Please Don't Leave Me Behind Again (Completed)

Chapter Fifty-One

Short chapter, I know! But it needed to be done to get the plot moving forward. Also, I would like to stress that I DO NOT support illegal drug usage and if you are curious about the different aliases I mentioned, you can look them up on your own. It's good to know what they are so you are aware of what someone is talking about if they ever approach you. Remember: SAY NO TO DRUGS! And don't fall under peer pressure.

Moving on, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think! I love feedback and seeing where your thoughts are going and what you think will happen.

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**| Sang's POV |**

I was in the locker room putting on the gym uniform when a conversation caught my attention. The girls speaking were on the other side of the lockers so I couldn't see them but I could hear them loud and clear.

"I can't believe you broke up with him," the first girl said in a screechy voice.

"That fight was the last straw for me. He went against his own best friend! Those two have been together since they were in diapers and I refuse to watch him throw that away. I told him to not do those damn drugs but he didn't fucking listen to me. He only cared about what those idiots thought of him. I refuse to deal with that shit."

"I still can't believe it, you've been with him for a year."

I felt bad listening but it wasn't like I could turn my ears off. Plus, they were talking about drugs and I knew the boys have been dealing with the repercussions of some drug that's been going around in school. I briefly thought about the two boys who broke out in a fight this morning.

"It's that damn JH-14 that's been going around," the second girl said. "It's no good but they are still taking it. It's changing them. I don't know. Since he took it, he changed and I can't deal with him like that. I shouldn't have to."

JH-14. I frowned, never hearing of that drug name before. I've heard about the different drugs, they taught us in Greece about them as some kind of program against drugs.

Grass. Ganja. Brown Sugar. White Horse. Aunt Nora. Candy Cane. Toot. Angel Dust. Wack. Supergrass. Tweak. Uppers. Crank. Adam. Stacy. G. Georgia Home Boy. Special K. Vitamin K. Roofies. Roaches. Acid.

I knew hundreds of different drug aliases because of my memory but I've never heard of JH-14. I even remembered the game the lecturer had us play where she would put up an alias up on the overhead projector and then we had to guess which one it meant, like Brown Sugar meant Heroin and not the ingredient used for baking.

"I'm sorry, you're right," the first girl said. "Come on, let's get to gym before we are forced to run laps for being late or something."

A moment later, I heard the door close as they left. I took a moment to recollect myself before rushing into the gym and sitting down on the bleachers.

Gabriel and Nathan came in a moment later, quickly spotting me and grinning as they made their way over to sit next to me. Gabriel walked with an extra hop to his step while Nathan sauntered along next to him.

"How's it going, Peanut?" Nathan asked.

"Okay," I said and looked at the two with a frown.

"What's with that fucking lip?" Gabriel asked.

"What lip?" I asked, confused.

"That fucking lip, the way it's sticking out means you have something to ask. Just fucking ask us. I don't need to see that shit."

I giggled and shook my head.

"Come on, what do you want to ask?" he said again, this time more serious. "We'll listen.

"It's nothing that serious. Or at least, I hope not."

"Doesn't matter. What's wrong?" Nathan asked.

"Have you guys heard of JH-14?"

By their expressions, they haven't.

"Is that some kind of K-pop band?" Nathan asked.

I giggled and shook my head before sobering up. "Some girls were talking about it in the locker room. I think it's the drug that's going around the school."

Nathan stiffened at the news, his blue eyes widening as it all clicked in.

"Holy fuck," Gabriel said, staring at me with an opened mouth. "How is Trouble the one doing our jobs for us?" he asked.

Nathan pulled out his phone and began texting who I was sure were the rest of the boys about the new information.

Before we could say anything else, the coaches decided to start class and separated the girls from the boys so the boys could play basketball while I was stuck with badminton.

Class went by quickly and then Nathan and Gabriel dragged me out into the parking lot where Kota was waiting.

"Thank you for the information," Kota said and I blushed, feeling warmth spread through my body. All I did was tell them what I heard in the locker room. It wasn't like I had to do any secret spy stuff to get it and yet they were so proud of me.

It felt nice.

Kota drove me home, timing it just right so that I got back when the bus did.

"Don't forget to join us tonight, we have a meeting with the Toma team," Kota reminded me. I nodded before quickly waving to them before slipping into the house. I ran upstairs, dropping off my book bag off before going into the kitchen to start dinner and get some chores done.

Dad was in there with Diane. Diane glared at me and I froze in my movements, looking between Dad and Diane. The air was thick with tension and I knew something was wrong but I didn't know what.

"This is all your fault," Diane seethed and walked passed me, but not before elbowing me in the side.

I winced but she went easy on me. I could hand her lashing out like that. I just didn't want to be locked into the chest in the basement again, or forced to drink lemon juice and vinegar, or to be carved up again with a knife. As long as she didn't do any of those, I was going to be okay.

I waited until I heard the bedroom door slamming shut before turning to Dad, hoping for answers but he wouldn't look me in the eye. I took that moment to take in his features. He looked so much older now with the way his shoulders slumped in defeat. His features were closed off and my eyes paused on the wound on his right cheek. A cut ran along his cheekbone, bruising forming around it.

"What happened?" I asked in a low voice, unable to look away from the cut.

His eyes finally met mine and I winced at the haunted fear in his expression—something I've never seen in him before. He always just 'handled' things without going into details on how and he did to a certain degree. This though, this expression. He wasn't 'handling' whatever it was and it was haunting him.

"Nothing you have to worry about, I messed up at work. Take care of your mother tonight, I have to go back to work."

With those last couple of words, he was out the door again. I stood there dumbfounded. Someone hit Dad. Hit him and left a mark. And he looked so defeated.

I heard something crash, the loud sound coming from Diane's room. I paled and knew I had to get out. My instincts were screaming, telling me she was going to do more than just elbow me in my ribs. No, her anger right now would probably bring her over the edge and if she went over the edge then I was in far more trouble than being locked in a chest or having my back carved out.

Another crash and I jumped. I didn't wait another second, I didn't think what it would mean for me if she called for me and I didn't answer. I didn't want to be around.

Mr. Blackbourne kept stressing that they would protect me. I needed to trust that.

So I did what I never did before. I ran.