The Boy Who Just Wanted to Get it Right

I'm Sorry. I'm a Really Mean Author, I Know

"Joe, come on, you're going to school today," Teresa announced.
"I don't want to," he cried.
"But you need to," she argued. He wore sweat pants and a hoodie because he really couldn't give a shit. School actually appeared to be good for him for the most part. He was able to focus on academics rather than his thoughts. He was doing good until third period, PE. Kylie came running up to Joe. She hugged him.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry about what happened," she said. She grabbed him by the hand and led him to the side of the locker room building. Then, out of nowhere, she slapped him. So hard that it left a red hand on his cheek.
"Ah! What the fuck!" Joe yelled.
"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM YOU KILLED HIM YOU KILLED HIM!" she said, tears sliding down her face.
"HE BLEW ME OFF SUNDAY TO GO HANG OUT WITH YOU, YOU KNOW THAT? IF HE'D JUST GONE WITH ME..," she yelled and started punching him in the arms, chest, and back.
"Kylie, stop!" He said shoving her.
"How DARE YOU! YOU JUST KILLED MY BOYFRIEND AND THEN YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOVE ME?"
"Boyfriend?" Joe said.
"Yes. Boyfriend. Know what that is, little virgin?"
"I very well know what a boyfriend is, I just didn't know you were dating, that's all," Joe said.

He appeared to not be upset, but boy would he love to go and cry in the bathroom right now. And at lunch, he did exactly that. Max and Teresa didn't care that it was the boys bathroom, they followed. Joe was a crying mess. Running both hands through his hair he looked at himself in the mirror for the first time since after the accident. Joe began hitting the mirror, but couldn't break it. "Joe, Joe, Joe! What's the matter?" Max said.
"Lex was dating Kylie! Kylie! I made out with and killed a straight, taken man!" He yelled.
"Joe, you don't know he was straight. He could have been bi. Or pan. And I'm sure he had intentions to go home and break up with Kylie," Teresa said.
"You wanna skip? We can go back to your house," Max suggested. Joe thought about it, but decided against it.
"No, it will let her know that she got to me." Next, Joe had maths which he enjoyed very much. No friends in that class, just numbers, problems, and solutions. It was a good distraction for Joe.

It was the last period. Mr. Matson didn't really enforce rules, so Max, Joe, and Teresa talked in the back of the class all period. Joe was doing very good compared to yesterday.
Teresa and Max texted their parents to let them know they'd be staying at Joe's house again.

Joe's parents were loaded, so there was a lot of food in the fridge. Joe went to shower while Max cooked and Teresa read on the couch. They heard a loud bang and cry indicating Joe had fallen. Joe was laying in the tub, crying. Teresa sat on the toilet rubbing Joe's head.
"It's okay Joe, it's gonna be okay."
"I killed him," he sobbed, " I killed him, I killed him, I killed him!"
"Joe, that's over, it's past. There's nothing you can do now. Lex would want you to be happy," she told him.
"I don't deserve to be happy," he wailed.
"You feel like a candle, in a hurricane," she sang softly, "just like a picture, with a broken frame. Alone and helpless, like you've lost your fight," she had to stop for a moment, but continued, "but you'll be all right, you'll be alright. Cause when push comes to shove, you taste what you're made of. You might bend till you break, cause it's all you can take. On your knees you look up, decide you've had enough. You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off, when you stand."

Around midnight, Joe's mom came home from work. Usually she was home while Joe was at school and at work when he was home, so this was rare. Just before she had come in, Teresa was holding a crying Joe.
"Lex loved you, Joe. I know that wherever he went he wants you to be happy right now. And so do we. We miss you Joe. You're trapped in there. You're still here, but you're not your usual smiling you. Please, come back," Max said, sitting cross-crossed on the floor in front of him. She was about to continue when the door opened, revealing an exhausted-looking Mrs. Kerrings. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the scene in front of her.
"Oh you girls are still here?! Joe! Let these girls rest! Quit being such a crybaby!" She yelled, exasperated.
"TAKE ONE LOOK AT ME, MOM!" he screamed, standing up, "TAKE ONE LOOK AT ME AND TELL ME I'M OKAY BECAUSE I'M SURE AS HELL NOT! I KILLED MY BOYFRIEND! I KILLED HIM!!! I WATCHED HIM DIE!!"
"DON'T YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" she said, slapping him ten times harder than Kylie had, "AND CUT IT OUT WITH THAT GAY SHIT! THAT'S ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING, YOU ANIMAL!"

Joe was sobbing on the floor. Was that all he ever fucking did anymore? Why hadn't he run out of tears? His mouth was bleeding, his mom must have hit a tooth. His face stung. His chest hurt from sobbing. He sat there a red-faced, drooling, bloody, sobbing mess, but the only pain that seemed to matter was the pain Joe felt in his heart. Max and Teresa quickly grabbed Joe and took him out of the house as his mom stomped upstairs in her high heels. There was nowhere to go but Max's house. Teresa drove while Max sat in the back comforting Joe. Max and Teresa fell asleep in Max's room.

Joe laid awake all night, thinking. Finally, at 4:42 am, he got up and walked to the bathroom. Opening the cabinet, he found Max's mother's prescription medicine. He opened up the bottle, grabbing a handful. He tried to swallow them all at once, but they couldn't all fit. He coughed, spitting out water and pills. Frantically, he took the bottle and poured more into his mouth.

A few minutes later, Teresa woke up to a loud bang from the bathroom. She had a bad feeling in her stomach. She realized Joe wasn't in the room and ran to the bathroom. The door was locked. With the power of adrenaline, she broke the handle and opened the door. She looked from the water and pills all over the sink, to the toilet with a red mark on it, to an unconscious Joe on the bathroom floor with a bloody head. A loud scream escaped her lips as she ran to hold Joe in her arms. Max and her mother came running, crying with Teresa at the sight.