One Last Place

Ch. 9 month 8 (may)

It was finally May and the town fair was 3 weeks away. It seemed like everyone was happy during this time. The sky's were bright and blue, the sun was beaming and the trees were blooming new green leaves. What could go wrong?

School finally got out at 3 today. Eric and and Chris were going to the library to study for the finals. School was going to end in 2 weeks and the finals were coming up fast. They finally arrived at the library and went to their usual spot.

"Hey I never got to ask you what college you were going to". said Chris

"Oh... I'm not going to college. said Eric

"Oh, you're not. I mean you don't have to if you don't want to but I really hope we keep in touch". said Chris

"Yeah.. um me too". Replied Eric

"Sorry I need to go"! said Eric frantically

Eric was out the door ready for tears to come out any time soon. He was walking the long way home so he had time to think. "I shouldn't like him anymore"? "Why do you like him"? "He's never going to like you back"! This was all Eric could think of. His inner self was ripping him apart. To make things worse he had to see Anna sitting in the passenger seat of a car. Eric saw a guy get into the drivers seat of the car. The guy kissed Anna but Anna kissed him back. Eric was in shock! "Why is she kissing him"! thought Eric.

Anna saw Eric walking past them. She got out of the car and walked up to Eric. "Chris doesn't need to know about this right? said Anna as she got closer to Eric. "Well I'm going to tell him" said Eric. "But you can't, unless you want to get beat up". replied Anna. She called to the man in the car and told him to beat Eric up. The man came at Eric with a punch to the cheek. Eric couldn't do anything, he was already feeling tired. He could've fainted there but he didn't. Eric got up slowly but the man kicked his stomach and punched his cheek so hard that it started to bleed. The man also kicked his shin which made Eric wince in pain. Eric was laying on the sidewalk hurt and alone. He finally got up and started to walk home.

Chris only lived 3 houses away from Eric. He saw Eric limping to his house. "Eric"! "Hey Eric" yelled Chris. Eric just ignored it. He was about to get to the front of his house but Chris came up to him. "Hey, I was calling you but you didn't here me". said Chris. Eric's face was down. He didn't want Chris to see him like this. Eric was glad that it was nighttime and that Chris couldn't see the cut and bruises on him. Then suddenly the porch lights turned on and showed everything on Eric's body. Eric tried turning away but Chris already grabbed him arm. "What- what happened"? asked Chris "Nothing, nothing happened. Don't worry about it". replied Eric. Eric tried to get Chris's hand off of his arm but it didn't work. "No"! "Don't tell me not to worry about you because I do"! yelled Chris. This was the first time Chris has ever yelled at Eric.

Chris took Eric to his house to patch him up. "How did this happen to you"? asked Chris. "It was your girlfriend". Eric said bluntly. "What". asked Chris. "You don't have to believe me or anything but your girlfriend is cheating on you and she made a guy beat me up so I wouldn't tell you. But I still ended up telling you. I'm sorry this was the way you found out". said Eric. "I believe you and I'm so sorry! It was because of me that you got hurt. I'm so sorry this happened". said Chris. Eric could tell that he was sad and genuinely sorry.

After everything was settled, Chris walked Eric back to his house. "Sleep well. I'm sorry that this had to happen. I'll make it up to you I swear". said Chris. "It's fine and goodnight". said Eric.

During the night Eric had a fever. He couldn't take it anymore so he just sat in his bed at 4:12 am. He had cold sweats dripping from his forehead. He finally went back to sleep at 4:54 am and didn't wake up until 11 am. He didn't go to school that day. For the rest of the morning he just stayed in his bed. His mom finally came back at 5:30 pm. She made dinner and brought it up to him. "You need to eat something, you look 20 pounds lighter". said his mom. "I will mom, and thanks". said Eric.

He started to eat some of the bread and drank his soup. After dinner he went to sleep. It was the best sleep he got this week.

💖thanks for reading!!💖