Drifting

2 -

Ben knows his sister won't notice his absence until later, by which time she'll be so wrapped up in school that she'll just assume he's okay. He usually is, so it's all good. She has her friends and her happy little social circle. He has his, well, not exactly his friends, but people he associates with.

Like the strawberry-blonde Tia Clarke, who pops up in front of him soon enough. He jumps back.  

"Ben!" she trills. "Hey!"

"Tia! Are you trying to scare me to death?" he asks, laughing.  

"Sorry." She grins. "I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't."

"Have you seen Jayelle?" Tia asks suddenly.  

Ben shakes his head. "No..."

Then he's distracted by thoughts of Jaye. Her coffee coloured skin and big dark eyes framed by lashes the colour of sunflower seeds. The way her wild black curls bounce around her shoulders no matter how hard she tries to tame them with hair products that smell like coconut and vanilla. That smile she always has, no matter what she's going through.

"You're thinking about something," remarks a familiar voice. 

"Argh! Jaye!" Ben turns around, laughing. "You scared me!"

Jayelle giggles, flicking him playfully with a long, neon orange nail. "The bell's gone. Where are we meant to be?"

"Erm... Art. I think."

"Come on then! We're on the wrong side of school!" She grabs him by the wrist and pulls him after her as she runs up the stairs towards the art rooms.

They reach their destination just as the second bell rings, laughing and gasping for breath. Jayelle carries one navy-blue pump in her hand after it fell off on the way.

"Jayelle Tristyn, Ben Readman, inside please."

"Sorry, sir," Jaye says, regaining her composure and going into the classroom, followed by Ben. He's not sure why he still wants to laugh, or even why he was laughing in the first place, but right now he doesn't care. 

 He's still smiling fifteen minutes later, engrossed in his painting, listening to the laughter of people around him and trying to mix paint to match the colour of his sister's hair. The theme for his coursework is 'Inspire', and so far on his paper he's drawn pencilled outlines of Alyssa, his parents, Ed Sheeran and Olly Murs. He's starting to fill them in with careful brushstrokes when he senses someone stood at his side and looks up.

"Ben," the teacher says, "I sent Jayelle to the IT room ten minutes ago. She said she needed to print something out, but she hasn't come back yet. Could you maybe go and see if you can find her?"

"Sure." Ben shrugs, picking his bag up off the floor before leaving the room.

The IT room is halfway across the school, next to the maths classrooms, but he ends up meeting Jaye at the top of the stairs. She's looking at a piece of paper, but she folds it up quickly when she sees Ben. 

"What's that?" he asks.  

"Oh! Er, nothing. Just something for my, um, coursework," she replies, seeming flustered.  

"Oh, let's see?"

"No! It's... It's nothing. Not important."

"Then let me look?"

"I said no. You'll see it at the showcase next week!"

Ben knows better than to tell Jayelle to calm down. He gives up. "Sir sent me to look for you," he says. "We should go back."

But the voice which answers isn't Jaye's.

"Go back, eh? I don't think so," it snarls.

Ben stiffens. "Jaye," he says quietly. "Go back to class."

"I don't think so." The source of the voice remains unseen, but he's laughing. "I think your little girlfriend can stick around to watch, can't she?" The laughter abruptly stops. "Grab her, Mikey."

Jayelle tries to run, but she can't get away quickly enough. Strong hands trap her wrists behind her back, and when she tries to kick out at her captor a foot connects with the back of her knee, and she crumples to her knees. She tries shouting for help, but a hand covers her mouth. She's trapped.

And meanwhile, Ben's looking up into a familiar face.

"Let her go, Gareth," he says coldly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "She hasn't done anything to you." And neither have I, he adds silently.

"So what?" The tall blonde boy smirks. "She should learn something from this. Such as not to hang around with a freak like you when she could chill with us."

"Like anyone would want to spend their time with a gang of idiots like you lot," Ben mutters.

"You what?"

He swears inwardly. He hadn't meant for Gareth to hear. "N-nothing," he tries to say, but it comes out as a whisper.

"Calling me an idiot, eh?"

Ben stays silent.

"I think that makes you, the idiot, Readman," the boy next to Gareth puts in with a smirk.

"You're right, Kai. It certainly does." Gareth nods slowly.

Ben knows what's coming when he sees the look the two of them share. He has to fight not to shut his eyes and cringe away.

Still firmly held in the grasp of the third boy in the gang, Jayelle would run if she could. She's forced to watch as the two others lay into Ben. They punch his arms, his stomach, his face, and he tries to run away, but they're stronger than he is, and he can't pull free when they have such tight holds on him.

She screams, the sound muffled as Mikey's hand acts as a gag.

"Ben!" she shrieks. "Ben!" Desperate, she bites, hard. Mikey lets go of her with a yell, but she's a fraction of a second too late.

Gareth's still punching Ben mercilessly, and they've edged closer and closer to the top of the stars.

Jaye watches, still, silent and helpless, as her best friend stumbles backwards, loses his footing and falls backwards down the steps.

"Ben!" she screams, and starts running, taking the steps two at a time and collapsing to her knees beside his unmoving form. Tears smudge her mascara and stain her cheeks as she calls his name over and over, desperately trying to get him to open his eyes. "Ben... Ben, please!" She slips her hand into his, squeezing it, willing him to squeeze back. "You can't d-d... Just wake up, Ben, come on."

Three Year Seven girls walk past. Their chatting and giggles fade away as they notice what's going on, and they look at each other, expressions of fear, confusion and panic on each of their faces.

"I'll go and get the nurse!" one of them practically shouts, running off in the direction of the office. The other two glance back at Ben, then at each other, before following the first.

Jaye doesn't even notice them. She doesn't see anything bu the boy lying unconscious on the floor. Between sobs, she continues to whisper to him.

"Ben, please... Let me know you're okay."