What's Left Behind

Chapter 3

I threw Jay into the girl's bathroom and double checked he was okay. He didn't have anything broken, but his nose was pretty badly hurt and he was going to have a black, swollen eye before school was over.

"Listen, I want you to run home immediately after school. Do not come back, no matter what." I ordered. He stared at me blankly.

"Have you always had a gun in your back pocket?" He asked, no emotion at all. I jumped at his question, but understood that he saw my gun.

"That was if things got ugly." I replied shortly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner. I didn't think Jason would go for you right away. I thought it would've taken a few days for him to realize I know you." I apologized and looked down.

"Come home with me. After school. Avoid the fight." He suggested.

I couldn't miss the fight, but I didn't want to take out my gun when it got ugly. The fight wasn't fully about protecting Jay, but he didn't know that. Jason did though. Jason knew it was a lot more than Jay. Jason also knew about my gun, but he never backed down.

"I can't miss the fight and you know that, If I miss the fight they'll only come after you again, but harder and stronger." I said and tried to make it obvious.

"After school, when the last bell rings, you are going to forget about your homework. You are going to forget about anything you need to discuss with a teacher and you are going to run home. You are going to run home and tell your parents you don't feel good. You are not going to tell your parents anything about what happened today, and you are definitely not going to tell them about the fight." My voice was rough, but I could tell that in his mind I was screaming-he got my message.

"Am I understood?" I said, but not phrasing it as a yes or no question. He timidly nodded his head and looked away. "You are absolutely not going to come back to school for another two days. I will come see you after school and bring you your homework, but you need to stay out of school." He nodded his head slightly again.

"And don't worry about me. I have your number, your parents gave it to me last night. I'll text you when the fight is over and I'll bring you your stuff." He didn't answer. He just stared at the tiles of the bathroom.

"I don't want you getting hurt because of me." He said, trying to change my mind.

"It's okay. I'll be okay. Trust me." I tried to reassure him, but he didn't believe me.

"Don't use your gun. Please." He pleaded. He would've gotten on his knees to beg that I didn't use my gun.

"Okay." I nodded. "Now get to class." I push him out of the bathroom and watched him leave before entering the bathroom again.

"You've got this. You have to do this. Not just for Jay." I said to myself and looked in the mirror. My short, black dyed hair slightly blocks my dark, faded green eyes. A large scab started forming where my father hit me last night. My short, skinny body was covered by Jay's shirt and my leather jacket.

The last bell rang loudly. My heart sank and raced at the same time. As I walked the hall, people gave me stares. How many people had heard about the fight since lunch?

"Where's lover-boy?" I heard someone ask behind me. I turned around and saw Jason, backed up by four of his friends.

"I thought he were doing this outside of school grounds, and one-on-one, douchebag." He ignored my question and stepped closer.

"I asked you a question, bitch. Where's lover-boy?" He asked again.

Out of instinct my hand reached behind me, only to find my gun not there. I took it out of my pocket because I replaced it with a knife so Jay would agree to go home. I swore mentally, I gave him my gun as a promise I would come see him and that I wouldn't use it.