Holding On To You

Chapter 6 - Thank God

I've made it through the first month of school. I would say this is a pretty big achievement and trust me, I would be celebrating...if only I wasn't stuck between a wall, a fist, and a mouth to the fist.

'Hey baby dick, how many guys ya corrupted this week with ya faggoty bullshit? I see ya, eyeing of every one of 'em like a piece a meat. Well, guess what? You're worthless. Nobody can even look at ya. I don't even see how Blake can put up with that pig face all day.' Cameron spat and finished with a swift knee to the genitals. I squealed silently and doubled over in excruciating pain. I feel tears begin to prick. I can't cry. I can't give him the satisfaction.

'Thas right ya piece of shit, you ain't nothing but a burden. Bet ya parents didn't even want ya, bet that's why you're here.' Ouch. Those words hurt. As I cradle myself in my arms I look up to see an evil grin on his face. I hear a zip being pulled down and before I can register what is happening I am being dowsed in Cameron's piss. This is horrible. This made me feel like I was exactly that. Worthless. Nobody really cared about me. I thought I could find friends, a family at school. But this was something totally unprecedented.

'Why are doing this to me?' I croaked out, looking up at him through the slits in my swollen eyes. Fighting back my breakfast as my throat convulsed.

'Oh well, ya know, have to keep up the big bully rep. Preying on whoever's weaker than me, making myself feel better about me, all that crap' he says in an innocent tone. He stands up and looms over me proceeding to beat me up. Sometime throughout the ordeal, a different pain surges from my arms. Like something was cutting through my skin leaving marks and scars all over my body which I probably won't be able to hide... my mind turns to sludge as barely registering the fact that they left. I don't even know when, or how long ago.

After what felt like years I begin to feel pins and needles in my legs. I look around to see if anybody saw us, which of course they didn't. I'm in the freaking basement. I attempt to stand, but fail miserably as my head begins to throb. I feel myself falling in slow motion, and cripple to the ground once my head takes a final blow to the ground.

Blake's P.O.V

'Mrs. Lachlan?' I announce my presence to the ratty English teacher. She looks up from marking her papers. I am tutored by Mrs. Lachlan since I struggled with English, but looking at my diary I realize it's been 3 hours since I saw Jamie, which is unusual, considering he missed lunch as well, and normally he would've told me if he was in a club or something.

'Yes, Mr. Davies?' she replies in an irritated tone.

'Could I please be excused, I really need the dunny.' I say rapidly.

'I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" she looks up once more and pierces me with a judgmental stare.

'I said, could I please got to the bathroom,' I decide to cut her a little slack, she is hitting her 80's pretty soon anyway, I'm sure she's suffered enough crap from other guys.

'Yes, don't be too long' she says and looks back to her precious papers and continues marking. I jump from my seat and race out the door. I need to find him. Now that I think about it, Cameron and his freaking goons have been harassing him during the break, and they were missing as well. Having once been one of the previously mentioned goons I know all Cameron's favorites places to leave a victim. His number one, and only for special occasions, was the basement. He only has a key to the basement because he flirted with one of the new teachers, who I admit, was pretty, but dumb as day, and she gave him the key to 'borrow', but he doesn't really understand English, so borrow basically means keep forever.

I run at a speed I never thought I could possibly reach through the corridors, down the countless flights of stairs, past the dormitories and finally, to the basement door. I try the door handle, but of course, it's locked. Cameron may seem like a dumb fuck, but he does, unfortunately, possess an incredible amount of common sense. I make my way outside the building to find the old cellar doors which lead to the basement. Don't ask how I know these things. It's a long story. The cellar is always unlocked, so I heave it open and jump into the cold darkness below.

'Jamie? Are you in here' I call out in a soft voice. I hear my echoes rebound against the walls, but nothing other than that. I open my mouth to call out again, but I hear a faint groan towards the far right corner, where all the old furniture lays. 'Jamie, is that you?" I ask as I make my way to the sound. I can't see a thing, so feeling with my hands at the furniture I search for anything remotely similar to that of a boy's body. I almost give up, thinking it must have been a bird or something, until my hands land on something warmer than the other pieces of furniture. I feel for more warmth and find a dent in it. It's either a new or an elbow, and as I make my way further, my hand finds a part much thicker, I was about to move a bit further to clarify where I was, until the warmth abruptly shifts, and I jump away, only to be held back by a strong grip on the bottom of my foot.

'AAAAAHHHHHHH!' I let out a scream that could be easily mistaken for a girl and try to escape the tight grasp to no avail. I keep struggling until I remember what I was doing down in the basement in the first place. I stop struggling and take a moment to recuperate. I crouch back down to Jamie's level, and search for his other hand, picking his fingers from my ankle and taking them in my hand. They are moist. And not with water. I eventually find his other hand and pull him up into a sitting position, leaning against the back of a loveseat. I softly shake his shoulder and try to maintain some of his consciousness. 'Jamie, you'll have to try and stay with me, I'm not very strong so you'll have to help me alright?' I feel him nod faintly, so I proceed to wrap my arms around his waist and lift him up. Surprisingly, Jamie isn't heavy at all. I mean, he's not the smallest guy I know, but I thought he'd have a bit more body mass, you know? I am easily able to carry him to the exit and notice that the sun is already falling beyond the horizon. Shit. We have to get back without getting noticed during supper time! Make my life a bit harder will you god. I scowl at the sky at an attempt to shed my annoyance. Finally escaping the darkness, I finally look down to examine what shape Jamie is in. I instantly regret it. What used to be neatly styled, soft hazel hair was now moist with sweat and piss, his once bright green eyes were swollen, to a point that he could barely squint. His clothes were in no state to clothe any longer, and the marks on his arm revealed that they had definitely used some form of a weapon. I know Cameron could go far, but never this far. I feel tears pricking my eyes and a rock at the back of my throat. What possible reason could any human have to hurt someone as beautiful and pure as Jamie Austen?

-

We ended up waiting until supper was over and quietly made our way back to Jamie's dorm. I fished around his pockets for his key and unlocked his door, softly laying him down on his sofa. Now, this is the hard part, I have absolutely no medical experience whatsoever, and the only time I got hurt, Jamie was the one to fix me. I rack my brain with a solution, and remember Jamie mentioning his neighbor...what was his name...Brandon! I immediately jump up, looking to see if Jamie is okay, and rush to the neighboring dorm. I knock at least 5 times, loudly, as to hint at the urgency of the call. I hear a faint 'yeah, yeah, be there in a sec', I sigh and impatiently start tapping my feet against the floor. After about 50 seconds the door finally opens and I don't even want to say hi.

'Brendon is it? Look, I'm sorry, but I just found Jamie in the basement this afternoon and I think Cameron and his gang went to him and he is really bad and I don't know what to do and I really need help and I thought you might be able to help and he probably has a concussion he's hardly even conscious and I was supposed to look after him and it's all my fault I should have seen it coming in the first place knowing Cameron but I never thought he would take it this far-' I feel a hand cover my mouth and another hand on my shoulder.

'Whoa, slow down Blake, it's all going to be okay, can you go get the nurse for me and I'll go see what I can do'. He says and gives me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. How the fuck is he so calm!? Despite my minor curiosity, I follow his orders, and race to find the nurse...nurses are always nice.

Jamie's P.O.V

I wake up but don't open my eyes. I listen.

'So, is he going to be okay!?' an urgent voice belonging to none other than Blake Davies sounds through the room. Gathering from the lack of echoes, I must be in my dorm.

'He is going to be fine Blake, just give him a bit of time to rest alright, he's been through a lot. I doubt he'll be up for at least a few hours yet, so go relax' I recognize the voice of Brandon, followed by a grunt of agreement, probably from the nurse.

Good. I'll be okay. Thank god for Blake and Brandon.

'' I'll try my hardest to upload a chapter each fortnight, as that way I can edit and give my audience the best reading experience possible. Thanks