Failing to Deny

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE- FRANKLIN’S POV

I walked into the crowded school cafeteria and scanned over the many heads, looking for my usual group of friends. I caught sight of them laughing at something in a table near the corner, but immediately noticed James wasn’t with them. He had rode to school with me and Cody this morning so I knew he was in. That was odd. He ate with us every day.

I walked over casually, easily navigating through the crowds since I was about a head taller than most of the people around me. Throwing my backpack next to the table and pulling up a chair, I greeted my friends with a wave.

“Hey” I said, tucking in my chair with a screech. A chorus of “hey” s filled my ears.

“Has anyone seen James?” I asked, looking around to see if he was just coming in.

“Um, no, we thought he would come in with you” Luke said. Luke was probably the quietest of our group, he had short blonde hair and glasses, and was never mean to anyone. I frowned at his response.

“I saw him just now in History, he was acting pretty strange today. He answered two questions wrong and he never gets stuff wrong. He should be here by now” Lewis added. Lewis had ginger hair and was the funniest out of all of us, but sometimes took his jokes too far. My frown deepened as I heard what he had to say.

“I’m going to go look for him” I told them, and they nodded, clearly worried too but not as much as me.

“Yeah that’s a good idea, if anyone can deal with whatever’s up with him it’s you” Cody said, handing me my bag. I turned away and heard the chatter start up again as I left. I was a little annoyed that nobody seemed bothered by his absence at all. It wasn’t like him to disappear like that.

I left the noisy cafeteria and started walking down the quiet corridors, wondering where to look first. I had no idea. I checked the toilets and his form room, but he wasn’t in either room. Suddenly, I remembered the place I had found him, on the first day of school in year 7. He was alone on the field behind the school. I had gone there to get a break from the overwhelming change from primary school, and I guess he had beaten me to it. That’s how we became friends.

I quickly walked round to the door that led to the field, and checked that no teachers were about. I opened the door and slid out silently, walking round to the place I had found him years ago. As he came into view, I realised that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. He had come to be alone after all. I suddenly felt intrusive and nosy, and turned around to start creeping back the way I had come.

Then, I heard a muffled sob, and my heart sunk in my chest. He was crying? I couldn’t stand the thought of him sitting there sobbing all alone. I walked over to him and sat down close beside him, our shoulders touching.

He looked up and gave me a watery smile, scrubbing his bloodshot eyes and sniffling. I pulled a tissue out of my bag and handed it to him. He took it, smiling at me again.

“You can carry on crying you know, its okay” I said quietly, nudging his shoulder with mine. He covered his face and sobbed into his hands, his body shaking violently next to me. I sat there for a few moments, not knowing how to react or comfort him. After a while I slowly reached my arm over his shoulder, bringing his face into my chest. He carried on crying, making my shirt wet with tears, but I didn’t care. Right now I only cared about the boy in my arms.

“I d-didn’t w-w-want to r-remember” He choked out, putting his arms round my waist and clinging to me like a baby. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but I didn’t ask.

“Its okay, its okay” I said over and over again, stroking circles onto his back. His fingers dug into my waist as his sobs died down into hiccups. I pulled back a little to look at him. His face was red and his eyes were swollen, there was a crease on his forehead that hadn’t gone away yet. I hugged him closer and rocked side to side slowly, thankful that his body heat was warming me in the freezing cold.

After a long time, he lifted his head from my chest, still not letting go of me. I knew I had definitely missed most of my last lesson, but I had my priorities. I looked down to where he was curled up, kind of in my lap now.

“Thanks” James said, his voice cracking a bit. I moved my hand from his back and brushed away the few tears that were rolling down his cheeks. I still didn’t ask why he had been crying.

He slowly let go of me and started to stand up, sniffing and staying close to me. I decided he definitely wasn’t going back to class, and I definitely wasn’t leaving him alone.

“Do you want to get our bikes and go home now? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go to class” I said, looking at him anxiously, afraid he would start crying again. He just nodded at me, and started walking around the back of the school towards the bike rack, staying pressed to my side.

“We could go back to my house, my parents will be out but my sister will be in?” I suggested. He sucked in a breath at that, I must have struck something there. I instantly regretted whatever I said. Just as I was about to say something else, he piped up.

“We could go to my house, my parents are on a business trip and I don’t want to stay home a-alone” He said, obviously trying not to let the emotion seep into his voice, and failing.

“Okay” I agreed, letting us fall back into compatible silence.