Just Hang In There

Chapter 7

(Mark)
Explaining everything to my mom was harder then I anticipated. She kept the same stare as I explained what happened and why I didn't have my phone. After I finished, we sat in silence for a few minutes. Luckily, she understood me.
"Well, I'm proud that you are sticking up for this kid, but you are grounded. I'm sure you understand why," she said. I nodded. "Now, tomorrow, we'll go by the school and sort things out." I smiled.
"Thank you. This really means a lot to me," I said, giving her a tight hug. She let out a grunt, but hugged me back.
"Now, go get to bed. Tomorrow, I need you to get up early and take Sparky out for a run."
"Alrighty. Goodnight Mom."
"Good night Mark."
At that, I went to get ready for bed. I changed into my blue plaid pajama pants and a black shirt. Then, I made my way into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My brown hair was a mess and my chocolate brown eyes looked tired. Suddenly, sleep didn't sound to bad.
I brushed my teeth, washed my face, then hopped into bed. I laid there under the covers thinking. I mostly thought about Jacob. I wondered how he was doing. After what happened today, I had this strange feeling in my stomach. I can't describe it, but it was the same feeling I get when I'm nervous. I don't know why, but I felt like he needed me at this moment and I couldn't be there.

(Mark)
My alarm went off at five thirty on the morning. I groaned as I turned over to shut the damn thing off. It literally sounded like a bomb was about to go off. The first day I got it, it scared the crap out of me. I heard the chime go off. I didn't turn it off immediately. That was a dumb mistake. About five chimes later, it sped up and it kept getting faster. I thought someone planted a bomb in my room and it was about to blow. At least I can say I woke up and was wide awake. I never liked it since then.
I dragged myself out of bed. I quickly got ready to take Sparky out on a run. I threw on sweatpants, an old workout shirt, and sweatshirt. I walked out to the front door. Sparky was already there wagging her tail excitedly.
"You ready to go girl?" I asked. It looked like she smiled. I took that as a yes. I grabbed her leash, clipped it on her sparkly purple collar, then headed outside.
It was still dark outside. The sun still had an hour before it came up. That didn't matter though. The dark is nice.
I walked Sparky around the neighborhood. When we made it back to the house, she laid down on the driveway and gave me a pouty face. I stared at her.
"You want to go around again?" I asked. She wagged her tail rapidly.
"Alright, we can go to the park and you can free run. The sun should be up by then," I said. It's not weird talking to your dog, I swear.
Together we walked to the park. The sun was starting to rise. Once we got there, I let Sparky go run around. I smiled watching her run around. No one else was here. We had the park to ourselves.
Or that's what I thought. I caught a glimpse of someone sleeping on one of the benches. Probably just a homeless person, I thought. I watched as they turned over and fell off the bench. Sparky must of seen it too. She ran over to the person and started barking in my direction.
I walked over. Sparky has a good sense of who is a good person and who is bad. Judging by the way she barked for me to come, she must of liked this person. She stayed by them until I arrived.
"What you got here?" I asked when I approached her. The person groaned and pulled his hood over his face. Sparky barked. I looked at the person, then at Sparky, then the person again. I suddenly got the weird feeling in my stomach again. I gently shook the person's shoulder. He groaned again and murmured something I couldn't quite understand.
"Hey," I said, "are you okay?" He didn't answer. I looked at Sparky. She gave me that are-you-going-to-do-something-or-not look. I sighed.
"Hey man, I'm going to go get some help," I said. The guy didn't answer. I got up and started to head for the exit. But then, Sparky barked again. I looked back and the guy got up and started to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" I called. The guy hesitated, but then turned around. He took off his hood and stared at me. He looked like a teenager, someone around my age. He had dirty blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes with dark circles under them. Sparky barked happily.
I gasped.