Are You Okay?

Chapter Twenty-One

Tomika POV

All I could think about that night was what Summer said at lunch. It was obvious she found out about what Freddy said. After lunch today, Summer ignored both me and Freddy, only talking to Jozie, Lawrence, and Mr. Finn.

Summer knowing also kept me up that night, causing me to toss and turn, unable to get more than a few minutes of sleep.

Finally, around the crack of dawn, I got up and got ready for the day, even though we didn't have school.

After I showered and did my normal morning routine, I walked outside, desperate to clear my head. I was walking around for about 40 minutes or so before I turned around to head back home.

Taking a walk did nothing but make me more angry at myself for letting a boy come between me and Summer.

I was about halfway home before I started to hear the voices.

At a corner, about a block away from my house, stood to people. I instantly recognized Jaele with her reflective silver hair, though I had no idea who the other person was.

Straighting up, I marched towards the two, determined to find out what was going on. When I was just a few steps away from them I managed to hear the last bits of their conversation.

"Please."

Zack?

"Give me one reason why not to!!! I just need one, and I'll back off!"

Not to what?

"Fine!" Zack said, throwing his hands in the air. "You can't tell them because..."

"Because what? Why are you two out here and what did you do?" I asked, my voice ringing out as I took my last few steps to where they were standing.

At the mention of my voice, both instantly tensed, slowly moving to face me.

A small gasp left my lips as my brain slowly started to process what I was seeing.

Jaele had a bloody nose flowing freely, a black eye, and her hair and clothes were caked in dried blood. As terrifying as she looked, Zack looked worse.

The guitarists face was pure white with flakes of blood here and there. He has blood on his eyes and his hands. There were streaks running down his pants and a cut on his cheek flowing down the side of his face. His arms had lines creating patterns and blue to color them in.

When they show me staring at them, they immediately both tried to cover themselves and hid their wounds. But it was too late. The damage was already done and I saw it.

My mouth felt as if I had just had a large dose of laughing gas and took a few times before it started working.

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing!" Jaele squeaked.

"Its something if you look like, like that!"

"Really, Tomika," Zack started, "Its fine. We're fine."

"No, you're not! Just tell me what's going on!"

"We can't! Not now, but we will tell you!" Tears found their way into the corners of Jaele's eyes, causing some to appear in my own.

"Then when?" My voice came out in a whisper.

"Soon." Zack said.

"But you have to trust us. You can't tell anyone."

"Okay." I took a deep breath, somehow knowing no matter how hard I pushed, they weren't going to crack. "But you guys need to go."

"What?" Zack asked, surprised.

"If its a big deal I see you, then I'm guessing no one else should either. Its almost 8, you guys should go before everyone starts getting up."

"Yeah," Jaele's voice sounded far away, as if she weren't even with us. "We should get going."

"Ok."

Quickly, I turned I started back home not stopping to look back. I couldn't face them. I couldn't look at them. I felt sick to my stomach and somehow knew that our friendship would never be the same.

And I knew that they were in trouble.
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Zack POV

After Tomika left, I turned to Jaele and asked her if she would be alright going home by herself.

"I'll be fine. My parents are usually gone early in the morning anyways."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll see you later?"

"Maybe."

"Well okay then." She said, looking taken aback.

And with that final note, she turned on her heel and marched in the direction Tomika went, keeping her head down and arms crossed.

Letting out a sigh, I turned to my street and headed home, dreading what would happen when I got there.
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A few minutes later, I opened the door to my house, flinching when it squeaked.

The plan was simple. Get up stairs without detection and pray that my dad's hangover was enough to draw his attention from me.

Oh, how wrong I was.

When I opened my door to my room, four familiar guys stood in the center.

"Hello, Zachary. I have surprise for you."