Oneshots - Cake - 5sos

A lot can happen

Luke Hemmings is bullied at school. He comes home every day with various injuries which soon become self-inflicted too. He used to be popular: best friends with Calum Hood, the two were inseparable, but unlike most “popular” people they were actually nice people with a great friendship. But Calum moved away and Luke drew in on himself, having lost his best friend, and soon became unpopular due to his lack of likeable personality. When Calum moves back to Sydney, he expects to find things as they were: him and Luke as best friends, liked by everyone. What he does not expect is to find his friend in an alley at the brink of death.

THIS CONTAINS VIOLENCE, MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM, MILD SWEARING AND BOYXBOY ROMANCE

LUKE’S POV

The beanie on my head is pulled down low. My eyes are downcast. My head is bowed. My shoulders are slumped.  It’s summer, but I wear long sleeves. Everything about me suggests my dislike for attention. It’s not really the attention I don’t like, though, not really – it’s me. The attention thing’s just a side-effect. Of not liking me.

I guess I get shoved about in the hallways. I don’t really notice: it’s something routine, like breathing or blinking. It happens but you’re used to it. So you don’t notice.

Everyone is rushing towards the school gates only to get caught in the crowd and have to stop again. This happens every day. I honestly don’t get why they don’t just walk. Humans are stupid.

I’m stupid too, I guess.

To be honest, I’m the main bully to myself. I’m the leader. The others put the ideas inside my head and I repeat them, over and over and over – until, in the daytime, they lose their meaning. But at night they come back stronger than ever, having built up all day. Which is good, I guess – I mean, I wouldn’t want to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the day.

I sigh as I see the small group forming in front of the school’s back alley. Here we go.

I walk towards them. It’s my only choice really: at first I tried to run, but they just dragged me back and created a scene – which reminded me that I hate attention. Which reminded me that I that me.

Which gave me the energy to give up.

I stop one metre away and stare at the ground. I hear their voices stop and one steps forward.

“Alright mate?”

This makes his friends laugh. I don’t know why. I remember vividly when that laugh was not directed at me – it was because of me. But that was before Calum left.

Calum. Where are you now?

“I said, alright?” The guy says, louder. I jerk my head in what could be counted as a nod and almost immediately feel his fist in my gut.

The bruise still hasn’t healed from yesterday.

All the breath leaves be as I double over, clutching my stomach – then immediately realise my mistake as his knee connects with my nose and I fall over onto my backpack and curl into the foetal position.

Stupid.

“You idiot, still haven’t learned, have you, mate?”

Idiot.

Please, please just get it over and done with, I think, please …

But nothing happens. Then I hear whispers and the rustling of a bag, and one of the guys steps closer to me. He kicks my side so that I lie on my back and crouches down next to me, grabbing my arm. I hiss through my teeth as he presses on my cuts.