broken | shyland ✓

chapter thirteen

r y l a n d

a/n: this broke my heart

'this,' a swift punch to my gut was made, 'is for pouring that fucking milkshake all over me.' he spat, making me double over, winded for air.

there was three of them, but it was all happening so fast that i couldn't grasp who. obviously, one of them was luke, and it was natural to assume that he was accompanied by his stepbrother, james. i had left the science block through the outside way, where you go past the car park in which people go to smoke, alone and unaccompanied. no one ever left science through the outside way, but i fancied some peace and quiet from the busy lesson.

'and this,' luke kicked my shins, making me fall to the ground in pain, 'is for kissing the fat loner boy.' as i fell to the ground, my hand bent backwards and pressed on the cool tarmac.

blood oozed from the skin which was shown in the rips of my knees as i struggled to breath. my lungs begun to relax for a second as they took a step away, but failed again when he brought his foot to my stomach, making me heave dry air.

'maybe that's enough, mate?' i heard james say, voice wavering. i prayed that the boy would agree and leave, maybe i could get my phone out and call shane. a crushing pain seared through my wrist as i tried to get up, to fight back.

'stop.' i choked.

luke scoffed. 'he's a fucking weirdo.' he uttered, haphazardly kicking me, the force landing right on my jaw, before gesturing for them to leave. the three turned into shadows walking further and further away until they were no where in sight, and all i could do was let the tears trickle slowly down my face as i tried to grab my phone from my bag, which they'd stamped on several times.

finally, i managed to type in my code and get in. i attempted calling shane, his phone was off. i tried garrett, as was his. so was drew, joey and daniel's, and finally i called trisha and it begun to ring. i breathed a sigh of relief, praying she would answer. the line clicked.

'hey...'

'trish.' i spluttered, turning the volume onto speaker as i let out ragged breaths.

'...this is trisha, i cant take your call right now.'

voicemail. the whole time it had been voicemail. i sighed as i moved onto the next contact i could think of, my sister. 'shit, no, crap!' i exclaimed, watching my phone drop from 3% to 0. i must've forgotten to charge it last night.

i literally had no option but to lie, finger nails digging into the palms of my hands, completely still to minimise the pain, and hope someone finds me. i'm not sure how long i laid there for. i definitely counted over an hour on my phone, my head throbbing, sick and dizzy. i was too far away from any classrooms to call for help.

it's strange, you know, to just be stuck, frozen. there's nothing you can really do or say, and the extreme pain that flooded through me every time i tried to move prevented me from even trying to stand up. so you're just left alone with your thoughts, and at this point i realised how truly inconceivable a secret relationship with shane was. we'd only touched lips lightly for a few seconds and we result of this i'd been beaten to a pulp.

i stared at the blood which dripped through the bumps in the concrete, threads around the rips of my black jeans soaked with a dark red liquid. my stomach lurched, making me hiss in pain. what was hurting? i didn't really know, it felt like my whole body was throbbing.

it seemed that luck was on my side, however, as i soon heard footsteps coming round the corner. i tried to stand up but stumbled with a yelp, making the owner of the footsteps come closer and call out if anyone was there. my vision was slightly blurry but i could see a boy, tall, talking on the phone. as he finally set eyes on me, he hung up and ran to my side.

'shit, ryland?' a voice asked, which i struggled to place until i focussed on the thick mop of hair on his head.

i breathed a sigh of relief when my brain finally comprehended that it was jason, trisha's boyfriend. 'i- luke- and the... shane.' i stuttered, clenching my fists as hard as i could, trying to make it hurt less.

'shh, it's okay, umm... fuck, i don't know what to do?' jason said in shock, turning to me. 'wait here, do not move.' he ordered, turning on his heel and sprinting towards the art block. he was a fast runner since he was on all the sports teams. he wasn't gone for long, and he returned with two other boys. they were much easier to place, bright purple hair in stark contrast to the scenery.

i don't remember much after this. daniel tried to pick me up but moved my wrist, making pain flood through my body. jason carried me instead, and red staining his white football shirt, like ink bleeding through paper. i blacked out, occasionally drifting in and out as i travelled through the school in his arms, head throbbing.

i fully gained consciousness as i was set down on the nurses bed, and the three of them stared at me worriedly. a nurse soon came rushing in, and jason muttered something incoherently towards joey, who ran off with daniel in a hurry. i have no idea where they were going, the pulsing in my head was so loud i could barely think. from half-closed eyelids, i saw jason talk to the nurse under his breath. she nodded and he left, sending me one last sympathetic look.

'ryland? my name is mrs brookes, i'm the nurse here. what happened, did someone attack you?' her voice was soft and soothing as she started to clean the cuts on my knees. luckily, the rips were big enough for me not to have to remove my jeans.

i didn't say anything. it was better to stay quiet; if i ratted luke out then it would only get worse.

she sighed, looking worriedly at my face. 'i'm going to need you to tell me what hurts or i can't help you, ryland.'

'i don't know who did it. i didn't fight back. my wrist hurts.' i said quickly, listing off sarcastically before my tone softened. 'i just want shane.'

weirdly, as i said this, the door swung open, both the nurse and i turning our heads to the noise. shane burst through, joey warily following behind him as daniel tried to calm him down. he looked angry, mad, as though he wanted to hurt someone.

yet despite this, when his eyes caught mine, his expression softened and he rushed to my side. joey and daniel left as shane stared at me, almost intimidated. he tried to grab my hand but i flinched at the touch, my wrist aching badly. his eyes welled up with tears.

'this is all my fault,' he said, voice cracking, 'i'm so sorry, i'll fucking kill him, the stupid c–' the nurse sent a look at him, silencing his voice.

holding my good hand, he sat cross legged on the floor next to the bed as the nurse dabbed at my face, the sharp sting of antiseptic encasing my senses. after dressing each mark, the nurse left so we could talk, handing me an ice pack for my forehead.

'i'll sort this out, i promise, ry.'

there was only so much shane could fix, and maybe it was a lot less than he realised.