We're Just Misfits

Chapter 14 - Did you learn nothing?

mentions of some not very nice stuff in this chapter. read at your own risk. 

-

Angry vibes were practically shooting off of him in waves. Liam had thought that he might have calmed down, as it was a new day, but quite the opposite seemed to have happened. If anything, the teenager appeared to be angrier than he was when he'd screamed down the phone yesterday. Liam had seriously fucked up.

He decided that it probably wasn't best to talk to him right now. Jack had probably just woken up, and hadn't had a chance for any of the fury to fade yet. But at the same time, Liam didn't want to leave it too long, in case the anger boiled – he knew from experience how easy that could happen.

So, the teenager decided his time to strike would be at lunch. That way, if Jack really felt the need to, he could scream and shout as much as he wanted without being told off. However, the teenager would also be able to cry if he needed – even though Liam did highly doubt the possibility.

*

Liam had now been searching for Jack for ten minutes. He'd looked all over the field, in the library, he'd even ventured into the fence off sport areas, even though Jack hated sports, but he couldn't find the guy anywhere. Liam knew he had made some other friends as well as himself, but they were just as clueless about like teenager's location.

So now, Liam was scouting through every possible classroom Jack could have been in. But as he was just about to give up, he saw a glimpse of movement through the last classroom down the corridor. He jogged the last few steps, and discretely peered inside. And sure, enough, Jack was sitting on a chair in the classroom, his head in his hands.

Liam knocked on the door quietly, and when he received no response edged his way inside. That'd when he realised the boy didn't have his head in his hands because he was angry, but rather because he was crying.

He stepped over carefully, not wanting to come off too harsh. Once he reached Jack, Liam slowly crouched next to the boy, and just placed his hand on his back. Jack shivered slightly from the sudden touch, but soon relaxed as Liam gently rubbed circles. The boy shuddered as he took in a deep breath.

"Hey, it's ok. Just let it out." Liam said quietly, feeling incredibly bad at how he'd acted. He stayed there for a few minutes, continuing to rub the teenager's back until he slowly looked up.

"S-sorry." Jack whispered, his voice shaking. Liam just smiled gently in response.

"It's okay." He said softly. "I should be the one apologising. God, I'm a dickhead." Liam said, earning a small laugh from Jack that made him beam internally.

"T-the subject is just a little bit s-sensitive." Jack said sniffling.

"Yeah, understandable." Liam replied. "Although I don't think you had to get quite so worked up, aye?"

"What?" Jack said, his face immediately going hard.

Shit.

"I-I just meant it was quite long ago..." Liam trailed off, smiling nervously.

Jack stood up violently, sending the chair skating across the floor. "Do you learn nothing?!" He shouted, fury washing over his face. "It tore me apart having to lie to her, and you're acting like it's nothing?!"

"I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you could have at least texted me back! I was sick with worry!" Liam shouted back.

"Yeah, as you should have been! You blatantly insulted me, excited about how Elisa has a crush. You made it sexual, to the kid that almost got raped at 14." Jack responded, his voice even louder. But then he took a breath and despite his next words being quiet, the hit Liam harder than if the sky fell. "You're heartless."

Liam was frozen as Jack stormed from the room, and didn't try to stop the tears flowing.

*

"LIAM!" Shouted Elisa as the teenager strolled out of school. "Come on! Just talk to me!" She called, and the boy stopped, pausing his music.

"I fucked up. There's nothing more to say. Now leave me the fuck alone." Liam responded, his expression cold.

"Don't you dare get that tone with me. I've been through a damn lot more than you have, you don't get to be pissy with me." Elisa said back, her anger surfacing.

"Well you didn't insult a rape victim, did you?!" Liam screamed, finally done. "I fucking did. I'm allowed to feel as shit as I want: all I can think about is the shit I've done."

Elisa still wasn't done with him. "No, I didn't insult him, but I dated him, you prick. Don't you think I constantly blame myself for that now?" She said, her tone angry, but not as angry as Liam was now. "And don't you dare play the blame game with me. You've done nothing compared to what I have."

"Don't. You. Dare tell me I'm not allowed to feel blame-" Liam responded, tears welling in his eyes as he was cut off.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THEN, OTHER THAN TURN DOWN A RAPE VICTIM, HUH, MR. BLAME?!" Elisa screamed at him.

The tears rolled down Liam's cheeks as he responded. "My own mum's dead-" He cut off, taking a deep breath. "My mum's dead because I'm a pussy and didn't have the guts to tell her there were wolves chasing us. My mum's dead because our shitty car flipped when she crashed into a curb when a wolf jumped through the windscreen." Liam wiped his tears away. "My mum's dead because she was still in the car as it blew up."

Elisa stood there in shock, a tear trickling down her face.

"Had I warned her about the wolves, she would have been able to stop the car, and that wolf wouldn't have jumped and smashed the windscreen. She'd still be alive. So don't play the blame game with me." He spat. He didn't feel the need to increase the blame by telling Elisa about how he and his dad had purposefully snuck away silently so the wolves wouldn't attack them. They'd both been selfish. They were lucky the wolves were scared away by the explosion. But sometimes, the boy wished he had died instead.

Liam walked away, leaving Elisa to stare in sorrow.