Wounded

Chapter 2

"Alright class, let's begin by returning the poems you turned in last class!" Our English teacher, Mr. Wright, announced excitedly. He stood and walked around handing back papers, stopping when he got to mine. "Jai, if you don't mind, could you stay a moment after class today?"

I nodded mutely, not sure of what I did this time. It always seemed to be something, though. No matter how hard I tried not to, I always ended up screwing something up. It's just what I did.

I felt someone looking at me and looked up only to lock eyes with Luke. I quickly looked away, not wanting to deal with him. He was looking at me nervously, almost like he wanted to say something to me, but knew he couldn't. I didn't care. I already have enough to stress about without him adding to it.

"Ok, everyone!" Mr. Wright announced. "Get into groups and discuss what you wrote." I instantly paled. It's one thing giving a teacher a poem you expect to never reach the light of day, and a totally different thing to read it out loud to people that hate you. Luke immediately scooted closer to me and grabbed my arm, already claiming me as his partner. He just happened to grab a freshly placed bruise, and I couldn't stop from flinching at his touch. Luke looked hurt, almost like he had taken it as a personal insult.

"Is this where the party's at?" James' teasing voice rang next to us, causing Luke to turn and smile up at our goofy friend.

"Right here like always, James!" Luke laughed, as James sat down next to us.

"So, are we really going to discuss these?" James asked a little too loudly.

"You better Mr. Yammouni, if you don't want me personally making the rest of your high school career miserable at best." Mr. Wright drawled, causing James to blush slightly as several people snickered.

"I wrote about cameras." Luke supplied, and I was forced to slap a hand against my head. I swear if he could marry a camera, he would.

"Camera, oh, camera. How arte thou...camera?" James joked, failing miserably.

"I wrote about how much I hate writing." James laughed. Causing Luke and I to both snicker in return.

"What did you write about, Jai?" Luke asked. I gulped nervously and started to play with my fingers. I couldn't tell them about what I wrote about. I should have never even turned it in. It was way too personal, and they both would have laughed at me if they found out about it.

"It's not important..." I trailed off.

"Since when do you hide from me?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I rolled my eyes at him and picked at the loose plastic on my binder.

"I'm not hiding." I mumbled.

"Really, Jai? Can you just stop being such a drama queen for once in your life?" Luke raised his voice, causing a few people to glance at us in return.

"Please, not another fight, guys!" James groaned, reaching over and easily plucking my paper out of my binder before I could stop him.

"James no!" I yelled.

"Sharing is caring, little Jye." James replied teasingly. I watched worriedly as his eyes scanned over my paper, before his bright smile turned into a frown.

"What is it James?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"Oh, um, Jai just wrote about wishing he was an only child." James lied. I silently thanked him for that. I didn't want Luke to learn about what I had really written about. Luke frowned, before his lips turned upwards in a grin.

"I don't see why, I mean, I am pretty awesome." He bragged. James handed me my paper back, before getting in some kind of wild conversation with Luke about a big ego.

I faked a smile at their conversation. I was thankful that James had lied. What I had really written about was feeling trapped and alone. I wrote about feeling worthless to the point that I felt like I had no way to ever be happy. Luke would absolutely freak if he had read about that or even found out I had written it.

Soon, class was over and Luke went home without me for the millionth time. It was okay, though. I had to talk to Mr. Wright after class anyway.

"You wanted to see me?" I questioned after everyone had left the room. It was kind of nerve-wracking. If I'm not around Luke, I can get extremely shy and nervous for no reason. The only exception to that was Beau, Daniel, and James.

"Yes, I did." He nodded, looking up from his desk. "I'm a little concerned about the poem you turned in. It was more than a little depressing and I was just wanting to make sure that everything was okay. Is everything good at home? With your brothers and everything?"

"Everything is great. I was just having a bad day when I wrote that." I lied. I glanced away from his judgmental gaze. Everything was not fine, but I wasn't going to let him know that. He was just a teacher. It was his job to make sure his students were okay. A few lies here and a few lies there, and his suspicions would disappear.

"If you say so. Just remember that if you ever need anything, my door is always open." He smiled. "You're a very bright young man, Jai. You're punctuation could use a little work, though."

I nodded my head, and scurried away as soon as I could. I sprinted home, knowing that the second I slowed down, Dylan was sure to find me. By the time I reached my house, I was out of breath and panting extremely hard.

I walked inside coughing violently and stumbling around from my 20 minute run from school. I made it into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water before collapsing onto the floor in exhaustion. This was my life. No one cared enough to ever pay attention to a Jai Brooks, and the truth was that I wasn't fine at all.