I was sitting down on my couch as I heard feet on the front porch. "Gavin must be home" I thought. He came inside the house slow yet fast. He raced past me up the stairs. "Hey gav, did you have a good day at school?" I raised my eyebrow. "It was fine" his voice trailed up the stairs.
I was worried about Gavin because he's been so distant lately. It seemed like something was troubling him. And he would wear long sleeve shirts in the 70 to 80 degree weather. And whenever I asked him why, he would use the same excuse as always. "I like long sleeve shirts" he said. I was becoming very suspicious.
At dinner time I called Gavin down and told him it was time to eat. He came downstairs with a plastered smile on his face. I set the table as Gavin took a seat. I could tell he was thinking about something.
"Gavin?"
He snapped out of his daze when I called him. "Oh..uh yeah?" "Are you ok? How do you feel?" I felt his forehead. "Fine" he said. We ate dinner in silence for a little while, but then I asked Gavin about his homework. "I finished it" he said enthusiastically.
I smiled at him for knowing that he's not struggling with homework. But when I asked about school and his friends, his expression changed like a drop of a hat. "Oh.... it's.... it's fine" he said trying to sound happy. After dinner I started washing the dishes but I couldn't stop thinking about how he felt when we started talking about school.
I finished up with the dishes and then I turned off the kitchen light and went upstairs to Gavin's room. I knocked on his door. "Gavin bud can I come in?"
I heard shuffling around in there and then the door opened. "Oh sure come in".
I couldn't help but notice some gauze over his left wrist. He noticed that I saw it and he pulled his sleeve down over it. "So uh what did you want to talk about?" He asked trying not to get me to ask him about his wrist. "Oh uh nothing I just wanted to say goodnight, I'm going to bed early".
I kissed his head and then I walked out. The next morning my alarm went off. I shot up looking at the clock. "6:30, perfect time to get Gavin ready for school". I hopped out of bed and yelled through Gavin's door. "Gavin time to get up for school!"
I heard his bed squeak so I knew he was up. I went downstairs and started on breakfast. I heard Gavin's door open and he walked into the bathroom. After 5 minutes he came out and ran downstairs. "Dad I don't feel too good" he moaned. I felt his forehead. "Well you don't seem warm. I think you'll be ok".
Gavin looked disappointed but didn't argue about it. I fixed him his cereal and toast with orange juice and then I made myself some toast and orange juice. After breakfast Gavin and I got dressed and then I ran downstairs and grabbed the car keys. Gavin came downstairs with his backpack and he ran into the kitchen and got his lunch I prepared for him last night.
We got in the car and drove to school. I slowly saw Gavin's smile fade when we pulled up in the parking lot. "Gavin? Is everything ok?"
"Oh yeah it's just....uh..... nothing" he said. He jumped out of the car as he shouted goodbye while he was running to the front door. I knew something was wrong. I drove back home and started working on a couple of projects. When I came across Gavin's tablet I saw something that broke my heart.
There were messages from his Hangouts from unknown numbers and they were messaging horrible things about Gavin. I did some more research and found a hate page called @antigavinputh and I was absolutely disgusted! One comment stood out from all the others. It was a user telling Gavin that he was worthless and a piece of crap, and then he ended by saying he should kill himself.
Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes as I saw the horror that Gavin must have been going through this whole time! I heard the front door open. I went downstairs to see Gavin going upstairs. He slammed the door to his room.
I went upstairs and knocked on his door, but he wasn't in there. He had locked himself in the bathroom. I knocked and knocked on the door. "It's preoccupied!" He said. But I could tell he was lying. I eventually opened the door to Gavin rinsing his arm off with water. He quickly dried it off and tried to run into his room. But I grabbed his arm.
"Wait a minute, Gavin what's really going on and tell me the truth!" I said in a Stern but sympathetic tone. Gavin's eyes were red from crying. I let go of his arm as he led me to his room. He pulled his sleeves down and he started telling me about how everyone at school was bullying him.
When he reached over, I saw fresh cuts on his wrist. I grabbed it and pulled the sleeves. He tried to pull away but I wouldn't let him. "No dad it's not that big of a deal" he said. "It is! Gavin did y-you cut yourself?"
He slowly nodded. I pulled him into a big hug. "Oh Gavin, why didn't you tell me?" "Cause I was afraid you wouldn't believe me or you would be mad at me for not doing anything".
"I would NEVER be upset with you for telling me about something like this okay?!" I pulled him in for a tighter hug. I kissed the hair on his head. I dragged him to the bathroom. I opened the cabinet and pulled out bandages, peroxide and ointment. I had his arm on the counter and I told him I was gonna clean out his cuts.
"No it's gonna hurt!" He tried to pull his arm away. "I know, but I have to clean it out so it doesn't get infected".
I put my hand on his face. "It'll be ok I promise". I started to pour the peroxide on his arm. He yelped in pain as the peroxide bubbled around the wounds. I blew on it to try to ease the stinging. Afterwards I put the ointment on the cuts. As I was cleaning each one out I couldn't help but feel my heart breaking in half.
"Oh Gavin why?" I whispered to myself. But I think Gavin heard me anyway. I wrapped his arm in a bandage and gently planted kisses on his bandages. I pulled Gavin into a hug and I told him I loved him. "I love you so much gav and I don't ever wanna see you self harm yourself again".
Gavin nodded slowly. "Okay I promise I won't".
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Bye!!!😉
