Unbroken (#3 in the 'Outcast' series)

Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

Andy's Point of View:

"How're you feeling today?" Tony asked as CC and I came to a halt in front of them at the gates the next day.

I just shrugged. A few people pushed past, purposefully pushing into me and knocking me into CC. It never changed. I just kept my gaze down as a couple of people went past, shouting out a few hurtful words for absolutely no reason.

Jake looked at me sympathetically.

"You'll be ok man," he said. "Just get through today hey?"

"If only it was that simple," I said quietly as a few more people shouted a couple of things out, making me flinch at their tones.

Connor wasn't here today, as due to the incident yesterday, he'd been suspended for a good two weeks. But even though he wasn't here, I was still at risk of his friends and other people having a go at me.

The bell for first period rang and we headed off, CC walking next to me and Jake trailing along behind as Tony and Jaime went a different way. There were quite a few people around in the corridors, all heading to class, and as we walked, trying to get through them, people kept pushing me into walls as they went past.

I was still in a bit of pain due to the incident yesterday, and it hurt every time I got pushed into the wall. CC pushed a couple of people out of the way, glaring at them as they went past and called out hurtful words to all of us, but mostly directing them at me.

We finally reached where we were meant to be for P.E. and CC and Jake both sat down on the sidelines with me. None of us spoke until one of the groups in the class decided it'd be a great idea to come over and harass us. Sadly, that group was partially Connor's 'friends'.

"Looking a bit miserable today," one of them said, directing at me. "Thought you'd have tried killing yourself by now freak."

"Fuck off," CC growled, clearly sick of people having a go at me.

The guy laughed and looked to him before looking back to me as I stayed quiet.

"Very quiet today," he said, basically ignoring CC's warning. "Not feeling any better today?"

"Connor did you a favour," one of the others said. "He tried to help you before, but you deserved what you got yesterday."

"That's it," CC snapped, getting to his feet and pushing the main guy back. "You wanna have a go at him? Gotta go through me first."

"You wanna fuckin' fight?" the guy taunted. "Alright, fine then. Let's take this outside!"

Jake got to his feet and stepped in, pulling CC back, as he looked ready to hit someone. The teacher came over to see what was going on, managing to break it up before anything drastic happened.

Once he'd sent the group away, he turned his attention to the three of us.

"Everything ok over here boys?"

CC and Jake exchanged looks as I kept my head down.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Jake said.

The teacher nodded and went back to the rest of the class as I got up from where I was sitting. I looked to Jake, feeling a bit lost in everything right now.

"I think I'm just gonna go for a walk," I said, feeling completely empty inside.

"You want me to come with you?" he asked with a bit of confusion.

I shook my head slowly, still just feeling a bit lost and confused about everything.

"No, I think I wanna be by myself for a bit..." I said, grabbing my things and walking out, just wanting to be alone for a while.

***

I had people having a go at me all day, pushing me into walls every time I was walking past anyone, shouting things out whenever they got the chance, even having groups of people having a go at me about everything in class.

By the time last period came around, I honestly just wanted to leave and be alone forever; I just wanted to disappear. I didn't wanna be near anyone any more, and I was just done. No-one left me alone, and it was just frustrating, seeing how little people cared, always thinking it was just an act.

Jake looked to me as I kept looking out the window.

"You need any help with the work or...?" he began, keeping his voice down.

I shook my head, not looking away from what was outside the window. Jake sighed.

"Man, look," he said. "Don't stop speaking, ok? I know what that's like, and it's not a good sign. I know you're down, but at least try have a conversation for once? You haven't joined in any of the conversations we've had all day, and some of those topics I know you're interested in."

I shrugged. "Just not feelin' it today Jake."

I switched my gaze to him and saw the sadness in his eyes.

"It's just not getting any better," I said quietly. "It's just getting worse 'cause of Connor, and now everyone knows and they're all giving me a hard time because they think it's an attention act. I just can't keep this up."

"You're doing fine Andy," he said reassuringly, though I could see even he didn't believe his own words. "You have people who're gonna help you through this whole thing, so don't go givin' up now."

I just looked at him for a few seconds before I switched my gaze down to the table.

***

"Andy?" Tara called, knocking on the door to the bathroom. "You ok?"

"I'm fine Tara; just gimme a sec," I called back, just staring at my reflection in the mirror as I leant against the basin.

It was about six that night, and I was just glad that I was home. I'd had such a bad day thanks to what Connor'd done and now everyone was out to make me feel worse about myself than I already did.

They never realised how much damage they did, and half of them wouldn't even care when they found out they'd caused it.

I kept looking at my reflection, starting to feel a bit light-headed. I closed my eyes briefly before opening them again and seeing my reflection once more. My vision was becoming blurry and I knew what I'd done was a complete mistake.

"Tara!" I called urgently as I tried to unlock the door.

I managed to get the door open and I stumbled out of the bathroom and into the hallway, using the wall as much as I could to make sure I stayed upright. My head was spinning; I knew I was close to passing out, and when that happened, it wasn't gonna be good.

I stumbled into the wall, hardly able to walk straight or think.

"Tara..." I called again, trailing off as my mind slowed down and I couldn't think straight, making me stumble into the wall again.

"Andy? Andy, is everything ok?"

I put one hand against the wall and the other on my head as it spun and I saw Tara at the end of the hallway. An alarmed look appeared on her face. My mind slowed down again and I couldn't hear what she was saying as she rushed towards me.

My hand slipped off the wall and I fell, my vision completely going as everything I'd taken kicked in.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Tara rushing towards me.

Next story in series: Broken Promises