the labled measurements and angles that the book listed.  Forty degrees here, side length of six there, whatever.  He eyed my paper as I did so, and once he seemed satisfied that I was actually working, he walked up the next row and observed everyone else that he passed by while we all quietly worked.  Once he was out of my general area, I resumed working on my drawing.

It was coming along quite nicely and I was nearly finished.  I just had to finish facial shading, the bottom part of the playground structure, and the smaller details in our clothing, but other than that, it was finished.  I had given all of my effort the past few days to work on this drawing so that I could give it to Gerard when he wakes up.

Today was his second scan, which would tell us if he's ready to be brought out of his coma.  Right after school, as usual, I planned on going straight to the hospital where, hopefully, Donna would be with the results of the scan.

The bell rang and caused me to jump in my seat, but luckily my pencil wasn't in contact with the paper, so nothing was ruined.  I carefully tucked the drawing in the middle of my hard cover math book and shut it before piling my notebook on top and leaving the classroom.

I charged down the hallway, not paying attention to anything else around me.  I could've sworn that my speed increased each day that I rushed to my locker.  I should start timing myself.

Once my locker came into view, I felt myself become excited.  Today was finally here and hopefully things would start looking up.

But after I entered my combination and opened my locker, three shadows darkened the lockers next to me and I heard a male voice say, "What's the big rush, freak?"

My excitement vanished on the spot and was immediately replaced by dread and annoyance.  Now was not the time to bother me.  Without responding, I stuffed my math book into my bag and zipped it shut, hoping that the typical advice of "just ignore them and they'll get bored and go away" would work.

"I don't think she heard you," his buddy said in a matter-of-fact tone.  He slammed my locker shut and grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to turn around and face them.

"What's the big rush, freak?" he repeated as his friends stood on either side of him, blocking me against the lockers.  They were only two feet from me, making sure that I was caged in and that I had no escape while they spat insults at me.

"I'm going to the hospital to visit my friend, so move out of my way," I muttered, clutching onto my bag a little tighter.  I could almost feel my knuckles turn white, whether it was from the grip on my backpack or because I was making a fist out of anger.

He made a mock-surprised face and exclaimed, "What!  The little emo freak actually has a friend!  I bet they're in the hospital because they cut himself to much, didn't they?"

 As his friends laughed, I felt my face flush with anger. 

"Are you going to the hospital to visit your emo friend with your faggot brother? Huh?" he added, giving me a nasty grin.  "That's too bad, because I was hoping I could say goodbye to your brother before he left today!  But since he's not here right now, give him a little message from me."

He gripped my shoulders and forced me backwards, slamming me against the lockers.  I held in a gasp as my shoulder blades came into contact with the hard metal surface.  He got in my face and held me there against the lockers, pressing so hard that I was nearly certain that I would have bruises from it.