Corruption Of An Innocent

Silent Screams

James lay on his bed, curled in a ball. His stomach was empty, but he would not risk leaving his room and facing his mother again.
His father had been away for three months, having been called to work in another province across the country. It left James without any defence against his mother, since his father always stood up for him, and left his mother even more stressed and irritable than usual.
So he remained hidden in his room, waiting patiently for his mother to go to bed so he could sneak out to the kitchen and grab something to eat.
Alone with his thoughts, the events of the day took over his mind. He finally allowed himself to truly cry, instead of just letting out a few tears.
His body shook and twitched along with the sounds of his sobs. Soon his face was soaked, and he couldn't breathe through his nose.
Then, from the kitchen, he heard a glass slam angrily down on the counter.
Then footsteps, coming to his room.
James tried to hide, but his rough, stuffed up breathing gave him away.
"What the fuck are you crying about?!" his mother screamed, "You fucking brat! Oh, boo hoo, your mother yelled at you for being a stupid worthless piece of shit! You fucking deserve it!"
James didn't respond, but his mind echoed with all the silent screams of things he couldn't say out loud.
His mother left, without saying another word, but her eyes glared at him with all the things he had done wrong.
......
"Hey, James, can I speak with you after class?" Mrs. Schorel asked, concern in her voice.
"Oh. Sure," James replied, hiding his fear that came from the simple question.
Band class passed extremely slowly, each passing second becoming more and more painful as Neil was constantly praised for his skill and because of the worry growing in his mind. What does she want to talk about?
Finally she dismissed the class. James lingered behind, now so nervous that he was fiddling with everything he could find. When Mrs. Schorel came over, he was extremely focused on playing with the zipper on his hoodie.
"So, James..." she spoke up, catching his attention for a moment.
"Yeah?" he managed to squeak out.
"Umm, so, most importantly, where'd the bruise on your cheek come from?" she asked.
"I wasn't watching where I was going. Got hit by a tree branch," James answered quickly.
Mrs. Schorel was evidently disbelieving, but continued anyways. "You seem to be really distracted lately. Is anything wrong? Your other teachers have noticed a decline in your work and focus as well."
James nearly lied. He decided against it, since someone was finally showing concern for him. "I lost my friends," he said honestly, "and my mom's really began to yell at me a lot. She... she called me worthless last night because I was crying. And my dad's away for a while, so I don't have him to help me either."
"Aww, James. I'm sorry that you're struggling right now. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, okay?" she offered sympathetically.
"Thanks," James muttered. As he turned to leave, Mrs. Schorel spoke once more.
"I should introduce you to Tom. He's hilarious, I think you guys would get along well. He plays flute in the senior band."
"Thank you, Mrs. Schorel," James said respectfully before he left.
Could he replace them? Probably not. No one can replace your best friends of nine years.
......
A/N: I'm so bad at updating. I've gotten really busy lately and I'm sorry. I also seem to find I'm not as into this one as the other two. I'm sorry