How to Save Someone Like Me

A Search Party

"Pierre!"
I could feel my heart bash against my chest and my lungs expand as I ran up the steep hill with Eric and Tom following close. I leapt over a clump of dirt and stumbled onto the top of the hill.
"She's... she's not... here," I panted. We all exchanged worried looks before a scream was heard in the forest behind the playground.
"Sounds like her," Eric, still covering his eye, pushed some fallen branches out of what used to be a pathway. "C'mon," he said while starting to walk. We all started at a slow pace but soon quickened up once we realized we couldn't hear anything.
"Pierre?"
"Pierre, where are you!?"
I could feel my eyes start to sting and my face warm up but I resisted the temptation to cry.
"I'm gonna try calling her," I said while taking my phone out of my pocket. I clicked her contact and pressed the Call button in hopes of hearing her phone ring. Sure enough, the small chirp of an auto tuned bird was singing on the right side of the path. Mumbled profanities arose and scrambling was heard. I didn't wait to see Eric's or Tom's reaction. Instead I charged through the bushes and thorns while managing to jump over branches. "Pierre!" I screamed. "Answer me!"
"Hey, wait!"
I could hear Eric trying to get my attention but my head was already clouded up by thoughts of where she might be or what might've happened to her. My sneakers kicked up dirt behind me with every running step I took and I could feel my breathing starting to speed up. The sharp wind whipped up my hair and jacket, blocking my vision and causing me to trip over a root. "Agh!" I landed on my side with my knee under me. I groaned in pain and moved my hair out of my face until I saw something catch my eye.

Pierre's phone.

A strong pair of arms surrounded me for a moment before picking me off the ground and brushing the dirt off my jacket.
"Stop running off like that! We don't need to go on a search for two people right now," Tom frowned. I nodded and pushed him away and picked up the phone. "It's hers," I said, holding it with a shaking hand. Eric took it and slid it in his pocket. "We're getting close, we need to keep looking. But please, stick with us, Soup." He flashed a wearily and scared smile before studying the ground. "Sorry..." I wiped some mud off the side of my face. "And you don't have to call me Soup anymore, Chiaki is fine." I said while giving him a small thumbs up. He grinned and nodded before moving some leaves out of the way. "Tom, what size shoe are you?"
Tom, taken by surprise, thought about it for a moment. "Uh... I think I'm a size 'why is this so important right now' ?"
"Give me your shoe." Eric demanded.
"I'm not giving you my sh-"
"Give him the damn shoe," I interrupted. Tom rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, but I don't understand why I need to do this." He reluctantly took off his shoe and handed it over to Eric while keeping his sock foot off the ground.
"Multiple people headed right while only two headed left. They obviously split up because one of the two groups have Pierre and they want us to waste our time chasing after the other group while the other one take her farther away," he mumbled.
"Okay, Sherlock. Can I have my shoe back now? Why did you even need it?"
"Oh, you and Pierre have the same size shoe. But so does one other person so that makes it complicated." I groaned and kicked the tree next to me. "We're wasting time. I'm going alone and I'm going after the big group while you and Tom can both go after the pair. We'll text each other to communicate, okay?" I said. Eric was about to say something but I quickly started jogging away while following the tracks. The deeper I got into the forest the more isolated I felt. It was getting too quiet for me and I had a bad feeling like I was going the wrong way. Shivering, I started jogging a little faster and soon broke out into a run.
"Pierre!"
"Pierre!"
"Where are you?"
"Pierre, answer me! Where are you!?"
My voice started sounding hoarse and my feet were getting sore from running. Another scream came from my left, making me jump in surprise.
"PIERRE?" I yelled and sprinted to where the sound was coming from. I started running so fast the trees around me only created a green and dark brown blur while my head started to pound. The sudden sound of rushing water soon filled my ears that almost drowned out the scream.
I waved spiderwebs out of my way and vaulted over an old fallen tree. I tried grabbing the side of a mossy tree to maintain my balance but I missed and hit my elbow hard on a rock. I winced and opened my mouth in pain but held my shout in. I rolled over and leaned against a log and pushed myself back up but was then forced back down by something.
"Boo."
I clutched my arm and scowled when I saw Louise standing in front of me.
"Bro, you hurt yourself badly! Damn, and I thought that other chick was hurt badly," he grinned and nudged my arm with his shoe. I spat on it and growled. "What the hell have you done with her? Where is she you piece of shit?" I seethed through my teeth. He laughed and hovered over my face. "Dude, go home. Why are you even here if she's not your friend?" My face softened and I stared back at him in confusion. "What do you mean? We are friends. And I'm here because you and your ass buddies took her and hid her in this god damn forest!" I yelled and held myself up for a moment before falling back down. He snickered at my attempt to stand up and started walking away from me.
"Dude, you better hurry up and stop being so slow otherwise you're going to miss it," he grinned. I gritted my teeth and repositioned my posture. "What..do you mean?" I panted. He turned around and pretended to shoot a basketball. "The big splash!" He yelled before running out of my view. The big splash? What's that supposed to mean? I leaned my uninjured elbow against the wood and shakily stood up. "Hey!" My voice cracked as I tried to yell. "Get...back here!" A sudden pain shot up through my ankle and through my leg but I fought it. I ran messily past more plants and bugs and soon found myself stepping in mud. It splashed over my shoes and got onto the bottom of my jeans. I shook my head and tried to control my heavy breathing.

I soon came into a clearing where a small waterfall was and so were five other kids standing next to the edge of it.
"Three!"
I stomped my way past the mud.
"Two!"
I swiped some branches out of my way.
"One!"
"Shut the fuck up and give me my friend!" I screamed at them.
The girl with the platinum blonde braids laughed amongst the other kids. Pierre was standing next to her with a blindfold on her eyes and a gag in her mouth and her feet and hands tied together. I stared horrified at them when I saw her. "She made it!" They started clapping and whooping. I groaned and stepped in the creek to walk across to where they were. Pierre started shaking her head quickly and making small frantic moves. The braids girl took her blindfold off and loosened her gag so she could talk and see normally. "Look, isn't it nice to see her again? What did you call her again? A slut?" She giggled at Pierre. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and held my fists up at her. "Give her back now! I know what you're trying to do and it isn't working, she would never call me that!" I yelled.

"Slut."

I froze for a moment before looking up at her. "...What?"
Pierre had a tear slip out of her eye and down her cheek.
"Fucking slut. Get a life and get out of here," she smiled. The braids girl laughed alongside her. "I can't believe you're wasting time being here. And you look like shit! Like what the hell happened to you?"

I couldn't believe my ears.
"What do you mean?" My arms fell in disbelief and my body went cold. She sent a mean gaze at me and stuck out her tongue. "Get lost, loser. Maybe you should've been the one to die and not your therapist."

My throat choked up and my eyes began to sting with tears welling up. "H-How do.. did you..."
The braids girl untied the rags on her and high-fived her. "Did you really think I was your friend?" She snickered.
"Oh my god, you're so stupid. I was only pretending to be your friend just to ruin your life. Everybody knows what you've done to that nice lady therapist and now that's making everyone mad at you. I mean, how could you do that to her? You killed her. She's dead because of you and it's all your fault. If only you kept your problems to yourself then maybe she would still be alive, but NO! You had to open your shit mouth to her and start telling her all of this false garbage that fucked up her mind. That makes you the worst human being on earth, and you dying would actually make the world a better place." She crossed her arms and sneered. Big, fat tears fell down my face while I stared down at the ground.

"Go die in a hole, Chickpea." She cackled while the other kids behind her did too. My head shot up when I heard my name. Chickpea. That was my real name. I was always ashamed of it because I didn't like the fact that I was named after a bean. WHO NAMES THEIR KID AFTER A BEAN? My heart dropped down to my feet, almost causing me to fall down with it.
"How d-do...y-you know..?" I stuttered.
"U-Uh b-b-because I a-a-asked y-your m-m-m-mom," she mocked. "Your name obviously isn't soup, I'm not stupid. Besides, I need to call my friends by their names, right? Oh but I can't WAIT to see yours on your gravestone!"
I clenched my fists and dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. "Shut the hell up!" I yelled and punched her in the face. She fell down on the dirt ground whereas I quickly turned and sprinted across the creek and away from them. All I could hear was cheering behind me and loud claps. I whined from the pain in my hand and allowed more tears to fall out. I retraced my path and ran out of the forest and back to the hill. I pushed myself out while more tears fell down and made my face wet. I collapsed onto the bench and took out my phone from my pocket.

Me: call off the search
Chef Eric👍☕️: you found her?
I hesitated for a moment before typing.
Me: yeah now come back
Chef Eric👍☕️: will do

I waited for a few minutes before the bushes behind me began to rustle and out came Eric and Tom with smiling faces. Their smiles dropped though when they saw me with my tear stained red face and messy hair standing before them.
"I-I don't know," I hiccuped. Eric quickly rushed over to me and wrapped his arms around me. I started crying deeply into his shoulder.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I...p-punched her," I muttered. He let go and showed a confused expression. "You punched her? Why?" Tom asked.
"She's with them," I said while looking down. Eric and Tom exchanged confused expressions. "What do you mean, 'she's with them'?"

I hiccuped and smoothed my hair out. "I mean our friendship was just an elaborate scheme for her to manipulate me," I huffed. Tom gave me a hug and for a moment, and then turned to face the school. I looked down at my split knuckles and wiped the dirt and blood off.