14 Days

Chapter 6

Shawn's POV:
Yesterday was the day I was discharged from the hospital, and left in the care of my grandad who insisted on toughening me up by making me exercise all night. And luckily for me I get to go to school today, note the sarcasm. I'm sore for the excessive exercise and from being beaten to a pulp, and I get to face Ricky today. I should just start planning my funeral, because facing Ricky could possibly lead to my death.
  "MENDES!" I hear from a distance, I can't make out the voice but choose to walk faster just in case. "SHAWN MENDES!" The voice screams louder. Cautiously I turn around and see Ariel running up to me. "Thank goodness you're ok," she says as she pulls me in for a hug.
  "Hey Ariel," I awkwardly greet her.
  "Don't Hey Ariel me you were put in the hospital!" She exclaims. "We're skipping today." And before I know it she drags me to a familiar bridge. "I found this place two days ago." I smile at her and continue to walk towards it.
  "I've been here a few times before," I say truthfully.
  "I like this it," she says. "When I first found it is thought about jumping and ending it but then I realized that I don't need to jump to make me find happiness, I just need a friend." I make eye contact with Ariel, and without knowing I slowly lean in. It felt like hours when our lips met, and she started moving her soft lips. When we finally pulled apart my face was as red as her hair and her cheeks were flushed red. I open my mouth to apologize but she captures my lips again.
We kiss for a few minutes before we pull away again. "I know that we haven't known each other for that long but will you be my boyfriend?" She nervously asks. I nod my head eagerly and she wraps her arms around me and pulls me into her embrace.
"I'm glad you asked girlfriend," I say with a cheeky grin.
"I'm glad I did too boyfriend." The word that I longed to leave Stella's lips now leaves Ariel's and it sounds so much better. Ariel knows half the pain I'm going through and instead of separating herself and dealing with her own bullying, she stood up for me against Ricky of all people! Stella and I never had a chance at being together and I'm glad, nothing in the world could take this feeling away from me. "We should probably get back," she says. I nod my head just before checking the time.
"Wow school let's out in a couple of minutes," I tell her. "It only felt like 5 minutes." As we walk back to the school yard I can hear the bell ring, signaling that another day of hell was over. As student piled out of the building Ariel and I sprinted to the side of the school, trying to avoid the cars and buses. My grandad is going to kill me once he finds out that I skipped, but it'll be worth it. As we quickly blend in with a crowd I spot my grandad's car, and can tell he's angry. I gulp before separating from the crowd and scurrying to his car. Before I can even lay my hand on the handle his head jerks towards me as he glares.
"You have a lot of nerve skipping school boy," he sneers. I gulp before opening the door and getting in the car.

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As if I couldn't of been hurt enough this week, I'm stuck in the cellar without food. Grandad decided that hitting me with a paddle wasn't enough, he wanted me to experience what "skipping school will result in." His words not mine. Unlike my time with Ariel it seems like hours since I have been locked in here, but according to a pocket watch I found its only been a few minutes. It's better than my last severe punishment. Last winter I was locked outside in just my pajama pants for two hours. I was on the brink of frostbite and I ended up very ill, but still went to school just to get bullied. And what did I do to receive that punishment? Dropped a dish, I dropped a fucking dish and was locked outside. My grandad enjoys watching me suffer, and he knows that I won't do anything about it. What he doesn't know is that in 8 days I won't be here.
But if I'm not here then I'll leave Ariel and she'll be upset with me, and very mad. I don't want to upset Ariel, but I can't go on with this torture. I'm at a crossroad and I don't know which path to take. One path leads to upsetting someone I care about deeply, and the other leads to my misery. I'm urging towards the path of me being happy, but would that be selfish? Maybe I should sleep on it.

Ariel's POV ~next day~ :
I couldn't help but sense that Shawn was uncomfortable when he went to his grandpa's car, but then again he did skip. When I met the man he was very kind, but he also seemed strict. Although appearances can fool people, my mom seems like the nicest person in the world, but if people realized what she's doing, to me especially, they'd be repulsed. So, maybe I should question Shawn about it.
As I walk into the school building I can see Shawn at his locker, trying to be invisible. Happily I walk over to him, but then I see something concerning. A bright red handprint on his cheek.