Holding On To You

Chapter 7 - Mr. Friedman

After the traumatic experience with Cameron, I spent a week in my dorm recovering, as most of the teachers agreed that I had done enough work to last the next month. This was a relief, as concussions are not nearly as bearable as they say. I couldn't even form coherent sentences when Blake and the boys visited. The school heard about it pretty quickly. Of course, nothing was done about it that I know of. The other students are too scared to report Cameron, and so are the teachers, considering his parents donate quite a large amount of money to the local church, which also funds the school. Despite this, however, something must have deterred Cameron, because I haven't seen him in the corridors or during lunch, his goons looked like a bunch of lost puppies lost their mother without him.

I sit at a desk next to Blake during a boring English presentation on Shakespeare. The whole class seems to have drifted off into a world of their own. I look out the window and see hundreds of cherry blossoms all in bloom. When Nana was alive, she loved to walk to the park just to see the cherry blossoms. We'd dance under the shower of soft pinks and whites, and everything felt fine. *sigh*. I'd like to think things are going well...but I feel like there is something missing. All the work that I've been set is simple, so I'm flying through my studies at an inhumane speed. Boring. I have a small group of friends consisting of Blake, myself, a quiet blonde boy called Sebastian (Seb), an international student from Australia called Kurt, and Callum. Callum is new as well, and what we call the 'troublemaker' in our group. He was rumored to have sold drugs at his old school, but we know that's not true. Well...we think. He doesn't really talk much. Actually, our clique doesn't talk much at all. We simply sit in comfortable silence most of the time. Blake will often try to lift the mood with a few funny comments, but even then we all react with an uneasy laugh or a 'good one Blake', but then we go silent again. I think we're all just socially awkward, I'm sure by the end of the year we'll be inseparable...maybe...hopefully. I have most of my classes with Blake beside Maths and Science, which sucks because then I have to put up with the old fart Mr. Friedman. Even though I do all the work, hand it in a week beforehand, and get full marks for it, he still gives me these creepy looks and...-

My thoughts are cut short by the sound of an alarm and speakers sounding with the principles booming voice ''this is a drill. I repeat this is a drill. All students proceed to the gym immediately, avoid any detours. Teachers gather your fire-extinguishes found in your classroom and proceed calmly, with your class, to the gym. I repeat this is a drill, please stay calm.'' he ended his instructions with a tired grunt and the class began to file out, one by one, making our way to the hall. I am so not looking forward to an hour of sitting next to stinking teenagers in a cramped, hot environment. Why did we have to have a fire drill today, I get that we are having a heat wave and all, but it's the U.K, the only fire I've ever heard of was that giant one which managed to burn down the whole city. And that was only due to the close proximity of flammable storage spaces landed next to the bakery, which was a-... my thoughts are cut short as I feel someone flick the side of my head with their fingers.

'Hey! What the bloody hell was that for!?' I exclaimed, rubbing the soon to be bruise beside my temple.

'you seem a little out of it today Jamie, are you okay, I can take you to the nurse if you need or I could get a sick slip and you can head back to you dorm or-'' Blake's attempt at empathy are cut short as a loud voice booms above the heads of all the boys making their way to the gym.

'Jamie Austen! Refrain from further discussion with Mr. Davies, and come to my office. Quickly!' he says, turning mid-sentence to enter his classroom. I guess he doesn't have a class this period. I give Blake a confused look, answering the mutual questions of what this was all about.

I make my way to the classroom and enter, slouching slightly at Mr. Friedman's expression. He does not look impressed. I stand about 4 feet from him as he stands in front of his desk. 'What is it you called me for, sir?" I ask out of curiosity.

He shifted his weight and took a step closer to me. I could smell the cigarette ashes as his hot breath hit my face like a dragon puffing out fumes of anger.

'What are you doing getting all friendly with Mr. Davies Jamie? I hope you realize that homosexuality is not accepted in my classroom, let alone my school' he pauses to take another step forward. I stand stunned, and I feel my pulse begin to race. This is not going to end well. 'if you continue to act this way, I will be sure to have you expelled, and believe me, expulsion will be the last of your worries once I'm finished with you.' He finishes and turns to sit back at his desk. I am left standing, stunned at his threatening words and tone of voice. In my dazed state, I take a step backward, thinking there was a desk, but I was sorely mistaken, and I felt myself slip away, almost in slow motion, landing flat on my back and hitting my head in the process. I curl up into a ball, cradling my head in my arms and groan. I hear Mr. Friedman's chair scrape against the linoleum floors. He stands over me and being the idiot I am, I reach out a hand, thinking he was offering to help me up, but of course, this was only in my imagination, as I fell back once again, this time, feeling my clothes ride up. Well. This was awkward.

I look at the old fart and his face is so red, I don't think any tomatoes would make a difference. I follow his surprised gaze and find that my shirt is hiked up revealing a bit more than just my belly button, and my pants have fallen down slightly, revealing my black Calvin Klein boxers. As I sit there stunned for what felt like hours, wondering what could possibly have the man who was just threatening me in such a flustered state, I hear a loud 'click'. I awake from my haze and see the older man with a phone in his hand.

'Hey, what are doing?! You can't take pictures of students! Isn't that illeg-' I begin to protest but a hand covering my mouth silences me, and I am puller up and shoved against the nearest wall. My terrified green eyes meet with fierce, almost black ones.

'If you speak a word of this to anyone' he seethes in a menacing tone, 'you will regret ever leaving your precious mansion.' He pulls away from me and storms out of the classroom, down the corridor, and just like that he is gone. I fall down onto the floor and sit, shaken by his violent threat. All of a sudden, I don't care if I'm late for a stupid fire drill. I slowly head back to my dorm, lock myself in my room, and don't leave it for the rest of the day.

Blake's P.O.V

Something was off about Jamie today. I never realized he was so quiet until now. Yes, our group consisted of comfortable silence, but it was exactly that. Comfortable. Now, it's just awkward. As well as the fact that he's was in trouble with Mr. Friedman... I mean, nearly everyone was in trouble with Mr. Friedman about something, but I didn't want to leave him alone. The old fart was a bit of creep when you thought about it. I noticed that Jamie wasn't in any of my classes, and when school ended I made my way to his dorm, only to find him huddled in a corner wrapped in 78 blankets, holding a cup of tea, staring into nothing. This worried me. I know nothing about Jamie and completely clueless as to what could've caused him so much stress. I was about to ask what happened but when I opened my mouth he shifted his glare, and gave me a deadly look, almost daring me to ask what was wrong. This took me by surprise even more. He seemed to be pretty open when it came to how he felt, and it was obvious he was gay, even though he still needs to officially 'come out' to me. I don't mind, I'm bisexual, so it's cool. But I was still worried about Jamie. To be honest, I felt more worried about him than I ever have about anyone before. I don't know if this means I am attracted to him or not, but whatever it is, I will try my absolute hardest to get to the bottom of this. Whatever 'this' is....

Jamie's P.O.V

I haven't left my dorm for 3 days. I don't know why such a small, supposedly insignificant occurrence has had such a big effect on me... it was something in the pit of my stomach. Like, how mothers always thoroughly educate their kids on that 'belly feeling', the feeling you get when something is not right, or horrible is going to happen if you stay in one spot or are with a certain person. It was exactly that feeling that overcame me when I ran into...him...in the corridor. The thing is, no-one ever told me how to prepare for it, or deal with it afterwards.

''so, the story is coming along nicely so far, but I have just now realized how difficult it is to write in present tense, and so I think I will now write in past tense, still first person however. I won't go back a change the rest, considering it took too much time and effort to even write in present, so a lot of work would go into simply writing in past tense. Okay, I am done with my rant. Please don't hesitate to leave any comments or opinions, I will gladly oblige to any suggestions I find interesting. Until next time!

- Isabe14''