Once Upon A Moonlight✅ {BOYXBOY}

Chapter 23: Giving Up

Play song when it states '(play song)' for added effect.

(Song: 'Wicked Game' by Ursine Vulpine, feat. Annaca)

FRED'S POV:

"Quiet down, please! I know you're all excited about the final match of the soccer tournament this afternoon but till then you are still in lessons!" Mr Jones shouted, silencing the murmurs of anticipation. 

Today was the day that would hold the penultimate game of the season. As captain of the school's soccer team, I was barely able to contain myself. I just wanted to get right to the game and win it. It had been a rough season, with some good teams from nearby colleges and academies, but with all the practice we'd put in I was confident with our tactics. Actually, it had been Sam who suggested some of the additions we made to our moves in recent months whilst he was tutoring me.

I put down my pen, ceased clicking it and looked up, fully expecting to see Sam. Yet he wasn't there beside me. I also noticed that I'd subconsciously sat at Sam's table whilst Emily had gone to sit with Mike at his table - where I'd been sitting recently. Sam's absence had me thinking back, back to times of laughter and fun we had shared during science class. His giggles echoed inside my skull, bouncing off my brain constantly.

"Clark. Are you paying attention?"

I snapped out of my daze and looked at Mr Jones. People rarely used my last name these days.

"Yes, sir." I nodded and he went back to teaching. 

I attempted to refocus on the work but my mind seemed glued to Sam. 

What happened to him?

Over the last week, he had grown quieter; noticeably tired with sorrow being the only emotion that seemed to be evident in his once brilliant eyes. I couldn't help but wonder if what I'd been doing was right. I was doing it to protect him, I reminded myself. Of course, it was right. 

I nodded to myself and jotted down the notes on the board, not caring in the least what it all meant. I had a match to win- and win it I would!

_-_

SAM'S POV:

My whole body quaked, my back arched as I leant over a toilet in one of the boy's cubicles. I felt wretched and kept vomiting, despite not having anything in my stomach to chuck up.

I was missing science but physically could not bring myself to stand. I hadn't slept or eaten properly for weeks now. Neither was a luxury I could afford in my current living arrangements. Beneath my denim jacket and shirt were various bruises and cuts littering my body. I pulled my sleeves further down and shakily got to my feet, leaning on the wall for support.

"H-How much more must I endure?" I whispered to nobody in particular, no, but rather the world itself, a tear shedding down my cheek. 

As I effectively dragged myself from the stall and out of the boy's toilets, the bell rang. I squinted as my head stung from the ear-piercing noise. Stepping out into the bustling hallways, I tried to make myself as small as possible as I trudged to my locker. After some shoving and apologising I finally reached the metal container. Fresh vandalism littered it. I entered the combination, disabling the lock mechanism, and was about to open it when something, no, somebody grabbed my arm.

"Where were you?" The figure spat and my breath got caught in my chest. 

Mike.

"I-I was in the toilets. I-"